“In Japanese culture red symbolises strength and passion, and with this in mind, great efforts are made into making our red as vibrant as possible. “
Passion in Design and Color
The color red has always been a significant part of Mazda’s history. From the first car that we produced, the 1960 R360 Coupe to our current SKYACTIV lineup, red has always been at the soul of Mazda. The KODO-Soul of Motion design language focuses on dynamic forms for our vehicles. This focus on dynamism also extends to our choice of colour. In Japanese culture red symbolizes strength and passion. With this in mind, great efforts are made into making our red as vibrant as possible. Over the last decade Mazda’s engineers have been working hard to develop two new vivid shades of red and their hard work has paid off. The creation of Soul Red and the most recent Soul Red Crystal are the fruits of this labor. Both colors are critically acclaimed for their depth and brilliance.
Soul Red, Mazda’s premium red color that preceded soul red crystal, won the Auto Color Designers’ Selection award in the exterior segment of the 2013 Auto Color Awards. After 5 years of development this was validation for the effort of Mazda’s engineers. Some may ask, why put so much effort in creating a single color? To Mazda’s team of engineers and designers, nothing is spared in ensuring their true vision becomes reality. This is the passion of Mazda craftsmen coming together to achieve a singular goal.
Development
During development our engineers made innovations in both the creation and application of paint. This is to ensure that the result is perfect and speaks to Mazda’s passion for creating vehicles that are beautiful. A one-off concept car is usually hand painted. This allows for experimentation and the creation of vivid colors. To replicate those colors on mass-produced vehicles is a very difficult task as hand-painting all the cars is not practical. Takumi-nuri, is a cutting-edge technology that is crucial to creating soul red, machine grey and now soul red crystal for mass production. The name expresses the artistry of the engineers through the Japanese word “takumi,” or “craftsman.” Using data captured from observing Mazda craftsmen hand-painting vehicles, robots learned how to paint like humans. This gives each of our vehicles a high-quality finish like it was hand-sprayed by one of our master craftsmen.
No Compromise
To make a color with the brilliance and depth of Soul Red Crystal one would usually have to paint more layers than usual. This not only utilizes more resources but is also harmful to the environment. Mazda’s no compromise way of thinking meant we had to create a striking color, that not only saved resources but had little to no added environmental impact compared to our previous colors. As a result, Soul Red Crystal retains a simple three-layer structure made of clear, translucent and reflective coats. The translucent layer features a new highly saturated red pigment for a richer red.
A combination of light absorbing flakes and thin, high-brilliance aluminium flakes create a stunning depth of color. Achieving this before would have required the painting of two separate layers. All the flakes within the paint are the same size and the consistency of the paint is better. A special technique that causes the volume of the paint to shrink as it is drying was also utilized. The result is smooth, even coverage of the car’s body. The aluminium and light absorbing flakes allow for more precise control of how light is reflected. This makes for a red with unsurpassed depth and lustre.
With form being at the heart of the KODO soul of motion design language and the belief that “colour is an element of form,” as the KODO design language evolves so to will the colors and techniques Mazda develops for its vehicles. Come and see the stunning soul red crystal paint for yourself at Angevaare Mazda.