smnc

Maybe you should talk to D'Arcy moe often. He has rumours about a new RX-7 on Rotorhead.ca...

Aviator 902S

Yes I have driven an RX8, and yes I intend to buy one as financial resources permit. (The house and airplane come first). As for your dealerships not moving them as well as everyone else, either:

a) They're all automatic-trans models, or

b) Rednecks in Wisconsin outnumber engineers by a 10:1 ratio.

Supper

The only 8 in my town (10,000 population) is owned by a hairdresser. And the only reason she can ever give me for why she owns an 8 is that her ex boyfriend (on this board sometimes) owned an FD.

closest dealer is 100 miles away though, so can't tell you how many sit on the lot, but I can tell you this, the local ford place can't keep mustangs in stock. All the mexicans are buying the older models like they are are going out of style ( ) and all the yuppies are picking up the '05 GT's to compliment their H2's.

smnc

Aound here RX-8s are flying out of showrooms...

Beyind that, Mazda has repeatedly said that the RX-8 is not an RX-7 replacement.
Furthemore, if you believe that Mazda would EVER loose interest in the Rotary, you're better off buying a Honda.

The rotary is the SOUL of the company. The whole modern version of Mazda EXISTS due to the rotary.
If it weren't for Matsuda and his belief of the Wankel's potential, Toyo Kogo would probably have been merged into a division of Toyota or Honda 30 years ago...

Mazda spent over 10 years of development to make the rotary viable. and produce the original Cosmo.

Mazda engineers spent hundreds of hours of thier own time working on the RENESIS in the years after Ford bought the company and declared rotary development halted. It took years of effort of the part of Mazda to convince Ford to let them produce the RX-8. And sources within Mazda have always maintained that the goal of the '8 is to renew enough interest in the RX line to allow the company to justfy a next gen RX-7.

smnc

I live in a town of only 4,000 and we have two RX-8's.

And at least 8 more in the two neighbouring towns of ~40,000 each...

And we're well outside the City...

Supper

as said above by someone else, obviously just a difference in regional tastes in cars then.

hammmy

If I were interested in quality and fuel economy over the sheer pleasure of driving a sports coupe, I would certainly buy a Honda. If I could ever accept a FWD, I'd be well advised to buy a vehicle that produces 240HP and makes 30MPG.

Seeing as I'm not, I'll stick with my 7s. This heart and soul of Mazda you speak of is ephemeral bullshit. If you want to point to any Mazda product as the "soul" of the company, you'd better point to the GLC or 323, as without them they'd have been just another Daihatsu-like footnote in history.

-dave

P.S. According to this Wikipedia entry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acton,_Ontario), Acton, Ontario has a grand total of 7,767 citizens. How many showrooms and RX-8s can that population support, I wonder?

Aviator 902S

Uh, the laws of physics dictate that in order to get 30 mpg out of a 240hp engine the gearing would have to be tall enough to allow the car to reach highway speeds at very low rpm and percentage of available hp say, under 2000 rpm and producing only 50 of those 240 horses. Zero to sixty performance would suffer, unless you had a six speed transmission with an overdrive ratio upwards of 1: 1.3-ish. Have you considered a Honda S2000? I believe they are RWD and come close to the above figures.

hammmy

No, I'm not interested in an S2000. They, like the RX-8, look like a focus group designed them.

As for the figures I used, they could be wrong. The mechanical engineer I bought my latest 7 from had bought a new Accord (IIRC; wasn't really paying attention) to "replace" his 7. He happened to mention those figures in regards to being mystified at what Honda could do with performance and economy. Perhaps he said 204HP, and I misheard him.

fitzwarryne

A 240hp flywheel ouput, 30mpg RX-7 is possible. I cruise at 65-70, 3000rpm, for 6 hours on a rural road and get 30mpg. The consumption figure is accurate as I drive exactly 660km to the fuel depot, then on another 300-500km to my destination. Based on rwhp I can get 240hp flywheel at 6500rpm, but rarely go over 4000rpm on the road.

A replacement RX-7 coming? I very much doubt it. If I was to buy another sports car I would think seriously about the new MX-5 inspite of no rotary.

vipernicus42

iTrader: (4)

I was at the Ottawa-Gatineau international auto show yesterday. The Mazda rep confirmed that they ARE planning a 4th Gen Rx7. Not many details released yet. They said 4 years, so 2008. One rep thought N/A, the other thought TT.

Jon

MosesX605

Mazda reps don't know anything. I'd be surprised if they could even tell a Mazda from another car on the street. Directly from the Presidents mouth is that there is NO OFFICIAL PLAN FOR A RX-7. NONE. There have been some skunkworks efforts, but those are completely unofficial and have not been approved by the management of Ford or Mazda.

Oh and do me a favor jon, DON'T EDIT MY POSTS. I realise you're all enamoured with your new moderape powers, but it was hardly necessary to whip it out just now.

84-7GSL

Hey Aviator...What does rednecks in Wisconsin and engineers got to do with the whole RX-8 thing? I would like to know which one you think I am.

smnc

That population includes all the surrounding rural farming area and all the small hamlets in the area. As I stated above, the actual town population if closer to 4000.

We only have one dealeship in town. A Mazda dealership, and as I said, there are at least 2 RX-8's in town.

And you seem to confuse soul with cashflow.
Sure the GLC/323/Protoge/3 is the breadwinner.
No doubt Mazda "needs" the 3 and 6 to surrvive financially, but there is more to the company than that.
Do you honestly belive Mazda expects the RX-8 to sell like the Mustang? Of course not.
I would doubt Mazda even expects the RX-8 to make as much money as the Miata, which is itself a niche car.


Try looking at it this way.
I have a job to make money. I don't go to work for fun. I do it becuase I need money, Some of which I spend on my RX-7.
I don't drive my RX-7 because I have too. I could drive the VW Rabbit instead. I drive my RX-7 because it is fun.

See where I'm going with this?

Mazda makes the 3 to make money, so they can make cars like the RX-8.
If the RX's were all Mazda made, they would have gone the way of Dihatsu. But if they had never made the RX's, they'd be just another Honda wannabe.

hammmy

Wow, guess the company was soulless from 1995 up 'till the release of the RX-8. Gosh, what in the world would a corporation do without it's soul? Probably just try to make as much money as possible, like every other fricking company.

[/sarcasm]
[ephemeral BS filter]

Lee Lyons

even the ugly duckling would disown a car looking like that if it was his little brother!!...that car is nasty ugly!! I'd take an FD anyday over that!!

RacerX7fb

Well there weren't any personel of the design team to speak with at Mazda R&D yesterday about plans for a new RX-7 (not like they would disclose anything), but I got to have lunch with the 1979 24 Hours of Daytona GTU class champion

vipernicus42

iTrader: (4)

If you have a problem with my editing, send me a PM. I did it because, like many people, I was surfing the forum on a computer that isn't set at 1600x1200 and it took three pages of scrolling to get passed your obscene red yelling. Reducing the size doesn't stop you from getting your message across.

I agree that Mazda reps probably don't know a hell of a lot, but the more different places I hear talk about the new 7, the more I hope it's true.

Jon

Aviator 902S

Typical engineer = finds innovative engine technology intriguing and endeavours to find out as much about said technology as possible before forming an opinion on it. Generally above-average intelligence.

Typical "Redneck" = "If it ain't got no V8, it ain't no good. Them there Wankel motors are no good cuz they're May-ud in Jer-pay-un!"

Not sure which one you are.

Supper

so many here in this region that are that way.

One guy, in the middle of the conversation about cars, in response to me saying I own an RX-7 said "Oh... I'm sorry, that has to be the worst car ever produced." and this was coming from a hillbilly that thinks his Trans-AM is the coolest **** ever.

shm21284

I can't understand why there is so much hate for the new rx7, if there is going to be one. I think people like MosesX605 ruin the fun of wondering. He would be the guy who said, "there won't be any other engine than piston engine," when the rotary was under development.

Anyway, I spoke to many Mazda folks, and they confirmed that the 4th generation Rx-7 will be produced based on how well the Rx-8 sells (This was back in 04). The Rx-8 has a waiting list. You can't just go to the dealership (most dealerships) and pick one up.

Oh, and someone said something about the would not use the Rx-7 name again. Why would you say that? They ran the R100, Rx2, Rx3 all together in one production line in the 70s. They made new R100s when they were making new Rx3's. They are just names. The Rx-8 is not a replacement for the Rx-7, just as the Mazda Mx6 was not a replacement for the Mazda 626. They are 2 completely different cars. The Rx-8 is a sporty family sedan, while the Rx-7 is a pure sports car. And you better believe that Mazda will have a pure sports car in production to compete with the new Supra, Skyline, and NSX, all of which are confirmed to be released.

Aviator 902S

[QUOTE=shm21284]




Oh, and someone said something about the would not use the Rx-7 name again. Why would you say that? [QUOTE]


Yeah, that was me.

What I meant by that statement was that even though Mazda will (hopefully) build another rotary-powered two-seat all-out sports car again, the fact that they refer to this prospect as an "RX7 replacement" rather than an "RX7", combined with the fact that they've so far never re-introduced any other RX#'s once dropped from production points to Mazda not calling it an RX7. It's possible, but considering the track record not likely.

Aviator 902S

I think that no matter what region you happen to be in you're going to run into redneck types who should never be allowed to breed, but nevertheless will anyway because many of them have sisters.

It wasn't my intent to slam any region in particular. We certainly have a few of these buffoons here, and they tend to scare some people out of buying Mustangs lest they become stereotyped. Too bad, because the new Mustangs are the first ones Ford has built since 1968 that I'd give three thumbs up to if I were the birth-defected result of one of the above such unions.

smnc

Wow, you really are talking out of your ***....

Mazda DIDN'T STOP MAKING RX-7's in 1995.

They only stopped shipping them to North America...

And hey, I never said they aren't out to make money. I only said that there was more to the company than that.

Maybe you have trouble with simple concepts, but since they were LOSING MONEY and hurting thier repuation with the 3rd gen in NA, it kinda made sense to stop shipping them here.
As I said before, they have to make money before they can make RX's.
Othrewise they'd be bankrupt and we wouldn't have Mazda anymoe.

If they really don't belive in the Rotary, then can you please explain the RX-8 to me?
Why did Mazda spend all that extra cash and time developing the RENESIS? Why didn't they just make a boinger powered sports car?

Aviator 902S

It's all a matter of opinion and relativity. Kate Winslet looks pretty plain when you stand her beside Mandy Moore, but she looks pretty good when placed beside Rosie O'Donnell. Even those guys who "talk the most but do the least" who are always finding fault with even the tiniest flaws (real or imagined) in the physical features of girls would gladly **** her if given the opportunity, and many of these same guys couldn't get laid in a womens' prison with a fist full of pardons.

And so it is with the RX8. This car will never be in the same sleek looks category as 3rd gen RX7s, Ferraris and NSXs. Then again, it was never meant to be in that group. But it certainly eclipses other so-called sports/GT cars with four doors that are aimed at married folks in the 30-to-45 age bracket. And it has a rotary, which is all that counts to those of us who know these engines.

The RX8 is not ugly by most people's standards. "Ugly" would be something like a Pontiac Aztec or 2005 Chev Malibu. The RX3 and RX5 Cosmo were 2-door coupes that didn't qualify as sports cars in the strict sense of the term. They "looked" more like sporty ****-boxes. But nobody calls them ugly, even though they're nowhere near as sleek as the RX8. Rather, they are referred to as "old school" and "classic."

What amazes me are those guys who won't drive an RX8 because they think it's ugly, but they will drive a 2nd gen RX7. 2nd gens aren't necessarily ugly, but the RX8 has them beat in every department, including looks.