Eunos Eunos 800 History

Launched in 1993 as the top of the Eunos range, the 800 (Xedos 9 in Europe; Millenia in North America) was Mazda's attempt to establish a credible luxury sedan to compete with the Lexus ES and Acura TL. It rode on the TA platform and was powered in standard form by a 2.5-litre KL-DE V6 producing around 200 PS.

The Eunos 800M variant introduced what was then a world first: a production car equipped with a Miller-cycle engine. The 2.3-litre KJ-ZEM V6 used a Lysholm twin-screw supercharger and a late-intake-valve-closing strategy (the Miller cycle) to achieve the thermal efficiency of a larger engine in a smaller displacement, producing 217 hp (162 kW) with 285 N·m of torque. The KJ-ZEM appeared on Ward's 10 Best Engines list from 1995 through 1998.

Under the Eunos brand the 800 sold in Japan and Australia until Mazda folded the Eunos sales channel in 1996; the car continued as the Xedos 9 and Millenia in other markets through 2002 and 2002 respectively.