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That's just a rehash of the AutoExpress blog post already linked. Said blog post is a mix of interviews with the VP of Mazda R&D Europe Matsuhiro Tanaka at the 2017 Frankfurt show and head of Mazda R&D (presumably global) Kiyoshi Fujiwara at the 2016 LA show.
So, a little teaser regarding a design concept at the 2017 Tokyo show and then a flashback to a year ago. Dynamite reporting clickbait there.
We can say nothing for certain about the next production RX except that anywhere from 10 to 100 people (out of over 46,000 total employees) are working on it and there are still significant technical issues unresolved.
I doubt Mazda would be making yet another rehash of a concept of whatever for nothing, I can't think of a concept that did not make some form of production (perhaps the Taiki in 07, but that had a RE in it)..we will have to wait and see...my personal hope is it is not a BS hybrid,=adds weight,complexity,cost, which goes totally against RE/Handling principals.
I doubt Mazda would be making yet another rehash of a concept of whatever for nothing, I can't think of a concept that did not make some form of production (perhaps the Taiki in 07, but that had a RE in it)..we will have to wait and see...my personal hope is it is not a BS hybrid,=adds weight,complexity,cost, which goes totally against RE/Handling principals.
As long as it's not a hybrid turdbox like a Prius, I think a hybrid is totally fine. If Mazda can offer a hybrid sports car that's affordable, I don't see why not.
Rotary does have some fundamental issues that electric motors can help. The low-end torque and fuel economy challenges can be easily elevated with electric motors.
I have to say I agree with you ASH8, Mazda would not be going through all this for nothing. Obviously they are still grappling with the new worldwide emission standards,but their engineers are tops (as evident by Toyota Execs' praise of Mazda's engineering, when announcing their joint partnership), and if it can be solved, they will do it.
I think 2020 is a reasonably safe timetable to see any real car,if it happens.
Last edited by gwilliams6; Sep 20, 2017 at 07:47 AM.
Could Mazda be potentially executing the HCCI engine technology in a new sports car instead. This seems logical given that the reliability of HP injectors and other high compression reliability issues is the only thing to overcome. In addition HCCI would deliver hp and torque gains - a weak link in the rotary technology. The only issue would be the HCCI tech would increase the center of gravity and significant changes would need to be made to get 50/50 weight distribution in that low profile car.
I still want a rotary engine due to its advantages but Mazda would be able to execute the HCCI faster and overcome the emissions burden.
the hakaze it may have the upward door design that they recently patent or whatever, this car has them as well could be related or not do know just throwing it in there!
mazda has had so many ugly weird concepts however the front end looks very similar to the BL platform.
Could Mazda be potentially executing the HCCI engine technology in a new sports car instead. This seems logical given that the reliability of HP injectors and other high compression reliability issues is the only thing to overcome. In addition HCCI would deliver hp and torque gains - a weak link in the rotary technology. The only issue would be the HCCI tech would increase the center of gravity and significant changes would need to be made to get 50/50 weight distribution in that low profile car.
I still want a rotary engine due to its advantages but Mazda would be able to execute the HCCI faster and overcome the emissions burden.
Interesting you should mention this. The DFI compression ignition tech announcement immediately made me wonder how much improvement they'd be able to make on a rotary with advanced DFI tech for both emissions (stock) and power (enthusiast). If you have the ability to finely control fuel dispersion, you may be able to control the flame front in a way that can allow less richness with no downside (other than an expensive fuel system)
I'll just resign myself to looking forward to the TAS.
the hakaze it may have the upward door design that they recently patent or whatever, this car has them as well could be related or not do know just throwing it in there!
mazda has had so many ugly weird concepts however the front end looks very similar to the BL platform.
I found a video posted today by a guy who lives at the Nurburgring that showed an RX-8 lapping the ring during what he called industry pool with "measuring equipment." From what I gather industry pool is a time where they close off the track to the public and let industry manufactures lap the track to test new equipment. This could be Mazda or potentially a company making products for the RX-8 lapping and testing. In the video he shows the RX-8 fly by so you can hear the exhaust.
He talks about the RX-8 at 4:55 and the car passes by at 7:10. Here's the link:
I found a video posted today by a guy who lives at the Nurburgring that showed an RX-8 lapping the ring during what he called industry pool with "measuring equipment." From what I gather industry pool is a time where they close off the track to the public and let industry manufactures lap the track to test new equipment. This could be Mazda or potentially a company making products for the RX-8 lapping and testing. In the video he shows the RX-8 fly by so you can hear the exhaust.
He talks about the RX-8 at 4:55 and the car passes by at 7:10. Here's the link: https://youtu.be/56f7GSC5dtg
actually that blue RX-8 is seen twice in the video. once as he is talking about Mazda driving one around and the second time at 7:10. but he also writes over the video at 7:10 that the blue one is not the one he was talking about. there isn't any image of the sensored up one he was talking about.
also this is a year since Dale Lomas of "bridgetogantry" spotted Mazda testing an RX-8 alongside a Mclaren 570s that they brought with them. That car was black and is probably the same one talked about in the new one but with new suspension changes.
by the by - 4 years ago Mazda engineers were pushing for a new RWD platform but the upper brass were saying there wasnt any develpment money for a new platform.
fast forward to this year and reports are that Mazda has a new RWD platform in development that would underpin a new RX, a new Mazda 6 and also the dev costs would be shared by Toyota who would use it for the next IS and GS. looks like the brass found the money the engineers needed.
suddenly there looks like a real use case for that dual turbo plus supercharged engine patent in a new RWD 6 and they have a larger than mx-5 rwd platform that can handle more power... and maybe is pointed at McLaren as a performance target.
fast forward to this year and reports are that Mazda has a new RWD platform in development that would underpin a new RX, a new Mazda 6 and also the dev costs would be shared by Toyota who would use it for the next IS and GS. looks like the brass found the money the engineers needed.
Do you have some link about this story? i'm interested.
This is not a rehashing of past news. Definitely some new development going on with this project that Mazda is about to widely publicize. Only question is whether or not they'll be the budget to make this happen. But make no mistake; there is a new "this" about to be shown. Cough that.
just need to make it a supercar!!! not mass production car, its going to be high price tag like 70k, and the car will sell and do just fine! i know i won't be able to afford it! but there are plenty that will and it will put the rotary back on the map!
It should be noted that there are no direct quotes from any source. Car Sensor could just be pulling random **** out of their collective asses. We'll have to wait and see.
Last edited by NotAPreppie; Sep 25, 2017 at 07:37 AM.
Can you define what "significant progress towards an actual production rotary" is? Like, what's your criteria for joining a hypothetical wait list?
I don't understand what you mean. I think it's fairly obvious.
There are concept cars/prototypes that don't have mirrors, 26" wheels, no working dash or finished interior, missing an engine, no actual exhaust, raised or lowered beyond by massive amounts etc etc.
What I am looking for is something that looks like it could actually be sold and is near production ready. They would also be releasing some actual engine specifications indicating it was near production ready and not just general figures.
Let's just hope they don't pull a Subaru and give us WRX concept but then make the production version take 1,000 steps backwards.
