A couple of days ago I met a guy from Mazda. I will preserve his annonimity in case he told me things that he should not have. I repeat here what he told to me as best as I can remember.

we talked at length about Mazda's strategies surrounding the RX-8 and the near and distant future for the car. In a way he made me wish I had not heard all of that because I bought my car three months ago and now I wish I had waited.

He told me about two major new RX-8 models coming to the US.

1. Hydrogen. Estimated 2006. The surprise here is that he indicated that because of the characteristics of the typical RX-8 buyer mazda will most likely introduce their first hydrogen engine to the RX-8 consumer. What is so interesting about the typical RX-8 buyer? The answer was simple. They are willing to pay what it takes to have something unique. He used this reasoning to explain why there is not a rotary powered Mazda 6. Stating that it would add so much to the price of that car nobody would buy a Mazda 6 for that much money. He added at one point that the hydrogen version will be a performance car not an econobot.

2. Twin Turbo. Summer 2005 in the USA!!!!!!. He claimed performance of 385+ HP and 0-60 in 3.6 seconds. This I would have waited for. Have I been living under a rock and thus the only person who was unaware of this? If it is not common knowledge how is Mazda able to keep this a secret. Maybe this guy was just kidding me.

Has anyone heard anything else about the future RX-8 models?

Cuzzin

 

oo omgomg.... will the twin turbo come to the whole north american or US only?? dammm i want TT....

 

TwinTurbo = 5MPG?

 

i want to believe...

 

WHAT?!?! in summer 2005 twin turbo rx8?!?!
THEY TRICKED US!!
AHH!! I JUST GOT MINE!!

 

Amen..

 

I doubt Mazda would make the same mistake with the 8 as with the 7's.

I'd be willing to bet I **** purple twinkies before a TT 8 is made.

 

As do I, 385hp+ would be one hell of a ride.

 

385 hp + 3000lbs = 0-60 in more than 3.6 seconds, try 500 hp. Chances of another twin turbo rotary in Mazda's future.....slim to none....hey, where'd slim go?

 

Total and absolute non sense. I will believe 385 hp factory job when I see pigs fly.

 

The day Mazda releases a TT Rx8 is the day Toyota wins a F1 championship.......... never!

 

if this happens... ill have to go get one.
seems unbelieveable...

*wishes* :p

 

I'm honestly more interested in the Hydrogen 8. My understanding is that it is already street legal in Japan. This makes a US release much more likely. (more likely IMHO than a TT)

The real problem with the release of a hydrogen powered car in the US is a lack of Hydrogen fueling stations. But assuming that little obstical can be overcome, I will probably trade my 8 for a hydrogen model when they are available. ...If for no other reason than to give OPEC the finger.

 

hahahaa...... thats a good one

 

Hmmmm. If you think your fuel bill for the RX-8 is high with gasoline, wait 'til you fill up with hydrogen. No one has yet found a way to produce hydrogen at a cost that is even close to being competitive with the cost of producing gasoline. Hydrogen production requires energy input. The common production technique uses electrical energy to separate hydrogen from H2O. So in the current climate, ya gotta use some sort of fossil fuel--coal, oil, natural gas--to generate the electricity for this separation process. You can see that this is not economical and ya might as well burn the fossil fuel to directly power the vehicle (as we do today).

Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of the hydrogen-fueled vehicle concept. Realisitically, though, I wouldn't expect to see the general usage of hydrogen fuel in consumer vehicles for many decades if ever. Until a solution is found to the production problem--i.e., until the general public accepts the use of nuclear-energy-generated electrical energy for production--hydrogen-fueled cars are just an oddity--a good marketing device or experimental tool, but not much more.

 

everyone who has talked to a 'mazda insider' seems to have gotten a different story on the future of the 8... which leads me to believe these insiders have no idea whats going on, or they're just leading us on so that we stay loyal and buy more cars. they are businessmen money does come first always remember that.

 

First, thanks for shareing but I don't think a TT RX8 is even being considered by Mazda. Last I heard they were testing superchargers or a bigger rotary (1.6L). I think Mazda's target HP is 300HP (I wish it were 350...but oh well).

The more I hear these stories the more it sounds like "Crying wolf", the simple fact is we don't know much at all and these "Mazda" guys seem to have less of a clue than we do.

I think a 1.6L would be great or better yet a 1.6L rotary with a Turbo or SC making 350HP.

If they come out with a Hydro RX8 "in the future" I hope they stick a SC in it cause making 135HP in the RX8 is just pitiful and as already stated if Hydro cost more than dyno fuel, while cleaner and saying good bye to OPEC (which would be GREAT), and making about 100HP less...well, you can just keep that Hydro cause the RX8 would no longer be a sports car.

As with everything...time will tell what the next RX8 will be like, if we will be able to upgrade our current RX8's with the new stuff, and the future of all the alternative fuels. I hope they find something that will not bring us back to the 70's when HP was murdered.

 

I agree with most everyone else. A TT model is highly unlikely, and a Hydorgen 8 in 2006 appears to also be window dressing.

 

Well--I'm sure a hydro RX8 is on the way--however, remember that it is essentially two engines on the hydro concept RX8 so its not exactly 135HP its about 200 or so if I remember that R&T article correctly. As far as the twin turbo 385 HP 0-60 in 3.5 seconds--I'll have to throw a flag on the play on that one. Nowadays there is simply no reason to go with twin turbo setups unless you are talking about 500+HP ala Mercedes and AMG V12s to cut down on lag. In smaller applications turbos are efficient enough to not warrant the use of two. Now 385HP is a large number for this car--Like rx8wannahave said--I've only heard about larger displacement, supercharger, and single turbo rumours. Besides that--for launch this summer and not a single photo or news to leak out would require a Skunk works project that rivaled the F117 stealth fighter project. I expect to see a more powerful RX8 or RX7 no earlier than 2006.

 

And, if Mazda says it is 385HP then it is actually only around 300 given the percentage of deficit from the past.

 

lol @ "mazda insiders"

 

That'd be nice and thanks for sharing but as I'm sure you can understand there are hundreds of claims here from "anonymous" sources. Twin-turbo, single turbo, 3-rotor, supercharged, etc. These have no credibility until the people and their roles with Mazda are identified. This source could be a nobody and/or could be BS'ing you. Just like the recent 350z guy who posted pics and claimed the Ferrari in the picture was his but it wasn't.

 

Why would someone do that? Gosh...if that is so, that is pretty weak...must be a high school kid still thinking he can BS his way to being cool (what ever that means)

Anyway, what do you guys think about writing a letter to Mazda having us all sign it letting them know we love our 8's but would like a litte peak into the future of the RX8. Maybe I'm dreaming but you never know, maybe they would agree to let us know or have a slight peak into some stuff.

We keep getting post that say "Hey, I spoke to Mr. X who said Blah blah blah" (please remember I always like when people share info...if for nothing else than a good laugh) but maybe if we tried to contact Mazda as a group...maybe, just maybe...we would be allowed to see or learn something new.

 

Which thread?

 

of course , you must take into account that Mazda says it's a 385 hp twin turbo, but by the time it hits the streets for sale, Mazda will annouce that it really is a single turbo pushing 300 hp, and when you actually buy one you will have to sign some papers stating that you understand that it really is a non-turbo 238 hp 1.3 liter, with a special intake and exhaust system and a TURBO body kit...for just $5000 more...