zoomed

Mazda has a tough time out in the marketplace against Honda and Toyota. If it wasn't for Ford leveraging their engineering across Ford/Lincoln etc., I don't think they would have gotten as far as they have lately. They struggle for volume. I think the the RX8 is a flagship or icon for Mazda but to see them accummulate on the lots makes me think its not really successful enough to spawn many variants. The Millenia was supposed to belong to an upmarket brand. The Mazda name can't carry a model that expensive. Thats what they found out with the 929 I believe.

Gord96BRG

I can't name names, but it was the same source that e-mailed me photos of the Ibuki concept car 2 weeks before the Tokyo show! (Those photos showed the Ibuki being wheeled in and set up in the studio for the Mazda publicity photos that were available and shown everywhere 2 weeks later). The source hadn't seen the RX-7 Concept personally, but knew some of the people who worked on it.

Regards,
Gordon

Gord96BRG

The RX-8 is actually proven to be extremely successful. Production is still running flat-out at the capacity of the Renesis engine facility, and in many countries the RX-8 allocation sold out a year in advance. In the US, Mazda had a deliberate policy of wanting the car to be available and in good supply, which is why there are cars on the lots - that's what Mazda wanted. It's not that the cars aren't moving! The US sales have met Mazda's sales projections/forecasts, so it is in fact doing very well. That's actually a big factor in delaying a future RX-7 version - the Renesis plant has no capacity to supply rotary engines to another model right now, and Mazda does not want to invest in a second or larger Renesis production facility at this time.

Regards,
Gordon

bwayout

Do you think your source is open to requests? ... like a updated 2+2 fastback that is also a hatchback, like the MX-6 & MX-3 (there were rumors a while back that Mazda was working on a RX-3...)



IMHO having a fastback that's a hatchback is the right way to go!

:D

AMRAAM4

I'll agree with that last part. For those who don't follow the FD as much, they have stopped making remans for now of the 13BREW. Yes, that means there are almost 100 or more people with FDs sitting around waiting for a reman. There is no definitive date when they will go back into production due to the increased work and changeover to the Renesis.

lavs23

Just got my C&D magazine in the mail today there's a little section that says the RX-8 is going to come out with a electric turbocharger. As for the new 7 or 9 or w/e. I've got 4 years of college left so any time after that if Mazda wants to release a new rotory powered car that'd be fine by me :D. I'm starting to really like the looks of the RX-8 they look even better in person. Haven't gotten to drive one yet since the Mazda dealer wouldn't even let me sit in one

policyvote

As for the rotary-powered Miata . . . it's not going to happen. First, Mazda engineers aren't after the most ridiculous power-to-weight ratio possible with the Miata. Even the Renesis in current trim would overpower the chassis. When Mazda was developing the Mazdaspeed MX-5, they tried all sorts of power combos, including a 250-hp version. However, it "felt like a 65%-scale Mustang convertible", that is to say the power completely overwhelmed the chassis and suspension. Miatas are meant to be responsive and agile under all conditions, including WOT. The current 180-hp Mazdaspeed MX-5 is about as powerful as the Miata will ever be.

As for the RX-7 . . . the quote in the article said "medium-term, not short-term". He did NOT say that the projet was scrapped, or shelved. Reading between the lines here, I expect a new RX-7 to be shown sometime in 2007, perhaps as a 2008 model year.

Peace
policy

RobDickinson

Thats exactly what I thought.

But we (the UK rx8 owners club) have it direct from mazda that there will be a rotary powered mx5 (miata) and a convertable rx8 - both soonish too.

As they've done a turbo mx5(miata) and theres many 3rd party 200bhp+ miatas I doubt it'll be a problem.

Engine will fit, cearbox is almost identical etc, cant see it being a huge engineering job either.

T.T.

How can they make a convertable RX-8? The roof is integral to the strength of the frame. If they did that, they would have to ditch the suicide doors. I think the only way there will be a rotary powered miata is if they de-tuned the renesis, especially if there is any future for the RX-7. The 7 or 8 has to be the flagship car.

RobDickinson

It's going to be a 2 door (the convertable 8).

As for the miata - who knows what tune it'll be in, the 190-210bhp 4 port would be plenty.

8pex

Mazda usa website says no plans for an 8 drop top.

RobDickinson

The plans arnt on any website. Was something disclosed by mazda UK to UK owners club.

jtdwab

Correct me if I'm wrong but I remember the reported plans that the miata would move to the RX-8 chassis but keep the piston engine. For that matter the RX-8 mule was built out of a stretched miata. I guess what I'm saying is that spy shots and speculation don't mean a lot unless (as mentioned before) you have high level inside info. An RX-8 mule could be an Rx-7 replacement or a miata or even a new car for Ford (ala probe) for all we know.

bwayout

I can't find it now, but I remember reading in something like Road & Track a while back, that because of the extreme strong chassis & backbone stiffness, a convertable could and would be made ...

So, I'm a believer that this can happen, but I was also hoping that the RX-7 would come out first!

bwayout

I wouldn't mind that either! I still miss my old 1990 Probe!

bwayout

Not that I know anything, but if I had to make a guess... based on what we've seen at past auto shows ...



We'll see a redesigned Matia before a new RX-7 or RX-8 convertable.

The styling of the Matia would likely look a little like the Ibuki concept that made its debut last year...

Aeterna

I got it! Let's have Mazda make a rotary Miata, powered by the new Renesis engine and mix the two components of each cars' name:

i.e. The R-M-X 5! Then, we could call it the Miata Remix! 'Kinda like the original, but with a little surprise pizazz to mix things up a bit'

RMX-5... that would be awesome...









Okay, that was just stupid ranting & raving, but hey, it's an idea... :o

rpm_pwr

I can confirm that there is still an RX-7 project inside Mazda but it is still min. 3 years off. It is also still classified as off-line which means that it's not an official upcoming model and is being treated as a design study at the moment.

They're also chasing 'linear power delivery' and 'simplicity' which you'd have to say means they're going to go with sheer displacement this time.

I know for a fact there are guys on this forum who know a lot more than I do about J77 but for whatever reason they choose not to post.

Personally I'm just happy in the knowledge that 'something' is coming.

shelleys_man_06

I figured Mazda was going to take the next step and increase the displacement. The 13B has been, um, the 13B for a long time, and it's time for some changes. I still find it very surprising how much power a small-displacement rotary engine can produce, despite anemic torque numbers.

Ajax

wouldnt it be sweet if they did a 2 rotor 20b? that'd be so nice, i just wonder what kind of output vs gas consumption we'd see..

shelleys_man_06

My prediction is Mazda widening the rotor width to 90 mm. That would make a 16B, or something like that. Perhaps moving up a letter an make it a 16C, not to be confused with C16, the 100+ octane fuel from VP.

Well, with an increase in displacement, we'd see more torque.

RX-Hachi

From what I've read, it seems to be an unofficial skunk works project that's being worked on off hours by die hard RX-7 engineers.

If it's at least 3 years off, that will probably make it an '08 or '09 model. I've read that the RX-8 is planned as a 6 model year run, then they'll come out with the next gen RX-8. That would mean the next gen 7 could debut, followed a year or two later by the next gen 8 (which I assume would share many mechanicals from the 7).

The real question is if the market is really big enough for both an RX-7 and RX-8? Or, would they even go back to the RX-7 name? By the time the this J77 project is ready, the RX-8 name will be well established. Calling the car an RX-7 (albeit the name is a legend) would seem like backwards nomenclature. Perhaps they should retire the RX-7 name and just move on. As long as it's an RX-something, folks will know the heritage.

shelleys_man_06

Wasn't there a time in which Mazda had several rotary engine cars?

Also, how does one improve on the striking looks of the next generation RX-8?

RX-Hachi

I don't believe ever in the US. In Japan, they had both the RX-7 and the Cosmo at various times in their line up. But the two were very different cars.

Although people argue that the RX-8 was never meant to be a 4th gen RX-7, the RX-8 is the current successor to the 7. In fact, when they were developing the 3rd gen RX-7, they were strongly thinking of naming it the RX-8 at that time (a little tid bit from Yamaguchi's book on the FD3S 3rd gen. RX-7). So the two cars are probably more alike than they are different. Not so with the Cosmo.

shelleys_man_06

I was talking about the RX-2, RX-3, RX-4, the REPU and other classic rotaries. I was tooling around on a-spec.ca, and I found a good write-up of Mazda rotary history.

http://me.a-spec.ca:6001/Past.html