The FD3S emerged from a design competition held across four Mazda studios: Hiroshima, Yokohama, Irvine (California), and Europe. The winning design came from the Irvine studio, created by Wu-Huang Chin — an Art Center College of Design graduate of Taiwanese origin — working alongside chief designer Yoichi Sato and studio head Tom Matano. The resulting body shape was aerodynamically refined and more dramatically curved than the preceding FC generation. In total, 68,589 units were produced across the car's production life.
For Japan the car was marketed under the ɛ̃fini brand as the ɛ̃fini RX-7 from 1991 until 1997, when it reverted to the Mazda name.
The defining mechanical feature of the FD3S is its 13B-REW engine: a 1,308cc twin-rotor Wankel unit fitted with a sequential twin-turbocharger system developed with assistance from Hitachi. This made the FD the first mass-produced car with a sequential twin-turbo system to be exported from Japan. A small primary turbocharger spooled quickly at low revs while a larger secondary unit came on boost at higher engine speeds. Officially rated output was 255 PS on the Series 6 cars, rising to 265 PS on the Series 7 and reaching up to 280 PS on late Series 8 Japanese-market models. Real-world output was widely understood to exceed the figures published under the Japanese automobile manufacturers' voluntary 280 PS ceiling of the era.
Kerb weight was approximately 1,250 kg with a near-equal front-to-rear weight distribution, which gave the car its characteristic responsiveness to driver inputs.
The FD3S was produced across three series. The Series 6 (1992–1995) introduced the car to its core markets with the 255 PS output, offering Japanese-market variants including the Type R, Type RZ, Type RB, A-Spec, and Touring X. The Series 7 (1996–1998) raised output to 265 PS on manual transmission cars and introduced BBS 17-inch forged wheels on the flagship Type RZ. The Series 8 (1999–2002) was sold exclusively in Japan, with the highest-powered specification reaching 280 PS.
In North America, the FD was sold only from 1993 to 1995 owing to the challenge of meeting US emissions and safety requirements. European sales totalled 1,152 official units, with Germany accounting for 446, the UK 210, and Greece 168.
Australia received a particularly notable limited variant: the RX-7 SP, produced in 1995 specifically for motorsport homologation. Twenty-five base units were built plus ten further examples, all featuring a 277 PS output, a lightweight carbon fibre bonnet and other body panels, and Bilstein suspension. The RX-7 SP's homologation purpose was realised when it took a fourth consecutive victory for Mazda at the Eastern Creek 12 Hours in 1995.
Production ended with the Spirit R, a farewell edition offered in three body styles with a six-speed manual gearbox and various weight-reduction and chassis refinements. Approximately 1,500 Spirit R units were produced.
The FD3S platform was a serious motorsport tool throughout and after its production life. RE Amemiya, the rotary specialist founded in 1974 by Isami Amemiya in Tomisato, Chiba, campaigned the FD3S in Super GT GT300 from 1995, winning in 2006, and entered D1GP drift competition from 2004.
The FD is depicted as Keisuke Takahashi's car in Initial D — the younger Takahashi brother of the Akagi RedSuns — providing the platform with substantial cultural presence in Japan's car modification and touge circuit culture. RE Amemiya FDs produced documented lap time results across Best Motoring and Hot Version testing throughout the late 1990s and 2000s, with Keiichi Tsuchiya and Manabu Orido among those recording the sessions.
The FD was the last twin-turbo rotary Mazda built. The successor RX-8, sold from 2003 to 2012, used the naturally aspirated 13B-Renesis with no turbocharger. The rotary-powered MX-30 R-EV range extender launched in 2023 has renewed interest in Mazda's rotary lineage, reinforcing the FD's standing as the high-water mark of the twin-turbo rotary era.
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