Mazda Japan has just announced that it will launch the Spirit R version of the RX-8 on November 21st in Japan. Like for the RX-7 back in 2002, the Spirit R marks the final limited edition version of the rotary four-door. The car, based on the Type RS 6-speed manual (or Type E automatic) comes with bronze 19-inch wheels, leather trimmed red and black interior, a pair of Recaro seats, red brake calipers and other smaller visual details. Mazda continues to state that development of the rotary engine will not cease, so we can only hope to see more of these Wankel powered sports cars in years to come.
-Dino Dalle Carbonare
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Really hope this rotang will be available in Forza 4!!
The end is near...
cool news... I hope the next RX will have a hydrogen engine.. i don7t want to be driving 50 kms everyday and getting 5km/L!!
Pretty wheels and seats eh? Please color me not impressed. Me thinks the final special edition should have more PERFORMANCE. Maybe I'm nuts, but I think not. And the Rotary from Mazda is dead, which makes me really, really sad.
xD
Finally a true RX-8 that doesn't have that dumb smiley front bumper !
GT5 should have a DLC to update the roster of their cars on the game, so that new cars today will be available.
wow, screw mazda
Lame! I'll show some kind of excitement if it comes turbocharged.. Until then, all it is, is a regular ol' RX-8 with SLIGHTLY different visual effects, a new "who cares?" badge, a special colored pair of wheels, leather interior trim, and painted calibers... Its no faster and not that much better around a track then the original so who cares? If Mazda would FINALLY manufacture an RX-8 with a turbo stock.. thats when they'll have my attention.
Sounds purely cosmetic. I think they should focus on giving the rx-8 more power.
color appears white on black on iphone but normal on desktops? am i the only one seeing this?
coool !
Epic! As a rotary fanboy I can only applause!
God i hope this is not a japan only model.
I'm sure this car will be dlc in Forza 4. Its nice to see they did another spirit-R. Its a good idea.
Imo, the RX-8 should have been a coupe with a similar roof silhouette to a hardtop Miata. That would have been epic! Despite this, that is the best looking stock RX-8 next to the Mazdaspeed version.
Without knowing much about the engine, I'll just have to wait and see what Mazda can come up with. I agree with everyone, some sort of forced induction should be standard equipment on this car.
Sounds like another version of the R3. Big deal.
Sadly i am looking forward to RX-9 if there is one
So sad to see one of the hopeful LS1-swap chassis candidates be dropped from production... potentially raising prices for us swap-heads! I can only hope Mazda will figure out a way to get 50mpg out of a rotary so the RX-family can live on.
should get a bit lowering tooo
What an ugly crap car. no way they re going to make people buy this crap any longer... It still has a really horrible engine, i bet its non turbo. What are they thinking these days those car manufacturers? Are they seriously intend to sell it only to commoners who knows nothing about cars? No way any rotary lover will buy this with his FC3S or FD3S in a garage..
Bittersweet :'(
Ugly crap car, lets see Motoring Trend voted the R3 (same as Spirit R) at #3 as America's best handling car in 2009, even beat a Nissan GTR....No one will buy this over an FC or FD..REALLY, nearly 200,000 have been sold, more than the last two gen RX-7's....Clearly Shinigami knows nothing about cars, probably thinks POWER is the be all and end all..lame and somewhat juvenile...and probably never owned a real DRIVERS CAR!...
92% of all RX-8 owners are more than satisfied to highly satisfied with their RX-8's (see rx8club.com)...
This last RX-8 is only for local Japan market.
Mazda can not get anymore performance out of the RENESIS 13B which must also comply with emissions, it has more power than any other NA 13B ever made.
"Mazda continues to state that development of the rotary engine will not cease"
I'm very to happy to hear this. Let's hope the next RX Mazda is prettier and faster than the RX-8.
Me like
I own an RX8 GT and it's an incredible car. The chassis balance is incredible and the engine sounds fantastic, but could really do with another 50kw and tons more torque. What really saddens me though, is the way Mazda stuffed up the series 1 version. It's quite common for engines that have been treated normally to require a full rebuild, costing over $5,000. Insane. Mazda, you really messed up and it's gonna be a real struggle to convince any half informed buyer back into a rotary.
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