Whooooo Dang!, That's Cool!

[Scott Nutter]

I don't have Speed Channel at my house but here in the exotic local of Monroe, NC, while passing away an afternoon in the hotel room, watching coverage of the runoffs Mazda played a commercial that made me go ZOOM-ZOOM. The one that opens with a rotary engine opening to show the rotor spinning, and then several images of rotary powered cars, including meany 1st Gen 7's

[C. Ludwig]

I get goose bumps seeing that commercial. It's available for download somewhere on the net. Try Mazdaspeed I guess. It has additional footage that was cut from the commercial too.

Chris

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Chris Ludwig
08 ITS RX7 CenDiv

[Allen Brown]

What's even more impressive, is the slightly different shape of the rotor of the new "Renassainse" (sp?) engine. I wonder what it could put out in IT trim??

[Rotary Nut]

All you need to do is sign up for emails at the mazda usa site. Here is the hyperlink for the new RX-8.

http://www.mazdausa.com/rx8/home/default.asp?sniffer=1

[lateapex911]

yeah..."Good on 'em" as the Aussies say! Mazda deserves kudos for actually having the moxie that they have shown over the years, and showing it in the form of "heritage"!

No other Jap company can lean on the long term "comitment to the commitment" as Mazda can.

The new motor is (from what I have learned) the result of many changes, and is a big step forward. I think it will be redlined at 8k, and will put out 250hp in the 13b size. I beleieve the new name is "Renisis", rymes with Genisis.

The RX-8 is a bit of a departure, and will undoubtably handle well and have the claim of the only rotary engine in America on it's side. I hope, (but doubt) that there are enough Americans who can get out of their Suburbans and Excursions long enough to care about things like agility and steering feel as opposed to how big the navigation system display is and the color of the exotic burled bubinga, to make the venture a profitable one for Mazda.

Time will tell.

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Jake Gulick
ITA 57 RX-7
New England Region
[email protected]

[Scott Nutter]

I do believe it's redline is 9k! I was poking around and found the specs for the 2004 Star Mazda car that uses the Renisis engine spec'd at 240hp as opposed to the current 170hp and the car is 70lbs? lighter. Now that deserves a Whooooooo Dang!

I still have hope for the american public, just look how low and long all those wanna be SUV's are becoming, just like the station wagon they are. Now I myself hold no delusions. A full sized van as a family mover (car hauler?) and something sporty to drive to work. Although with the current vintage of my vehicles and the Rx8 due for the 2004 season, maybe by 2014 I'll have one

[RX767]

Great commercial. This weekend I was finishing painting our kitchen and I had the SSC race on in the family room. (not much was getting done during this hour) I liked the sound bite: "none of these race cars have ever burned a valve, broke a rod, etc." To the non-rotary person, this must sound incredible. Using good judgement, they left out the part on what a rotor sounds like smashing against the housing after breaking an apex seal.
Has anyone heard whether SCCA is going to classify the RX8 and if so, which class? With SSA gone on the national level, I guess it is either SSB or T1.
Like Scott, I wonder whether I will have a front running IT-RX8 in 2014 considering all the progess made in regard to comp. adjustments.

Bill Emery
ITA#23

[planet6racing]

Well, we test drove the Mazda 6 this weekend and scared the poop out of the sales associate! The car, in stock form, was very neutral, but lacked the off the line grunt I like to see. The salesperson got really nervous when we lifted off the gas and the rear instantly began to rotate...

But, the funny thing was, she was pissed at how much more we knew about the RX-8 that she did. She was going to make a point to the sales manager that customers new more about it than she did!



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Bill
92 Saturn SL2
Planet 6 Racing
[email protected]

[Bill Umstead]

Bill @ Planet 6

What engine were you sampling in the Mazda6? How was the gearbox (assuming a 5-speed).

I was a bit annoyed at Mazda that to get the sport suspension and the leather seating that mandatory extra options were required (Bose stereo and the comfort package). It appears that the marketing mavins and the accountants have decided what we want/need to buy.

[ITSRX7]

Maybe "She" should have the same amount of interest in her products as WE do! Then she would know that their is a rx-8.com already up and running.

Does she think the info is gonna fall in her lap? Plllease. Just another case of good ole fashioned mediocrity.

AB

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Andy Bettencourt
06 ITS RX-7
FlatOut Motorsports
New England Region
[email protected]

[planet6racing]

Sorry for taking so long to post back here. I forgot I posted in the Mazda section!

The 6 we drove had the 6. But, it also had the 5 speed automatic with manual shifting option. The manual shift was OK, but slow. We bounced off the rev limiter several times. Additionally, on downshifting, it REALLY upset the car. If we had been able to rev match...

I agree that she should know more. But, I think she was fairly new. Oh well, I'm still saving my pennies for the 8!


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Bill
92 Saturn SL2
Planet 6 Racing
[email protected]