Revived Mazda RX-8 To Have 455HP Turbocharged Rotary Motor

Will be a great competitor to the Corvette if priced right. And whatever Supra replacement Toyota thinks up, and Nissan Z successor, etc. IF they bother to keep them fast and not overpriced.

The next RX-whatever should be a "Miata" coupe aimed at the BRZ in size and price and the turbo rotary should be Mustang GT/370Z aimed. If the post is accurate, the next RX8 is not set for zoom zoom, but doom doom.

Well, Mazda fixed one of the problems with the RX-8 by giving it a turbo and having it produce some power.

Mazda still needs to make sure this new engine does not drink oil as fast as the RX-8 and gets decent gas mileage.

I'm sure Mazda will make sure it handles and steers beautifully.

I agree w Matt. A coupe based on the Miata platform with enough oomph and balance to challenge a base Cayman is what's needed. Over 400 HP means it'll be too expensive and will have very low volumes

Mazda could have owned the market and success that the 240z enjoyed if they had added two words to their sales brochure. The words are ENGINE OPTION. The unreliable oil drinking boat anchor rotary engine scares many of us too death which is the only reason I never owned a Mazda. I can guarantee I would have owned at least one of every generation including the RX8 if I could have bought it with an optional piston engine. I have driven everyone of them and loved the cars because they all drove great compared with the cars they competed with at the time. I just couldn't bring myself to put up with those torqueless gas hog unreliable crap engines that cannot be fixed. People have been trying since Dr Wankel first invented the loser engine but the problems are inherent to the design. Same goes today. If they offer anything besides the rotary I would buy one. Otherwise, I'll pass. It's a shame because they never realized what they could have been. Mazda is a tiny company and struggles to find the resources to develop new products and I blame much of their lack of success and money problems on their stubborn loyalty to the rotary engine. They just refuse to give up on that loser in spite of the lack of pubic acceptance. Not that they didn't sell a bunch of them but they would have sold three times as many had they offered and engine option that more people would trust.

Agreed, the problems of oil consumption, mileage, and weak torque are inherent to the rotary engine. However, the rotary engine is inherent to Mazda. It is as much a part of Mazda's heritage and brand fabric as safety is to Volvo, as rear engines are to Porsche, as dull is to Toyota. I applaud Mazda for not giving up on that heritage and continuing to refine the rotary.

Agreed. Piston engine option. Considering the relationship with Ford make mine a Coyote motor. Although I currently own a 94 Mazda RX-7 is has an LS3. These cars have found new life with engine swaps. There might be as many 93-95 US spec RX-7's running around on piston power as rotary power these days. LS swaps are very popular for obvious reasons. Mine even corner balanced out 50/50. Its a win, win.
There is a website dedicated to these swaps called Norotors dot com.