Tuesday 6th November 2001

Mazda RX-8

Bold new coupe goes into production

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[thom]

Sad it is not as beautiful as the RX-7.....but the motor looks to have been much improved so maybe the RX-8 is worth being noticed.

[orangaman]

250BHP from a 1.3 engine, can that be right!!

[PetrolTed]

When it's a rotary, yes.

[r-bin]

it doesnt really matter how "big" the engine is, they can pull a lot of horsepower out of a small engine too. (maybe with the help of some other tuning parts)

[JonRB]

But you're missing the point. A 1.3L Wankel Rotary Engine is a completly different kettle of spanners to a 1.3L 4-stroke piston engine. You're not comparing like-with-like.

Why do you think digital cameras have lenses "equivalent to a 28mm lens on a traditional camera" rather than quoting their actual size? If Mazda said "250bhp out of the equivalent of a 3.0L V6 piston engine" then you wouldn't bat an eyelid.

Um, not sure what I'm trying to say here. Sorry, shouldn't have had that extra lunchtime beer.

[ATG]

Anyone know what the torque figures are and how fast it was spinning to produce 250bhp?

[JonVickers]

Japanese-market RX-7 Type RS has 280hp @ 9000 rpm (not positive about the rpm) and 232 lbft. Compare to the standard RX-7's 265bhp.

[Sparks]

quote:
Anyone know what the torque figures are and how fast it was spinning to produce 250bhp?

250PS @ 8500rpm 246bhp?
216Nm @ 7500rpm 160lbft?

From mazda web site

bhp and lbft may be wrongly converted

Sparks