How it began.

This love story starts with a dream and the motivation to constantly keep going!

Following in the steps of the legendary Rx-7, in 1995 a Japanese team of engineers started to develop the 13B-MSP rotary engine. Unlike in “classic” engines, the main components in rotaries move in a circular motion, creating a more efficient energy transfer from combustion to moving the wheels, thus resulting in having fewer parts, being lighter and smaller. Although it showed great promise (200+ HP for such a small engine!) the team still had to wait years for management approval. In the final stages of development, Mazda designer Ikuo Maeda, son of Matasaburo Maeda (head designer for the legendary Rx-7!) joined the project and infused his own more dynamic design vision.

(Skip the following part if you’re not interested in a more technical fan monologue…)

/Inhale. The end result was a gorgeous sports car with a front-mid engine, rear-wheel drive and the iconic “suicide doors”. The Rx-8 achieves a nearly perfect 50:50 weight distribution, due to the engine being mounted behind the front axle and the fuel tank ahead of the rear axle. Apart from the engine, additional weight reduction is achieved through sleek bodylines and the use of lighter materials like aluminium, plastic and carbon fiber composites. Its amazing handling comes from the double-wishbone front suspension and the multilink rear suspension, from a carbon fiber composite driveshaft that reduces rotational mass connected to the engine and from a torque-sensing conical limited slip differential. /Exhale. This car is an engineering masterpiece.

For those who skipped: The end result was a sports car that looks hot and sleek, has great power output for its engine size and handles like a beast because it is a masterpiece of Japanese engineering.