Its been rumoured that we can expect the resurrection of the Mazda RX-7 sometime in 2011. It is true that we’ve been hearing these stories telling us that we should expect the rotary engine powered sports car any day now and the car’s still yet to reveal its smiling face, but this time, it looks like it is the real deal. Here we have reports from Japan indicating that the next RX-7 may be just around the corner. That is excellent news, isn’t it? Maybe not so, for Mazda RX-8.

Reports from Inside Line suggest that the birth of the 2-seater Mazda RX-7 will mean the death of the current 4 door, 4 seat RX-8 that has been in circulation since 2004. Furthermore, the Santa Monica gang say that the next generation rotary sports car may not exceed the performance of either the last twin-turbo RX-7 or the current RX-8’s 1.3 liter 232 HP Renesis engine. This is contrary to earlier rumors, suggesting that the latest 1.6L 16X power plant was churning out as much as 350 ponies while still achieving superior fuel economy.

By sticking with the rotary engine, Mazda will ensure that the model can be adapted to run on hydrogen in the future. Also, it would retain the RX-8’s appeal as the only rotary-engine car in production. Now with a total capacity of 1.6 litres to increase torque and the turbocharger to boost power beyond 300HP, the RX-7 will be much more sporty than the RX-8.

Although the Mazda RX7 will be a natural successor to the RX-8, we should note that the logical RX-9 badge is being shunned in favour of RX-7. It will be intriguing to see if Mazda’s promise to send our rivals into a spin, come true with the upcoming all new RX-7 with the turbocharged rotary engine. RX-7 evokes memories of the rear-wheel drive Mazda produced in between 1978 & 2002.

Instead Mazda could also return to the realm of the first RX-7 from 1979, sporting a lightweight two seater powered by a newer version of the Wankel producing about 200 to 250 horsepower. If this turns out true, we can expect the next RX-7 to cost around $25,000 and be in the league of cars like the upcoming RWD Toyota/Subaru and the Hyundai Genesis Coupe.