I was watching the latest Engineering Explained video and he mentions Mercedes-Benz Nanoslide at the end. I was wondering if it could be used in a rotary engine:

https://media.daimler.com/marsMediaS...l?oid=14316637

 

Maybe when the patents run out? Iron/carbon alloy is a fancy way of saying steel. So they spray paint steel cylinder liners on. I wonder how many miles are expected out of that? There are other treatments and coatings available. My eccy shaff and gears have isotropic finishing. Was fairly negligable price-wise in the scheme of things when i was getting my parts machined. Supposed to give several percent increase in efficiency. Not that i can tell.
Just use good oil and turn the boost up!

 

Mazda has probably been experimenting with various finishes as well... they must have made some advancements since 2011.

 

It would be interesting to see this applied to a rotor, apex seal, and housing. Might be ok if it works in a production 2.0L with 30psi of boost.

The only rumored advancement from Mazda I've heard about is a new ignition system.

I don't think there's a lot of room in Mazda's budget for rotary r&d, I imagine it's all going to SkyActiv things and the compression ignition tech.
The Renesis was an after hours project until the engineers could prove it was viable, but that was when Ford had a controlling stake.