Can someone explain to me the differences between the two types of RX-7s? Are they by model year or NA vs. Turbo?

Read on grasshopper and you shall learn the zen of the RX-7.

The link leads to a thread from the RX7club.com 1st Generation forum that is aptly titled: "FB, FC, F-Me, I'm confused"

link (http://www.rx7club.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=164273&highlight=fme)

This link (http://members.ij.net/mrmazda/cfaqmenu.html#FCF) leads to the Rotary Engine FAQ, a damned informative piece of writing.

Also, this link (http://www.monito.com/wankel/) leads to a site dedicated to Felix Wankel, the inventor of the Rotary Engine that Mazda uses in their RX sportscars.

That link is very informative, but........
For those that want the "quick and dirty" explanation......

1st gen. (1978/79 - 1985) ALL NA coupe (12a or 13b engine)

2nd gen. (1986-1991) the "FC" NA coupe/ragtop or TURBO coupe (13b)

3rd gen. (1993-1995) the "FD" ALL TWIN TURBO coupe (13b-REW)

Production of the FD ended 8/2002 in Japan.

Is there a code or model name for the new RX-8s?

It actually comes from a section of the VIN (The 1st gen. RX7s were "FB"s BTW). The two different generations of Miatas are "NA" and "NB".

That particular section of the VIN on the RX8 is FE. Whether it'll stick or not has yet to be seen.

---jps

S(something) in Japan, FE for the North America spec cars.

Originally posted by Sputnik
(The 1st gen. RX7s were "FB"s BTW).
---jps

they were both SA's and FB's through production, as per SA22C's username.

Originally posted by wakeech
S(something) in Japan, FE for the North America spec cars.

SE3P.

Originally posted by wakeech
they were both SA's and FB's through production, as per SA22C's username. True. But they are commonly (while maybe not correctly) referred to as "FBs", regardless of whether they have "FB" or "SA".

---jps

Originally posted by Sputnik
It actually comes from a section of the VIN (The 1st gen. RX7s were "FB"s BTW). The two different generations of Miatas are "NA" and "NB".

That particular section of the VIN on the RX8 is FE. Whether it'll stick or not has yet to be seen.

---jps

It probably won't "stick" yet because there is no need for the distinction due to the fact that this is the first generation, let alone, the first year of production for the RX8.

That mrmazda faq link is phenomenal. Thanks - I am about halfway through it after an hour (currently sidetracked on engine oil info).

For whatever reason, the Japanese *love* to refer to cars via code numbers/letters, ie the chassis code. Knowing the chassis and engine codes is VERY handy to have when browsing through Japanese literature and the like (such as Option magazines) and Japanese instruction manuals.

For example, it's common to see an ad for some car part (exhaust, suspension) with an application list for that part that just has a matrix of chassis/engine codes - they many times don't list the car's name.

On top of that, cars are typically updated during the production run. For example, the 2nd generation RX-7 was made from '86-91, with a minor change in '89 that was basically a facelift to freshen the lineup - a little more power, newer looks, etc. Japanese refer to the early cars as "zenki", and the later cars as "kouki". It's also referred to as "MC" for minor change. Some cars undergo three revisions - in that case, the middle revision is called "chiyouki" (I think that's the English spelling).

Anyhow, SE3P is a good thing to know :). Just doing a search for it in Google turns up a bunch of Japanese websites talking about the RX-8.

Dale