A Rotary Engine For The 2020s Could End The Scene As We Know It

When we thought rotary engines had gone forever, it was easy to almost deify Mazda's divisive but much-loved RX-7 and RX-8, but now that the technology could realistically return in a very different way, the waters could be muddied
A Rotary Engine For The 2020s Could End The Scene As We Know It

Earlier this week we reported that Mazda might, after all, deliver a rotary-engined car again at some point in the not-too-distant future. It’s the latest in a long line of on-off developments that give us different ideas about the future of rotary power from one week to the next.

It’s been frustrating to keep reading inconclusive comments when all we want is a straight answer. The latest comments made by Mazda’s own Zoom Zoom magazine, implying that rotary tech has a future that meshes with the demands of the current age of technology and lowering emissions, hasn’t really helped.

The real problem isn’t that we don’t know whether it’s happening. The bigger issue, and the one that bothers me most of all, is what if Mazda really is working on rotary power, but in a way that’s totally different to the RX-7 and RX-8? Like a CVT-linked range-extender hybrid, or a hydrogen-sucking silence-fest. The only thing worse than never regaining something close to your heart is getting it back and finding it changed beyond all recognition.

Will rotary make its comeback in cars more like this...?
Will rotary make its comeback in cars more like this...?

We know the mythical ‘RX-9’ isn’t happening under any circumstances. The car derived from the RX-Vision concept is not viable, and that’s that. The idea of a nice, efficient, hybrid drivetrain using rotary technology’s advantages to cut weight and boost efficiency, though… that’s not going away. The question I really want to ask is whether all those people who’d give a kidney just to see a new RX warrior hero get built would be a little bit crushed when a rotary engine returned as a mild-mannered eco-warrior.

They say you should never meet your heroes. Most of us who have a big ol’ soft spot for the RX-7 or RX-8 have never owned one, if we’ve driven one at all. A new, rotary-derived drivetrain that achieved fresh heights of efficiency but that completely turned its back on those old dreams of brap-brap-brap drama might be even worse than not having a rotary at all.

This is the closest we'll get to an RX-9
This is the closest we'll get to an RX-9

At the end of the day it’s just a car, and at this stage it’s just a non-existent car. With your sensible hat on, there’s no doubt that it shouldn’t make any difference to anyone. But we car guys and girls are romantics at heart. We fall in love with the character and personalities we see in cars. We put our favourite models on pedestals in our minds and we grieve if those pedestals are ever torn down.

It might be likelier than some of us would want to admit that if we do see rotary again, it won’t be something to drool over or turn the volume up for. For some people it might be better to just remember it as it was rather than confront a cold new reality that sends those old pedestals tumbling.

Perhaps this as-yet fictional future engine we’re imagining might win millions of new fans across the world with its lightweight design, innovative approach and seamless function. But, then again, maybe it would just begin to overwrite all the old glory. Maybe it would signal the beginning of the end of rotary fandom as we know it. It’s a risk Mazda would have to take.

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Comments

The Prius Tumor

Why does no one want a car powered by witchcraft?

05/29/2017 - 16:13 |
8 | 0
Freddie Skeates

Why is hydrogen fuel quieter than organic fuel? Anyone know?

05/29/2017 - 16:16 |
122 | 2

There’s no explosions inside the motor like an ICE

05/29/2017 - 16:36 |
8 | 4

Hydrogen cells are working totally different than combustion engines. A hydrogen cell is a Galvanic cell, working by loosely the same basic principle as batteries do, except they require a continous source of fuel to maintain the chemical reaction. A hydrogen cell merely provides electric power and the car itself moves through the power of an electric motor.

05/29/2017 - 16:54 |
68 | 2
Quack

Mazda, please, make it happen

05/29/2017 - 16:18 |
0 | 0
Anonymous

All I have to say is, I don’t care anymore. I don’t care about the future of rotary anymore. I don’t want to read about more Matt’s (both of them) blogposts about the future of rotary. If there’s anything, rotary has no real future, at least with car enthusiasts, and that’s it. Attention editors of Car Throttle, please don’t break the news of the next Wankel car. I’d rather not hear anything about rotary altogether. I just want to buy a stock FD on eBay and clear my mind from the news of what Mazda is planning.

05/29/2017 - 16:37 |
6 | 4
Itsuki

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

They know it’ll get a lot of clicks, even if they don’t believe it themselves. It has to happen otherwise the website will loose funding, so let them write stuff like this

05/29/2017 - 16:51 |
10 | 0
David 27

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

if you don’t care, why did you read Matts posts?

05/29/2017 - 20:22 |
0 | 2
Ali Mahfooz

We’re getting back the rotary! That’s what matters the most!!

05/29/2017 - 16:41 |
60 | 4

[DELETED]

05/29/2017 - 16:41 |
2 | 2
Anonymous

One of the reasons that rotary powered sports cars were more expensive and less reliable was because they built so few that the technology wasn’t as well test as the IC engine. If Mazda builds a million hybrid rotary 6’s and CX-whatever’s, then they would get better at making the technology and it would be more viable to make an RX-9 or other sports car. The period in between may be a bit painful, but I say the ends justify the means

05/29/2017 - 16:54 |
48 | 0
Anonymous

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

The same happened with reciprocating engines in the 70s and early 80s, now look at the effeciency between pre-oil crisis and current engines when fitted to the same car

05/29/2017 - 17:12 |
16 | 0
Anonymous

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

My 8 was extremely reliable

05/31/2017 - 06:12 |
0 | 0
Anonymous

I’ll be happy on two conditions.

  1. A manual option
  2. The ability to have it idle while stationary
05/29/2017 - 17:10 |
36 | 0
Anonymous

It seems that Mazda has had a revolution.

I’m so sorry

05/29/2017 - 17:43 |
24 | 0
Anonymous

We should stay satisfied with the fact that we are getting rotary back.

05/29/2017 - 18:17 |
4 | 0
Mehdi Behira

It’s just a car?!
IT’S JUST A CAR?!?!
Get out.

05/29/2017 - 18:59 |
64 | 2