Discovering Mazda’s Weirdest RX7

Mazda is one of my favorite car companies - but did you know they had a luxury brand even for the legendary Mazda RX-7? Today we talk about the brand ɛ̃fini which was a sub brand under the Mazda umbrella. It wasn't until 1998+ they switched the RX-7 back to the Mazda name. So I decided to open the comments up to Mazda enthusiast to one - enjoy this car my buddy Matt has been building, but two - educate all of us on the brands history. Enjoy!
#mazda #mazdarx7 #rotary #mazda
➥GET DISCOUNTED CAR PARTS USING THE CODE DUDEINBLUE: throtl.com/?ref=lLnVRcKv437SEK
➥ Subscribe for more: bit.ly/2jH1GkM
➥ Consider my detail-product brand: pattersoncarcare.com/
➥ MERCH: tdibmerch.com
➥ INSTAGRAM: bit.ly/2BiKifB
➥ TWITTER: bit.ly/37AN8IZ
➥TWITCH: bit.ly/3ebaOpV
➥ SECOND channel: goo.gl/NtQcxJ
➥ Private TDIB Discord: / thatdudeinblue
0:00 the heck is this brand
1:05 what other brands were there?
1:45 why don't we see these more often?
2:43 the mad scientist
4:07 modernizing the rx7
4:22 the GODLIKE lighting of this car
6:09 the biggest risk of working on this car
6:30 single turbo conversion!
7:40 seemed like a good idea at the time
8:19 how the rotary filters things out
9:17 the intake is annoying AF
10:53 RB26 bro
11:40 more confusion
11:52 it's basically the same
12:21 Mazda enthusiast plz help.

[@ThatDudeinBlue]

What’s your favorite failed brand of all time?

[@therealboofighter]

Saab.

[@Badd_tofu]

DSMs probably

[@maloo-tm2ub]

Scion

[@ryadhasanahmed5443]

Definitely Saab, because it was a good brand abandoned by the stingy fucks at GM 😒

[@mongaming1843]

Pontiac

[@androiduberalles]

I feel like this is an example of when lighting mods go too far 😅

[@melwinwilliam94]

Yea im with you on this😂

[@AndyDufresne4]

He’s definitely saving for some hex lights for the garage

[@user-iv6ud1dl5e]

You must have not seen the Japanese night car scene…it would fit right in.

[@Twist3d420]

@@user-iv6ud1dl5e That literally doesn't make it look good. Just because other people did it does not mean it looks good. This car looks fucking awful just because of the lights lol

[@marxteven]

@@Twist3d420"looking good" is subjective. what may look bad to you may look great to somebody else. let people have their fun.

[@flux8438]

Those tail lights are wild. I love them.

[@danielkerekes9053]

This car got an identity crisis. Dude just put everything on it without any direction

[@Thee_Dr_Evil]

Amati is the US luxury brand intended name. Mazda got the Millenia out of it.

[@mukhtar__]

i clicked on the video fully expecting it to be about Amati tbh

[@DriftyBits]

Yesssir! Amati was the brand that never happened the 626, millennia, and 929 were all flagship models for the brand. But it never came to fruition.

[@istvanlorinczi2817]

Also a note on Autozam: most of their cars were either rebadged Lancias, or rebadged Suzukis, with a couple of Mazdas in there, as would be expected by a sub-brand of, well, Mazda

[@PlatinumNath]

Autozam AZ-1 is basically a Suzuki underneath with some changes too, styling is the thing that is done by Mazda wholly.

[@DJKr15py]

And the good old Mazda/Ford collabs

[@stevegonzales527]

pop up headlights > all headlights

[@garforce2]

speaking as a light builder those infinity tails are a PAIN to make but they ALWAYS hit different at shows and it is so satisfying when it works, I have learned a lot of does and donts in the process of building and rebuilding my own

[@shannacollins4741]

What car did you do yours on ?

[@moddedmitch6835]

Probably the best looking set of lights I’ve ever seen! Well done!

[@VincentViolence]

What ones? LOL.

[@joshXnovak1]

I love infinity mirror lights! Such a cool addition to an RX-7. Great geometry in the tail lights for an interesting effect.

[@shannacollins4741]

Yeah mostly see them on Skylines !

[@emilpers1078]

I love RX-7. But this one hurts to see what has been done to it.

[@Dyl_Cam]

Change the LED color to something static and leave the headlights white, it can be tasteful.

[@wackomanx]

Regamaster EVO and SW388 are the best wheels. Clean five spokes are so pretty.

[@fatherfirefighter7751]

Day 1,522 of trying to get my 1996 Mystic Cobra in your hands to review.

[@adamthomas4638]

I’m a mustang guy myself and have loved the 96 mystic cobra since a guy in my town drove one with a license plate that said Cvenom so every time I hear or see a mystic cobra I think oh C venom

[@patrickburgess8854]

I hope he gets to you one day my man. I love the cobra models and would definitely love to see what you working with💪💪💪

[@fatherfirefighter7751]

@@patrickburgess8854 You and me both

[@NatePrikkel]

Fun fact- the FC series model was called “Infini” and FD series called “ẽfini”

[@nicksheen]

This seems to be the entire confusion on pronunciation at the beginning. The change to ẽfini may have had something to do with Nissan launching Infiniti in 1989.

[@NatePrikkel]

@@nicksheen I believe that is the case. Nissan launching Infinity and coexisting with Infini would cause a ton of brand confusion, and the Infini only had 3 models that were basic variations of the turboII FC

[@theglassarrow_]

@@NatePrikkelNissan spells it as "infiniti" which is extremely dumb if you ask me, but I'm sure someone already trademarked "infinity" lol. Between the 3 though, and Mazda already having 2 of which that sounded simular and basically where the same car, not shocked the branding died. Personally expecting Nissan to end the Infiniti brand as well, since they don't even brand the cars as infiniti's everywhere. The q50 is called a skyline even in japan today. I think they would sell more if they ditched the branding. Not to mention it over all would probably help nissan since their sedans arent reliable, at least the i4 sedans, the trans their pared with are trash. all their v6's pretty much are more reliable for no reason other than a good trans. my m37 (basically was rebadge to a q50 after 3 years) has 205k miles on the original trans and engine. Last thing I did that was "major" was a coolent line that rotted out 40k ago.

[@Dryceman]

No fair on the sick lighting - now I want one.

[@leightaylor806]

When I lived in Japan from 1995 until 1999, it was at a time during peak Japanese enthusiast car maknig era, I saw the first Type R Integra and then the Civic Type R being released. I noticed that all the major brands, Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Mazda all had different dealerships. These dealerships were not to trick people into believing they were a different automaker, but just to have a certain style. For example the Eunos dealership sold Miatas as well as a bunch of cars only within the Japanese markets such as: Mazda Familia, Mazda Lantis, Eunos 300 (Mazda Persona), Eunos 500 Mazda Xedos 6, Eunos 800 (Mazda Xedos 9), Eunos Cargo and the Eunos or Mazda Cosmo. It wasn't a different brand, it was just a different dealership style, and the RX7 got overlapped between dealerships just for the hell of it. So, a very small portion of people would have bought the Efini version if their local Mazda dealership were out of stock or if there was a discounted bargain price from Efini. Toyota also had the same thing happening among it's dealerships too.

[@catcaruso]

The lights are awesome.....

[@Keebafu]

Definitely interested in seeing this thing on the dyno

[@racerx2084]

Definitely interested in seeing and hearing that “afini” pseudo rx7. The lights are pretty wild. In the end all his hard work will pay off

[@C.I.A_Unclassified]

A holographic RX-7 is insane

[@chustins6738]

glad we only have 15 year wait. my r34 was pristine with only 80k and not a speck of rust! got for 10k back in 2015.

[@claudedottin1312]

The hate his lights are getting is weird. It’s his own and not cookie cutter 🤷🏽‍♂️. Side note: This is James brother from Donut

[@JRKudlick77]

The computer nut in me is geeking over the lights lol

[@Fusion710]

those wheels are absolutely stunning

[@Awscheetz]

I love the tails. Wouldn't mind doing a set in my Cosmo

[@jimmynickelz]

You could have just done a voice over, and rotated the camera around the FD for the entire video.

[@02lucy666]

i thought those were replacement RE headlights? It sounds kinda confusing how he explained the headlight situation. I guess he meant to open up the RE headlights to add the lights and the boards and the halo rings and stuff, and not to modify the old popup buckets, which are just a bolt off thing. Overall really interesting stuff, its a different take to the Car Shop Glow lights, kinda like these infinity taillights! Maybe go infiniti on the bumper lights as well? would love to see more of it!

[@matthewhall9680]

They are real RE headlights, StopMotion did the halos. But you are right

[@13bfd]

As far as I know, its the later series 8 cars that seem to command the big money. Here in Australia, most people agree that the most desirable specs are the RZ, and the Spirit R (Type A). There is also a Bathurst R Type R This list probably isn't exhaustive, but it might give you some context. For reference, I own a Type R Bathurst R. I think Mazda went a bit silly, lol. Spirit R Exclusives: (1500 units) - Large drilled type bench rated disk brakes for all four wheels (Type-A and Type-B) - High rigid stainless mesh brake hoses (Type-A and Type-B) - Exclusive dampers manufactured by Bilstein (Type-A and Type-B) - Recaro lightweight full bucket seats (Type-A) - Authentic leather red bucket seats (Type-B and Type-C) - Passenger Footrest Type R Bathursr R Exlusives (Not to be confused with Type R Bathurst) (500) - CF Gearknob and Handbrake - Adjustable Suspension - CF Door Trim, Dash Hood. RZ Exclusives (There are also some old 90s RZs that are very different to the RZ we all know and love) (175 Units) - Recaro Seats - Passenger Footrest - RZ Big Brakes Australians also got the SP Variant, have a look at that! It's got a big ol wang.

[@drtone]

Seem?

[@darksu6947]

I wish I had a big ol' wang 😮

[@dattexasboi_3697]

Cutting off those pop ups should be punishable by atleast 2-3 years prison

[@royalhouse5576]

We wanna see the dyno pulls (part 2)

[@functiongarage]

I can appreciate wanting to make you're own stuff but the aftermarket has all of these parts. Elite makes a nice filler neck / catch can setup. Sakebomb has the whole kit for RHD or LHD for IG1A coils that mount in that exact spot lol. Also you don't need twice the turbo, but you do want a bigger rear section, turbine wheel, and housing, but end of day if you're not running a 4in full out you're restricted no matter what. Never had an issue with the factory intake or an elite manifold. Feel like some of the issues are self induced tbh.

[@neilhanley3468]

Owning a rotary is a lifestyle choice. I had a second gen for 10 yrs without a single issue. Maintenance, baby, maintenance... wishing I hadn't sold it now. Triple black vert on BBS wheels... stupid crazy what I see them go for nowadays

[@NZLion]

Yet another Mazda brand from the 90s for you - M2. Responsible for some real weird MX5 derivatives

[@13OMR]

how dare you forget the Merkur?!?!?! lol

[@ExtremelyOnlineGuy]

I’d love lights like that but just red. And have them somehow still be able to do the regular tail light style. Maybe a custom layout? Idk dude

[@kes_kars]

7:11 Can you buddy make the ign mount again? I’ll like to buy one.

[@GgCall-uk1vq]

Really glad to see there are more exterior/interior innovative lighting options today than there were 5 years ago…:)

[@zagnut48219]

And I thought the infinity mirror taillights on the Skyline were hawt when I saw them. Wew lad, I need a cold shower now.

[@jewaindiaz1363]

Would love to see the dyno run rotary power 💪🏻

[@bernardbrooks2889]

i can see this rocking somne victorracing mods for sure

[@KwyattCreations]

9:18 Christmas music? In March?

[@josephfriedrich9792]

Was looking at an 92 efini recently, Re amemiya body kit, and Re amemiya headlights. Couldn't get the guy to send over any info on it. Not door sticker, no paper, no engine numbers... but it has a "good title." One day I'll find a decent seller

[@0Heeroyuy01]

RGB is something that needs to disappear like under glow after the early 00s ended. i had no choice but to get them with the PS i got thank god it has an option to turn that trash off, like you cant find good PC stuff that doesnt have that shit unless you pay like 2k for the parts. it also needs to disappear off cars too, distracts other drivers and is to bright on the inside

[@neoanderson7]

Wait, hold up. You paid 4G’s US to ruin the OEM lighting?? 😲🤔😔 Poor FD.

[@hooah1986]

What's up the the Datsun in the back? :D

[@shiloh5199]

Why would you want to go back to flip up headlight assemblies after installing those beautiful fixed headlight assemblies.

[@adamwuest3958]

Love the infiniti tails I run a 3D infiniti Mitsu logo on my 4g gt

[@TakaChan569]

The stripclub/rave light show going on has me going wtf lol.

[@STR8SICCC]

*I wanna know more about that truck in the middle*

[@carsaregood911]

Managed to ruin one of the most beautiful cars of all time

[@blurredvizione6426]

DAVID!!! YOU'RE IN THE CREW MOTORFEST NOW!?!?!?!?!?! 😱

[@jacobeldredge803]

I'd love a Cosmo! They should've had a manual option though!

[@flav2478]

It takes a lot to make a gorgeous car look this bad.

[@blueridge8992]

Someone needs to save this poor RX-7 from its current owner before he inevitably puts an itasha anime girl wrap on it.

[@claudedottin1312]

Like the ones in D1 😅

[@kc550]

That owner does not deserve that FD. What a disgrace.

[@mammoth-puppy3246]

@1:08 eaaaasy there hahahahahhaa

[@brokearse2011]

Ok this is rhe 2nd mazda ive learnt about in 24hours the mx5 coupe. And now this rx7

[@turtletank11]

Used to have mustang gt now have scatpack challenger. This is somethin else

[@jorgeluisdeandrade9139]

@AndersonDick lanternas pro seu amarelo!

[@SpoiledPrince]

Vector (who made the W8 n the M12)

[@ilbangromero4690]

Am i the only one who thinks he looks like james pumphrey

[@jeromenoble5496]

I work at Mazda back when the RX7 came out. I was in an enginering grouo. They sent a Protype FD. Euro spec. To a group that did Ac kits for Mazda cars. Well it was delivered to my shop. And before I got to it another engineer drove up to me in it. I hate being a passenger in a fast car. Well the crazy man want to see where the speed limiter was at. We hit something like 160. The euro spec did not get a speed limiter.

[@AuX23A]

Neat. Would love to hear anymore interesting stories from your employment @ Mazda involving these special vehicles!

[@markhutchinson3367]

That FD would look very nice sans all the gaudy, brash, and clown-like lights all over it. I think that look appeals mostly to 7 year olds.

[@Zabaniyah_ACTUAL]

Wait he installed those cheese AF rice boi lights and tail lights? FAIL

[@phatburger7622]

What did you do with your RX7?

[@adamcromwell2876]

​@phatburger7622 this response is the equivalent of " I know you are but what am i" 😂 he knew he would get hate for those lights, and he knew goofs like you would like it.

[@hyper8545]

Rotary is goog

[@Undertaker93]

Tacky asf with these lights

[@7sins979]

The lighting on this car is cringey as hell. The wiring isn't that much different from a usdm car with a few exceptions. Hope you don't plan on using your standard 2 stroke oil or omp with e85. You will destroy that engine. The sakebomb frame rail mount for ign coils is nice and easy to service. All you did mounting them under the intake manifold is heat soak them. I know the jdm rx7s pretty well if you need more info on them.

[@theglassarrow_]

one day my 2011 infiniti m37 will be on here. not today. but one day. Have plans to import the jp rear interior. in jp it was a real VIP car.

[@cameronyeager7635]

Idk wut some of y'all r on about but I happen to rly like all like the custom lighting. I do enjoy the pop up headlights on an RX7 but at the same time, it's fun to see someone that has the means and the money to personalize it however they want. And that's the thing at the end of the day. It's not ur car or ur insurance so stop whining about ur fanboy/fangirl-ism and just appreciate a build for wut's gone into it.

[@Thumper68]

Id of kept pop up headlights

[@notveganbro]

This car has more rgb than my pc

[@anthonylove6639]

Hey only you knoice like I Knoice. 😂

[@hawjpaogeeable]

At least it has Regamasters

[@nickmitros7185]

If we had celebrity dealth match between creepy you tubers consisting of our current contestant Adam LZ and Rob D.

[@Martin_Fallei]

Is this car a Gaming PC

[@drtone]

There is no failure, auto makers consistently call models a different name in different markets. Never heard of Fairlady Z?! Lexus was for years an only US name plate. Its just an emblem and badge, like the most basic thing about any car, like less than $100 stick on pieces from Ebay you are getting all worked up on. Your confusion is more confusing. They literally just came out in Japan as a 1992 model, and they wanted to call it something special, wow, hard to figure. Finally at end guy complaining about a few hours of work.....because its not his car, hahaha

[@supercarspecifics]

WAAAAAIIIIITTT wooh wooh, did you just say america didnt get the RX-7 in the 90s really, we got em in Canada in the 90's , but then again we got a lot in canada that the states didnt get certian brands of cars and even motorcycles and that why I started my youtube after my accident and becoming disabled is to show crazy the car scene is here, hell I just met richard hammond and mate rimac went for a ride in a straight piped Enzo last year that was in a Drake video and made friends with Drakes drivers and on occasion chat with Drake, but anyway NO FLEX just saying Canada has ana amazing car culture I just realized I have footage of an autzam in the wild I have used

[@ThatDudeinBlue]

We didn’t get the “enfini” version, we got the Mazda version.

[@supercarspecifics]

@@ThatDudeinBlue sorry ya we got the mazda version what I ment to say you should do a trip up to toronto or montreal F1

[@TheMoxyMan1935]

Matts the fucking man. And a total babe

[@yubrandomain]

love the car but the lights and under glow is killing me. Im sorry but the lights dont go with this car...

[@Kim83rlin]

As awesome as this is it still amazes me how anyone in the USDM drives an actual RHD here lol

[@shannacollins4741]

WoW I LOVE the infinity tails on the car haven't seen those on a RX7 before only on Skylines but the rest of the lifhts have got to go ! Lmfao !

[@IMorphyus]

To each thier own.. but the lights are a bit much.. tails are cool but the RGBLGBT light show is cringe..

[@Matthew-bc9mr]

I love it. Tasteful, subtle, mods. Nothing gaudy. Total sleeper... lol

[@TheDanAge]

why does his voice sound so crackly ?

[@ardennielsen3761]

the 25 year rule is their to refuse the importation of low grade sheet metal, all the panels are also checked with a laser spectrometer and radiometer.

[@VincentViolence]

All those lights are kinda ricey.

[@Blaza303]

We can all agree those lights are more sickening than sick

[@thomasowens1599]

I hate this car so much 😂

[@aztecg5820]

Pc Fd 😂

[@carllindgren7130]

:)

[@superpug666]

Those lgbt lights hahahah

[@MikeStavola]

This looks like a really awful gamer PC with too much RGB.

[@blue_lancer_es]

Dude looks like James from donut media.

[@BLaQz84]

Dude, I've said this so many times now, but you need to tame the volumes of your videos... I'm not deaf & everytime I go to your videos, I get a blast of sound because it's too fkn loud... I stopped watching for while because of it, but since you asked for help recently, I've been liking & watching your videos again, but this one pissed me off because it's too fkn loud... So meet in the middle... I'll give viewership if you tame the sound levels... Not everyone is on a little phone speaker...

[@trininicholas9833]

That rx7 looks like it's ready for the lgbtq parade

[@Mimi-vu8sg]

Kinda ruined ngl

[@chrisg4rr377]

Not going to like, they look a absolutely shite

[@caseymoore4759]

This time next year….. has a ls

[@user-FrankCastle]

Anyone who bought an RX7 instantly thought they were going to instantly be Dominic Toretto, but were let down after they drove the car 😂😂😂

[@mohiddean886]

ALL CARS ARE GREAT ONLY PROBLEM IS THE AMERICAN. DRIVERS ARE SO BAD ONE JUST HAVE TO ENJOY A COPART VISIT