Article about Mazda's new rotary in 2017
 

Giggity

2 years away. Start filling your piggy banks!

We shall see. A concept is a step towards a new rotary powered car, but they still have some hurdles to clear. That being said, I'll probably be among the first in a showroom if this thing makes it to production.

going to be a debbie downer and say it never makes production, especially not in 2017

or they fail to turbocharge it and it flails at keeping pace with other current sports cars.

or they continue the standard of lacking longevity R+D and the engines have another inherent flaw that isn't corrected until half a million engines are produced. the RX8 series 1 was a perfect example of this, where a car in the 21st century has an average engine life expectancy of 80k miles, which is pretty damn horrid. the last rotary engines that had such poor lifespans were 6mm carbon seal 10A/12A's that stopped production in 1972, those engines were simply a proof of concept that the rotary engine worked and could be mass produced until the next evolution of seals were developed 4 years later.

considering it is using skyactiv technology, i also doubt it makes it to a showroom in 2017.

but if they do make another rotary car i will be the first to give them props for continuing to defy common sense in an effort to prove everyone wrong just for the sake of creating a unique engine platform car.

yeah well, i was not thoroughly impressed with their work with the renesis S1. on most fronts it wound up a lemon of a car for many owners and again hurt the reputation of the rotary engine in great strides. some people actually going through up to 5 engines in 150,000 miles. the rotor housings on those engines i tore apart with 100k had as much wear as a 300,000 mile FC, the side seals were also worn to the same degree, the rotating bearings were again worn at 3 times the normal rate... they are in appalling condition for a naturally aspirated non abused engine.

if they reintroduce another ill tested engine.... my words will stand and i won't eat them.

i'd love them to prove me wrong and create a high power, low wear, average consumption engine but i won't hold my breath for it. paying $37k+ for a car that winds up anything like the 1st gen RX8, they should be berated for allowing such a thing to happen. even the turbo II FC and twin turbo FD had a higher average lifespan which if you follow that trend then the next rotary engine will have an average lifespan of ~60k miles...

sounds pretty bogus to me but this is how i chalk it up: FB 200k > FC n/a 175k > FC TII 135k > FD 100k > RX8 S1 85k > RX8 S2 135k

they did improve on the S2, so perhaps they can continue that trend.

the truth hurts but such is life. it is also a warning to anyone who is looking at an RX8 S1 for what to expect and why they are for sale everywhere with lies or claimed ignorance all over the listings, beware the almighty check engine light.

I hope they get this one right, i love the styleing of the 8, but the engine worries the shit shit out've me and one major reason i don't wanna buy one

Theres actually a 05 for sale near me for under 3K, but the tag says "needs work" and that alone scared me away because i know what that probably means

if it's an auto, i automatically ignore them. the S1 auto 4 ports rarely make it over the mileage i put above. the auto 4 port is also a slugmobile and not fun to drive, at all. it is pretty much an abortion on all fronts.

No its a 6 speed, but the radio is ripped out've it and its a dealer that picks cars up from the auctions, so i am pretty positive its been beat on, even though the body and interior is in really good shape minus the missing radio

If they build it, it better be over $40k!
I would probably need a 10yr 100k mile warranty to buy the first run of it though .

Hate to ruin the mood, but could they make it any more ugly? They should have stuck closer to the original design and had pop ups. I think that style of LED strip headlights "under" the hood is way overdone with modern concept cars. But as long as it's not a hybrid I'm cool with it :dunno:

popups were outlawed by euro DOT as far as i recall. you know, when you run a pedestrian over at freeway speeds, you gotta cut down on the physical damage incurred, or somesuchotherbs.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_eye/2...sappeared.html

As dumb as that is it makes sense enough... Thankfully if pop-ups for whatever reason get banned in the US and I get an FC I have 2 headlight swap options picked out! :nod:

Your headlamps (nor any other part of your car) cannot be retroactively banned, and for that matter, popups are not expressly banned anywhere.
The EU and US have simply enacted a regime of pedestrian safety parameters and the manufacturers decided that popups cannot be made to comply.
Besides, popup lamps solve a problem that no longer exists. Modern lighting tech allows for systems that seamlessly fit the desired aero package without the need for motors/linkages to activate clunky, aero-killing sealed beam units.

yep, specifications change, but they can't take away our popups!

But who needs aero when your car looks as good as an FC? (or the others for that matter!)

:ylsuper:

Only aero killing in use!

I love how they bring up gas mileage being an issue, It's a fucking sports car.

not like i could tell any noticable amount of drag or more than a .1mpg difference in mileage, the sunroof does more than the popups do.

Or rolling down the windows.

i chalk that up to a urban myth, even in my insight i see no difference in mpg or wind drag with the windows up or down. the buffetting of the air from inside the car negates any sort of "parachuting" thing from occurring. that car has 65 horses, even a gust of wind slows it down.

That was a tongue in cheek response, should have added a smiley. :)

Fact is, the FC RX7 has good aerodynamic qualities. Even the vert isn't bad, but a spoiler would help.

I just hit 187k miles on my vert with the stock windshield and I have zero rock chips, and most of those miles are highway miles. I have seen it multiple times while driving a rock kicked up in the air toward my windshield and right before it hits, the airflow over the car picks it up and the rock probably hits the poor bastard behind me.

(knocks on wood)

I always drive with the driver window down (I smoke, sue me) and there is no buffeting or air noise, it's quite incredible really.

I don't know about the coupe but, the vert is TERRIBLE with the top down at highway speed. It is like a parachute. With the top up though, its great except when you start getting over 130mph. At 148mph (my verts top speed in 4th at redline) it feels like the rear end of the car is coming off the ground.

i know that feeling, sounds similar to my experience while driving with the sunroof open at around the same speed. would think the sunroof would act more like a spoiler for downforce but it just felt... squirrely.

Yeah, it feels like the car is going to take off and fly! I believe the issue with the vert is at high speed you get a low pressure area above the trunk that tries to pick the car up. I would love to have a spoiler on my vert but everything I have seen is ugly as hell.