There is a debate going on in the Edmunds forum about how much influence Ford had on the RX-8 and if the RX-8 is using any Ford parts.

I seem to recall that the RX-8 is 100% Mazda, development and parts, but can't prove it over there. Does somebody have a link, to some info or an article, that I can provide in order to give my argument some fodder?

100% non ford.

My brother in law designs cars for Ford group UK (Land rover) , knows less about the car than I do, and he'd know if ford had any part in its design/build.

Originally posted by RobDickinson
100% non ford.

My brother in law designs cars for Ford group UK (Land rover) , knows less about the car than I do, and he'd know if ford had any part in its design/build.

Appreciate the insider information.

I remember reading that in print somewhere, but can't seem to recall or retrieve it. I need a link so I can post some written text to the Edmund forum to prove what we say is true. Anybody?

Here's a cliff-note version(not all accurate but you can google for more info):

In the early 90's Mazda engineers developed a new side-port version of the 13B rotary engine. It made more power with normal aspiration, less emissions, and had better fuel economy than the 13B. Rotary Genesis = RENESIS, a New Beginning.

The Renesis was incorporated into a supposed next version of the RX-7, called the RX-01(Seen the video?).

Long-time partner FoMoCo bought out majority shares(34%) in 1995 from Sumitomo(?) and C. Itoh(?), gaining controlling interest in MC(Mazda Japan) on the Board, sending shockwaves of what the next step was to be.

Ford had little initial interest in the eccentric rotary engine, given it's emissions/reliability problems with the over-engineered 3rd Gen RX-7. In fact Ford wanted to pull the plug on the entire program, deeming it cost-inefficient and the ROI was poor for a low volume sports car. The west coast reman center was closed and all reman rotary/transmission operations were/are run out of Jacksonville to this day, the company name changed to Jax Reman LLC/Delco-Remy.

MC and engineers worked on their own hours perfecting the Renesis and then producing the Evolv, the forebearer of today's RX-8. They wanted to prove that the rotary was a viable and reliable engine, and that a market existed for the car. It was a tough sell to Ford, but response to the RX Evolv as a concept car was very positive, and eventually a go-ahead was given to produce a lightweight 4-door sports car, but only one shot would be given. This is what we see today.

This is all detailed in the Yamaguchi/Dinkle book that the pre-order owners have received. Can anyone else assist?

Originally posted by Toadman
Here's a cliff-note version(not all accurate but you can google for more info):

........

This is all detailed in the Yamaguchi/Dinkle book that the pre-order owners have received. Can anyone else assist?

Thanks Toadman. Good Cliff-note version. I'll try a search on Google to see if I can find more detailed info.

Can someone scan the specific page on the Yamaguchi/Dinkle book that contains this info?