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  • William Maley
    William Maley

    By William Maley •

    Mazda's Rotary Engine Is Coming Back, But Not the Way You Might Think

      The rotary sports car could also happen

    There is a small group of enthusiasts that want to see the return of the rotary engine in a Mazda vehicle, preferably in a performance. We have reported on various rumors and news stories talking about the rotary engine making a comeback and then being shelved for one reason or another. It now seems the engine making a return, but not in the way many were hoping for.

    Speaking with Automotive News, Mazda's global powertrain head Mitsuo Hitomi said the engine would be used as a range-extender for an upcoming EV. A rotary engine is perfect for this application due to its compact size and providing enough juice to charge a battery.

    Akira Kyomen, Mazda's program manager for vehicle development said they are planning to launch an EV by 2019. The model would come in two different flavors - one being a pure electric and the other using a range extender. Kyomen said the range extender is seen as being necessary for North America and other markets due to the daily drive being much longer.

    Hitomi also confirmed that Mazda's engineers are working on a larger rotary engine that could power a sports car. The big hurdle isn't the tech, but making the business case for it.

    Mazda's question, Hitomi said, has been "whether the business conditions will be met or not … not the big technical issues. Are we going to really sell that many models of sports cars? There aren't that many auto companies selling multiple sports cars."

    Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)

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    David

    Case to invest in a bigger Rotary Engine, Nope I do  not see it and the quality of the motor is questionable even as a generator. Rotary motors were terrible for breaking down and needing to be rebuilt.

    Yes the Engine has plenty of cool factor to it, but the longevity I see being better built in a traditional form factor generator for a Hybrid.

    This waste is what will do in Mazda as an independant auto company.

    Rotary had it's moment, leave it in the history bin.

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    oldshurst442

    There was never anything wrong with the rotary engine.

    Rotary engines just consume a lot of oil. In order to avoid running the engine dry and causing damage to the engine, an owner has to check the oil levels very often and topped off when needed.

    And if owners flog their rotary powered sports cars often...oil MUST be added as frequent as they flog their cars....its as simple as that.

    A rotary engined  car just needs to be maintained more often...if laziness or just plain stupidity is the norm for owners of these vehicles, then yes, expensive repairs are to be expected...but if TLC is the norm, then decades of fun is ensured.

     

    Edited by oldshurst442
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    David
    1 hour ago, oldshurst442 said:

    There was never anything wrong with the rotary engine.

    Rotary engines just consume a lot of oil. In order to avoid running the engine dry and causing damage to the engine, an owner has to check the oil levels very often and topped off when needed.

    And if owners flog their rotary powered sports cars often...oil MUST be added as frequent as they flog their cars....its as simple as that.

    A rotary engined  car just needs to be maintained more often...if laziness or just plain stupidity is the norm for owners of these vehicles, then yes, expensive repairs are to be expected...but if TLC is the norm, then decades of fun is ensured.

    I say majority of people go with laziness and stupidity over TLC.

    Course what you say is what we have known about American built auto's in the 90's they lasted as long as you did the 30K service, since the japanese had already in the 80's gone to 100K service intervals as to explain the quick dying of american iron. So many lazy and stupid people driving their appliance auto.

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    oldshurst442

    Yeah....you got me there.

    But...

    A rotary powered vehicle

    mazda-rx7-spirit-r-1.jpg2010-mazda-rx-8-facelift-25_800x0w.jpg

     

    Is not an appliance vehicle. Its an enthusiast machine. Enthusiast machines are usually bought by enthusiasts...and enthusiasts usually speaking, know what it is they are supposed to do with enthusiast machines which also means they usually should know how to take care of said machines...and when one buys a quirky  car like a Mazda RX(#), usually speaking, these enthusiasts know about its quirks, takes good care of its quirks and loves it for its quirks.

     

    Edited by oldshurst442
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    oldshurst442

    I think Mazda should make another rotary engine. I also think it shouldnt matter in what type of car they decide to put it in whether its another sports car, sedan or EV hybrid.

    The rotary will forever be linked to Mazda (even if a German by the name of Wankel invented it)  and I think its good for Mazda's UNIQUE image that they continue to pursue this uniqueness as too many car brands are ubiquitous today. 

    They just have to figure out how to do economy of scales with it.

    Maybe offer the rotary in all form of cars.

    Engineer a new RX, offer it in the Mazda 6 or 3 as a 'Speed' variant AND make a hybrid EV CUV AND SEDAN.

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    David
    3 hours ago, oldshurst442 said:

    Yeah....you got me there.

    But...

    A rotary powered vehicle

    mazda-rx7-spirit-r-1.jpg2010-mazda-rx-8-facelift-25_800x0w.jpg

     

    Is not an appliance vehicle. Its an enthusiast machine. Enthusiast machines are usually bought by enthusiasts...and enthusiasts usually speaking, know what it is they are supposed to do with enthusiast machines which also means they usually should know how to take care of said machines...and when one buys a quirky  car like a Mazda RX(#), usually speaking, these enthusiasts know about its quirks, takes good care of its quirks and loves it for its quirks.

     

    Top RX is far better looking than the later models. Japan has lost the passion of building enthusiast machines that actually look good.

    Example is Skyline R33 and R34, the so called Skyline being sold in America is a joke.

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