Where did the designation "FB" come from ? Discussing this with a few of the local shop's japanese mechanics, they also told me that when they came to the US, they were mighty confused with people calling SA's "FB"s. I noticed in the FAQ thread that SA and FB are differentiated by year, but is that really what it was called from Mazda? Otherwise, I'm hoping someone can confirm or dispel the thought that "FB" is just a moniker given to this car by American owners that totally ignores the actual name ?

Thanks.

P.S. , I'm not trying to undermine anyone or start a flame war, I'd just like to see this confirmed one way or another so I don't feel that ignorance has reigned

 

it's all the VIN # http://www.rotorhead.ca/topic.php?fldr=tech&cntnt=VIN

 

All 1st gens in Japan were SA's.

 

it has to do with spacific(sorry about the spelling) body design changes, for instance in the SA's the front bumper pertrudes more than in the FB's. im not sure where the lettering came from but its all cosmetic. nothing mechanical.

 

It's in the VIN and it changed from SA22C***** to the **FB***** due to US regulation changes. They're SA22C's everwhere else... sans Cananda IIRC

 

and no, it wasn't what Mazda called it. Just what we call it.

 

I was confused at first also when dealing with the forum (I have lived in Japan since the SA/FB were offered new) and hering it called an FBvice SA , but after I read through the FAQ.......FAQ........FAQ (is it sinking in yet?) FAQ>>>>FAQ>>>>FAQ then I understood why it was called the FB


respectfully
an avid FAQ reader

 

I was confused at first also when dealing with the forum (I have lived in Japan since the SA/FB were offered new) and hering it called an FBvice SA , but after I read through the FAQ.......FAQ........FAQ (is it sinking in yet?) FAQ>>>>FAQ>>>>FAQ then I understood why it was called the FB


respectfully
an avid FAQ reader

 

the post so nice he made it twice!

 

The US Federal Government made the call that all cars sold in the US had to have a 13 digit vin #. This change was made in 81. Pre 81 US models were 11 digit vin #.

 

it was the format, not the length, that was the critical change.

BTWthe N in VIN stands for Number. You don't need to put a number sign at the end, or you're saying Number number

 

Thank you for the tip. Freakin shorthand.

 

I apologize if my diction and syntax was in a format that you could not understand, but a light skim of the FAQ proved NOT to answer my question. Hence this thread. As I have stated, the sum of the description has been that FB's were designated by VIN number.

But in the FAQ, the term "FB" is placed among "SA, FC, FD" designations as one of the chassis or "body styles". The FB and the SA have absolutely no chassis differences; yet people still call this body style "FB", when correctly it should be referred to as SA.

Perhaps you and other "avid" fans may have not understood the implicit criticism I was making by questioning whether or not this was something designated by Mazda officially.

 

In the new VINs, FB is the car line, or model, in this case RX-7. 33 is the body style, denoting coupe. However, chassis codes used by Mazda that differentiate year, engine type, etc. vary from year to year and are unrelated to the FB, FC, etc. shorhand we use.

So no it's not a Mazda designation

 

Totally incorrect.

And incoherent as well.

The SA cars are almost entirely different than the FBs that followed.

The differences include the carb, engine, ignition, bumpers, rear fascia, hydraulics, brakes, steering box, rear axle, differential, interior, sunroof, etc, etc, etc.

The most important distinction of all is that the SA's are 20% cooler.

 

all i know is that us guys downunder didnt get the fuel-injected version of the gen1

i think it had a 13b in it...we only got the carby run editions

oh yea and they all are sa22c's

 

Yes, but you guys downunder got cosmo 13bT and 20bTs. We didn't, we have to import our 20b engines from Australia or Japan!

And IIRC, you guys also had a 12aT somewhere in there, though I could be mistaken and that might have been Japan-only. My out-of-North-America 7 knowledge is rusty.

But yeah, 20b swaps up here are expensive as hell compared to what you Aussies pay, and it's much harder to find rotary shops here than it is there, it seems.

As for the original post, it's been beaten pretty bad, so I'll just say that everyone should remember that it shows my *current* info and post count, not the info and post count of when I originally posted that FAQ thread.. so it's not like your 4000+post moderator is asking that question nowadays, lol...

Jon

 

hey vipernicus - did your post count get clipped when they 'cleaned' the forum? Mine was halved.

 

alas no we got no 12ATs

i believe what you guys call FBs are what we call series 1. the only difference here was the rear garnish. the series 2 and 3 were the same bar brakes and stud pattern AFAIK (series 2 were 4x110, s3 were a more normal 4x114.3)


supertoiletduck (wtf?? :p) i dont think any gen1s came with the 13B. only 12a carby, 12a injected (which we didnt get) and 12AT (jap only). our only differences were in trim packs (sport or pov pack etc etc)

this is all AFAIK. hop on www.ausrotary.com and there's a plethora on info on there

 

im jus goin by wat ive read:
http://www.revs-online.com/rx7.htm (its in the "first generation" section)

correct me if im wrong but only the american market got the 13b injected gen1....nobody else did - any american blokes out ther wana confirm?

but still sucks we didnt get the 13b injected, would make turbo conversions so much more easier!!!!!

 

blah just call it what you call it we all understand.

 

+1 I own an SA

 

Sort of - the US and Canada got the 13B fuel injected engine with 135hp and dynamic effect intake.

 

We never got the Cosmo or 12AT either. They were Japan only.

 

I like how a thread about why 81-85 rx-7's have FB in their vin turned into a US vs Non-US model lineup argument
I'm assuming the original poster is wonder why when Mazda had to go to the 17 diget VIN number per US laws they didn't keep "SA" in there and why they went to "FB" instead. Thats probably something lost to history that we won't know, but US SA's and US FB's are very different cars.... So who knows.