• 2 years ago
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)

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