Rotary Powered Mazda RX9 To Return To Showrooms In 2020

Ever since Mazda unveiled the RX-Vision Concept at the Tokyo Motor Show in 2016, hope for Mazda to pull through and mass-produce the vehicle has been very much alive.

But various reports suggested that the Japanese car maker had better things to do than to put the study into production, like developing a rotary engine that could actually power an RX successor and comply with the various emission standards.

Mazda even admitted in the past that they have a dedicated engineering team, working on the rotary engine for the past eight years, looking for a breakthrough. So, it’s not a matter of if the rotary-powered Mazda RX will return, but a matter of when that will happen.

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quizz - 8/25/2016 2:22:04 PM

+3 Boost

This is not 1996 - as "amazing" as rotary engines were, the killer failures are (1) bad MPG, (2) oil burner, (3) expensive repairs (more so than their naturally aspirated high performance counterparts from Honda/Subaru).

MDarringer - 8/25/2016 6:55:34 PM

0 Boost

The rotary is for fanboys. It will also probably have a stupid price.

Mazda should do:

RX7 with the rotary nicely equipped for $35K
MX7 with a 2.5T for $40K

valhallakey - 8/25/2016 11:29:51 PM

+2 Boost

At those prices they would have to sell a zillion to recoup the development costs. That rotary sound on some of the touring race cars though....spectacular! The last RX7 was pretty darn slick...still had the rotary downsides though.

MDarringer - 8/26/2016 12:29:15 AM

+1 Boost

@valhallakey NOT if they kept it simple and basic and left off all the wannabe hypercar, hybrid, carbon fiber, free-range bull crap that the Nissan GTR, Acura NSX, and the coming Toyota Sagaris (sic) wallow in.

They can build it from off-the-shelf components from their "parent" company's parts bin.

It doesn't take rocket science to realize that a new RX9 would likely be a Toyota Sagaris rebodied.

Gambit - 8/29/2016 2:31:19 PM

+1 Boost

First of all, this article is a load of crap. It's all heresay and rumors with no real information from Mazda.

As one who owned an RX-8 for 6 years I know this:

Yes, it burns oil. I had to put in one quart once between each oil change. Hardly cause for alarm.

I put 100k miles on it over that time, and other than routine stuff (brakes, tires, oil changes, fluids, spark plugs) there were no "expensive repairs". A properly maintained engine will be fine.

A 400hp will have to have a crap-ton of boost, to the point of unreliability - but I already said the info in this article is BS. Realistic stats would be 300-325hp, 2500ish lbs.

Rotary fans will not pay 80k for this car. 30-40 max.

that said if they make a car that looks like that, weighs 2500 pounds, has around 300hp, and costs 35k, I'm in. No one buys a sports car caring about the gas mileage it gets.