hi guys,
just trying to get this straight in my mind

what the rest of the world seems to call the rx7 fd series 6, (standard rear wing) is called the fd version 1, 2 and 3 in japan

the series 5, (whale tail?) is jdm version 4 and the series 8, (new nose) is jdm version 5

i think the above is right but perhaps the jdm version 3 cars are actually closer to being a kind of series 6.5???

OR early version 3 cars are series 6 but the last versions were series 7

(not that it really matters much as the main jump in models happened with the series 7 to 8 and not series 6 to 7)

eric e trainspotter, sad really

 

sorry guys finally found the post i waqs looking for

dai's excellent expl.

""Series 7 ran from early 1996 to late 1998. Changes were minor to this car, the main difference was an ECU giving greater boost and 10 hp extra. Australia was the only country outside Japan with this version."

hmm, yes and no.

to quote myself;

"There are three major production run changes for the FD -

I-III (91-96) FD3S-1xxxx - FD3S-3xxxx
IV (96-98) FD3S-4xxxx
V-VI (98-02) FD3S-5xxxx - FD3S-6xxxx

But these are NOT s6, s7 and s8 - which is why their is often some confusion among australian owners. It's not a parallel system - this is why I try to avoid using the australian terminology.

Our s6 are version I or II. Our s7, despite the compliance/sale dates, are version III. I guess you can lump version IV into s7 - but we didn't get it. Does that all make sense?"

Okay - so forgetting the australian terminology...

FD3S-3xxxxxx = version 3 (sangata) = march 95 - january 96.

the two-seater type-r (the r2) was only available in version II (93-early 95. It should have a '2' chassis code.

The r2 was a bit of a budget version - quite a bit cheaper than the standard type-r (53man less actually)

the 's6 wing' was actually still used in version IV (but most were dolphin tail)

I take my info from japanese sources (magazines, websites - including mazda's rx-7 history history pages) - I wouldn't put too much trust in other sources

 

Eric, this is slightly incorrect. The Japan model "series 7" 96-98/10, has some significant differences over the Australia "series 7". The Aus model still has the old "rats nest" while the Japan market one has the "black box" or control box which replaces the rats nest on earlier models.

As far as I can tell, Mazda only issued "updates" for the "series 6" manual, with details of this "black box". I am having great difficulty finding the information and diagrams on this.. maybe you can help?