At the end of last year, Mazda decided to pull the RX-8 off its North American showroom floors and announced that a limited edition model will be produced for 2012, but just for the local Japanese market.
Initially, Mazda was only going to produce 1000 examples of the RX-8 Spirit R edition, but due to overwhelming demand, Mazda has decided to produce an extra 1000 examples of this model, again just aimed for the Japanese market.
While the Spirit R did not have any extra power, it sported special badging, red brake calipers and sport-tuned suspension. This model is also only offered with the six-speed manual gearbox.
This extended lease on life will see the RX-8 in production until the end of June, and while after its demise there won’t be any rotary powered new cars on the global market, Mazda has kept assuring its fans that the rotary engine is not dead and to expect a new model with an all-new rotary engine in the showrooms within a few years.
