no more rotary engines from Mazda

[Knavish]

It was such big news that it was posted on Slashdot!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/industries/mazda-to-drop-production-of-vehicles-with-trademark-rotary-engines/2011/10/07/gIQAfTy3RL_story.html

 

[punjabiplaya]

in today's news: more rotary engines from Mazda

http://www.autoblog.com/2011/10/11/mazda-tweet-confirms-next-gen-rotory-engine-with-skyactiv-tech/

 

[SithSolo1]

in today's news: more rotary engines from Mazda

http://www.autoblog.com/2011/10/11/mazda-tweet-confirms-next-gen-rotory-engine-with-skyactiv-tech/

lol I just read that too.

 

[PricklyPete]

in today's news: more rotary engines from Mazda

http://www.autoblog.com/2011/10/11/mazda-tweet-confirms-next-gen-rotory-engine-with-skyactiv-tech/

came to post this.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

i doubt the wankel's limitations will ever be overcome. maybe in specialized situations, but not widespread use in cars.

 

[Doppel]

These engines are complete trash, which is why nobody else uses them. Mazda only does because of hardcore followers and/or marketing reasons (e.g. look we won le mans, or look this is the only way you can get a rotary!). Guzzle oil, guzzle gas, have no power, aren't reliable.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

These engines are complete trash, which is why nobody else uses them. Mazda only does because of hardcore followers and/or marketing reasons (e.g. look we won le mans, or look this is the only way you can get a rotary!). Guzzle oil, guzzle gas, have no power, aren't reliable.

the power/weight and power/size are the only things wankels currently have going for them.

 

[Knavish]

It's funny ... i see comments under some of the linked articles that say, "put the wankel engine in the MS3" ... I always thought it would be cool to put the turbo 4 from the MS3 into the RX8 & sell it for a few thousand less.

 

[punjabiplaya]

It's funny ... i see comments under some of the linked articles that say, "put the wankel engine in the MS3" ... I always thought it would be cool to put the turbo 4 from the MS3 into the RX8 & sell it for a few thousand less.

yeah, I thought about that too. I love running down rx8s. They never want to race though.

 

[Alienwho]

RX8 would have been at the top of my list if it had a turbo 4 or a V6 like from the 2011+ mustang. I love the suicide doors and wish more 2 door coupe's had that.

 

[Phanuel]

Mazda should just put this engine in everything http://www.dysonracing.com/cars/engine.php

 

[The Boston Dangler]

RX8 would have been at the top of my list if it had a turbo 4 or a V6 like from the 2011+ mustang. I love the suicide doors and wish more 2 door coupe's had that.

i think it would still get creamed by a z or something

 

[Doppel]

RX8 would have been at the top of my list if it had a turbo 4 or a V6 like from the 2011+ mustang. I love the suicide doors and wish more 2 door coupe's had that.

Yep, the suicide doors on it are very nice.

 

[Zivic]

These engines are complete trash, which is why nobody else uses them. Mazda only does because of hardcore followers and/or marketing reasons (e.g. look we won le mans, or look this is the only way you can get a rotary!). Guzzle oil, guzzle gas, have no power, aren't reliable.

they use oil by design, so is that a fault? I guess it can be an inconvience. Funny watching rotary guys doing the calculation at the gas station for their premix.

They aren't all that efficient, but I have 4 banger than pulls a cool 11mpg so I think we are in the same ballpark

No power? My mechanic's kid makes over 500 whp with his FC. that was enough for him to run a 10.78 in a street car with a set of slicks

Now, I'll give you they aren't relatively reliable. But if you know what you are doing they are beyond simple to fix. I have been witness to a single person taking a non running rotory, pull the motor, rebuild and reinstall and get to a running car in a single night. sure, they might only go 80k miles and need a rebuild, but who really cares when parts will be about a grand and you can do the whole thing in 6-7 hrs?

 

[Fenixgoon]

came to post this.

first thing i thought of.

 

[amdhunter]

 

[theeedude]

Good riddence. If they released RX-8 type car with Mazdaspeed 3's engine, I would be driving it now.

 

[Arkaign]

Good riddence. If they released RX-8 type car with Mazdaspeed 3's engine, I would be driving it now.

I think this was the most common criticism of the car for sure.

 

[manimal]

I will always have a sweet spot for RX7s. The oil consumption stigma gave it the same PR weight of a diesel. For their displacement they are amazing engines that are amazingly simple and have fewer parts than a similar displacement 4 stroke.


Dollar for dollar the RX line has given great performance at a reasonable price. It is sad when a innovation tree dies with no replacement.

 

[ichy]

RX8 would have been at the top of my list if it had a turbo 4 or a V6 like from the 2011+ mustang. I love the suicide doors and wish more 2 door coupe's had that.

The RX-8 has a 1.3L engine. There's no way you could fit a turbo 4 or a V6 in there. The one real benefit of rotary engines was their great power to displacement ratio.

 

[Fenixgoon]

The RX-8 has a 1.3L engine. There's no way you could fit a turbo 4 or a V6 in there. The one real benefit of rotary engines was their great power to displacement ratio.

1.3L = engine displacement != physical size.

a 6.0L LS2 is physically smaller than many I4's.

 

[Arkaign]

The RX-8 has a 1.3L engine. There's no way you could fit a turbo 4 or a V6 in there. The one real benefit of rotary engines was their great power to displacement ratio.

Dude the 1.3L Mazda Renesis Rotary is about the same size and weight as a freaking LS V8 from GM. It's NOT a small motor in anything other than the internal displacement rating.

People even put the 2JZ-GTE in there, which is also a pretty damn large/heavy motor setup, larger even than the GM V8s.

Anyway, here's an RX8 with a GTO's LS motor swap.

http://www.chromjuwelen.com/de/network/237/54042-mazda-rx-8-with-ls1-power.html

The Rotary had barely the power of a decent 4-banger, terrible torque, terrible fuel economy, terrible reliability, and wasn't particularly small. It's interesting, but not particularly smart as a motor choice.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

I have always been intrigued by rotary technology - intuitively it "feels" like it should be a step forward from piston-based engines. Unfortunately in practice it seems to offer almost no real-world benefit, much less one that would offset its awful fuel efficiency and reliability, nor its oil usage. Thanks but no thanks.

 

[ichy]

Dude the 1.3L Mazda Renesis Rotary is about the same size and weight as a freaking LS V8 from GM. It's NOT a small motor in anything other than the internal displacement rating.

People even put the 2JZ-GTE in there, which is also a pretty damn large/heavy motor setup, larger even than the GM V8s.

Thanks for enlightening me. A few months back I made a comment to someone that they ought to just put the MazdaSpeed3 engine in an RX-8 since it has a reputation for great handling. I was told that part of the reason they went for a rotary was because of the size, but it looks like that was incorrect.