Rotarynews.com gets some answers
 

They had an interview with Moray Callum and Jeremy Barnes of Mazda at the Detroit Auto Show and put questions to them posted by readers. the answers are here http://rotarynews.com/node/view/762

mine were the first 2:)too bad i got a no comment:( that Jeremy never answers my questions!!;)

I thought it was Rotary eXperiment all these years???

they changed it:)

Thanks for the link. Funny how many 'no comments', but the editor's notes were interesting. I especially liked this:

"(Editors note, we never want to see another fight about what RX stands for. Once and for all, from Mazda we have RX standing for Rotary Sports. Period. End of story.)"

Read it all folks. :)

hopefully next time jeremy gets interviewed he could spill more beans.

That sucked hardcore. No Comment blah blah blah

AMEN!

One good thing came from that, I just sent in my email to Mazda telling them I could see a place for a Kabura based, 2500lb rotary car right next to my 2004 RX-8.

Makes me wonder how many RX8s have been denied warranty coverage because the Stealership found out the owners were autocrossing or doing track days in their stock cars?

I don't buy it one bit.

Im one of those readers :mdrmed:

finally I have an answer :mdrmed:

this is the answer I was expecting more or less :bootyshak


the work that the guys at rotary news do is really great, to have the enthusiast ask questions to the executive is priceless :ylsuper:

Seriously. Good handling doesn't mean that power isn't a priority.

I guess I'd like to know why they don't consider to put a Renesis in a MX-5 and call it RX-5 and sell it for $30,000 MSRP. I don't think there would be a need for lots of adaptations.

Why does he think people don't care about power?
Are there S2000 customers that say: Well actually I'd rather have it with 180hp? Or are there any S2000 power reducing kits out there? Besides the S2000 is not exactly a straight line sports car either.

this is good to know, somtimes im readyn this forum go end up thinking mazda is going to kill the rotary the next day

sent my rotary kabura wish to mazda

I disagree there, too...Mazda's Horsepower numbers have been VERY important to those who don't feel the number is 'accurate'. :)

Any response to your question will likely inflame and piss off people. Those who get pissed off at my reply are likely Horsepower Whores, those who would sell their soul for 20 more ponies. Because More is Better, right? Wrong. Too much horsepower in a given car can ruin the balance of the car. But it takes an experienced, open-minded driver to realize that.

The simple answer to your question is: A Mazda is for people who treasure the feel of the car, the balance, the handling, the quickness, the finesse. That's their market.

Ferrari folk have a saying "It's not about the numbers." Even though their numbers tend to be spectacular.

Mazda's the same way. It's not about the numbers, it's about how the car feels, how it drives, how it reacts.

So, those craving large doses of neck-snapping, tire-smoking HP and torque..

go buy some dreadful POS like a Rustang or Charger. It won't drive worth a damn. But it'll sure as hell make big clouds of tiresmoke.

No offense but you might have noticed that the gaspedal is not an on/off switch. It allows one to adjust the torque at the rear wheels to any level you please. As long as you know how to use that 'torque regulator', there's no such thing as too much horsepower.

Take a 283 Cobra around a track.

Now take a 427 Cobra around the very same track.

See which one gives you the shorter laptimes.

What's your point?

Take a RX-8 around the track.
Take a RX-8 with a turbo kit around the track.
See which gives you shorter track times.

As long as the power delivery is predictable and linear, there's no such thing as too much horsepower.
As far as I know, there's not one race series where race car teams don't go to the limit of the regulations (eg. max out the displacement of the engine).

The major advantage of the rotary engine is its power to weight ratio and its compactness.
When you want to show the qualities of the rotary engine compared to the piston engine off, you should have it in a car that can clearly surpass the competition due the use of this engine. If Mazda had the Renesis in the MX-5 it would be unbeatable in its class.
Also, I believe it's fair to say that most people that buy Ferraris don't know how to handle fast cars, but that doesn't mean that they shouldn't sell them.

Gosh...no comment to everything of importance, and honestly by his comments I actually lost some confidence in Mazda. No matter if they keep bringing out rotary engines it seems they are unwilling to put too much into them.

So, honestly...while I wont pay too much attention I'm left feeling our RX8 is not going to improve much.

You know, we all know that Mazda knows balance, handling, driver-car connection, fun factor, and power delivery...but Mazda needs to learn that HP (while not everything) is not a sin.

Stop kidding yourself Mazda, if the RX8 made 300HP you couldn't keep them on the lots. Who are they kidding...this car does so many things so well that removing a slight weak spot would without a doubt help increase sales.

It's like they say..."this is enough, to sell just enough" and while I love them for making the RX8...I feel a little (feel people, relax the flame throwers) disapointed in their response.

I know some people are in love with being unique, but I'm in love with this car and would rather see it grow into legend status like the RX7 instead of..."just that car Mazda made for 4 years...what was it called?"

Sure...I realize I can be completely off base here, but based on that interview Mazda just sounds like the RX8 is nothing but a forgotten product.

Funny, I was looking at the Kabura pics at work early this morning and decided to send Mazda an email. I basically told them that if they are researching success of the Kabura being in production then they should just look at the stirs the concept is doing. I also told them to please both worlds, piston for a wide user base and rotary for enthusiasts and new user base that can't afford an RX-8. I then asked where to send my check if it had a rotary :Freak_ani

Gee that was a hard hitting interview...NOT....

Mazda are not going to tell RN what is going to happen, because in many cases the concept Kabura is just that...a concept and Ideas to put out there, very, few concepts make it to a prototype then production.
I would suggest even those suits have no firm knowledge about the Kabura....hence the NO Comments..

Mazda are not going to tell the public what they are planning and when.

They just don't do it....even at Sevenstock.... all they may tell you is what is generally already out there...like the 6 speed Auto trans for the 2006 RX-8 this year.

Do you really think the Japanese designers are going to tell a stranger (even a Mazda owner/enthusiast) what they are doing in the way of changes to an existing model.....

They are in the business of selling cars they make NOW, not what's down the road in a few years. IF they told the future on the RX-8 and RENISIS, or any model to an owner, what do you think a Mazda Dealer would think if it became common knowledge on the web/press that this or that is changing on the RX-8....it would effect car sales...and existing stocks.

In my experience it has only ever been Dealer Principals (owners) who are told some future model details, again what Mazda want to tell them. A Dealership wants his salespersons to sell what he has in stock today, not in the future.

Mazda will leak the real info when they are good and ready, and generally not before.

Thanks though to RN for trying, I agree the best way is to email Mazda USA about your thoughts on the Kabura and rotaries.

Sorry, I respectully disagree with you. Just look on this forum any day, someone new is posting some rumor from their uncle who knows some one at mazda, who has news on the Mazdaspeed RX8. By your experienced knowledge of the perfect balance of a car, the new Corvette should be just perfect, why make a Z06, BMW makes a M coupe, M3, M5, Cadillac V series, Audi S versions, Subaru STI and so forth. As for your Ferrari owners statement; #1 for one, their driving a friggin Ferrari #2 The Enzo is supposed to be the ultimate Ferrari with 650 HP, why make the Enzo FXX.

I like how you are a experienced, open-minded driver, then throw the cheap shot POS Rustang and Charger comment in.

remember though, that those of us on this forum represent the majority of the enthusiast rx-8 market...and that, unfortunately, is only a sliver of the entire rx-8 population. of course we'd like more power, stickier tires, better drivetrain...but you know what? for 90% of the rx-8 customers, what they have is just fine. the rx-8 is a one of a kind chassis for the mazda line. they must sell as many rx-8's to reduce their per unit cost of design. the rx-8 and the renesis were very expensive to design, much more so than a Z (which uses the same v6 found in every other nissan with a v6). take say, an impreza...subaru knows they can roll millions off the lot and they can use that profit to design econobox+ cars like the wrx or the sti and only build what they think they can sell, not what they need to as in mazda's case. also consider the MS6..i promise you'll see more ferrari's on the road than ms6's. mazda just put a little (relatively) r&d work into the 6 platform, and turned it into an econobox+ model. now all they have to do is sell enough to cover the cost of r&d for that specific trim, not the entire model family...if it's a hit in the market (which I don't see happening) then they'll run with it, but if not then consider it a dead end.

they've got a business to run over there in hiroshima, and pushing the rx-8 any farther than it is would increase MSRP's and costs, both of which could spell the end of the RX line of mazdas for good. im not saying i wouldn't love to see a 350hp FI'd rx-8 on the showroom floor, but it just isn't going to happen.

I don't buy it, all that hub-bub about the RENESIS being a "very expensive" engine to produce.

I was under the impression that when ford took its stake in mazda that they stopped funding on rotary development and laid-off all but one guy from the R&D team. The R&D of the RENESIS was then done chiefly by a single individual in his spare time with assistance from the former empolyees. R&D cost to the company was minimal at best.

Far as the tooling costs, what the hell is he talking about the RENESIS is produced on the same assebly line as the 13B-REW was and is assembled by hand, so once again costs of production is minimal as best....

This guy probably played a roll in original decision to cut funding to the rotary segment, corporate blow hard IMHO:piss: