RX8 and RX7 on the cover of Road and Track.

[RX8Dude]

Anyone see it yet?

"Mazda RX-7
Our radar recently picked up some unusual activity in Hiroshima, Japan. We took a closer look and discovered that the boys at Mazda are quietly drawing up the plans for a new RX-7. That Mazda needs a new halo sports car is obvious. Sales of the RX-8 have been down, and although the MX-5 is sporty and popular, the burden of carrying the company's high-performance load is just too heavy for its narrow shoulders. The ace in Mazda's sleeve is the RX-7, a car once touted as the purest, most exhilarating sports car in the world. And the time has finally come for it to rise from its ashes.
It's still so early in the game that we know very little about this car. Our sources tell us that it has not yet been given a code name, like J61A (the Mazda6). The main challenge facing Mazda engineers is what to do with the powerplant. Reports indicate they're working around the clock to improve the output of the RX-8's 13B Renesis rotary, but a number of major obstacles still lie ahead. Some form of forced induction is probable, and could very well be an electric-motor-assist turbocharger.
This technology was first seen in the Mazda RX-8 Hybrid at the 2003 Tokyo Motor Show. At low rpm, an electric motor assists the turbocharger to increase induction efficiency. At high rpm, the turbocharger operates in traditional fashion, by the exhaust gas alone. This enables lean combustion and excellent power at all engine speeds, as well as cleaner emissions at low revs. A hybrid system, like that used by Honda, has also been rumored.
The Next RX-7 will be built on the MX-5/RX-8 platform, and the styling will be based on the Kabura show car that graced our April 2006 cover. We predicted then that this was the foundation for a new RX-7--the designer himself admitted that despite the Kabura's 2.0-liter inline-4, he designed it so it could hold the 13B rotary. So the possibility of the next RX-7 becoming a 2+2 is very high. If so, what happens to the RX-8? Well, we'll know by 2010 because that's when the RX-7 is scheduled to make its debut."