Piston rx8
 

Just a thought, what if the rx8 came with a lets say 4 cylinder turbocharged engine? Everything else the same still outstanding handling...I think it would be able to make alot more power and a little more torque..I would be on his forsure...any thoughts?

P.S I'm not a rotary hater by any means :)

Just look at the Miata. 167hp.

The engine weight and location would kill the handling

It would be able to make more power with the rotary if Mazda had designed it this way... I think that even with pistons they wouldnt have dumped unlimited amounts of power into the car.

They designed it with a purpose in mind, and that purpose did not require 400 Hp and 400 ft lbs of torque. Sure a large demographic would have wanted this, but they were not catering to that demographic.

Also, that would have turned it into an MX car. Now, what if the RX8 came with a turbo rotary from teh factory, that would start to tap into the engines potential a bit more :)

some guys on this forum already have pistons in there 8. sr20det, 2jz, ls1, lsx.

w/o a swap i mean from the factory...I think the 4 cylinder turbo would be great on 8...Just thinking out loud guys lol

I would prefer the rotary over piston. If it came in piston then I would probably get a subie or at least another subie for the collection.

I bought the car because it did not have pistions.

thats the same reason i bought one. at the last socal beach cruise we all were in a car show. and when over 30 rx8 show up and enter all eyes were on us. the guys that had their hoods open had people around looking under the hood trying to make out if it was a i4 or v6. and that was priceless.

I believe using pistons as opposed to rotors would make the car lose its essence, the allure of what this make this car so special. i don't care about no having 300bhp--I hardly ever need them--but enjoy mindlessly driving at 8000rpms and not feeling like the engine is falling to pieces.

If it wasn't rotary, then the RX wouldn't make sense and it would just be a Mazda 8...

Just a thought, what if people searched...

this topic has been discussed almost as much as "why does my MPG suck!"

If this car had pistons it would be an s2000

So the guys that have done the motor swaps suddenly lost their back seats and gained a ragtop?

Yes

essesntially i believe thats what would happen to the rx8....

Fascinating... I am intrigued now... What would happen if you rotarized a S2000?

Id test drive one w/ a MS3 2.3 turbo massaged to 300hp/300ft/lb from the factory but ultimately the rotary is the RXs heritage.

i'm pretty sure it would lose that outstanding handling unless the rest of the frame and weight distribution is reconfigured. and it sure wouldn't be an rx anymore. would be a miata with backseats :lol:

The main advantage of the rotary engine is its small size. This allows it to be behind the front axle and mounted really low, giving great balance and a very low center of gravity. That's why the 8 handles so well for a car of its size.

A piston engine would totally change the character of the car. It might be easier to get more power, but the amazing handling that the auto press is still raving about after all these years would be gone.

We don't need a piston RX car. We need a 16X RX car.

Pistons and Rx8 just arent meant to go together.. No... Never.

That would mean I would have to listen to the radio again :eek: that's so antiquated.

I guess mazda already has the alternative for that in the mx5 form. And I would not want to see a piston iengine in a rx car, the meaning of rx will be lost in my opinion. Maybe what they need is a mx6 revival with more power than miata.

Well by the reversical principle, we see that = rx-8

As others have voiced, I think the appeal of the car would be diluted with a more conventional engine. I know that if Mazda offered the car with two powertrains, say a 250hp 230 ft/lb piston engine as well as the current rotary, I'd take it as it is. I'm excited to see the future development of the rotary engine, and I'll probably buy atleast one more Wankel-powered car in my lifetime.

The ragtop solidifies and it gives birth to two back seats and stretches the door into two separate doors and the back ones become suicidal....