Rumor: New Mazda RX-7 could replace the current RX-8

Although many of you thought that the next sports-car from Mazda will be the RX-9, it appears that the Japanese manufacturer is planning to revive the RX-7 and to take on cars such as the Toyota FT-86! According to our sources, the new RX-7 could see the light as early as 2011.

As we said in this post, the new car will carry the new-generation Renesis 16x rotary engine and will develop around 350 hp and 215 pound-feet of torque, a good improvement if we compare it with the current 232 hp of the RX-8.
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investor27 - 12/28/2009 3:09:27 PM

-2 Boost

Why do people like these Renesis engines so much? They have very little low-end torque, and they are extremely inefficient (wasting a lot of gas). Yes. They are light-weight. But you still have to rev the heck out of them to get to any usable, noticeable horse power.

dlin - 12/28/2009 3:32:39 PM

+5 Boost

Lightweight is everything if you are a hardcore.

pennfootball - 12/28/2009 3:34:17 PM

+5 Boost

They make the car handle like a dream with a low center of gravity and the old RX-& went 0-60 in 5.2-5.4 seconds because turbocharging took care of the "lack of torque." Also the engines have little to no vibration and make a Lexus LS460 look like a recalcitrant vibrator. They are getting more efficient because the next gen rotory will have direct fuel injection and take care of a lot of the old one's "issues."

pennfootball - 12/29/2009 9:51:09 AM

+2 Boost

Badgewhore the Rotary has no second order vibrations, a V8 is at 90 degrees so no matter how well they "balance it" with counter rotating shafts it will never be as smooth as a rotary engine, as smooth as a horizontally apposed engine, as smooth as an inline 6 or V12 engine as well that are all naturally balanced and do not require counter weights. Therefore your argument and lack of engineering knowledge make you look a little silly.

Whelan - 12/28/2009 3:52:18 PM

+5 Boost

I want to know who made the call at Mazda when they got together and said, "we had the RX-7 that was a hit with power, track and tuning prowess, and gobs of style." "Hey! Let's make a new one, call it the RX-8 and turn it into a mainstream, underpowered, outclassed sports coupe." "BRILLIANT!"

They missed the mark big time with the RX-8, maybe they can get back on track cause it's not funny when your entry level hatchback can outrun your sports coupe.

pennfootball - 12/28/2009 3:56:45 PM

+3 Boost

They wanted to make it more efficient and reliable then the old RX-7 so they threw out the turbocharger and worked on the project as a skunk works program part time so they didn't put their whole engineering effort into that they could have on the motor at least. The 4 door coup thing back then was a much more novel idea before they had the Mercedes CLS and VW CC. So it worked and they sold a lot of them...It is a niche because they didn't want a corvette competitor that was 50 grand.

pennfootball - 12/29/2009 9:52:36 AM

+2 Boost

The Rx8 gets better gas millage then the old RX-7 and many magazines have proved that when comparing long term tests of each vehicle. You obviously do not do your homework.

freeagent - 12/28/2009 4:27:10 PM

+1 Boost

Very encouraging. All they need to do is put a svelt coupe design on top of the miata platform, insert the new rotary, and have a great Cayman competitor on their hands.

Agent63 - 12/28/2009 7:26:32 PM

+2 Boost

Bring it back to inspire Honda to bring back the NSX. The JDM market needs that NSX and RX-7 back to join the GT-R and soon LF-A. I see good futures for all 4 of these if they were to introduce great cars in the next decade.

pennfootball - 12/29/2009 9:53:41 AM

+1 Boost

I agree but Acura is more conservative then a WASP's grandfather.