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Hero Cars – Episode 03 | Mazda RX-7
HERO CARS
MAZDA RX-7
Words Marco Mancino / Photos Mazda
Exactly thirty years later, it not only maintains that universally recognized charm, but increases it, thanks to an engineering architecture that is more unique than rare and which has allowed the third generation of RX-7 to carve out a special place in the hearts of enthusiasts. Baptized FD and produced until 2002 through three different generations simply called 6, 7 and 8, this Mazda coupe had the enormous merit of shuffling the cards in terms of performance cars, coming to compete with sacred monsters like various European GTs that would never have imagined to see this Japanese beauty so close in their rearview mirror. It is in fact incredibly at ease between corners as well as in front of the loving pupils of people looking at its iconic shapes.
Reducing everything to the technical aspect of the RX-7 seems unfair to us, which is why it is worth spending a few words on the aesthetics. Replacing a model (the FC) that still carried the boxy lines typical of the 80s, the new coupe from Mazda raises the bar with a design that appeals everyone, including Americans and Europeans customers. Tapered line with a slender bonnet that leads the eye along a sinuous side profile incorporating the two front seats and almost completely hiding the two small ones hollowed out in the back, an aspect that is by no means negligible once you enter a segment that is often forced to go down to compromises in order to maintain aerodynamics values that do everything possible to enhance driving pleasure. The tail is also characterized by a small fixed spoiler and a very large rear glass that increases luminosity into the cabin.
The interior is also one of the many strengths of a car that embodies the perfect spirit that the brand has always had at heart even in one of its other most emblematic models: the MX-5. Everything is aimed at the driver, starting with a seating position close to the ground and which allows sincere feedbacks coming from the chassis, a raised gearbox lever and instrumentation that represents the perfect meeting point between the purest driving experience and the comfort you would expect on a grand tourer with a price at least double compared to what this cost new: approximately €40,000. But let’s finally move on to the secret ingredient, the legendary 2.6-liter Wankel rotary engine positioned behind the front axle. The particular operation aptly involves a rotor with three lobes rotating eccentrically around the crankshaft. This movement generates work chambers in which the four phases take place cyclically: intake, compression, combustion and exhaust. The actual displacement per chamber is 654-cc, which if mathematics is not an opinion leads to 2,616-cc of a traditional engine.
With an overall power that in the version destined for Europe reached 239 horsepower, the RX-7 was able to ground a maximum torque of 296 Nm at 5,000 rpm, entrusting a system of sequential turbo with the task of avoiding turbo lag and allow the output curve to be full-bodied already from a low number of revs per minute. It goes without saying that as the needle rises up, acceleration intensifies in a way that is directly proportional to the fun resulting from an overall weight of around 1,280 kg. Finally, a length of 4.2 meters and a wheelbase of 2.4 meters ensured incredible agility between curves, while the rear-wheel drive in dialogue with a 5-speed manual gearbox were the icing on the cake that was maybe taken for granted at the time, but that we are now looking for in an almost maniacal way. For the record, a 4-speed automatic was also available.
With such complex and unusual mechanics, there were so many things that could have gone wrong, but the careful work done by Mazda engineers has given the world a car that is incredibly capable of ticking all the boxes that really matter. The updates it took over its decade of production were subtle and kept the overall look of the model in step with the company’s stylistic features, but the secret of the RX-7’s success goes far beyond numbers such as a 0 to 100 kph in 5.5 seconds and a top speed of 250 per hour, or the perfect 50:50 weight balance, or the extremely low center of gravity that guaranteed absolute pleasure throughout some bends. This is the maximum expression of the rotary engine used for a long time by Mazda and here made available on a model aimed at enthusiasts, both for those who just want to go fast without too many thoughts, but also for those who know what they are holding in their hands and appreciate a pretty peculiar project. In 2003 the RX-8 came out, but despite maintaining a rotary engine and bringing with it countless innovations, was not be able to replace the RX-7 hero. This was not only due to a line penalized by a greater attention paid to space on board and two extra doors. The RX-7 was impossible to match, let alone replace it.
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