bascho

Do you have a different exhaust system? or were you referring engine sound and not exhaust note?

stock exhaust and before and after revi

bascho

I'll agree with that

Renesis_8

I dont think it is in Mazda's plans to advertise this car. They know it'll be a low volumn seller, they know the public dont know what a rotary is, but do Mazda really care, I dont think so. No evidence, but I dont think the RX-8 is anywhere near the bottom threshold for Mazda to axe it. Also we have to look at sales globally, not just the US.

I remember looking at past threads on how well Mazda is doing in other European countries that loves good handling cars. Its doing poor in the US mostly because of the lack of power, we all know, Mazda knows. But thats something Mazda cant change, and probably wont change for now. And there isnt really a reason for Mazda to put more power on the RX-8.

In most parts of the world, it is very hard to utilize all of the 232hp the RX-8 has, we think the 8 is slow because of the open roads we have in north america. North Americans have an extra emphasis on Hp just because of this. In other countries I dont think you'll see stop light to stop light drag racing as much as we see it here.

Perhaps we shouldnt look at just this single car in Mazda's line up. I believe the 8 has done positive things for other cars in the lineup. Mazda is by far the most creative car manufacturers that are around now, and they are willing to take risks for a company their size.

To me, Mazda is making the smart move in testing/cracking other market segments, just like the 4 door 4 seat sports "coupe" RX-8. If they released the RX-8 as a two-seater, they might really be thinking of axe-ing it due to low sales RIGHt now! No way it'd be a competiton to 350Z, G35 and S2000.

They are taking the time to learn this car, everything is new on this car, platform, engine, even the gas tank is weird man. They expected the 1st gen RX-8 to have a lot of bugs, as comsumers we should expect that too, but nonetheless they are taking their time to solve it. We just cant expect it to be like ie 350z, where engine and platform are shared, it is going to have less bugs.

With this said, I believe the 2nd gen RX-8 will be a hit, with improved HP and gas mileage, and retains everything positive the current gen RX-8 have.

Also the note that is Mazda is rolling out new cars like crazy, after the launch of the RX-8, mazda rolled/will be coming out with the new MX-5, Mazdaspeed6, Mazdaspeed3, CX-7, CX-9, Mazda 5, hey maybe the Kabura too? i m sure they'll have a small car like Honda Fit coming, Mazda2?. Mazda3 and 6 are due for redesign too.

Its hard for MANO to manage resources with so many new models, makes no sense to spend limited resource on advertising on a limited volumn seller.

P.S. I dont know if its just me, but recently been to Autoshow and my friend pointed the rotary engine to me on the RX-8. I was amazed at that. He drives a Mazda 3, and by no means a gear-head nor rotary enthuiest. Probably brand loyalty led him to the research of other cars in the lineup? But one thing I am sure is that more and more people would know about rotaries when more of them walk into a Mazda dealership, thru salesman, etc, etc. (he was shocked at the 10k rpm redline =D)

Sorry for the long post guys =/ felt like i just typed an essay
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Glass Pipe

msrecant

Did I miss a product announcement?

bascho

that sounds magical...........and totally BS.

Renesis_8

No, you did not, notice "i believe", i believe it'll come =D, I really dont think they'd make a "Renesis - rotary genesis, aka rebirth" and then axe it after one generation

perhaps i should change it to

With this said, I believe if the 2nd gen RX-8 ever come, it will be a hit, with improved HP and gas mileage, and retains everything positive the current gen RX-8 have.
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VAPORIZER WIKI

Ericok

They made a big improvement in 2006: they gave you 8% more HP on the AT with a slight INCREASE in mileage.

bascho

You should change it to, "I WISH the 2nd Gen......." or "I PRAY the 2nd Gen......"

zoom44

there was a japanese engineer at 7stock who is working on the tranny for the next gen 8

msrecant

If they are delivering a rev limited 6-port engine then, no, they are not making a big improvement in 2006: they give you 8.6% LESS HP from the high-power engine with a slight increase in mileage. Not exactly a technological miracle.

zoom44

its an improvemnt because before they could not put the ATs they had in the hi-power at all. now they can. as a result they have an AT with higher power output than before . thats a big improvement. this version gets 1 more mpg on the highway than its MT counter part thats an improvement. all that means more sales for the auto's.

bascho

Which will be good for Mazda since A/T vehicles sell better in the US. We'll see if that rule holds true for the RX8. Any predictions for 2006 total sales?

khtm

Who the hell cares about AT anyways? Seriously.

At least half the people that defend them on this site are people that don't know how to drive standard, and the others are lazy asshats that drive, drink coffee, talk on a cell phone, and cause accidents.

</rant>

msrecant

Agreed that this is a plus for the salesman and the customer. However, it is not a sign that RENESIS technology is moving forward.

Renesis_8

With the current Renesis, its probably at its max while meeting emission. For more HP, Mazda would probably have to open it up and change things inside, that'd be too much $$ for a model year change
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California medical marijuana

zoom44

every car company that wants to sell cars in the USA.

Go48

I think we should put this in historical perspective:

First gen RX-7=MY 1979-1985
Second gen RX-7=MY 1986-1991
Third gen RX-7=MY 1993-1995 (JDM version continued for several more years)

If Mazda follows the same pattern, this would seem to suggests that a major model change should not be expected before about 2009/2010. Regardless, I suspect that we will have to go through 3-4 more years of an annual thread entitled: Why the hell is Mazda not making major upgrades to the RX-8? Sigh.

khtm

Exactly. That's why it's so disgusting.

Ericok

Assuming the 2006 AT engine is a 6 port, this means Mazda only has to produce one engine configuration. That should help their costs tremendously on what is essentially a low volume car. My take on production is that since Mazda can't keep up with demand for the 3 and 6, RX8 production was sacrificed for those models. That's why you don't see any TV or print ads - they didn't NEED to increase demand.

zoom44

no it doesnt- they still make the 4 port with 4AT and 5MT for japan and other markets.

SSJ 909

imo if they increase the mpg by at the very least 5 more mpg. Give a lil more boost in the low end take off, and make sure the car doesnt flood along with some actual marketing. the car will see some great improvements in numbers.
Honestly aside from the media buzz of when it was first introduced.
I cant remember any commericals or advertisments for the rx8 anywhere in NY.
I had to do some searching just to find this site, and this is where I can get my rx8 news and research from.

The comment about the rotary. Yes its true people for the most part dont know ****. But if u tell them it gets decent fuel, has good pick up & as long as the dealer covers it under warranty for 3-5 years most people wont give a **** whats under the hood.
Marketing and quality folks!

cjkim

5 more mpg!? that's quite an achievement :]

Krankor

You quote me and attack without remotely responding to what I was talking about. I never said a word about your "core issues". Please search all my posts I've ever posted here and find even one which has me bitching about any of those issues. Don't dis me and then go on about things other people were talking about.

What I said was that they never advertised it enough or properly, never educated the massively ignorant public on why it's such a cool car. And the result is that sales are less than what they could have been. And so I assert that they seem to have lost interest in it and moved on, and this "ridiculous" conclusion for which you chide me came from "extremely limited information" significantly provided by: YOU.
Does this sound like a company that's fervently interested in this car? Or one that is more concerned with with Mazda3s and CX-7s? Add to that that they did such a poor job explaining what their plans for the 06 were and when it was coming out that we had a lot of people here speculating that there wasn't even going to be one. They don't advertise it, they don't do even token cosmetic changes on it, they just don't seem very interested in the car, from all available evidence. If you are sitting on secret info about how they really do care about this car, please share. But don't put me down for drawing reasonable conclusions from available evidence.

zoom44

first i didnt attack you, sorry that you felt i did. i knew i should have written "not directed at you specifically, krankor" i used your post as an example of the idea i had seen several people talk about that "mazda doesnt care about the 8". i just dont understand that pov. of curse they have to pay alot of attention to their bread and butter vehicles-it just doesnt mean they have forgotten the 8. its not meant as a "dis " to you.

i totally agree with this

just not the conclusion.

they didnt do anything to explain the lateness of 06 model. they didnt talk to the press at all and i didnt see any press ask them the question. they didnt see it as a big deal with stock available. it shows it wasnt their #1 priority but not that they dont care. if they didnt care they wouldnt bother with the AT updates.

the "core issues" was a statement made by some one else

SSJ 909

lol whats so hard about getting the rx8 around 26 mpg?
Based on how I have read its specs it should be in the 30's.
Doesnt have the bulk of a piston engine and is more properly balanced.
So what gives?

that should have been mazdas angle with the car from day 1 imo.
Nothing on the road really looks like it (which is a cool look) aside from maybe the s2000. It seats 4 pretty comfortably. its a pleasure to drive. So why not have waited another year to give it good mpg, no flooding, and maybe a lil more on the take off. That combined with a good marketing plan I think would have had soo many more people lining up to buy it.