Frankenguy

...and you got this info from where?

NAVILESRX8

iTrader: (1)

I remeber when I 1st drove a Miata. Back when I had the 1st gen. I swear the miata was a closer successor to the 1st gen RX7 than the FC was. Obviously it was a convertible, and piston powered, but sitting in it, all the controls seemed the same as the 1st gen rx7. The position of the window swithces, the similar snick snick shifter, overall size of the cockpit, the size of the car, it just seemed like if just had a hard top, and that DEI 13B, it would have been a worthy succesor to the 1st gen. Even the lights look the same when they are up and on. Then in 94 when that yellow coupe Miata concept car was made, it matched my vision of what the 1st gen would have looked like in modern times...perfect. So to me, the fact that the Miata was never rotary powered was a bummer...kinda turned me off from them. I never owned a piston engined Mazda, and I don't really plan on it...

LeMans1991

From what I understand via a District Operations Manager here in California ( who reports directly to Mazda of North America ), Mazda is working hard on a MazdaSpeed version of the RX-8 which will come with a turbo-charger at the end of this year, or early next.

My guess is that this car will be debuted at the NAIAS in Detroit in January 2005.

Just a guess.

LeMans1991

In the post above, I meant to say that the MazdaSpeed RX-8 will come with a "supercharger" and not merely a turbocharger that runs off of exaust gases. Hopefully, this will indeed happen and there won't be any turbo lag either with the "supercharger".

Since BMW has the "M" series, and Mercedes has the "AMG" series, and Audi now has the "S" series, it is only natural that Mazda will want to increase its "branding" via the MazdaSpeed series.

RodsterinFL

Hey Mental Pimp...............

I traded in my 2001 Millenia S for the RX8. The Millennia S was an excellent car for the money. The 2001 redesign was major enough for it to be included in the running for a magazine's car pick; however, it is true that the core design was aging. It is my opinion though that the car was the best looker in its class. The Miller engine is great - 3 years on Wards list. The only thing I noticed that held the car back was the tranny. It sucked so much power away from the engine. Sometimes the car would accelerate on a kick-down like a jack-rabbit and other times it would lag and have a delayed response. It was not an engine thing but a gear issue. I also noticed that the car take-off from a stand still had a delay built-in. Most likely to protect drive compenents from "snappy" take-off. The car was a fantastic cruiser though. Gas mileage was only about 1-2 mpg better than the RX though (for me) Someone at the dealership bought my Millennia S. Ah, Pearl white 2 tone, chrome wheels, beautiful car!

The Amanti or Amati (one of those) line was to be Millennia's home as the entry level car (ES300-like) and again IMO it was every bit as good as the ES (I drove one of those for 3 years)

The problem was that the Millennia had no advertisement and was priced wrong. Mine had a sticker of $32K but I bought it for $26 w/chrome wheels - an S model! Try picking up an ES or an Infiniti I 30 for that money.

SuPerHerO::tOnY

gah!

just have a rx-9, 2 and 4 seater. jeez stop all this crap. someone from mazda board go fight for the community. have an engine near 300 or more with two models. a 2 seater and a 4 seater. this way all that talk and crap would be stopped. and rotaries will own the pistons!

RodsterinFL

SuPerHerO::tOnY,

you are right there bud. Up some power - er uh, torque.

I hope that Mazda continues to be aggressive in the R&D of the RX8 and keep it current in the performance aspect. One thing that is different today than 10 years ago is that companies move much faster to be competitive. I truly believe the RX8 was one of a few cars to make it from proto to production that started the creative competitive juices flowing among manufacturers. Already Nissan is revamping the suspension on the 350Z and planning the option of purchase of the fairlady (Z) in the US according to R&T. Although we talk on the forum of how much we all love our rotary RX8's - and we do - marketablility is important.

Zero to 60 in 6.0 seconds is a good figure IMO for a street car like the RX8 but when I read a report that says 7.2 seconds I begin to cringe - wonder how they tested it or what went wrong.

Jercs02

the Rx8 has had more R&D then most the other cars out on the market right now, becuase they were scared to have the same mistake twice...

super_monkey

i read somewheres that a supercharger would not work on an rx-8... a turbo would be a much better idea. sure there would be a bit of turbo lag, but turbos work much better the higher the rpms, and rx-8s are designed just for those high rpms right?

and as for the 7.2 second figure you saw, i read something in car & driver about how some people were getting that instead of the 5.9 due to the fact that they weren't dumping the clutch at high rpms... just what i heard

s13lover

The hydrogen powered RX-8 concept uses a superchanger already.

super_monkey

yeah my bad i went back and re-read... the article says the supercharger wouldnt work due to emissions, my bad... do you think they will come out with aftermarket superchargers? :D

rx-7~rx-8

The Hydrogen ROtary Engine... features a Electric Turbo...

Car and Driver is very accurate on there future list.

my family owns a volvo c70 coupe... which they stop making... then i read on Car and driver there 10 months ago on future cars...2006 Volvo C50 will be released... and i was skeptical... now i saw real life pics in the Automobile Magazine... and it comming out in 2005 as a 2006 model...


RX-8 2-seater may be in the works... who gives a d@mn what mazda names it... as long as it looks tyte.. and has a rotary in it... with 2 seats... RX-7 is a LEGEND... retire that name....

LeMans1991

I just checked in once again with my local sales manager at the dealer who said that the Mazda Guys stopped by a few days ago from Mazda of North America and all they really talked about was a MazdaSpeed 6 that was slated to come out with 280 horsepower and all-wheel drive in January of 2005. They also said that a Mazdaspeed 3 was coming out as well.

He pumped them a lot about the MazdaSpeed RX-8 ( to the point of wearing them down! ) but they said that it was a year away, and that the factory was looking into all sorts of Rotary Engine technology mods, such as higher displacement, more rotors, supercharger, single turbo, dual turbo, etc. From what he said, they are apparently trying to meet the DOT requirements without using a lot of catalytic converter on the new engine.

He also indicated that horsepower figures would be well up over 300, pushing something like 350!

In any event, it certainly sounds like the MazdaSpeed Division is certainly busy! By the way, Daimler-Chrysler reported late today that they want to sell off Mitsubishi.

T.T.

About the rotary miata thing:

I talked to a Mazda rep at the Washington auto show a while back and they said that a rotary miata was not likely. If they did do it, that seals the fate of the RX-7. A two-seater rotary powered car? Sounds a lot like the RX-7. Bringing back the RX-3 is probably more likely.

RX8_Buckeye

Ford controls the cycle plan for Mazda vehicle programs. Mazda management proposes new projects to Ford management, but ultimately it's Ford's decision to approve or reject the program. With that said, there are only a few hundred people within Ford that know the cycle plan for vehicle programs. The cycle plan document is very secretive, and it when it prints, the owner's name is watermarked across it. You can imagine what happens to someone if he/she loses the document. Unless you are getting your information from a Ford exec or a cycle plan holder, I woudn't trust a word of it.

The other thing is that the media is aware of every planned 2006 model year vehicle that is new or significantly redesigned. By this time, manufacturers have several prototype vehicles built and testing, and a large engineering team working on the project. It is nearly impossible to keep a project of this scale secretive. Therefore, I guarantee there will not be a 2006 successor to the RX-7.

Even IF a successor to the RX-7 is in the cycle plan, it is always subject to change. It is very often the case that products are approved and planned, but get cancelled at the last minute via a high-level decision. For this reason, absolutely no one knows with 100% certainty that this vehicle will or will not go into production.

KC_Prelude

Doesn't a 2007 Rx-7 sound good though? The FD has a rabid following and there is no reason for Mazda not to capitalize on that once the Rx-8 cools off a little. If you will it, it will come.

Lock & Load

RX8- Buckeye

Great information , good to see you have your eye on the ball.

cheers
michael

bwayout

Point in case (as quoted in the May 31, 04 issue of AutoWeek/Flash section pg4) VW's microbus that was introduced back in Detroit 2001 auto show which was suppose to come out in 05 is dead, citing unfavorable exchange rates and the need to make their next minivan a global player... their microbus concept was unique-to-american styling.

AMRAAM4

Unfortunately I have to agree. As much as I want the FD to return so that I may purchase one to go with my '94, I just don't see it happening for 2006. We're talking a shade over a year until 2006 models are going to be released, and the fact there are no spy shots, car show prototypes, insider info, etc. out on the 2006 RX7 tells me it isn't happening. Something of this magnitude would already be in Mazda marketing. Look at the RX8.

Rotarian_SC

There are spy pics supposedly of the new Miata, but people here and the Miata forum decided it probably wasn't a Miata, and likely a RX7. Do a search and you'll find at least one thread about it.

AMRAAM4

I've already seen all these "spy pics" out, none are real and if so were taken late last year. And since then there have been countless auto shows for the 2004 year and still nothing.

Gord96BRG

There actually are car show prototypes for the RX-7 - it was complete and Mazda planned to show it at the 2003 Tokyo Motor Show last fall, but pulled it at the last minute. That just supports the speculation that a new RX-7 is postponed, however.

The spy pics he is referring to are of a white engineering test mule that was photographed in the past month or two testing at the Nurburgring. The car was very real, and wearing a disguise made up of an RX-8 front end and a NB Miata rear section. We didn't necessarily decide it wasn't a Miata, just considered the possibility that it might be the NC Miata testing or it might be testing for a future RX-7 convertible.

Regards,
Gordon

4thGen

Gord I'm not doubting you but do you have any sources on the RX-7 prototypes that weren't shown?

CERAMICSEAL

By the way, a new RX-7 would not be an FD. The FD has a lot of magical qualities including being one of the most gorgeous designs of all time but it doesn't need to return.