Mazda's RX Vision Concept, which the company promises will be rotary-powered.
Mazda currently has more than 100 engineers working on its
next-generation rotary engine, according to a company
spokesman.
The engine, a strange, piston-less internal-combustion unit,
has defined the brand — largely for a dedicated group of
motor-heads — since its first production run in 1965 in the
Mazda Cosmo.
Unable to overcome several disadvantages of the engine,
including poor emissions, fuel economy, and torque output,
the Japanese make ended its usage in 2012, when the RX-8
fell from the lineup.
Many car companies have defining characteristics — Volvos
are safe, Toyotas are economical, Minis are, well, mini — but
few have stuck to such a specific engineering concept for
as long as Mazda. Rotary engines are simply an indelible
part of the company.
Research, according to Mazda's Jeremy Barnes, has never
stopped, and the company hopes for a breakthrough in the
next couple of years.
"There's this incredible passion [for rotary engines] within the
company," Barnes said.
And outside the company. Barnes calls their loyal fans "rotor-
heads" — people who, like Mazda's engineers, are obsessed
with the high-revving, almost vibration-less engines and
eagerly wait for their return.
The company revealed the beautiful RX Vision concept car at
the Tokyo motor show last year, expecting any future
production run of the grand-tourer-style vehicle to be powered
by a new rotary called the 16X.
But it's difficult to say when the engineering challenges that
killed the previous 13B engine will be overcome.
Upping the displacement from 1.3 to 1.6 liters is one way they
hope to add to torque output, but the emissions problem
persists. Mazda engineers hope that they can apply years in
development of fuel efficiency in piston engines, which they
dubbed "SkyActiv" technology, to new rotaries.
But the largest efficiency problem persists because of the
fundamental design of rotary engines. Unlike the piston
engines found in today's cars, which keep oil out of the
combustion chamber, rotaries must also burn oil, making
emissions dirtier.
But the road isn't the only place devoid of the rotary.
After the howling, rotary-powered 787B won Le Mans in
1991 — making it the first and only Japanese-made car to do
so — the rules were changed significantly, and while
rotaries weren't banned outright from racing, regulations made
the engines "almost immediately uncompetitive," Barnes said.
While Mazda never stopped racing, its signature engine has
been sidelined. But what about a rotary-powered return to
endurance racing?
"If we can make a significant breakthrough, it's possible,"
Barnes said.
Mazda currently has more than 100 engineers working on its
next-generation rotary engine, according to a company
spokesman.
The engine, a strange, piston-less internal-combustion unit,
has defined the brand — largely for a dedicated group of
motor-heads — since its first production run in 1965 in the
Mazda Cosmo.
Unable to overcome several disadvantages of the engine,
including poor emissions, fuel economy, and torque output,
the Japanese make ended its usage in 2012, when the RX-8
fell from the lineup.
Many car companies have defining characteristics — Volvos
are safe, Toyotas are economical, Minis are, well, mini — but
few have stuck to such a specific engineering concept for
as long as Mazda. Rotary engines are simply an indelible
part of the company.
Research, according to Mazda's Jeremy Barnes, has never
stopped, and the company hopes for a breakthrough in the
next couple of years.
"There's this incredible passion [for rotary engines] within the
company," Barnes said.
And outside the company. Barnes calls their loyal fans "rotor-
heads" — people who, like Mazda's engineers, are obsessed
with the high-revving, almost vibration-less engines and
eagerly wait for their return.
The company revealed the beautiful RX Vision concept car at
the Tokyo motor show last year, expecting any future
production run of the grand-tourer-style vehicle to be powered
by a new rotary called the 16X.
But it's difficult to say when the engineering challenges that
killed the previous 13B engine will be overcome.
Upping the displacement from 1.3 to 1.6 liters is one way they
hope to add to torque output, but the emissions problem
persists. Mazda engineers hope that they can apply years in
development of fuel efficiency in piston engines, which they
dubbed "SkyActiv" technology, to new rotaries.
But the largest efficiency problem persists because of the
fundamental design of rotary engines. Unlike the piston
engines found in today's cars, which keep oil out of the
combustion chamber, rotaries must also burn oil, making
emissions dirtier.
But the road isn't the only place devoid of the rotary.
After the howling, rotary-powered 787B won Le Mans in
1991 — making it the first and only Japanese-made car to do
so — the rules were changed significantly, and while
rotaries weren't banned outright from racing, regulations made
the engines "almost immediately uncompetitive," Barnes said.
While Mazda never stopped racing, its signature engine has
been sidelined. But what about a rotary-powered return to
endurance racing?
"If we can make a significant breakthrough, it's possible,"
Barnes said.
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