Mazda RX-7 FD Spirit R Type A 13B-REW Rotary Engine
The Spirit R Type A paired Mazda’s 13B-REW rotary with a five-speed manual and a published output of 206 kW (280 PS) in the RX-7’s final production year.
The Spirit R Type A engine
The 13B-REW powered the Japanese-market RX-7 FD Spirit R Type A, a two-seat member of Mazda’s final RX-7 limited-edition series. Mazda specified 206 kW (280 PS) and a five-speed manual transmission. This record covers that particular application rather than every version of the 13B engine family. The specification appears in Mazda’s contemporary Spirit R announcement.
Architecture and development
The engine combined a twin-rotor layout with sequential twin turbocharging. Classic Register identifies the Spirit R’s 13B-REW as a 1,308 cc rotary, continuing the engine family used throughout FD production. Its identification guide provides application-specific supporting detail.
The engineering lineage reaches back to the FD generation, introduced in Japan in December 1991. Mazda’s corporate chronology describes its original 255 PS twin-rotor engine, sequential turbocharging and front-midship installation. The same chronology records adoption of a 280 PS RX-7 engine in December 1998. The Spirit R therefore belongs to an established higher-output phase of FD development; 280 PS was not a new rating introduced by the farewell edition.
Application and market distinctions
Mazda’s launch specification table also lists 280 PS for the four-seat, manual Spirit R Type B. The four-seat Type C instead combined a four-speed automatic with 188 kW (255 PS). These are distinct applications within the same edition series.
The Type A’s distinguishing equipment included lightweight Recaro seats and upgraded braking components. Those changes describe the vehicle package; the announcement does not establish a separate Type A engine family or an output increase over the Type B.
Production context
Mazda announced the Spirit R on 25 March 2002, with Japanese sales beginning on 22 April. Its contemporary release anticipated the end of FD production in August 2002. The sale date should not be treated as a verified first engine-build date.
Classic Register’s Spirit R identification guide identifies Hiroshima, Japan, as the vehicle’s production location through its commemorative plaque. This establishes the car’s production context, rather than a separately documented engine assembly line. Exact Type A engine production dates and an application-specific engine total are not established by the cited material.
Place in RX-7 history
This application represents the final production-year expression of the turbocharged rotary in the RX-7 model line. Mazda’s RX-7 retrospective confirms that RX-7 production ended in 2002 and that the RX-8 followed in 2003. Its historical importance lies in combining the mature FD powertrain with the farewell Spirit R package, preserving the compact rotary engine as the central feature of Mazda’s sports-car design.
Sources
- Mazda: Final Limited Edition of Mazda RX-7 ‘Spirit R’ Unleashed — contemporary announcement and specification table.
- Mazda: History, 1990–1999 — FD introduction and engine development chronology.
- Classic Register: 2002 Mazda RX-7 Spirit R Type A — engine identification and Hiroshima production context.
- Mazda: 100 years of Mazda — The Mazda RX-7 — historical context and production conclusion.