NicoRx8

I've heard that Mazda is in the process of developing a new generation RX7 with more power than the 8 and cheaper than previous rx7s.

Anyone know anymore info about this and when it would come out??

guy321

Dunno, but lets keep in mind..

Even if they sold it for $50k today it will still be cheaper than previous generations, because of inflation.

Sigma

There's been numerous official comments on it as of late.

The latest news from, I believe it was the head of design, is that Mazda has given it a lot of thought and done some preliminary work on it, and it will be able to use the Miata chassis with the Rotary and the Dash from the RX-8 (two of the more crucial components) in designing the RX-7. But he said that it won't be out for at least 3 more years.

auzoom

From what I understand, currently mazda cant keep up with demand for the RX-8 at its rotary plant.

Until it is financially viable to either create a new plant (or expand the current one) or reduce output of the RX-8 for another model, Mazda has said they wont be looking at a new Rotary powered model.

Andrew

Sigma

Current production of the RX-8 is half of what it was at peak. If they could manage to meet demand in '03 and '04 for the Renesis, they can meet demand now for sure.

The capacity of the rotary plant at Ujina is 70,000 engines a year. The production of the RX-8 from Jan 1 through June 30 was only 13,400 units -- about One-Third what the engine capacity is over 6 months.

And to think that before product launch the analysts were worried that Mazda wouldn't be able to produce Renesis' fast enough to meet demand.

Fact of the matter is Mazda needs another Rotary project just to get demand of the engine high enough to support the overhead involved and get decent utilization out of the plant.

Gomez

Maybe they're flat out building engines for the cars in the back lot of Magic Mazda in Vegas......

auzoom

I take your point, but why is there then a 1-2 month wait for people to get their cars?

Andrew

Sigma

I'd imagine that the engines aren't airshipped from Japan, they're brought over in containers. A turnaround time over a month isn't uncommon for parts coming from Japan. One would think that it'd be cheaper to pay a couple hundred in airfreight costs than to pay for 4-8 weeks of rental fees, but then I don't work for Mazda.

When my Mazda3 was in an accident it took 6 weeks to get a couple of small but necessary parts from Japan. A coworker of mine had a Toyota that got hit by lightning. It took 4 months for a new ECU to come from Japan.

Gomez

I know....I was making a joke Sigma, hence the winking smilie....

Sigma

Oh I know you were, Gomez. I was responding to AuZoom. By his comment of "Waiting 1-2 months to get their cars" I was assuming he meant their replaced engines.

But now that I think about it, I suppose he meant just to get their cars. And a 1-2 month wait to get a car that you order is actually pretty short. Even buying a car made in the US you can expect to wait 8-12 weeks. Guys in the States ordering GTOs made in Australia can wait a good 4 months or more for their cars.