Best RX-8 Article Ever! (IMO) Great Article
 

It's a PDF file, so you will need Adobe Acrobat.

The file is 2.6MB and 5 pages.

I suggest you download, save it and then read it. It's faster and the quality is better than reading it through your browser.


http://mysite.verizon.net/romano.michael/Review.pdf


BTW - If you wanted to get this article from AEI, it's $12.00!

I love AEI articles. I should probably re-subscribe - one of the best side benefits of SAE national membership....

For those not in the know - AEI = Automotive Engineering International

Very interesting! The author is Jack Yamaguchi, who authored the gift book that you guys in the US received. Since I don't have that book :( , I don't know if the info in the article is old news, but there was a couple of tidbits that I hadn't read before:

- the High-power engine, along with the extra ports and intake path, has 3 fuel injectors per rotor rather than the 2 injectors per rotor that are in the lo-power (auto trans version here) engine.

- the Aisin 6 speed trans isn't identical to the Miata 6 speed trans as previously suggested, but is a high-torque version with triple cone synchronizers on the first 3 gears, not just the first 2 as in the Miata version.

Regards,
Gordon

Boozehound re-up. It's $80 a year now if you re-up on line.

www.sae.org

AEI has become a great car magazine now. Great writing, great subjects and it spans from industry marketing and economics to very detailed technical write-ups.

Anyone interested in the automotive industry from an "insiders" view and especially technical aspects should join.

One thing, AEI is usually a little late with stories (like the RX) because they do in-depth long articles AND they get their facts right the first time. However, they cover subjects that you will never see in Car and Driver or elsewhere. Plus they cover cars worldwide, not just US cars.

And they finally list measurements in both English and SI (metric) units, no need to stop reading to do conversions like before :p

In case anyone was curious here is how many research papers have been written on the Wankel that is in the SAE database alone!

Some of this you have to pay to download, some are free:

http://www.sae.org/servlets/SiteSear...+rotary+engine

are they actually sending the magazine in paper form now? I dropped the membership when they changed to the online magazine... just wasn't the same anymore

No Torsen???
 

Did I read that right.... they decided to go with a Tochigi-Fugi Super Limited Slip diff rather then the Torsen? Was that just a mistake, old info, or has ALL of the info suggesting a Torsen diff just wrong???

Re: No Torsen???
 

The patents and licensing requirements owned by Zexel, IIRC, for the Torsen® expired - for the 2003 model year, Mazda switched from the Torsen to a "very similar" toroidal gear driven torque sensitive differential manufactured by Tochigi-Fuji for the Miata LSD, and is using a similar unit for the RX-8. It's a Torsen in all but name.

Regards,
Gordon

Great article. Thanks a lot RomanoM.

That was one of the most technically in depth write ups I have seen about the RX8. A great read for everyone.

Gord96BRG - we got the book in the UK. I didnt realise that it was the same author until I read your post - so when I read the article I thought someone's just ripped off the book! It's direct extracts - diagrams, text etc. Not that that means it's bad - I read the book cover to cover and enjoyed every minute :)

Great article but error in first paragraph. Last RX-7 was August 2002 not 2003

Kevin

I don't know, just asking. But I thought in Japan the RX-7 was going until next month???

http://www.can-get.com (Japanese equivalent of autotrader) has a bunch of listings for brand new 2003 model year RX-7s, so I guess you can still get a new one...