Confirmed: Mazda Is Bringing Back The Rotary Engine
It’s only been days since we speculated the return of the Rotary engine, and now Mazda has released an announcement on their Chinese social sites confirming that its iconic powertrain will be returning later this week.
We don’t know in what way the engine will come back, however. It could return as a range extender for Mazda’s first electric cars expected to be revealed later this year, but there have been hints at a much more exciting sports car with an engine bay only big enough for a Rotary.
With the Rotary being such a large and iconic part of Mazda’s racing heritage and sports car history, they must understand that to not use it for this application could severely skew how people view the brand. But, despite a long history with Wankel, Mazda has never been able to produce this legendary powertrain and put it to good, reliable use.
The RX-8 for example, produced only 232hp, and while it was a free-revving engine with plenty of emotion and sound, it was unreliable, and drank oil and fuel at a rate far outweighing its performance. But the Japanese marque isn’t going to let this slow them down.
As we explained in our last article, there have been strong hits that the Rotary will return in something other than an EV, something that looks much more like the Vision Coupe concept that was revealed last year. And now that Mazda has patented a vehicle structure that looks to be built specifically for a Rotary, we have all of our fingers crossed.
It’s too soon to tell you that a Rotary sports car is definitely coming, but we know for a fact that the Rotary, as an engine, is most definitely returning.
If they don’t fix the oil and gas consumption issues why bother. Customers will quickly tire of it.
You do realise previous rotary engines have had an oil metering pump. Oil is pumped in to lubricate the engine. I’ve never had any issues with oil consumption on my rx7 (just top it up every so often)…in fact my BMW uses more oil.
Need to make a front wheel drive miate like the Audi TT
“Only 232 hp”. That’s impressive from a non-turbo 1.3 liter engine!
A lot of car enthusiasts have been holding their wallets in a vice waiting for something special, this could be a good reason to get that wallet out. Hope Mazda makes it happen