(upbeat music)
- I like glasses but I hate glasses.
I hate them because they're fuzzy,
and when they're fuzzy,
they're a pain in my ass.
There are times where you may be forced to grow up,
to do away with like the baggy pants.
Instead get yourself a nice pair of Levi's.
They're gonna be times
where you need to learn how to tie a tie
because that's just what you learn
when you get into
like a business management degree in college
because that's important, okay?
And whether we want to admit it or not,
we all have a tendency to need
and, or want to grow up a bit.
And sure, we'll sneak out every once in a while
to rewatch like "Naruto Shippuden"
but now your significant other
wants to watch "Outer Banks" instead
because apparently it's a super good show
even though the one girl
all she just says is John B
John B, John B, John B, John B, John B, John B
or anybody that says somebody's middle initial.
I'm Alex.
Alex.fi on Instagram.
And while this identity crisis is common enough in people
when they're growing up,
it's not so very common in car manufacturers.
So just what exactly happened to the disappearance?
The Baja Blast Freezy of Taco Bell.
Just what exactly happened to Mazda's Mazdaspeed division?
(upbeat music)
You wanna know what doesn't change though?
Our wheels tires and suspension,
fitmentindustries.com plug.
That will always be there, okay?
If I'm promoting Squarespace ad in that section
and not used tires and suspension,
just know that we're doing very badly
and we're likely on the out.
And of course, drop a comment below
on what you'd like us to talk about
in the new series of what the (indistinct) happened
except without the swear word
because of monetization issues with YouTube.
I read every single comment
and gives us some fun to run off of.
I also apologize for my hair being fluffy as hell,
all right?
I need to get it cut.
Mazda is a beautiful little company.
They've been known for like the dawn of time
for creating affordable fun spritzy sports cars
that people just fell in love with,
mostly because of their driving experience.
And sure, the modification of these cars
will almost always end up
with them turning into like neon, green
fighting machines with headlight covers,
sleepy eye mods,
blow off valves that sound like grenades.
And Mazda themselves almost,
you know, even though that's really cool that you do that,
they pretty much always develop them
with like flow, simplicity, a sense of calmness
that truly embodied their brand.
It was like namaste.
And then they introduced their Mazda racing division,
Mazdaspeed.
Inherently, Mazdas racing arm that had been around
since like 1967.
But they were initially actually known
as just Mazda sports car now,
which was ran by Takayoshi Ohashi,
got that one right,
who also ran Mazda's Tokyo distributor.
They've been involved in quite a bit of racing in the 80s
with the likes of the Mazda 717,
the 727, and the 737.
And in 1983,
the team was officially brought in house
to Mazda in Hiroshima,
but the name was inherently changed from that old one
to Mazdaspeed.
And over the decades,
Mazdaspeed became a absolute force to be reckoned with,
taking wins using the unusual Wankel rotary engine
and insane body types that hyper focused on limited drags.
And I mean,
Mazdaspeed inherently made the FIA change its regulations
because of just what it was capable of doing
with that little Wankel rotary engine.
And this was in 1991, right after Mazdaspeed 1,
the 1991 Le Mans.
That was the first for Japanese team by the way,
and wouldn't happen again until the late 2010s.
Mazda was then slapping babies
and shaking coffee in the racing world
and they were doing a hell of a good job.
But even with the regulation shifts,
they knew that there was probably some death
coming along the way.
The nameplate of Mazdaspeed would ultimately enter
into the normal world that you and I know,
the consumer model world,
the best world that we can be in,
where we wish we got cool things,
but really, we just got cupholders and power windows
because that was just something
that we wanted out of cars back in the early 1990s.
After the FIA regulation change
that ripped the Wankel out,
Mazda took their sign to step out of it
and instead focus on their business side of things.
And with Mazda assuming control of Mazdaspeed in 1998,
it looked like the platform of cars
that people like you and people like me would come to love
because Mazda was talking about introducing
some fun little spritzy sportsy consumer cars
that would really jump the gun.
It started with the 2003 Mazdaspeed Protege,
and it only came in the NA market
and had 30 more horsepower
than its base counterpart,
a better turbo, an inner cooler, new spoiler,
an air dam, and some high compression
that made it a fun sedan,
and ultimately came in the best colors known to man.
The best colors.
Mazda had the best finishes.
And I had a friend,
Michael, who had one of these,
owned for like eight years, still does,
and the paint is still one of the coolest oranges
I've ever seen on a production car.
They call it spicy orange.
Look at it,
look at me
and look back at it.
Look at the spicy orange
and tell me that you don't love that color.
And Mazdaspeed didn't stop
because enthusiasts absolutely loved Mazda for doing this
without hiking up the price so much
so that these cars were unobtainable.
And they came to the North American market
that wasn't down to their glorified base model.
It actually had some meat behind it.
Mazda was doing what people knew Mazda for.
They were creating affordable sports cars that were fun.
And it happened again.
It came out in 2004 with the Mazdaspeed MX-5
which by the way is the most popular track car
in The USA.
Mazda Miata, you're welcome.
Take that to who wants to be a millionaire.
An official turbocharged straight-four engines
with almost 180 horsepower,
increase 60 miles per hour in 6.7 seconds
and had upgraded shock absorbers, wider tires.
It had all the goods.
And if you have a love of orange Mazdaspeed Miata,
call me.
The Mazdaspeed 6 would follow a 270 horsepower,
all wheel drive, six speed manual, 2.3 liter
inline-four turbo charging.
Goodness!
That good walk the floor plenty of cars during its time.
Then you had the Mazdaspeed 3,
which from 2007 to 2013,
which also had that 2.3 liter
but it was front wheel drive instead of all wheel drive.
You still get the limited slip differential
and six feet to go beat around.
Some Hondas were running around at the time,
but for the most part,
that was the car that a lot of people jumped into,
either the Mazdaspeed 3
or the Mazdaspeed 6.
And things seemed to be going pretty well,
but with every Mazdaspeed being made,
it was like a parent
that was slowly getting tired of the Lego set being left out
by their child.
One Lego a day from about 1991 to 2014,
and Mazda was kind of sort of getting tired of it.
Like actually pretty, I'm tired of it.
And now when you look at the Mazda dealerships,
you don't really see a bit of anything
with the Mazdaspeed badge.
It's actually completely gone,
and it's been replaced with a bunch of crossovers
that have skyactiv technology all over them
and angry headlights,
because that's what the VIP kids like these days,
but they still want a hot hatch with 40 miles per gallon.
So what happened?
What actually happened to Mazdaspeed,
one of the best trims to come out of a car manufacturer?
Why did Mazda cut it down?
Why is Mazda getting rid of all of their fun shit?
Well, in short,
it has many to do with our opinions on the subject
but mostly theirs.
It's because they don't think it matches their new style.
Remember your friend that stopped hanging out with you
because they found new friends,
and it hurt a lot and it was painful,
and you learn that that happens.
That pain is the pain of Mazdaspeed to Mazda.
And Mazda just pretty much outright said that.
Leading up into the early 2018,
and even into the late 2020s,
Mazda officially stated multiple times during q&a sessions
during the release of new models
that a Mazdaspeed edition
would likely just never be coming,
stating that Mazda is focused
on becoming more mature and upscale.
It is our priority to continue
to the next generation of skyactiv technologies,
which I think is just complete (indistinct)
As part of this evolution,
we are refining.
I just think it's really dumb
applying our (mumbles) enhanced engines to provide.
Apply this to a Mazdaspeed.
Jesus!
A better stronger performance
with engaging driving behaviors.
Oh my god, what (indistinct) thing here?
All right, but it's not a surprise.
Mazda has a small team
and offered to shift away from the hot boy racer,
because apparently we're not that dependable
and they'd rather focus on a higher end market instead.
And for those that remember 2016,
Mazda's president at the time, Masahiro Moro
called the early Mazda C models a childish execution.
He said that, childish execution.
He blamed Mazdaspeed for Mazda slow start
into the more sophisticated brand.
If there was an angry emoji I could ship to him, I would,
but he said that,
and he meant every word.
But if you take out the opinion of the situation,
there's some genuine truth
and maybe some happiness
in the delay of the Mazdaspeed brand,
the one that you and I came to know and love.
Really, they just don't have the people.
Mazda's hyper focus on skyactiv technology
isn't because that's what they want to do.
It's pretty much because it's all they can do anymore.
And instead of bringing back
some half-assed, washed up, crossover junk,
holding the Mazdaspeed nameplate
that everybody is going to tout and scream and yell at
and complain about kinda like the Mitsubishi Eclipse,
Mazda's team is placing it on a hiatus
until they believe they can have a focused attempt
at bringing that nameplate back,
something that can actually take on the likes
of the Civic, the WRX and more.
There's no doubt with the mark being on a hiatus
that it will come back.
It has a ton of legacy and loyalty behind it.
Likely, it's probably going to come back
after they conclude their skyactiv technology engines
and solidify them as a power plant for about a decade or so
so they don't have to keep doing r&d on the platform.
From there, this will free up their engineering team
to truly dive into some new research and development,
providing new engine to a potential Mazda name,
utilizing what they learned from skyactiv,
slap a big old turfski on it
and let her run in about 360 horsepower.
But what do you think,
should Mazdaspeed come back?
And if so, what do you think it would actually come with?
If you have a Mazda of any kind
and you're looking to,
you know, pick up some military packages,
suspension, accessories, wheel only, tire only,
be sure to hit us up over @fitmentindustries.com.
I'm Alex from Fitment Industries,
and we will see you later.
Peace!
(upbeat music)