ccd

While we wait, I thought it might be fun to hear thoughts on when we will get some hard info from Mazda itself. Here is my guess. Given what we have heard about 16x development woes, I wouldn't even hazard a guess as to when we will hear anything about the next gen RX-7.

As for the current RX-8, my guess is that we will hear something no sooner than the Geneva Auto Show in March. Maybe just prior to that show. My further guess is that the announcement will tell us that the 2010 model year is the last one for the RX-8 with no comment as to when the RX-7 will appear.

My last guess is that the further we get into 2010 without any press release, the more likely 2010 will be the last model year for the RX-8. There will be no RX car for 2011. The earliest possible date for the next gen RX-7 will be 2013 model year.

SayNoToPistons

iTrader: (8)

I highly doubt 2010 will be the last year for the RX8 when when the series II was just released as a 2009 model in the US. It is unlikely for the S2 to have a two year run. 2011 as the last model year for the RX8 is more likely.

bose

iTrader: (5)

I personally think that Mazda will release the Mazdaspeed RX789. With the 16x on December 12, 2012. Shortly thereafter the world will end. It's true the Myans predicted this.

Rosko350z

Obviously, this is only speculation. Nobody who posts here has any real legitimate info.

I think they will announce something solid in 2011 at the North American International Auto Show. I don't think it will be called RX7. It will be RX9. IF they do call it RX7, it will just be for marketing purposes. Don't expect a turbo. Don't expect a huge increase in power. Don't expect a two-seater. If that's what you are expecting, you should start searching autotrader right now for your 16-year-old FD RX7.

RK

iTrader: (1)

What announcement?

Uninformed guess is that Mazda introduces a 16x 2-door RX7 and follows up in a couple years with a 4-door RX-8 variant using the same engine but aimed at the same sporty but practical market that the 8 was geared towards.

No reason to create a 'new' numbered RX unless it's fundamentally different from something they already have a decent base to build on (3 rotor, Supercharged, etc.)

8 Maniac

iTrader: (1)

Unless they want to avoid having it compared/connected to that to uphold the RX-7 name. Mazda would have to be absolutely sure about how people would receive the car. If the car was a flop, it would be what people thing of when they hear that name. It would have to be a lot more successful than the 8 for them to consider using the RX-7 name.

Honestly, if they use the RX-7 name, it has to meet higher expectations than what an RX-7 successor would have needed in the past. Over time I think the 7 gets higher recognition than it did at the time. I think if people hear that mazda is putting out another 7, they're going to expect an amazing car, and anything less is a letdown.

I think there is plenty of reason to create anew numbered RX.

zoom44

Actually several people on this board do have real legitimate info- maybe not currently but when we have it to share we do.

ASH8

Yes, but it will still have the S2 13B Renesis..

16X Will NOT Happen..uses more gas.

Not replying to you Charlie...

RK

iTrader: (1)

I don't think Mazda is going to put out anything that is short of amazing. Remember a big reason why they went to the RX-8 was to try to persuade car lovers that the rotary engine was more reliable than the perception in the auto world. And even with the engine issues in the early Renesis I feel like they've managed to cut into that perception of the rotary being an unreliable, oil eating engine.

Going back to the RX-7 should help the recapture the nostalgia of the 2-door rotary. But if they never plan on going FI on a production rotary then you might be right and they might completely abandon it.

Still think RX-9 is being saved for a FI 3-rotor... or a Minivan.

Mazmart

iTrader: (12)

Not really .

Paul .

MattMPS

in my opinion the plans about a 16x engine like we have see in tokyo 07 are under major revision.

I still bet (but just a couple of bucks ) about a coupling of Wankel with some hybrid system.

Honda is working on it (a V6+IMA sports car) and Nissan is rumored to do this for next-gen GTR.

8 Maniac

iTrader: (1)

Or the sedan that they made and sold a while before the 8

ccd

I like Bose's prediction the best! Got a good laugh out of that one. More seriously, the questions about the reliability of the wankel persist. I hang out at several other auto forums and any discussion of the RX-8 brings numerous comments about the engine being unreliable. The comments are invariably by people who have never owned the car, but perception, whether based on reality or not, can still sink a car.

SayNoToPistons made a comment that raises an interesting question. The S2 was introduced in '09 along with a mild refresh of the car. There were essentially no changes in '10. If the RX-8 continues into the '11 model year, what changes might Mazda make for '11??? My guess is that a mild hp bump would be possible, like up to 250 hp. I was surprised Mazda didn't do that with the '09 refresh.

Kafka

try to bump to 250hp for us with the SII engine then....even in race trip the SI is about 220rwhp?

Are you saying with all the crap on for the road car it can be 220rwhp? With legitc cats and noise restriction?

Highly doubtful...

zoom44

well yeah you're stingy

Mazmart

iTrader: (12)

Hey, I resemble that remark

Paul

arghx7

I thought 2011 has new crash standards and the '8 won't be able to meet them in current form?

And there is precedent for a two year series. Series 3 Rx-7 was only 84-85 model years, and these were the first years of the fuel injected 6 port 13B.

tibyABv6

not only Myans...may others predicted as well .... they had long documentary about .... all point to big natural detester around December 2012 (due to gravity shift? when milky way, sun and earth will be perfectly aligned)

Probably big tidal wave ... if moon shifts ocean then grater gravity alteration can cause grate changes

User24

iTrader: (1)

Every single year was supposed to be the "last year".

People just keep repeating it year after year until finally it comes true.

cfm251

iTrader: (3)

I think the pure awesomeness of the 16X will cause the world to end.

Drumm09

I have to agree with ccd that 2010 will be the last YM for our beloved RX8, based on current reviews and sales of the car. Maybe, and I do mean maaaaaaybe, we will see a 2011 YM as a bridge into the new RX car for 2012. Whatever that RX car would be that is... (rx8, rx7, rx9, rx-something)

r0tor

iTrader: (1)

That would lead to the same sales flop this car became.... creating a completely practical car with a completely unpractical (for most) engine

ssspeedfreak

iTrader: (1)

Mazda can't afford to show a new engine and say it won't work. People in the automotive industry have said that about this engine from the beginning. They need to make it work and work with DI to help with power and lower the possibility of detonation. Most likely they could hit the 280hp mark be safer and run cooler. If they use a transmission with the electric drive built into it like the ones in american trucks it would help emissions, fuel consumption, power down low and could be labeled a sports hybrid.

ccd

Let me follow up on Drumm09's comments (and my own). If the RX-8 is offered in the 2011 model year and no changes are to be made to the S2 engine, then what do you offer the public? The same criticisms of the car for lack of reliability, torque, hp, and gas mileage remain unaddressed. Mazda eliminated the Touring Model so there is only the Sport, GT and R3. Colors have been limited as well. I know the R3 is now only available in red or blue. Sales of the car are awful and without significant changes, will likely only grow worse. So do you soldier on into 2011 with nothing changed for the second year in a row and take whatever sales you can get or do you cut your losses and not offer a RX until you have something new to offer???

If I were a product planning manager at Mazda, this would be close to a no-brainer: 2010 would be the last year for the current RX car. The only way I would continue the RX into the 2011 model year, assuming the 16x is not ready for prime time, is with an entirely redesigned RX that is significantly lighter than the current model. With the current S2 engine, there really is no other option.

Blackout04RX

i know that in a rotary fan club site this will sound like sacrilage, but there is no way mazda should put the 7 name on the car unless it is 2 seated, and has a turbo. I know everyone comments about how the 16x will be better then the renesis, and it will. But that engine, sad to say folks, is going to fail epicly when put against the others in its class. I think even the Genesis turbo 4banger will beat it. Let alone the likes of the VQ series engine, which btw judging by the two that are sitting in my driveway right now, pretty much set the benchmark for perfomance under 8 cylinders. Purely from a marketing standpoint, it would be a mistake of huge proportions to make a sports car, give it the name of a recognized great car, and then make it lose. No matter how much you love rotaries, you cant keep a company afloat on the hardcore fans. Thats like Porsche building a new 911, giving it 220hp, and then pricing it and racing it against the likes of a lotus, bmw, or mercedes. Fail anyone?