Rotary Speed Magazine

Eikenberry's Project RX-8 Appears at Hot Import Nights

Eric Eikenberry's Project RX-8 (featured in MazdaSport Issue 15 and upcoming in issue 16) made its first appearance at a major car show over the past weekend. Hot Import Nights held a “Nightshift” event at the Los Angeles Convention Center near downtown which was well-attended by folks seeking a glimpse at the hottest rides in the world.

"I was allowed to enter the show at the last minute by the HIN staff, so a great big thanks to Thanh over there. Faced with the challenge of a missing hood striker at the eleventh hour, Puente Hills Mazda came through with a loaner. Give them a big round of applause," Eikenberry says.

Tri-Point Takes Top 5 At Sebring

The Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring Presented by Fresh From Florida weekend marked the beginning of both the 2008 SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge Touring Car season as well as Tri-Point’s year-long quest to defend their 2007 championship titles.  Charles Espenlaub, piloting the #73 MAZDA6, narrowly missed the podium in 4th place.  Defending champion Jeff Altenburg crossed the line a half-second later to claim the 5th position.  In his Touring Car debut 2007 MX-5 Cup Champion Jason Saini was the third Mazda to take the checkered flag in 9th place. 

Mazda2 Named 2008 World Car of the Year

This would be much bigger news if we could actually buy a Mazda2 here in the States. Oh, well...

The Mazda2 is the 2008 World Car of the Year (WCOTY). From an initial entry list of thirty-nine (39) new vehicles from all over the world, the overall 2008 WCOTY title was announced today (Thursday, March 20, 2008) at the New York International Auto Show. The Mazda2 (known as the Mazda Demio in Japan) edged out the Ford Mondeo and Mercedes-Benz C-Class to take the overall award.

Based on the recommendations of a design panel consisting of four highly respected world design experts, the Mazda2 was also voted by the jurors onto the short-list of top three design finalists, together with the Audi R8 and Volvo C30.

Mazda Announces Portland Race Dates

Attention all Mazdasport and Forever MX-5 readers: mark your calendar now to join us July 26th & 27th in Portland, Oregon.  While you may have heard that the demise of Champ Car meant the traditional Grand Prix of Portland would not happen in 2008, think again.

"The Grand Prix of Portland is important enough that Mazda felt the need to step up and help make the 25th anniversary race happen.  We'll be bringing a Star Mazda doubleheader, a round of the Playboy MX-5 Cup and other races and motorsports activities that the Northwest race fans will enjoy.  We have a lot of work ahead, but the team of Mazda and the Portland International Raceway are committed to making it happen," says Jim Jordan, Marketing Manager, Mazda North American Operations

With the combined efforts of Portland International Raceway, Mazda North American Operations, MazdaSport magazine, and others who will no doubt join us, the race will go on, but with a different flavor.  Think younger and more grassroots, like us!

Among the many activities planned will be special car corrals for Mazda clubs and public street-legal drag racing in the evening. MazdaSport and Forever MX-5 will have a substantial presence at this event.    

Revised RX-8 hits Japanese Market

Mazda Motor Corporation has announced the launch of the freshened Mazda RX-8. The updated four-door, four-seat rotary-powered sports car is available from today at all Mazda and Mazda Anfini dealerships throughout Japan.

The four-seat RX-8 sports car debuted in Japan in May 2003, powered by Mazda’s lightweight, compact and powerful rotary engine. The freshened version evolves and refines the high performance and sporty styling core elements of the RX-8, and features enhanced quality and packaging. The newly released Type RS grade offers exceptional driving pleasure with better performance and bolder styling.

USA Today Discovers Amateur Mazda Racing

National newspaper USA today has a great story about amateur racers in Mazdas, and chose to feature MazdaSport and Forever MX-5 Autocross columnist Jason Isley, saying:  "Like any other working stiff, Jason Isley commutes to the office in his sporty coupe during the week.

But come Friday, he wrestles the baby carrier out of the back seat of the Mazda RX-8, wrenches on a set of extra-grippy tires and slaps some magnetic racing numbers on the sides. Plop on a helmet, and the transformation is complete: family man to top-performing race car driver."

[Read the whole story in USA Today]

COBB Tuning Releases AccessPORT ECU Tuner for RX-8

The aftermarket ECU experts at COBB Tuning have recently started shipping their signature "AccessPORT" product for the RX-8.

The product plugs into your OBD-II port and allows you to monitor your fuel economy (average and real time), perform performance tests in order to estimate your 0-60mph and 1/4 mile times, read and decypher ECU trouble codes (including CELs), and monitor live data from your OEM vehicle sensors. The real trick, however, is its ability to overwrite your car's stock ECU with performance-modified maps and to tune your vehicle to take specific advantage of any aftermarket parts you may have installed.

The RX-8 AccessPORT sells for $695 from www.cobbtuning.com.

[Read COBB's Announcement]

Star Mazda Champ Shines in Atlantic Practice

Rookie driver Dane Cameron went two-for-two in his first Cooper Tires Presents The Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda test with Genoa Racing, concluding the two-day Spring Training tune-up at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca atop the time charts.

Driving the No. 17Genoa Racing machine, Cameron logged a best lap at 1:15.447 (106.788 mph) in Tuesday’s morning session, which held up through the fourth and final session of Spring Training on Tuesday afternoon and turned out to be the quickest lap of Spring Training. It was an impressive outing for the 2007 Star Mazda champion, who was also quickest on Monday. The results of this test will undoubtedly be helpful as he looks to secure his program for the 2008 season.

“It’s great momentum,” Cameron said. “I struggled a little bit in Sebring and some of the other tests so far. It was great to get a bunch of momentum and do really well, and to prove that we’re going to be really quick the whole year. I’m still looking to finalize something for the rest of the season, but it was really, really productive. Most of the changes we made yesterday and all morning, we were getting faster and faster. This afternoon, the track was a bit strange. It was kind of going back and forth, with a lot of cloud cover coming on and off and a number of red flags and stuff like that. I don’t really feel like we had a great run in the afternoon, but we still weren’t terrible. We weren’t quickest in the afternoon session, but we were quickest overall. It’s been a really good two days. We’ll see where the next test ends up being, but even so, it’s a great bit of momentum to put everything from last week behind me and start moving forward and driving again. I’m sure looking forward to Long Beach now.”

Mazfest 2008 Announced

Mazfest, now in its fourth year, is returning to Buttonwillow Raceway on July 12 - 13. This is a fantastic opportunity to get some track time in  along with other Mazda owners. There will also be a car show, RX-7-specific lapping, car clinics, vendors and more!

Click the jump for the official announcement from the Mazda Owners Club of California, So Cal RX Club and Redline Track Events.

Mazda2 3-door hatch making debut

Following the success of the European market Mazda2 5-door, an even sportier 3-door hatch will be joining the lineup later this year. A concept version was built specifically for the Geneva Motor Show to be held March 4-16, 2008.

This new model features several motors -- from a 1.3 liter gas to a 1.4 liter diesel -- and all benefit from an even slipperier 0.31 drag coefficient and a mere 0.02 coefficient of lift, resulting in low fuel consumption.

We don't have any pictures yet, but we were already wishing for a US-bound 5-door. Even the thought of a 3-door makes us salivate even more. We'll have real pictures after it breaks cover later this month.