The freshened 2009 Mazda RX-8 I wrote about in March will begin showing up at dealerships this month. AutoWeek is reporting that in addition to the styling, transmission, and (minor) engine updates, the new RX-8 will also come with an eight year/100,000-mile warranty on its Renesis rotary engine.

The rest of the driveline soldiers on with its usual five year/60,000-mile warranty, while the entire car stays with three year/36,000-mile coverage. Mazda is throwing current RX-8 owners a freebie; the company is currently contacting owners of 2004 to 2008 RX-8s in order to extend their engine warranties to eight years from the date of purchase.

Meanwhile, the Type RS available in Japan will be available here under the moniker R3.