MazdaSpeed RX-8 Info
#1
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Mazdaspeed RX-8 pics
Hello everyone! I foud 2 new pictures of the Mazdaspeed RX-8 on a Japaneese site. It looks slightly different from the one at TAS.
Notice the front splitter. The wings on the side is gone, looks much better this way:
Notice the front splitter. The wings on the side is gone, looks much better this way:
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Here's a view from the back. The wheels is different on this car as well. Looks like 18" and maybe magnesium(?):
Last edited by xeos; 01-12-2003 at 02:43 PM.
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Yeah I wondered if they would take those splitter wings off because it looked kind of ricey with them. I suppose that would also help considerably with ground clearance so you dont scrape it on speed bumps etc.
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This is the problem with this type of car. You want the performance options, but you need practicality as well. So really, what are you to do? Buy two cars. A Yugo, and a Hyundai Tiberon :o
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Originally posted by Quick_lude
I thought Magnesium wheels were an option for a "lightweight" version of a corvette once? Expensive though...
I thought Magnesium wheels were an option for a "lightweight" version of a corvette once? Expensive though...
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Originally posted by tribal azn
mag. wheels r the lightest, therefore the best for performance
mag. wheels r the lightest, therefore the best for performance
---jps
#19
What are the chances?
Im not to familiar with how the mazda speed thing works, but is it actually a car that your able to buy through a dealership or are you going to have to add it all on after you buy it. And is all this more of something not found in the U.S. but just in japan
#20
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Here is a link to Mazda's Mazdaspeed info page.
You could always buy Mazdaspeed parts from the Mazdaspeed catalog, but the Mazdaspeed Protegé is the first badged car from Mazda under this new program. We expect to see more Mazdaspeed badged cars including the RX-8. I hope they do a Miata too.
MAZDASPEED® was originally established in 1967 under the team name "Mazda Sports Corner" at Mazda Auto Tokyo, Japan's largest Mazda dealer. The goal of the innovative team was to succeed in establishing a Mazda presence at major motorsports events worldwide and they found success quickly. During the next 15 years, hardcore Mazda racers campaigned almost every Mazda model, from the famed Cosmo 110S sports cars to RX-7s, at every road racing circuit from Japan to the U.S. In 1983, Mazda Motor Corporation brought the MAZDASPEED team from Tokyo to the company's corporate headquarters in Hiroshima to help drive Mazda's factory racing ambitions.
Under the Mazda umbrella, MAZDASPEED continued to receive extraordinary recognition for its amazing on-track performance and its many victories around the globe. In 1999, Mazda Motor Corporation took full control of MAZDASPEED.
Today, MAZDASPEED prepares to roar to new success in North America with the introduction of the 2003 MAZDASPEED Protegé, the first of a new breed of vehicles with the power, style and performance to earn the name MAZDASPEED.
Under the Mazda umbrella, MAZDASPEED continued to receive extraordinary recognition for its amazing on-track performance and its many victories around the globe. In 1999, Mazda Motor Corporation took full control of MAZDASPEED.
Today, MAZDASPEED prepares to roar to new success in North America with the introduction of the 2003 MAZDASPEED Protegé, the first of a new breed of vehicles with the power, style and performance to earn the name MAZDASPEED.
Last edited by Styjan; 01-21-2003 at 11:50 AM.
#21
my old man used to have 5 piece magnesium wheels on his lex, crazy guy
MAZDASPEED 8 looks CRIMINAL!!!!!!!!! mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
________
STEFANO DOMENICALI
MAZDASPEED 8 looks CRIMINAL!!!!!!!!! mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
________
STEFANO DOMENICALI
Last edited by P00Man; 04-16-2011 at 04:20 PM.
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some more pics http://www.3rotor.com/featurerx8widebody.htm
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Mazdaspeed concept info in Automobile Mag
Did anyone else catch the quick blurb on page 22 of the April edition of Automobile regarding the Mazdaspeed RX-8 concept shown at the Tokyo Auto Salon?
MAXIMIUM MAZDA RX-8
"At January's Tokyo Auto Salon, effectively Japan's high-voltage answer to the SEMA show in Las Vegas, Mazda unveiled two special RX-8s: one sportified by Mazdaspeed, the other set for a starring role in the X-Men 2 film. Four months ahead of its on-sale date in Japan (U.S. sales begin in June), the RX-8 looked decidedly cool in Mazdaspeed trim (below), which brings a macho aero body kit plus stiffer suspension and trick brake and exhaust-system tuning. The cabin is also tweaked with carbon fiber composite parts. The RX-8's Renesis rotary engine gains a lightened flywheel for sharper response. Officially, this is just a concept; if the demand is there, however, Mazda will surely okay it for production, but not any time soon.
The X-Men 2 RX-8, also shown at January's Los Angeles auto show, gets new--and, dare we say, improved--front-end styling, a wild-looking rear wing, unique wheels, and a delicious deep-blue color scheme. The car shown above is the very one that stars in the movie. --Peter Nunn"
I wonder what "trick brake and exhaust-system tuning" they did?
I would have assumed the flywheel in the RX-8 was already pretty light, but apparently there's still some room for improvement.
~Robert
MAXIMIUM MAZDA RX-8
"At January's Tokyo Auto Salon, effectively Japan's high-voltage answer to the SEMA show in Las Vegas, Mazda unveiled two special RX-8s: one sportified by Mazdaspeed, the other set for a starring role in the X-Men 2 film. Four months ahead of its on-sale date in Japan (U.S. sales begin in June), the RX-8 looked decidedly cool in Mazdaspeed trim (below), which brings a macho aero body kit plus stiffer suspension and trick brake and exhaust-system tuning. The cabin is also tweaked with carbon fiber composite parts. The RX-8's Renesis rotary engine gains a lightened flywheel for sharper response. Officially, this is just a concept; if the demand is there, however, Mazda will surely okay it for production, but not any time soon.
The X-Men 2 RX-8, also shown at January's Los Angeles auto show, gets new--and, dare we say, improved--front-end styling, a wild-looking rear wing, unique wheels, and a delicious deep-blue color scheme. The car shown above is the very one that stars in the movie. --Peter Nunn"
I wonder what "trick brake and exhaust-system tuning" they did?
I would have assumed the flywheel in the RX-8 was already pretty light, but apparently there's still some room for improvement.
~Robert
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a couple of things... notice how they used the word "tweak" when talking about using carbon fibre panels in the interior?? this, to me, screams "import" magazine, although yes, i know it's Automobile that doesn't mean that they wouldn't hire someone to write these kinds of articles to seem "cool" to the "younger generation" (ie. "me").
so, realistically, the exhaust "tuning" could have been the different muffler and tips (or same muffler and tips, i dunno) they fitted on the back of this car, and the only real changes made were to the suspension (not too hard to do anyways), the brakes (which again, could have been wholly cosmetic like the exhaust), and the lighter flywheel (it doesn't say how much though).
and just as a note: a lighter flywheel isn't universally better. all it does is reduce (in a small way) driveline mass, and (in a big way) reduce rotational mass (and thus inertia) in the engine allowing it to change its speed more quickly. at a point, that makes the car harder to drive, and makes it much harder to launch (in a zippy engine like the RENESIS) when you haven't as much inertia in the engine, making it easier to stall when engaging the clutch.
of course, most of the enthusiast guys (and gals too) on this site probably are more than capable of handeling a lighter flywheel, but i'm just saying, not universally better.
so, realistically, the exhaust "tuning" could have been the different muffler and tips (or same muffler and tips, i dunno) they fitted on the back of this car, and the only real changes made were to the suspension (not too hard to do anyways), the brakes (which again, could have been wholly cosmetic like the exhaust), and the lighter flywheel (it doesn't say how much though).
and just as a note: a lighter flywheel isn't universally better. all it does is reduce (in a small way) driveline mass, and (in a big way) reduce rotational mass (and thus inertia) in the engine allowing it to change its speed more quickly. at a point, that makes the car harder to drive, and makes it much harder to launch (in a zippy engine like the RENESIS) when you haven't as much inertia in the engine, making it easier to stall when engaging the clutch.
of course, most of the enthusiast guys (and gals too) on this site probably are more than capable of handeling a lighter flywheel, but i'm just saying, not universally better.