The third-generation RX‑7, (sometimes referred to as FD, chassis code FD3S for Japan and JM1FD for the North America), featured an updated body design. Announced in October 1991, production began later that month before going on sale in December in the domestic Japanese market. Left-Hand-Drive export production began shortly after. The 13B-REW engine was the first-ever mass-produced sequential twin-turbocharger system to be exported from Japan,[17] boosting power to 255 PS (188 kW; 252 hp) in 1992 and finally to 280 PS (206 kW; 276 hp) by the time production ended in Japan in 2002.

For the third-generation RX-7, Mazda organized an internal design competition between its four design studios in Hiroshima, Yokohama, Irvine, and Europe.[18] The winning design came from their Design Center in Irvine and was designed by Taiwanese automotive artist Wu-huang Chin (秦無荒), who also worked on the Mazda MX-5 Miata, with help from Tom Matano.[19] The interior design, though, originated from the Hiroshima design proposal. Mazda's chief designer Yoichi Sato (佐藤 洋一, Satō Yōichi) then helped take the concept design to its final production form.