Mazda RX-8 Original Generation Type RS

Position in the RX-8 range

The Type RS joined Japan’s refreshed RX-8 range on 10 March 2008. Based on the six-speed manual Type S, it retained four doors and four seats. It belongs beneath the original generation as a variant of the facelifted car. These specifications concern Japan, and the introduction date is a calendar date. Mazda’s launch announcement.

Powertrain and distinguishing equipment

Rear-wheel drive and a six-speed manual accompanied the water-cooled RENESIS rotary engine, with two 654 cc rotors. The facelift brought revised manual gearing and new oil and water pumps.

Type RS equipment included Bilstein dampers, urethane-filled front suspension crossmembers, Recaro front bucket seats and gunmetal 19-inch forged aluminium wheels with 225/40R19 tyres. Its front aero bumper, side under-spoilers and rear spoiler distinguished the exterior. The seats combined fabric centres with leather side supports and red stitching. Mazda’s engineering and equipment specification.

Manufacturing context and chronology

The RX-8 production programme began at Mazda’s Ujina No. 1 plant in Hiroshima, Japan, on 17 February 2003. That establishes the parent model’s manufacturing origin; the Type RS joined the programme five years later. The original factory announcement does not establish a separate Type RS production line or first-build date. Mazda’s production announcement.

Mazda’s October 2011 announcement identified the Type RS as the basis of the manual Spirit R. Spirit R sales were scheduled from 24 November 2011, after which the Japanese range would comprise Spirit R and automatic Type G grades only. This marks the Type RS’s replacement in the catalogue; it does not identify the last Type RS assembly date. The same announcement scheduled the wider RX-8 programme’s end for June 2012. That model-wide endpoint should not be presented as the ordinary Type RS’s confirmed production endpoint. Mazda’s Spirit R announcement.

Relationship to the Spirit R

The Type RS’s clearest historical connection is its role as the foundation for the manual Spirit R farewell edition. The automatic Spirit R instead derived from the Type E. Spirit R-specific details, including its badges, coloured brake calipers and bronze manual-version wheels, belong to that later edition and should not be used to describe every Type RS. Mazda’s description of the two Spirit R versions.

Sources and image credit

• Mazda Motor Corporation — Refreshed Mazda RX-8 on Sale in Japan, 10 March 2008.
• Mazda Motor Corporation — Mazda RX-8 SPIRIT R Coming to Japan in November 2011, 7 October 2011.
• Mazda Motor Corporation — Mazda Starts Production of ‘Mazda RX-8’, 17 February 2003.
• Tokumeigakarinoaoshima — Mazda RX-8 Type RS photograph, 19 August 2014; Wikimedia Commons, CC0 1.0.

Browse related records

Search Record type All typesengine (1)

1 records

• Mazda RX-8 Original Generation Type RS 1308 cc RENESIS Rotary Engine

  The Type RS paired Mazda’s 654 cc × 2 RENESIS rotary with a six-speed manual transmission in the refreshed Japanese RX-8 range introduced in March 2008.

  Engine