Best quote: "I’m so excited right now, my brain just blew its own apex seals. "

Makes me LOL and smh at the same time...

 

This is what was going through my head when I bought my 8, 10 years ago................. LOL

 

I'm betting sub 250hp. 200-220hp and 2,500lbs is what I think it will be at. Power to weight is about right with Mazda, weight gain on the ND chassis is about right, and there are numerous other logical, financial, and public image reasons I could see Mazda doing it (public image meaning long term, not the "go crazy over magzines" image bits)

They made the ND significantly faster than the NC despite a "loss" of 12hp, between both weight reduction and significantly better torque throughout more of the rev range. A 16x dimensioned engine will have much more of that missing torque. Couple with a much lower weight car ... I'd bet at 220hp 2,500lbs, it would be faster than a stock FD. Noticeably faster.

 

I'm betting over 250.

 

If you could fit in my MSM, you could see what a higher torque same whp as the 8, 2500lb car feels like.... :D

Some of the PA guys can attest to how much faster than even a Pettit S/C 8 it was at ~170whp untuned.

 

that's not the point here.

 

I just don't see Mazda releasing a car that is substantially faster than any production car they have ever made. Considering the numerous financial reasons for not going with a car that fast (R+D, warranty, shared parts, MSRP, etc...), it's got a lot of significance in my mind. Yeah, more power is possible to still be at a similar speed, but you would also have to increase the weight of the ND's chassis substantially, and that is also contrary to Mazda's corporate direction. A weight increase from a likely slight stretch (10 inches or less) makes sense, but nothing huge.

 

170WHP Miata was faster than a Pettit SC RX-8? Was it running on one rotor?

 

Rumor is it will be a touring car like the original Cosmo, not a sports car. Think 928 vs. 911.

My bet is sub-250 HP, 2900 lb, over $40k.

Of course, it will be years before we can see who was right because we are at least 3 years from production and hard-fact specs.

 

I don't know what the 8 dynoed at, but yeah, it wasn't really even a contest. I just kept walking away from him.

 

No, it had four people in it.

 

if it was tuned by Pettit, it probably was running on 1 rotor.

 

We can trust rumor!



Mazda's quote:
"It is a two-door, two-seater. It is a pure sports car design. We have MX-5 and another icon is a rotary sports car. We haven't talked about market reach but this would be in that segment."

So no, i think those rumors aren't really valid.


For sure. The ND's specs weren't released until 2 months(?) before they started shipping for sales. I'd bet we won't know the specs until after the full car is already well underway on production.

 

By a guy named Jeff.... if that makes it better ... or worse.

 

Less than two hours folks...

 

Also, is this sorta opening press conference thing gonna be in English? A lot of Japanese in the screen for UStream and it is the Tokyo Motor Show after all.

 

If it's any evidence at how not-dead the rotary is, despite people calling for it to die for so long ...

It's the #1 trending story on Facebook right now.

 

Fraudbook is not an indicator of anything meaningful...

.

 

It's an indicator of how many people are talking about something.

But maybe they are all moaning and complaining that something they will never drive is still around to plague their closet fetish dreams.

 

Now you guys have got me all worked up about this...

 

today is the day Prius drivers have been fearing for YEARS.


maybe that's why it's trending so high??? Those guys can bitch and complain like no other.

 

I'm going to go with 250+ hp. I'm just struggling to see a market for low weight, low horsepower vehicle that's priced $10K more than a BRZ or thereabouts. This is 'Merica, where bigger is, well, not always better but a marketing point - I mean, how else can one explain the entire Hellcat phenomenon? I don't think a new rotary needs to be significantly more than the prior in terms of output, but imo there's absolutely no way Mazda shows up to this event with something less than the previous, either.

 

you should be worked up; this announcement will be historic.

 

You forget that Mazda has produced rotary cars in Japan for both of the last 2 generations and not made them available in other countries.

Mazda "cares" about the US's power and weight pursuit, but not enough to base the entire car on that.

Not sure where you got $10k more than a BRZ though. If it is 200-220hp, 2,500lbs, it would probably be starting at a similar price point to the BRZ, or 25-26k I'd expect. 10k higher for a GT trim makes sense, that is standard for Mazda, but compare similar trims, not one top trim and one base trim.

And there will always be a market for competing vehicles. Competition is healthy. Such a car would also beat the BRZ silly in performance. The RX-8 already beats it, though not by much.

 

well now I'm pulling my friends into this too