The end of an era, is how many people saw it, when Mazda announced that it was closing down the RX7 production line. The RX8 was ready to take over the mantle of "flagship of the Mazda range". Unfortunately, the RX8 did not fullfil the aim of the RX7, which was to be one of the ultimate sports cars on the road. Rather than simply produce another niche 2 seater RX7 selling into a limited market place, Mazda presumably decided that to justify the investment in developing the rotary engine to meet strict international emission standards, a car should be designed that would appeal to a far wider market, hence increase the return on the investment. The RX8 was to be that car, a sporty 4-seater, that was fast and handled well. But it lacks that undefinable edge that the RX7 had to offer, that made it "that bit special".

Having decided that the RX7 would be no more, after 24 years (wonder who actually made the decision to axe the 7 from Mazda's line-up, deleting their sporty icon, and probably the only car anyone looked upto in their range??) the last RX7 rolled off the production line. But to celebrate the RX7 Mazda decided to release one, final special edition, that would celebrate the best of the 7. It was this final run, that was given the name SPIRIT-R. Presumably, this name was used to make reference to the specially commisioned poem, "The Spirit Of The RX7" that was meant to provide inspiration to the 3rd generation design team at the start of the project.

The Spirit-R special edition, was to be limited to only 1500. To further differentiate this limited run, the 1500 was broken down into 3 further models, called the Type A, B and C. The Type A was a 2-seater, and the most "sporty", with the Type B pretty much the same as the Type A, but with the 2+2 format and leather seats rather than the Type A's Recaro buckets. The Type C was a lower powered version, with automatic tranmission and less uprated parts.

For all intents and purposes, the Spirit-R appears to be a continuation of the last, VERY limited (only 175) RZ model, with only a few minor asthetic tweaks to differentiate the two models. (If any one knows of any mechanical differences, then please let me know, and I'll update the information presented here). Be that as it may, the Spirit-R is still the pinacle of Mazda's RX7 development.

But going back a little, Mazda gradually updated the RX7 over the years, with regular mechanical revisions. But in 1999, Mazda announced a set of major modifications, and all RX7s after this date carried these:

Body 10 mm shorter due to new front bumper Integral number plate holder Bigger mouth in bumper Better air ducting for intercooler, air box 2.1, oil cooler 1.8, brake cooling duct 1.6 times bigger Lip spoiler with integral canards Combination lamps added New Rear wing adjustable attack angle 1~14.5 deg Fog lamps changed 35W to 55W New 17" wheels 6.72kg, 0.48 lighter Tyre changed expedia S07 to potenza S07 Rear glass tinted Mazda badge changed Engine power up 280ps 2500 rpm less torque, 5000 rpm more torque Front pipe thinner bigger inner diameter Muffler changed 10% less back pressure and quieter Turbos changed exhaust wheels smaller 51mm to 51mm Compressor abraidable seals added Boost up 0.62 > 0.74 bar Bigger Radiator

Changed oil metering 25% less power steering force and check valve added Suspension more mild damper changed from 297M to 149M Suspension settings changed Front toe in from 51 mm to 2 mm, angle 0.6 to 0.12 Chamber from 0.06 to -0.06 ABS program changed Angled brake ducting Brake backing plates changed Wheels centre cap changed Passenger airbag Sports gauges smaller Steering wheel nardi with airbag oil pressure gauge changed to boost gauge Rev needle changed to 6:00 ABS unit changed, 8 bit to 16 bit EBD added Clutch interlock added, No clutch in no engine start Silver gauge bezels come back White gauge faces Lower side impact bar added

Source: RX7.net.nz

To compliment these generic changes, various special editions had minor changes of their own. For the final RZ and subsequently the Spirit-R, the following were also included:

Unique 17" BBS wheels (slightly different between the RZ and the Spirit-R) Bilstein shocks Bigger brake disks, and cross drilled for cooling and bite Hard type Torsen LSD 4.3 (Final) Recaro Carbon Fibre bucket seats - RZ and Type A Two seater only - reintroduced for the RZ and Type A Driver's Knee Pad Source: RX7.net.nz

Colours available for the Spirit-R: Vintage Red Pure White Titanium Grey Metallic - unique colour only for the Spirit Innocent Blue Mica Brilliant Black

For extra effect, Mazda added unique decals, depicting the "Spirit-R" name, in a rotar-shaped motiff. These were included on the front wings, and repeated on the silver painted instrument dials.

Each Spirit-R had a unique chromed plate fitted to the engine bay, individually numbered and printed with the signature of the project manager - Takao Kijima.

The full specification of the Spirit-R's are listed below:

GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS

		SPIRIT R
		Type A	Type B	Type C
Transmission		5 speed manual		4 speed auto
Damper		Bilstein Equipped		standard
Torsen LSD		reinforced "hard" type		standard
Front strut brace		standard - red painted
Rear strut bar		standard
Front anti-roll bar		standard
Rear anti-roll bar		larger size		standard
Brakes: ventilated all round		Increased thickness + cross-drilled
4 piston aluminum brake calipers (F)		(colour coded red)
Stainless mesh brake hoses		standard
Air -cooled oil cooler		(twin)		(single)
AT oil cooler		n/a	n/a	standard
TIRES & WHEELS
Front: 235/45ZR17 assymmetrical (L&R) tire Rear: 255/40ZR17 assymmetrical (L&R) tire		Bridgestone Pontenza S07 (factory fitted)
BBS 17' alloy wheels (F:8JJ, R:8½JJ)		Gun-metal	Silver
Spare tire(T125/70D17tire + 17x4T alloy wheels)		standard
SAFETY
Driver + passenger airbag		standard
Braking		4 wheel ABS + electronic brake distribution
EXTERIOR
Front spoiler		1999 spec with improved air flow
Adjustable large rear spoiler		standard
Under floor diffuser		standard	standard	n/a
Dark tint rear glass		standard
INTERIOR
Power steering		rack + pinion, speed sensitve
NARDI leather steering wheel		red stitched
Leather gear level		red stitch		n/a
Leather shift knob boot		red stitch
Leather parking brake lever		red stitch
Silver instrument dials + chrome bezels		standard
Soft touch, light grey plastics		standard
Exclusive key		standard
Orange backlit instrumentation		standard
Knee pads (driver)		standard
Aluminum footrest board (passenger side)		standard	n/a	n/a
Rear storage box		standard	n/a	n/a
Seating		full bucket Recaro (red)	red leather
Manual air conditioning		standard
DIMENSIONS
Dimensions(LxWxH)(mm)		4285 x 1760 x 1230
Wheelbase (mm)		2425
Tread front/rear (mm)		1460/1460
Ground Clearance (mm)		135
Interior(LxWxH) (mm)		1415 x 1425 x 1025
Seating Capacity		2	4
Curb Weight (kg)		1270	1280
Min. Turning Radius (m)		5.1
ENGINE
Engine type		13B-REW
Configuration		Watercooled IL-2Rotary + Sequential twin turbo with intercooler
Displacement (cc)		654 x 2
Compression ratio		9.0
Max power (NET) kW(PS)/rpm		206(280)/6500		188(255)/6500
Max torque (NET) N.m(kg.m)/rpm		314(32.0)/5000		294(30.0)/5000
Fuel system		EGI-HS
Fuel type		Unleaded premium gasoline
Tank capacity (L)		76
GEAR RATIOS
Transmission		5MT		EC-AT
Gear ratio 1st		3.483		3.027
2nd		2.015		1.619
3rd		1.391		1.000
4th		1.000		0.694
5th		0.762		n/a
reverse		3.288		2.272
Final gear ratio		4.300		3.909

 

Below are some images pulled from the web, showing the car in the various colours.



As mentioned above, the interiors of each of the Type's is very slightly different.



Since we're linkening the Spirit's to the RZ, it's worth having a look at a few shots of the last RZ, to see how similar the cars were.




As mentioned previously, 1500 of the Spirit-R models were produced. So the details of the last ever RX7? Here they are:

Last "series-8" RX-7 ever made rolled out of the line on the 26th Aug 2002.

VIN . . .= FD3S-607290
Colour = Titanium grey (code=25G)
Spec . .= Type-A (2-seater/manual)

Model # 1500 from a 0/1500 special run of "Spirit-R" RX-7s (run out specials)

(Source: link)