Mazda RX-7 Spirit R: The Glory Days of Japanese Sports Cars - Ignition Episode 31 - video Dailymotion

MotorTrend

On this episode of Ignition

Transcript

00:00 This week on Ignition, we're in for a bit of a treat.

00:03 We're on the way to Mazda's US headquarters

00:05 in Irvine, California, because they've

00:07 agreed for some reason to loan us a third gen RX-7, and not

00:12 just any RX-7.

00:13 While Mazda stopped importing the RX-7 to the US in 1995,

00:26 production continued in Japan until 2002.

00:29 Throughout that time, the RX-7 received

00:31 numerous improvements, gaining more power,

00:34 enhanced aerodynamics, revised gearing, and so on.

00:37 But as production came to a close,

00:39 Mazda decided that the RX-7 should go out with a bang.

00:43 So the last 1,500 cars down the assembly line

00:46 received special upgrades and a new name.

00:48 They were called Spirit R. Being that they were sold only

00:53 in Japan, they were all right-hand drive,

00:55 all except for one.

00:58 Someone high up at Mazda wanted a Spirit R for the US,

01:01 so the company took a left-hand drive model

01:03 and retrofit it with the Spirit R goodies.

01:06 This, then, is the only left-hand drive Spirit R

01:09 in the world.

01:11 The first thing I had to do was put it on the scales.

01:14 One of the things that makes this car so special

01:17 is its weight.

01:18 At 2,880 pounds, it's about as heavy as a Civic SI,

01:22 but it has nearly 50/50 weight distribution.

01:24 [MUSIC PLAYING]

01:27 For a sports car designed in the early '90s,

01:39 there's some interesting things happening underneath.

01:41 You have control arm suspension at all four corners.

01:44 You have this torque tube-like structure here.

01:48 So anyway, what is a Spirit R?

01:50 Well, they came in three variations, A, B, and C,

01:53 with A being the most aggressive,

01:54 with just two seats and a five-speed manual transmission.

01:57 This is a spec A. Now, underneath,

02:01 you can see some of the upgrades that they have.

02:03 We had forged wheels from BBS.

02:05 We have shocks from Bilstein.

02:07 We have drilled brake rotors and Recaro bucket seats inside.

02:11 This was one of the most driver-focused RX-7s

02:14 ever produced.

02:15 [MUSIC PLAYING]

02:18 Now, before we get driving, there

02:22 are a couple of cool things about the exterior of this car

02:24 that I want to show you guys.

02:25 And the first is just the side profile.

02:27 I mean, the proportions of this car,

02:29 it kind of has this sucked-in look, which gives it

02:31 this overall sense of lightweight.

02:34 And that's what the car is.

02:35 It's rather light.

02:37 And can you believe that these are 17-inch wheels

02:39 front and rear?

02:40 I mean, this was back in the day before 19s and 20s

02:43 were so prevalent.

02:44 And cars were definitely better because they

02:47 had smaller wheels.

02:48 Look at the sidewall on this tire.

02:50 You wouldn't see a sidewall like that on a modern sports car

02:53 at all.

02:54 The wing, you actually see there's

02:55 this little indent in here inside the wing.

02:59 And that's because if you take these side pieces off,

03:02 you can actually change the angle of the wing

03:05 if you're so inclined.

03:07 Now, over to the front.

03:08 The front bumper is pure Japanese, though.

03:11 This bumper only came on the Japanese-spec cars.

03:13 You can tell by the fog light and this front license plate

03:16 mold here.

03:17 The reason that's there is because the Japanese

03:19 are pretty particular about having front license plates.

03:22 So Masa made this bulge in the front bumper.

03:25 You actually see a lot of guys on the forums

03:27 importing these bumpers, shaving this off at a body shop,

03:30 and making it so it looks flush.

03:32 Just a funny detail.

03:33 So with the RX-7, you have to talk about the engine.

03:47 It is, of course, a rotary with the sort of unique sound

03:50 and 8,000 RPM red line.

03:52 It also has two turbochargers, and they're

03:54 arranged sequentially.

03:55 So you have a small one that takes

03:57 care of the first half of the power band

03:59 and a second one that comes on later.

04:01 It's kind of a complex solution, but it certainly

04:05 makes for an interesting driving experience

04:08 because you have decent surge up into about 4,000, 4,500 RPM,

04:13 and there's a noticeable lull in the acceleration.

04:16 And then the second turbo comes in,

04:17 and things get going much faster.

04:21 In fact, Mazda specifically warned us

04:23 that this car does not have traction control,

04:26 and it does not have stability control,

04:28 and that if you're mid-corner when that second turbo spools

04:30 up, things can get kind of sideways.

04:33 We're not going to try that, though, of course,

04:35 this being the only car of its kind in the world.

04:38 But back to that engine.

04:39 It makes only around 280 horsepower,

04:43 and in today's world, that's not much.

04:45 I mean, even a Mazda Speed 3 makes nearly that much.

04:49 See, this car was made during Japan's legendary 276 horsepower

04:53 pact, where sports cars were limited on power.

04:57 And I think that actually benefited these cars

05:00 because when you limit horsepower,

05:02 you have to make the cars better in different ways.

05:04 You have to make the suspension sharper.

05:05 You have to make the ride more immediate, the inputs sharper.

05:09 You have to make the car lighter.

05:10 You can't rely on horsepower as a crutch.

05:13 [ENGINE REVVING]

05:15 One of the things I love so much is

05:19 this excellent forward visibility.

05:21 That's because the engine's so tight and low.

05:24 All you see are really the front fenders guiding you

05:27 throughout the corners.

05:28 This interior, too, while it's definitely not

05:31 built for your standard American body size

05:33 with these tight-fitting Recaros,

05:35 all the gauges face you.

05:37 The whole dash here is inclined towards the driver.

05:40 When you put this car in the context of the early '90s,

05:43 it becomes even more impressive.

05:46 Back when Motor Trend tested the US version,

05:48 it would hit 60 in the low 5s, the quarter mile

05:51 in the 13-second range.

05:53 It could put down nearly a G around the skid pad.

05:56 It was one foot away from the shortest stopping

05:59 distance they'd ever recorded from 60 miles an hour.

06:04 It was that incredible performance

06:06 and the level of driver involvement

06:08 that this car gave you that made it easily Motor Trend's

06:11 Import Car of the Year in 1993.

06:17 One of the interesting things that I'm noticing, though,

06:19 is that when you drive this car quickly,

06:21 you start seeing a little bit of Miata, a little bit of RX-8.

06:24 You see where those cars descended from.

06:27 You get the sense that the engineers that built

06:30 those cars drove this one.

06:34 It's interesting driving a car that

06:36 was designed and made in the early '90s,

06:38 even though this one was built probably around 2000,

06:40 because it makes you appreciate just how capable

06:43 today's performance cars are.

06:45 This thing feels fast pretty much all the time,

06:48 even when you're driving to the grocery store

06:50 or at the speed limit on the freeway.

06:52 It's constantly engaging, constantly involving,

06:55 even at lower speeds.

06:57 And that's something that a lot of modern cars are missing.

07:00 You really need to push them hard in order to enjoy them.

07:04 In fact, a modern descendant of this car

07:06 might be the Scion FR-S and BRZ, because those both offer

07:09 that level of engagement everywhere.

07:14 You have to be mindful of torque and power.

07:16 You have to be mindful of the shifter.

07:18 You have to pay attention to gauges and dials.

07:20 I mean, this is what driving is all about.

07:22 You know, it's almost a wonder that this car was built,

07:32 as it's so focused on driving fun and little else.

07:37 The RX-7 was only on sale in the US for three years,

07:40 defeated by a high price, shrinking yen to dollar ratio,

07:44 and let's say, somewhat challenged reliability issues.

07:47 But the way it longs to please its driver

07:56 makes it my highlight of the Japanese sports car glory days.

07:59 [MUSIC PLAYING]

08:02 [CAR ENGINE REVVING]

08:07 [MUSIC PLAYING]

08:11 [MUSIC PLAYING]

08:15 [MUSIC PLAYING]

08:19 [MUSIC PLAYING]

08:23 [MUSIC PLAYING]

08:26 [MUSIC PLAYING]

08:30 [MUSIC PLAYING]

08:33 [MUSIC PLAYING]

08:37 [MUSIC PLAYING]

08:40 [MUSIC PLAYING]

08:44 [MUSIC PLAYING]

08:47 [MUSIC PLAYING]

08:51 [MUSIC PLAYING]

08:55 (gentle music)

Mazda RX-7 Spirit R: The Glory Days of Japanese Sports Cars - Ignition Episode 31

Category

Transcript

Recommended