★ Mazda RX7 History : Everything YOU need to know! ★

hey guys this is Gary the Mazda RX7 is synonymous with its rotary engine it was designed as a sports car but became Mazda Supercar this video will be on the history of the Mazda RX7 the RX7 was designed as Mazda's Premier sports car but used a twin rotor wankle rotary engine there were previous models that used the rotary before it such as the capella Savannah Cosmo and Lucy but I'll only focus on the RX7 in this video Mazda was mostly recognized for providing rotary powered sedans coups and wagons to the USA in the 70s the rotary engines were very popular at this time because of its Simplicity power and affordability they had an idea of eventually building a sports car to compete with the Dawson Z it wasn't all rainbows and unicorns though the oil crisis hit in 1973 and fuel mileage and reliability problems appeared which also included oil consumption issues sales of their rotary engine powered cars dropped Mazda was still set on developing a sports car though but now there was a lot of uncertainty because Mazda was going to introduce an unfamiliar sports car to the market with a questionable rotary engine sales eventually picked back up around 1977 and when it looked like it would either go down or Plateau the first generation RX7 was introduced in 1978 with a 1.2 L rotary engine its style was inspired by the Lotus Alan Mazda used the RX7 as a transition to their first sports car to compete with their Japanese counterparts such as the Dawson 280Z and Toyota Celica Supra while the rest of the world received the RX7 model name the Savanah name was used for this model in Japan which they were very popular since they were were texed based on engine displacement so smaller engines would be more affordable sales increased for Mazda and rx7s were hard to keep on showroom floors they were more affordable than a 280Z and Porsche 924 even with a dealer markup the benefits to a rotary engine is its compact form lightweight smoothness increased rev range and It produced equivalent power to its piston engines from its 1.3 l displacement the front Mid Engine placement is slightly behind that shock Tower providing a low center of gravity and perfect 50 to 50 weight distribution for its rear wheel drive layout some of the other reasons that also help sales is the rotary's characteristic of revving to 7,000 RPM which was reminiscent of race engines the horsepower per liter was astonishing for this time it was also very smooth not only in power delivery but the way the engine operated compared to engines of this era especially V8s which ran rough and stalled at times the suspension consisted of a front strut and coil spring and live axle on coils in the rear steering was based on a recirculating ball type the rotary motor was only considered as having 1.2 L in displacement which made it more affordable for Japanese owners power was also comparable to its piston engine competition during this time performance ranking the first few years with its competition you'd have the Mazda RX7 at first place the Dawson 280Z in second with its comparable performance and then the Porsche 924 in third place the RX 7's performance Advantage was its compact powerful engine lightness and balance there were three revisions or what Mazda calls series to this chassis during its first generation the series one were introduced the first two years from 1979 to 1980 with the 12a rotary engine the series 2 appeared in 1981 to 1983 which received aesthetic and ergonomic changes with a slightly longer body implementation of a larger fuel tank 5-speed manual and optional GSL performance package which included disc brakes and clutch Type rear limited slip differential was also offered the series 3 appeared in 1984 to 1985 receiving aesthetic changes but the most noticeable thing to happen was the introduction of the 13B rotary engine for the GSL SE which was only offered for the US market it also included larger breake rotors and stiffer suspension other markets did receive special versions like the RX7 finale for Australia in 1985 and the Savannah RX7 turbo which used a non-intercooled turbo 12a for Japan in 1983 the first generation RX7 was very popular and sold about 80% in the US magazines around the world praised this performance great handling and fun Factor it also partic participated in the international Motorsports Association gtu Series in which it dominated the second generation Mazda R7 was introduced in 1985 it drew styling inspiration from the Porsche 944 this generation was thought of as less sporty since it matured from the first generation the RX7 was sold as a coupe with optional back seat for various markets and as a convertible the second generation RX7 offered many more modern Technologies such as independent rear suspension and better steering with a racken pinion disc brakes were standard and may include four piston calipers in some trims a rear whe steering feature and automatically adjustable shock dampening system was also offered a naturally aspirated 1.3 l rotary engine was offered as a standard with a turbo two trim that included a twin scroll turbocharger and air-to-air intercooler like previous generations this one also received revisions such as a series 4 from 1986 to 1988 and a series 5 from 1989 to 1991 which received a power increase there were special models offered for the second generation RX7 during its time frame such as the infinity 10th anniversary and gtu to commemorate their dominance in that series there was also praise from this generation RX7 from magazines around the world the third generation RX7 received an aerody dnamic body style and became larger wider and curvier it was more refined balanced and had great handling aluminum suspension parts were implemented to help reduce weight it was supplied with a first ever mass produced sequential twin turbocharged 1.3 l rotary engine which used a smaller turbo for low wind and transitioned over to a larger turbo for higher RPM operation sales were great during its introduction tion other than its home country of Japan since the RX7 now did not meet Dimension regulations which increased taxes like previous generations it was revised through its decade long production the Series 6 from 1992 to 1995 was the most successful worldwide the series 7 from 1996 to 1998 received revised dcus for manual transmission equipped cars and the RX7 was only sold in right-and drive from here on the series a sold from 1999 to the end of production in 2002 and was only available in the Japanese Market it received aesthetic ergonomic Cooling and power upgrades there were also many special models for this generation throughout its production the third generation RX7 was praised for its looks and great handling by magazines and beat performance cars costing much more than it unfortunately like its Japanese counterparts a weeken price increase Niche two-seater market and transition to much larger family oriented cars caused the RX7 to meet its demise in the US in 1993 it continued production elsewhere in the world until 2002 Mazda has since replaced the RX7 with the RX8 in 2002 there have also been discussions of bringing back the RX7 or building another successor but the problem lies with the rotary engine not being able to meet stricter emission standards reliability and projected sales figures with the return of the GTR NSX and Supra will we be seeing the return of the RX7 in the next few years I hope you enjoyed watching the history of the Mazda RX7 like if you found this educational subscribe for future videos and check out my other videos until then I'll see you in the next [Music] one now

Channel: GT Content

Views: 69,604

Keywords: GTR, R35, Godzilla, Nissan, turbochargers, V6, super car, bpu, skyline, nismo, walker, 0-60, sounds, exhaust, launch, pull, import, drift, america, usa, race, drifting, gt content, r35gtr, nissan, nissangtr, gtrnissan, awd, twinturbo, turbo, paul, r34, granturismo, cars, fbo, rotary, 13b, 12a, gtu, rx7, rx-7, mazda, turbo2, turbo II, supra, nsx, series, savanna, finale, infini, 10th anniversary, sequential, rx8, rx3, rx2, rx4, rx5, 280z, 924, 944, celicasupra, porsche, lotus, elan, japan, renesis, rx concept, concept, fd, fb, fc

Id: cMF3C7TWIzw

Length: 9min 2sec (542 seconds)

Published: Wed May 17 2017