JAA
JAEN
Silver 2008 Mazda RX-8, front three-quarter view on gravel.

RX-8SE3P

V0040

MAKER
MAZDA
YEARS
2003–2012
CODE
SE3P
TYPE
SPORTS CAR / COUPÉ
ORIGIN
JAPAN
Photo: Calreyn88 / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons

01 — Overview

A four-door rotary sports car with rear-hinged 'freestyle' doors. Its RENESIS engine moved the exhaust ports into the side housings; 192,094 were built from 2003 to 2012.

02 — Historical context

Historicalcontext.

  1. 01

    The RX-8's rear-hinged 'freestyle' doors give easier access to the rear seats.

    Source: Mazda RX-8 — Wikipedia (English)
  2. 02

    The RENESIS engine moved the exhaust ports into the side housings, improving fuel efficiency and emissions over the RX-7's 13B-REW.

    Source: Mazda RX-8 — Wikipedia (English)
  3. 03

    Production ('Job 1') began in February 2003 at Mazda's Hiroshima plant.

    Source: Mazda RX-8 — Wikipedia (English)
  4. 04

    Mazda produced 192,094 RX-8s from 2003 until production ended in Japan in 2012.

    Source: Mazda RX-8 — Wikipedia (English)

03 — Engineering

Technicalspecifications.

Manufacturer
Mazda
Chassis / model codes
SE3P
Production
2003-02 – 2012-06
Body styles
Quad coupé (rear-hinged 'freestyle' doors)
Layout
Front mid-engine, rear-wheel drive
Engine
13B-MSP RENESIS2-rotor Wankel · Naturally aspirated250 PSNote: Japanese-market Type S (6-speed MT), pre-facelift catalogue figure per Japanese Wikipedia; standard model 210 PS; high-power figure later revised to 235 PS
Transmission
5-speed manual / 6-speed manual / 4-speed automatic / 6-speed automatic
Length × width × height
4,425 × 1,770 × 1,340 mm
Wheelbase
2,703 mm
Units built
192,094
People
Ikuo Maeda / Wu-Huang Chin (interior)

Figures follow the sources listed below. Values vary by market, variant and year; anything we could not verify is omitted. Power is shown in the unit the source used (PS / hp / kW).

04 — Gallery

Silver 2008 Mazda RX-8, front three-quarter view on gravel.
Calreyn88 / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons

05 — Related

Relatedmachines.

06 — Sources

  1. 01Mazda RX-8 – WikipediaWikipedia · reference · accessed 2026-09-26
  2. 02マツダ・RX-8 – Wikipedia (ja)Wikipedia · reference · accessed 2026-09-26

07 — Photo credits