zoom44

Mazda RX-7 to return in 2016 | Autocar

hornbm

iTrader: (1)

A new year, a new rumor. The one bit I find interesting are the 600 cc rotors, which implies they changed the dimensions from the 16x.

ShinkaEvo

iTrader: (3)

Doubt it's gonna happen that soon.

thunderberk

Still waiting since 16x shown !

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

Autocar is rather loose with their claims.

1) 2016 contradicts even prior statements of 2017. The ONLY way that 2016 would still be accurate is if it's released in 2016 with a 2017 model year, same as the 2004 RX-8 was released in 2003, the 2014 6 was released at the beginning of 2013, etc...

2) 2016 means that we have 2 years before a production ready rotary hits showrooms? And they don't even have the body designed yet? Moderately unplausible

3) Don't get me started on the sketch. Other than being fugly, it isn't anywhere remotely like the Kodo design language, which any new car MUST be based on. Until Mazda changes the design language, but that isn't expected any time soon.

4) Ikuo Maeda's quote from...a year ago? is being used as some sort of validation, but if we roll back to that interview, it was a wishful statement only, and clearly indicated that he wasn't actually working on it.

5) They claim the new rotary will be an N/A engine, and while that is likely, they try to use the new 330cc rotary in the 2 as some sort of supporting statement. And it actually isn't a connection between those two sentances.

6) Claiming a "more conventional size" of a 600cc rotor flies in the face of everything we have seen from Mazda regarding the 1600cc dimensions. There is literally nothing to support this claim.

7) They claim that they don't know if there will be a 2-rotor or 3-rotor yet? Wait, don't they have less than 2 years to get this completely tested out? A rather absurd timeline. The foundation of their year claim crumbles further.

8) and more power claims. More rumor mongering with absolutely nothing to back it up.





So yeah, it's another baseless article that some people are going to start blowing their wad over without seeing the article for what it is: Fabrication. Please don't be one of them.

mikko79

Nice idea BUT that supposed RX? is rendered out of the new Jaguar F-type:

http://www.wikipediatrade.com/img/2013-Jaguar-F-Type-1.jpg

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

If the render doesn't have the Kodo design language, you can ignore it as someone's fevered imagination that doesn't have any basis in reality.

Yes, it looks like this particular fever patient used the F-type as the basis for the sketch.

thunderberk

I believe they will be use furai & taiki concepts for the next RX-7, that design languages beyond its time and retro looking of FD3S..

And if they put it a 3 rotor with 2 hybrid little 330cc wankels for idle & constant speeds yes it will be the next Rotary Legend.

And i am waiting them fuel flex engine. Please Mazda do it !

zoom44

no its based on Mazda designs for the next MX-5 and protypes like the superlight


and .... the other one... which i cant find right now of course and the mx-5 mules that are running at the moment


Pearl it would be more Kodo influenced but the drawing above does represent the proportions based on the next mx-5 chasis.

thunder forget the furai and taiki influences as that is old design language they have moved past. however i wouldn't rule out something with the taiki stance. they have an affinity for that design/idea as they have used portions of it elsewhere

I8yourv8

looks like a mercedes sls

yokohamaboi

iTrader: (1)

I hope they redo the headlights, fix the side vents, and make the trunk a little longer. from this angle looks like a crossfire rear end.

mikko79

Compare these points:

1. Head lights -> same as jagge, just the upper part covered
2. Front grille -> mixmatch of jagge and SLS
3. Front "lip" spoiler -> the same as in jagge
4. Sideskirts -> the same as in jagge
5. Side vents -> same idea as in SLS but exactly not the same
6. Roof line -> a bit like SLS but exactly not the same

The conclusion: just a rendering, someones fantasy illustrated, nothing more than that

But it would be nice that Mazda would make another rotary sports car

j9fd3s

this is an interesting point, and you are completely correct. just to use an old example the FD started production 12/28/1991, and they had the prototypes finalized in late 1988.

this suggests that it takes roughly 12-24 months to get all the stuff* together to actually put a car in production.

the only fly in the ointment, is that they have been playing with the 16x, since 2007, and we heard rumors about the car they are going into in 2011?.

given that they kept the Furai thing completely quiet, they actually have had enough time to put something together. although you'd think we wouldn't be getting mixed messages from the CEO/management…

although one wonders why the miata needs to be longer between the front wheels and the windshield.

*making a car is a phenomenally complex task. we got to see the volvo factory in 2011. they have a dedicated plant just to stamp out sheet metal, just the floor is something like 50 different stampings. they have another plant that just builds engines. the assembly plant we saw spits out something like 58 cars an hour, so they need 58 cars an hour worth of carpets, and moldings, etc. it all has to be the correct carpet in the correct order too, volvo's production schedule is booked at least 3 months in advance, if not more. this image where they just have random stuff lying around, and cars get assembled with oddball parts isn't true, at least for volvo

monchie

Its only a rumor, and won't believe it until i see it...

Lane03

At least they don't say it will have a "2.5 liter 4-cylinder rotary" like this article.

Yahoo!

alnielsen

iTrader: (4)

Actually, the 2.5 liter part is, in a way, more accurate than calling the engine a 1.3L. It all has to do with the way a rotary engine works, the consumption of air and other things. The explanation is too long to get into here and has been documented else where on the site. Racing sanctioning bodies consider it a 2.6L engine.

Lane03

2.5 is probably more accurate, but the 4-cylinder part is definitely not.

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

1.3L is accurate. Just because you buy a pint of beer doesn't mean someone else who bought 2 cups didn't also buy a pint. People double the rotary's physical displacement only because piston engines don't use their displacement half the time.

Would a 2.0L 2-stroke piston engine suddenly be called a 4.0L? Hardly.

/pet peeve

Edit: Maybe not the best analogy...

j9fd3s

no that's right, piston engines are lazy

LiveWire

iTrader: (1)

With emission standards as they are now and Mazda's current lack of budget for their sports car division, sadly, I doubt we will see any new rotary for a long time. Brace yourselves, the winter of rotary production is coming.

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

Yes, this is what we need, an RX-7 that make less HP than the JDM FD did in 2003 and makes 18 less horsepower than the current Impreza WRX.

The rotary as the main powerplant in a sports car is dead.

J8635621

iTrader: (10)

Long live the skyactiv DX7

FNLR3

The bean counter CEO who believes he pulled Mazda up by its bootstraps (never mind that the vehicles that have made it happen have NOTHING to do with him) is in charge for now. The world economy is stuck for the foreseeable future and there is a hard budget for cars that aren't big sellers globally.

However, I it still nonetheless true that the engine most ready RIGHT NOW and for the same foreseeable future to run on any kind of fuel (including hydrogen) is the rotary. So the rotary advocates may be able to use the engine program as stalking horse for the car under other pretenses.

As for me, just doing everything to take care of my girl, so she runs until there is either another rotary or I die.

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

The bean counter made that "no rotary" statement 1 day before they showcased a brand new rotary at the Toyota Auto Show. Yes, it was a 330cc range extender, but it is still a brand new rotary with some new tech clearly involved. So much for "no R+D", "no rotary".

I put zero weight on that guy's statement. About the kindest I can refer to the statement might be "grossly out of touch with what his company is doing".

hoosier1104

iTrader: (2)

I will believe it when I see it.