Rotary engine returns in Mazda concept coupe

TOKYO -- Three years after pulling the plug on the rotary-powered RX8 sports-car, Mazda Motor Corp. signed today at the Tokyo Motor Show that it has not abadndoned the particular engine layout that gave the business name some of its grandest successes.
Mazda revealed an idea to get a low-slung sportscar known as the RX Vision, with a next generation rotary motor known as the Skyactiv-R. Mazda did not reveal any specs or creation strategies for the motor but stated it aspires to make the gasoline-engine effective, clear and trustworthy enough to promote.
The rotary "is a sign of the firm's tirelessly challenging mood," Mazda mentioned in a statement. "Mazda will never cease challenging to provide new rotary engines offering its exceptional brand of driving enjoyment."
The RX Vision utilizes the front-motor, rear wheel drive setup popular in sportscars, including Mazda's own mx5 Miata. Yet, at 17-3 inches long and 76 inches broad, it's a foot plus a half more and 8 inches broader compared to the recently redesigned mx5.

Rotary engines, also called Wankel engines after inventor Felix Wankel, use triangular rotors always whirling inside an egg-shaped casing, unlike most gas engines, which depend on on the back and forth pumping activity of pistons.
Mazda's first production-car using a rotary motor, the Cosmo activity, found its way to showrooms in 1967, three years after its introduction as a theory in the Tokyo Motor Show. Then, Mazda, such as the remainder of Japan's main auto makers, was decided to reveal it might construct a lot more than economy cars.
The exact same year, Toyota released the 2000GT, which became the initial Japanese automobile to be showcased in a James Bond movie using its inclusion in the Japan-themed You Only Live Twice. Nissan followed suit in 1969 using its renowned Z coupe, offered in Japan as the Fairlady Z as well as in the United States of America as the Datsun 240Z.
Mazda offered only 1,519 models of the Cosmo activity by the ending of creation in 1972, but the auto paved the way for the rotary-powered rx7, one of Mazda's largest successes.
Its successor, the RX8, was discontinued in 2012. Mazda offered only 759 models of the RX8 in the US in 2011, down from a high of 23,690 models in 2004, as the rotary engine's lousy fuel economy and large emissions became a bigger handicap.

Photo credit: REUTERS

Mazda continued its study into a next generation rotary, primarily as a streamlined range extender. In 2013, the organization demonstrated a prototype of a hybrid vehicle Mazda2 with a 0.33-liter rotary motor to re-charge the batteries on-the-fly. Nevertheless, Mazda has disavowed strategies to develop a rotary-run successor to the the lower-quantity RX8.
"RX-8 do not have that type of car in our future merchandise strategy," Mazda CEO Masamichi Kogai told Automotive News last autumn.
As the title RX means "rotary," mentioned Mazda's chief designer, Ikuo Maeda, the business wouldn't resurrect the nameplate without this kind of engine.
The brand new theory uses the front-motor, rear wheel drive setup popular in sportscars, including Mazda's own mx5 Miata. Yet, at 17-3 inches long and 76 inches broad, it's a foot plus a half more and 8 inches broader compared to the recently redesigned mx5.
Hans Greimel contributed to the report.

It's possible for you to reach Gabe Nelson at [email protected].

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26.10.2015
ID:3130

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