why would anyone flame you? that's some fantastic new info!!!!























:repost:

me? so u prefer pedobear more than a dog?? :yelrotflm:rofl:

I think a lot of people underestimate the japanese in what they are able to accomplish. I don't believe any of these rumors from so and so source, or anything MM says either. When mazda says something, then that's what I'll believe. I don't know what the recent mazda released youtube videos told you guys, but it told me that there will be another rotary vehicle, because its their heart and soul. There are mazda engineers who would give away everything they ever had for the success of the rotary, I truly believe that. That's how the japanese are. That's the spirit of Hiroshima. And that's why I know we will see another rotary.

Bummer if that's true. At least I can look forward to my fourth MX-5, if necessary.

I call BS...

Yep, sad and depressing. Random thoughts -

a) Multi-platform cars make sound economic sense. If there is a follow on car, using a shared Miata platform would hold down costs, maybe enough to make it viable.

b) I always wondered if the rear door RX8 model put off some buyers, since the RX8 didn't really fit into any defined category.

c) Dreaming: I'd gladly take an RX7 coupe with a Miata chassis, rotary engine, nearly unusable kiddie 2+2 jump seats in back, and a hardtop/fastback coupe body to counter balance against the soft top Miata. The lighter weight, even with an engine similar to present, would be hoot.

d) Mazda needs to fix the efficiency/emissions thing to continue a rotary engine. Burning gas AFTER the power cycle makes no sense.

e) Reality: Miata is the breadwinner. It's sales record is historic. And it fills the marketing need for a sporty car in the lineup.

That said, I love my 8, and plan to keep it for a while. It drives/handles/brakes like no other car.

Have a great Memorial Day! Hug a vet!

This sounds about right. Reality....bummer.

That said, there is clearly a desire for a new rx7 both among enthusiasts and some leaders at mazda. Getting it to be economically viable is going to be tricky. BUT dont forget there were sometimes large development gaps between different rotary cars, if they wait 2-4 years between the end of the rx8, and a new rx7, that's not unexpected. I expect it to happen, but yeah, it'll be a few years.

Hold on to your 8's guys....enjoy.

I don't care if it's a RX-8, 9 or 7. Mazda is obviously in the works of making another Rotary powered car and I'm excited for it. They have put too much R&D into the engine to just drop it.

... So much doom and gloom. All these articles make perfect sense to me. The only way the rotary will survive is in a light weight car, that is, something like the MX-5 in size. That's pretty much what all these articles say. Call it an RX-7 or whatever, but that's the only way it's ever going to be special, with its light weight providing Lotus like handling, the rotary providing compact power, and Mazda wrapping it all up in a pretty package to compete with the coming Toybarus and anything similar. Then there's the price...

There's just no room for uneconomical low end sports cars anymore. Uneconomical mid/high end sports cars on the other hand - no problem. I mean does somebody who buys a new BMW, Audi, Lotus, etc. say, "Hell no, I'm not getting that pig - it only get 17/24mpg!" For those nameplate buyers up the food chain say in the 50-90K$ range - mpg is irrelevant.

Mazda simply doesn't have the cachet to compete with any brands other than the low end Japanese. The next RX, if it is to exist, will be small lightweight reasonably powered, reasonably economical, and at a price point us cheap-ass car buyers can afford....and too pull those potential Subotas buyers in for a comparison.

Hasnt this arguement/debate been going on for Decades now? Everyone said the Rotary was dead when the Oil Spill hit a few decades ago. People have always said the Rotary was dead but time and time again Mazda has brought it back.

Rumors are rumors and I would take what Car Mags have to say with a grain of salt...

Mazda WILL continue to develop the next Rotary engine, but which platform/ car they put it in is still on the drawing board...

Mazda should improve the rotary with less problems like flooding and hard starting. They need better and smarter designers and engineers to enhance and improve the quality of the rotary, with less engine shut down. They should invest on those and it will be a better future for the rotary engine in a long time.

Spin9k's got it exactly right.

A properly priced, small rotary sports car with enough sex appeal and major improvements to fuel economy, combined with the balanced handling Mazda sports cars have become known for, would do well even in a somewhat tough economy.

People need a feel good fix when they are depressed. Not many cars can provide that. The rotary engine is a great instrument for providing that sensation in concert with the right chassis.

It's funny, other automakers seldom question the viability of an engine because of poor sales of a car, concluding that all 6 cylinder reciprocating engines should cease due to lackluster sales of one model for example. Of course I understand the critical elements including CAFE fleet fuel economy numbers (Not the main problem). If emissions targets can be reached the case is worthy of conversation at Mazda, other then that, they can't build a car for mass production.

I think it's coming personally :)

Paul.

My money is rdy for the next rx

you hear me Mazda?

Two Cars - Same Segment?
 

It appears that the Scion FR-S (FT-86) would be the natural competition for a new MX-5.

This presents an interesting dilemma - does Mazda produce the moneymaker that is the MX-5 and a rotary-powered sports car on the same platform that would probably yield similar performance numbers?

Wouldn't these two cars compete against another for sales? No other manufacturer has two cars in the same segment....

Perhaps one could argue that the MX-5 is and will continue to be in a segment of its own. For Mazda, how to make a new RX differ enough to put it in a class above the MX-5 is the big question.

Interesting indeed.

drifter...that is something to consider ... two small lightweight Mazda sports cars ... ummm... not to sure that will fly in their boardroom. But sharing a platform only doesn't mean the cars are anywhere near the same .. as witnessed by SUVs and compact cars being on the same 'platform' fcol!

But also I don't think the MX-5, new or old, is close to being FT-86 competition. The MX-5 is a roadster, it's low powered, it's well... minimalistic, both in form and function. Sitting in one..there's "just" enough room...I thought it rather clastraphobic myself, and not somewhere I'd want to spend much trip time. The RX-8 gives a complately different and more expansive and far more comfortable presentation... yet they are the same platform. Bottom line, if a new RX arrived, it would be FT-86 like, not MX-5 like.

Think of mx5 as Mazda's version of s2000 or even z4. People who looked for that kind of car will not buy other car. It's just different. They want something that seats 2 only, looks cool and drives good.

A rotary car is always bigger than the miata with more power and looks more like a Porsche kind of car.

I am with Paul. Light weight. Just like Pauls own "shunk works" project. How many of yall know that a lot of the major components of the rx8 will bolt right up to the mx5?
I just hope they offer a hardtop version.
16x engine ( just waiting for the laser sparkplugs to be finished), maybe 3 sparkplugs, with twin clutch trans and a launch control like Audi TT---on my:)
Price? $35000 to $39000.

Just make it 300hp with about 2700lbs loaded then it will be a total rocket, I know it won't be cheap like that ... I am willing to pay 40 grand for it.

I think my opinions and beliefs are well known from other threads, so I only have 1 comment to add to this particular thread:

^ they say that they can confirm it, but then they don't.



If you all will latch onto such flimsy "confirmation"...:dunno:


The people that want one latch onto the glimmers of hope.
The people that don't latch onto clouds of doom.

Whatever.

1) Eliminating an RX-9 doesn't eliminate an RX-7, in the same way that eliminating the 16X that was "announced" last year doesn't eliminate all rotary engine possibilities.

2) Making a rotary a hybrid is a possibility without making it excessively heavy or boring....Toyota's way of doing the Prius isn't the only hybrid possibility, and is certainly the worst way

3) C+D article doesn't actually contradict the MT article if you make the assumption that the magazine editors are the ones applying the 7 vs 9 names, and so they might not being referring to the same vehicles

4) having more than 1 model that uses the same platform is HUGE cost reductions, in development, tooling, production, servicing, etc... (i.e, Mazda3, CX-7, Mazda5 all share the same chassis, don't look a bit alike, and meet entirely different buyer markets) The RX hasn't shared a platform with another car, and the MX-5 hasn't shared a platform with another car. Combining them together on the same platform brings many many benefits to the rotary without hurting the MX at all, I'd say may even reduce the price on the MX.

5) Not one of these articles is stating that there is no longer a rotary development team within Mazda. On the contrary, nearly every article is indicating that there is such a team, even if small. If the rotary was truly dead forever, this team wouldn't exist. The fact that the team exists means that at this point Mazda still wants to bring out another one, even if it takes 10-20-30 years. That may change down the road.

6) I work for a Fortune 20 company. I know first hand how information flow within a corporation is terrible. The marketing people don't have the same information as the developers, which is different from the field management which is different from the supply chain etc... Anyone within Mazda that anyone talks to is 99.9999% guaranteed to NOT have the full story. And I don't care if the topic is the rotary, the SKY, their motorsports program, or the watering schedule of the main office's 3rd string secretary's tulips. About all anything anyone within Mazda can say for certainty is that they had a job last week, because they received a paycheck.

For a car that seems to receive such hated remarks by people I continue to be amazed at the almost weekly article postings by car magazines about speculation regarding the "return of the RX7". Honestly, I don't think there is a single possible future car that gets as much speculation as the future rotary vehicle.

Read it here now. IF the RX7 was brought back (or an upgraded modern version wearing an RX9 badge) here is what the headline would be:


"20xx RX7 great but not as good as the original" or "RX7 not as good as they used to be". Remember folks, you heard it here first.

I see Jeff's argument 100% and we cannot discount the economics of the situation. Mazda is in the business of making money, not pandering to groups like us. However, we can't discount the insanity factor of not being able to abandon a company icon. I have a hard time imagining executives of Mazda sitting around Leguna Seca as their fleet of rotary powered race cars fly around the track and them saying "Hey remember when we used to build these cars? Man those days were great. Too bad we can't do it anymore."

Then again, if they prefer owning their own supercars or hypercars instead of producing a rotary powered Mazda then that might be an acceptable trade.

You can't discount the fact that the rotary engine is what makes Mazda stand out and their race history is rich with the rotary engine. It might not be overly profitable but it gives them some great bragging rights and exposure the other smaller companies don't have.

I agree the economics declare this a dead car. Combine that with the jaded owners because of the engine recalls, difficulty with extracting dependable performance and overall high need of care you have yourself a tough sell.

All I can say is, don't discount the "crazy" factor with these people.

plain and simple like jeff said,

everyone wants the 300+hp, 40 MPG, 4-door, pretty car for 20k

and unfortunately a rotary won't give you that lol.

nothing will give u that, not for 20 grand.

Again, these ”omg rotary is dead/we can confirm that rotary is dead/my negbor said rotary is dead...” has been going on for decades and it just keeps coming back better and better.

16X Rotary on an MX-5 chassis with a "hatch" trunk (à la RX-7) and I would definitely purchase this product. The wide trunk in the RX-7 was awesome, and is something you just can't get in the current MX-5 and RX-8 (though storing items in the backseat area of the RX-8 works wonders). Putting a rotary in something as lightweight/small as the MX-5 is something we've all been waiting for again!

lol i know, but i'm just giving an example of what the average consumer wants. we (rotary owners) know that we have to sacrifice something(Reliability, MPG, ETC..) to have a badass car, people now a days want the "Perfect" car, and don't want to sacrifice anything; and still be low cost.