Not sure if this had been posted yet, but I chatted with my dealer on Saturday, and she indicated that yes, the RX-8's were delayed at port....and didn't have an explanation as to why....but indicated that they got a fax explaining the cars would now have 2 less horsepower than the original spec sheets indicated.

Before any flaming, etc. ensues, note this is just what I heard direct from my dealer, and while I do believe it to be accurate....who knows. It would seem to support someone's theory I read that the exhaust needed modding to pass Canadian requirements.

At any rate...thought you all would find this interesting.

I'd actually bet that it's 3 less horsepower - all the initial reports (and Mazda's web sites for the US and Canada) estimated 250 hp. When the final ratings were done, it turned out to be 247 hp. No missing hp, just that the final value is 247. The delay is that the car was registered with Transport Canada as having 250 hp, so some papers had to be re-filed to amend the rated HP. I very much doubt anything was physically or electronically modified on the cars, I'd bet that this was just a bureaucratic paperwork issue!

Regards,
Gordon

And don't forget the edit to the manual re: break-in period. If I remember right they added a sticker over top of the old guidelines to say specifically to stay under 7000rpm for the break-in miles.

Parsons

well, let's also not forget that Japanese like to measure horsepower with the German metric of ps.

see this awesome old thread for details:

http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2335

basically, 250ps (German horsepower) is nearly spot on 247bhp (regular horsepower)... it's not really changed at all.