The third generation of the RX-7, FD, featured an updated body design. The 13B-REW was the first-ever mass-produced sequential twin-turbocharger system to export from Japan, boosting power to 255 PS (188 kW; 252 hp) and finally 280 PS (206 kW; 276 hp) by the time production ended in Japan in 2002.
The FD RX-7 was Motor Trend’s Import Car of the Year. When Playboy magazine first reviewed the FD RX-7 in 1993, they tested it in the same issue as the then new Dodge Viper. In that issue, Playboy declared the RX-7 to be the better of the two cars. It went on to win Playboy’s Car of the Year for 1993. The FD RX-7 also made Car and Driver magazine’s Ten Best list for 1993 through 1995, for every year in which it was sold state-side. June, 2007 Road&Track magazine proclaimed “The ace in Mazda’s sleeve is the RX-7, a car once touted as the purest, most exhilarating sports car in the world.”
