gavriil

Mazda caused a stir at the Detroit Motor Show with its radical RX-8 concept car, the spiritual successor to the RX-7, that is due out in 2003.

The coupe concept’s most unusual feature is the four-door body style which Mazda says will be carried over to the production car.

Unusually, the RX-8 does away with a central pillar, with both sets of doors opening out from the middle, barn-door style. Inside there are four separate seats, each offering greater head- and legroom than most similarly sized coupes.

Like its predecessor, which was last available in the UK in 1997 (bottom), the RX-8 is powered twin rotary engine, although this time around it will be normally aspirated. The new unit, which is equivalent to a 1.3-litre piston engine, will pump out 250bhp through the rear wheels.

With extensive use of aluminium body panels and components, the production car is expected to weigh just 1260kg. The 0-60mph time is expected to be around six seconds with a top speed of 150mph.

The final production model will also eventually offer 200 and 280bhp variants. A four-wheel-drive version is also being considered, as is the option of an F1-style clutchless manual gearbox, allowing changes via wheel-mounted paddles.

The company says that the rear-drive chassis will be available with two suspension settings: Sport and Comfort, with the latter trading some sharpness and body control for a more compliant ride – although both versions are expected to offer sporty handling responses.

The RX-8 is built on a new platform which Mazda insiders say will form the basis of a new family of sports cars, likely to include the next-generation MX-5 roadster. It might even spawn a small saloon to rival the BMW 3-series.

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Gabriel
CL Type S

MCHM3

bad ass car

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2001 cl type s,custom voltage blue paint job, comptech headers, 18 inch ssr agle strusse rims, greddy evo exhaust, cross drilled rotors, pioneer avx 7000 tv, playstation2, iceman cold air intake(custom)paxton fuel pressure regulator, slammed on nex suspension

P-Man

very nice. actually, i'm still deciding on the front.


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Black/Parch '01 CL-S no-navi, Spoiler, Visor (currently removed for winter), 35% tint, locks, PIAA19170

buddha

oh no! i can hear it already from the is300 guys about those cheesy altezza lights. honestly those guys have a big inferiority complex. i troll on alot of the different car forums and the is300 guys are the worst. heck, before i read the corvette forum, i thought those guys would be real big asses but they seem really cool.

RandyMax

Zoom-zoom-zoom!!

Mike

Interesting too bad it won't be all that fast. gotta love those suicide doors!!

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2001 Satin Silver Cl Type S.
Comptech Headers
Comptech Springs
Muds
Wheel locks
35% Llumar metallic tint
Best 0-60. 6.08 Gtech Pro (Preheaders)

My Car

KavexTrax

OMG! wtf is that? Pulling a Saturn there?
LOL LOL

rest of the car looks fine

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- Kvit -
2001 CL-P Blue Sub 6
Polarg BlHybrid M-6 Road lamps
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/Album...725&a=10358832

CLS16

Any news about the price range?

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01 white/ebony CL-S
No Mods yet
Getting V-AFC soon

NOVAwhiteTypeS

not really into the cheap civic / is300 clear taillights.

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CL-S
White/Ebony/Navi/Spoiler/Visor/Full Bra/Mud Guards/Cargo Net/Acura Car Cover/Tint 20%,35%,5% on Sun Roof, Rockford 250a2 Amp w/JL10w6 / K&N Drop in Filter. Comptech Springs. Polarg m-6.
Comptech Headers soon now that I have a JOB again. hehe

SilverCL225hp

Is this close to the final production, I like most of the car except for the headlamps, which I found too small.

tw1112

HAHA Those doors do look like it! Nice car though.....a whole lot better than saturns!


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Tw1112
CL 3.0 '98 - Cleared bumper, hiper/piaa bulbs all around, PIAA 1700x fogs, and AEM CAI.

• My CL
• LA Autoshow
• SoCal Meet