Mazda RX8 SP

Mazda is looking for some promotion during the 2009 Targa Tasmania by calling its entry "the only rotary-powered performance car in Australia". This Aussie race is something that we normally wouldn’t cover very heavily, and low-level news like an RX-8 entering the competition would usually only be posted on a very slow day, but then something interesting caught our eye in the press release.

As it turns out this RX-8 will be allowed to compete with a turbocharger. The rotary cars from Mazda haven’t been turbocharged since the RX-7, which was discontinued in 2002 (1995 in the U.S.)

Mazda didn’t release performance figures on the car it’s calling the RX-8 SP. We’re betting there is a significant increase to the 232 hp and at least a second shaved off the standard car’s 0 to 60 time of six seconds.