It's a shame because these are seriously solid cars minus the powerplant. I feel its actually RARE to find a rusted out shell unlike 240s or anything else of the era. and yet the protege and Mazda 3 still suffer from rust issues. WTF???

 

I dont believe it. 2020 is going to be mazda 100th anniversary and japan is hosting Olympic. They will do something about it

 

...and the yen/USD is the weakest in like 7 years and the Japanese economy has been in the dumps for even longer

 

Where can I get one of those machines

 

Which is why they are such good candidates for a swap.

 

try getting 10 FC owners together for a $100 part- just as bad, lol

 

Well now we wait for new rumors and such

 

and Mazda is finally making profits from the successful skyactiv.

 

I'll sell my F-body Z-28 to fund further rotary engine development. I've got some connections with some first class machinists and engineers. Keeping the rotary alive is doable but it's going to take everybody's help. When I say everybody, I'm talking about RB, RE-Amemiya, Mazda, etc. etc. (we need some factory tooling, seriously people!)

In my opinion, a new production rotary needs to exceed expectations. Higher torque output. Lower fuel consumption. Better reliability. This IS possible, it has been done before. (Look at the differences between a 10A and a 13B-RE!) I think the first step is more turbo development. Why was the RX-8 N/A after the cosmo and RX-7 blazed a trail with turbos? Weak sauce. Next thing is sealing of course; this is where most of the "money" and time should probably go...

Just my thoughts.

 

Gee, too bad Mazda never thought of this.

 

Because of the bad rep for reliability the 3rd gen got due to the additional heat load from the turbos coupled with a barely adequate cooling system. Add to that a complex system of solenoids and vacuum lines to control the sequential setup that got cooked( the lines) causing vacuum leaks and control problems coupled with techs that didn't understand how to troubleshoot and repair the system causing engines to be replaced when it was just problems caused by that mess of vacuum lines. They ditched all that for the hoped better reliability of the n/a. The control problems were fixed by electronic controls on the Series7 but it was too late for the U.S market as it was already discontinued here. I agree though turbocharging should be revisited using what they learned not to do on the 3rd gen.

 

Anyone on here with that kind of money probably knows better than to throw it away on something that will have no return on investment. FC owners are mostly cheap and or broke. Only people with money are probably the remaining 3rd gen owners that haven't done LSx swaps.

 

there are billet rotor housings and rotors out there , they are for the very diehard of rotary fans

 

RB offers aluminum side and intermediate housings as well.

Engine Rotor Housings & Aluminum Side Housings - 1986-92 Mazda RX-7 Performance Parts

Also as a side note all of the s5 or newer oem housings are still available, and all the s4 except the turbo intermediate from Mazdatrix.

 

Agreed. Personally, if I were to do this, I wouldn't be in it for the money. This project would sink fast and be kaput within the year. There isn't much incentive except for a few which there would then be specialists rather than a production factory for many. One person could do it on their spare time; however, I just don't see it as a business opportunity and wouldn't invest into the business as a whole.

That being said, the rotary isn't completely gone, but you can't sell an engine very well without a car to go with it...

 

I was pretty bummed when I heard the news, so I just e-mailed Mazda and told them how I felt! I encourage all of you to contact them! The more they hear from the enthusiasts, the more they'll reconsider any decisions for the future.

 

Fuel economy is the #1 selling point for vehicles these days. Period. That makes the rotary unviable except to a niche market.

OK, maybe fuel economy and whether or not the vehicle as WiFi.

Fact is that most young people don't car about cars in general. That's going to be a tough nut to crack for any manufacturer and we can see how they are scrambling by integrating things like Facebook.

 

Which is sad because the "sports car" market as we know it is basically dead.

 

I don't think so. There is always the luxury/performance sector where the people that can afford them don't care about fuel economy. I know lots of people that would put fuel economy way down the list of reasons on why they have the daily driver they have. I mean really, I know many that daily pick-up trucks.

 

i daily my fc so i for one couldnt give two ***** about feul economy. hell when people ask me i proudly say 17 mpg LOL. they usually brag about their 30+ mpg and i say sure you get 30 mpg but you also get garbage performance(usually civic asshats i run into).

 

Since most newish Civics will leave my NA for dead- AND get 30 mpg whilst doing so- I can't use that argument.

"But does your car have pop up headlights?" is about all I got.
(And I don't even like pop up headlights...)

 

When the Mazdaspeed3 made more hp, more torques, better mpg, and cost less than the Rx8 it was the nail in the coffin.

 

I wonder if a rotary/electric hybrid might make sense? Seems like the size advantage for space and torque with mileage of electric drive might make an interesting mix.

 

new civics new cars in general yes but im talking the typical eg ek turd LOL. most people i know dont have new cars. most not all

 

A brand new Honda civic with a 2.0l engine is rated at 148bhp. An S5 NA is rated at 160bhp. Both cars weigh about the same so "technically" you should be able to go faster than a brand new civic, especially if you have a manual transmission.

Clokker, I know your engine is tired, but still...