Carscoops: Mazda RX-7

Showing posts with label Mazda RX-7. Show all posts

VIDEO: Kawasaki ZX10 takes on Mazda RX-7 with Corvette V8 in Drift Challenge

Now here's something you don't see every day. Sent in by Carscoop reader Łukasz Ż, this enjoyable time-waster of the day pits a motorcycle against a rear-wheel drive sports car in an out of the ordinary drift challenge. In one corner we have Nick "Apex" Brocha of Icon Motorsports piloting a 2005 Kawasaki ZX10 with 175HP and an extended swingarm. In the other corner is professional racecar driver Jim Guthrie in a 1993 Mazda RX-7 powered by a 375HP Corvette V8 engine. The result? Follow the jump to find out.

Our friend Shawnz, who you may remember from the Mazda RX-8 Coupe project we showed you last February, sent us these teaser trailers from a video that is currently being prepared to showcase a very large gathering of the rotary-powered sports cars that was held on the streets of Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.

Mazda, the maker of cars such as the RX-7, RX-8 and MX-5/Miata, turned 90 this month. So what a better time to take a trip down memory lane and see how the Japanese company’s logo and cars evolved over the past century.

The first corporate logo dates back to 1936. It was registered as a trademark when Mazda began manufacturing its first three-wheeler. The name itself is a derivative from Ahura Mazda, the god of wisdom, intelligence and harmony in early Asian cultures. It also derives from the anglicized version of the founder’s name, Jujiro Matsuda.

Another day, another artist's impression of a fourth-generation Mazda RX-7 model. This time, the speculative rendering comes from Japan's Motor Magazine with the artist taking a more 'wedgy' approach to the design that incorporates all the usual styling cues from Mazda's latest production and concept models like the 'smiley' front grille, the pronounced front wheel arches and the sharp-angled headlights.

It's not our style to create stories out of nowhere, so we must say that both officially and unofficially, our Mazda sources have yet to confirm the return of the RX-7 in the Japanese automaker's car range. Plus, with the current global economic downturn and dire predictions for the near future, we gather that like any other automaker, Mazda will be cautious in its spending preferring to invest in the development of its core models rather than in niche cars like the RX-7.

Via: Motor Magazine - Thanks for the scan JK!

2011 Mazda RX-7 Coupe Rendering Speculations

We’ve lost count of how many times we’ve heard rumors about a successor to the iconic Mazda RX-7. And here we are once again with a new set of -virtually identical- renderings scanned from two different Japanese car magazines that state Mazda will reveal a fourth generation RX-7 Coupe in 2010. While the mags may have their sources, officially, Mazda has never said anything about a new RX-7.

The only thing that Mazda has announced is that it will reveal a significantly revised version of its rotary engine with more power and improved economy in the early 2010s. Now, if that engine will be used on a new model like the RX-7 is something to be seen. We certainly hope so… -One more image after the jump

Mazda RX-7 With A Buick Grand National V6 Engine!

You gotta love eBay for the things you find, or in this case, what our reader “Mitch” found; a third generation 1993 Mazda RX-7 equipped with a 1987 Buick Grand National 4.1-litre V6 engine! Before you start knocking your head on the wall and although personally we wouldn't attempt an engine swap on a RX-7, this is not your everyday Buick V6 powertrain. According to the seller, the V6 engine was heavily modified including the addition of Turbonetics 70 MM turbo pushing output to 621HP at 25psi on the dyno. And that’s not all; power is delivered to the road via a Dodge Viper derived, Dana 44-4 Hydra-Lok speed-sensing limited-slip differential. -Continued after the jump

The seller says that the Buick powered RX-7 gets 30+ miles per gallon on the interstate -yes, we're curious too to find out how he accomplished this figure with a 625 Hp car, and that it manages mid 10 second quarter mile times on street tires -that we understand. The current price on eBay is $16,000 or about 11,900 euros.

Thanks to Mitch for the tip!

Link: eBay

Jaguar E-Type Convertible Replica Based On Mazda RX-7

The only common ground between the mid-80’s first generation Mazda RX-7 and the late 60’s Jaguar E-Type is the front-mounted engine, rear-wheel drive layout. But that seemed a good enough base for this old chap to create a unique replica of the stunning Jaguar E-Type Convertible using the chassis and the 135Hp strong Wankel rotary engine of a 1985 Mazda RX-7 (FB, 3rd Series). Even though the Rotary powered E-Type might lack the… penis-like analogies of the original Brit model, the fiberglass body is pretty detailed and you may fool some people. Plus, you’ll get a kick out of the looks on everybody’s faces when they hear the rotary engine scream. The RX-7 E-Type Convertible was sold on e-Bay a couple of days ago for $16,000 or 12,250 EUR. -More images after the jump

Link: eBay

Mazda’s Rotary Engine 40th Anniversary: Wallpapers & Rotary Widget Included

On May 30th 1967, Mazda sold its first rotar-engine powered car and simultaneously, the world’s first dual-rotar, rotary engine vehicle, the Cosmo Sport. 40 years latter and while most manufactures have long abandoned the idea of developing the innovative but also problematic, rotar-engine, Mazda continues to believe in Felix Wankel's dream. Tomorrow, May 30, 2007, Mazda will celebrate the rotary engine 40th birthday by opening a dedicated website -we’ll have more details on that later on. For the time being, Mazda has released an exclusive blog widget that allows comments. Simply copy the code below (replace XXX with <), and paste it to your blog –be sure though that your service provider permits JavaScript. Here’s the piece of the code:

XXXscript src="http://www.mazda.com/mazdaspirit/rotary/blogparts/rotary.js" type="text/javascript"> XXX/script>

Don’t really care about widgets? Well, we thought about that, so in compensation we added 50 (yes it took as a while) high-res images of all the rotar-engine powered cars that Mazda has produced the past 40 years; from the luscious Cosmo Sport to the weird, Holden Kingswood based, Roadpacer and from the Parkway bus to the dual-fueled (gasoline & hydrogen) RX-8 Hydrogen RE. -Follow the jump for the high-res image-gallery