They'll get it. They did with the Turb'ed MX-5!
All things in there time my friend...

 

Everybody send Hymee a big grant for his cause. Maybe he'll stay on it better. Then send me a big grant so I can buy it when it's finally available. I promise to save every penny of your contributions for this worthy cause. Speaking for Hymee and myself, thank you.

 

In the interest of avoiding flamers, I'll search before starting a new thread to address the information I received today, but briefly:

Spoke to a dealer in Irving, TX today about the 2006/2007 outlook. He had heard rumors (like the rest of us - it disturbs me that the Mazda dealers don't even have a good grip on the facts) that Mazda had canceled the 2006 run and decided to go straight to an early 2007. After one of his salespeople challenged him on that point, he called a district somebody-or-other and came out of his office looking pretty sheepish.

Mazda informed its dealers just before the new year that the 2006 RX-8 wasn't going to happen, and that orders would be cancelled or applied toward the 2007 RX-8. The plan at that point was to do an early roll-out of the 2007 RX-8. They rescinded that statement this past week, reaffirmed the commitment to produce a reduced (but not a truly "limited") 2006 run (including the '06 Shinka that's pissing off so many '05 Shinka devotees).

The dealer told me that the reason the 2006 is going ahead is because the plan is to produce a "true two-door" 2007 RX-8 with turbos, and all of the shifting in the production schedule is an attempt to build hype and create a sense of urgency. He stated definitively that the mythological RX-7 renewal is "complete bullshit," apparently being spread around by RX-7 disciples that want to build market pressure and force Mazda to reinstate the line. (Gotta love guerilla car fanatic tactics.)

NOTE: This is what I was told; I am not claiming this to be true or even remotely accurate. Just something to chew on for a while.

Anyone else heard anything close to this? It's wreaking havoc with my purchase decision. I was going to go after a deal on an '05 in anticipation of the '06 release, but if the line really is going to get a more powerful package next year, another year wouldn't kill me (and would let me put a lot more down on the purchase).

Looking forward to seeing the overreactions and scoffing that will result...

 

Oh, yeah, the guy also said that Mazda has actually shot down suggestions/rumors that a production Mazdaspeed 8 is in the works. The philosophy being that if you want an 8, you must be a gearhead, so you'll willingly pay more to get the parts after the initial purchase. The Mazdaspeed 6 is reportedly doing well, so they're diverting a lot of attention to it.