rotarygod

Thinking about that a little more, it doesn't make sense to me that they'd go out of their way to have a new water pump specifically designed for the rotary engine as well as complete cooling system upgrades if they were only going to run 2 more races with that type of engine. You can't salvage the season now anyways from a points standpoint. Then again decisions can happen at anytime so it is possible. I just don't know. I do know that I want to keep seeing a rotary being raced. That has been Mazda's tradition and they should keep doing it.

Senna

I agree that more than one car in the series is needed. Interestingly I saw that link re: the Infinity. Funny, I had made a comment in another thread that you don't see the G35 on the track. Glad to see it though-should be interesting. I just hope to see an expanded GT program for Speedsource and/or others in 2007. Looks like we may.
Understandably, I imagine running the GT car (for a full schedule) along with the ST program is probably a bit much.

Senna

That would be a shock. To me at least. I'm doubtful though. They did have the CX-7 engine on display at Laguna earlier this year.

Senna

If Mazda changes engines, in my mind, the perception in the media would be that Mazda dropped the Rotary race engine because it's not viable in terms of performance/reliability. Ostensibly a engineering failure. Which wouldn't bode well for the future of street driven rotaries and would reflect pretty poorly on the company as a whole. At the same time if they did change engines they could simply shift their focus to the Grandam ST/GT series.

Lets hope it is not so.

Renesis_8

Putting both of your 'thoughts' together RG, maybe they'll continue running the rotary, AND also field a turbo-4 car!, now thats the best of both worlds haha, instead of 2 negatives, its now 2 positives!

Still thinking about the "monumental" annoucement that'll be made sooooonn.
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Renesis_8

I am pretty sure they'll still race in LMP2.
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rotary crazy

Agree, if they are going to race the turbo 4 its going to be along side not as a replacement.

the word out its that it was just not worth it for mazda to do 3 rotor development for only one team, but for next season theres going to be a good reason to do development, theres going to be at least 3 oficial teams in diferent classes running 3 rotor engines.

so maybe the info I got at the begining of the year that mazda had a 3 rotor program going was right after all

and 2 350z more are going to race in GT next year:

Posts: 1 RE: Unitech-Playboy Nissan 2007 Racing Info
Due to the growing amount of speculation, we at Unitech Racing have decided to let everyone know what we have been up to. Incredible plans for the upcoming 2007 Grand-Am season are in the works. We are at this time planning to run two Nissan 350Z Rolex GT cars for the full season. The two cars are currently under construction here in our shop in Rosamond, California. The new 350Zs are being built to Prep 1 rules and will run Unitech Racing prepared VQ35 engines. Nissan’s goal was to “Race what we sell”. We are also planning a partial Grand-Am Cup GS program; the #33 and #35 will make appearances at televised races only. Also in the works is the first ever Nissan powered Riley DP. The Nissan motor is soon to be fitted to its chassis at Riley’s shop. The Nissan Riley is also slated to run a partial season, with potential to run a full season depending on funding possibilities. All five cars will be black and adorned with Playboy Racing livery. At this time the driver line up is undetermined, but will include talents Tommy Constantine, Mike Borkowski, and David Murry. Attached below is an artist rendering of the Nissan 350Z GT car. We hope everyone is as excited about the debut of these cars as we are. Stay tuned for more information as it becomes available.

Renesis_8

Haha, I like the "Race what we sell".. its so untrue... Nissan Riley is one good example, and also the stock VQ35 wont develop power anywhere near the competitive level, probably a really high comp, and strengthened block..

Its gonna be a nice battle between the RX-8 and 350Z!! Good for us racing fans!

Yah rotarycrazy, it seems like there is a good reason for Mazda to develop the 3-rotor program now/next year!

edit: Nissan seems to be going all out in their racing programs.. GrandAm GT, GS, DP, whats next? LeMans?!

Come on Mazda!!! show us some rotors!

more edit: it seems Mazda is a little ahead in the GT program, they have their factory GT frame, the $200,000 tubeframe, carbon fibre RX-8, which is rather cheap compared to other frames. So thats a good starting point for privateers that want to compete in GT. They should now be putting resources into the engine.
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AggieLuke

K, slight hijack here but the 350Zs in GT being Prep 1... does that mean they'll actually be based on the real car and not a tube-frame chassis? I thought the G35s that would be running the same class were tube-frame Crawfords...

Renesis_8

Re-read Rotarycrazy's post, its a tubeframe, manufacutred by Riley.

edit: sorry, that is for the DP... I should re-read it lol....
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AggieLuke

Either way, to get this back on track. Let's say Mazda does continue to run a rotary in LMP2, I read earlier that they were probably going to get a Lola B05/40. Has anyone seen/heard what changes the new B07/40 has?

After looking at all the current LMP2 chassis, I must say I really like the look of the new Radical the most.

Oooooo! I know! Now that the ACO has specified closed-top coupes in P1 in 2010, perhaps the news will be a new P1 in the colors of the 787B! With twin 4-rotors, one for each rear wheel!

And no, I haven't started drinking yet, but it's getting close...

Renesis_8

Looking at the picture of the 4-rotor.. Is there a way to make it more compact? thus reducing weight? Its PPort Intake + Exhaust, what purpose do those intermediate plates serve? aside from seperating the rotors, is there any way to sandwich it with really thin plates between rotors?


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rotary crazy

the problem is not the size of the 4 rotor, its that with the restrictor they have to use there is no power increase, and remember the 4 rotor needs more cooling, larger rads, more oil, stronger trans, larger exhaust , etc.

I think mazda has room to work with the 3 rotor, raise the rev limit,better materials, etc. Including negotiations with ACO and imsa to get no restrictor, less waight, wider tires, etc.

bern

SpeedSource will not have an ST program next year... they will be concentrating on the GT racer program!

-Bern

bern

With a 55mm restrictor, they have NO restrictor on a 3-rotor!

-Bern

rotary crazy

with one car?



for those that fallow rotary racing : https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-racing-25/scca-pole-position-rx-8-a-101073/

Senna

Do you have a link to the official report or is this yet to be announced. Does this mean they will go from 4-5 cars to none in ST?

Renesis_8

They already won the triple-crown. They're done with ST. I cant wait to see speedsource run a full season in GT, whether its with 1 or multiple cars. I'll be cheering for them, the race this year was memorable, where the GT RX-8 placed 2nd, and almost caught up to the 1st place, just had to give them 1 more lap.

And I remember when they were going out the pitstop, had like a blow torch flame shoot out the exhaust for a few seconds straight, haha I liked that too!
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bern

For SpeedSource I believe one GT car for next season; might be a few other teams too.

In ST, the factory is satisfied with the triple-crown championship. Mazda will now throw support at the GT class. I'm sure there will still be a few "privateer" RX-8s in ST next season.

-Bern

David Haskell

We will still be around in ST with a few cars and help support any other teams that need help. I just don't think Sylvain and myself will be driving one toghether. I wish we could, but it is tough to do both at the level we would like to.

bern

Thanks for the input Dave! Nothing better than hearing straight from the source. Really looking forward to seeing you in the Grand-Am GT battles next year!

-Bern

AggieLuke

In regards to the LMP2 program, check out this link:

http://murphythebear.com/blog/

Now, this particular bear states many times that everything in those blogs is just rumor at best, but more often than not he's pretty close to the truth.

For those that don't want to read it, the gist is that Mazda *might* run the rotary at Sebring next year before moving to a turbo-4 for the rest of the season. Only running the rotary if the 4-banger isn't ready to go.

If true, this would suck royally but you can't argue with some of the numbers: at Road Atlanta, the Mazda was 7.5 seconds per lap slower than the Porsches, and 6.5 seconds slower than Intersport's Lola/AER turbo-4.

Renesis_8

I hope they continue to run the rotary, I think the turbo-4 is only rumours, Mazda wouldnt ditch the rotary so easily, they ran the 4-rotors for many years before it actually won 1991 LeMans.

But if they do ditch it, no more ALMS for me, I am a rotary fan, not a Mazda fan.
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rotarygod

It may disappoint many in Mazda or at BK to hear this type of news from their fans but I agree completely. I'm a rotary person. It's the engine I care about. Without the rotary, my loyalty lies elsewhere. I really want to see the Audi R10 in person and am excited about many of the other cars out there. The Porsche guys were stuck up snobs when they were here so I don't care about them. Acura should be pretty good next year.

I was told by someone in the know about the upcoming news (who will remain anonymous but who definitely knows) that "You won't like it and it isn't hydrogen". I didn't get any more than that from this person but they do know me pretty well. This is why I am concerned that it may not be a rotary. I was never told it wouldn't be though. Hydrogen and piston power would just be my 2 biggest disappointments to hear about. It could have also been meant to say that I won't get my wish for a 4 rotor but that's OK as long as it's still a rotary. I can say that the Japanese engineers only want to play with side ports now and consider the peripheral ports old school whereas everyone here still wants to go with peripheral ports and don't want to touch side ports.

Renesis_8

That does fit into the 'monumental' statement on mulsanne's corner.

It would be quite suprising to hear this news when its offical(soon), the 2.3L should be race ready, and Mazda should be able to compete with others. But its just different from seeing a rotary run on the track, that gives me a warm feeling inside.

Why would Mazda ditch the rotary engine in racing? It doesnt really make sense to me, they've stuck with the rotary and had great success in the past. They tried quite a few configurations of the 4-rotors back in the 80s then won in 1991. It has always been a race engine and is, I dont believe its down in power, the only restriction is the rules! They could even shave off some serious weight if they develop an all alumium race engine, heck just rebuild it everytime if its needed.

If the rotary makes its exit in the professional racing level, I cant imagine what would be next.. you see where I am going? I would never say it! haha...
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