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Feann Torr31 May 2016
NEWS

Mazda rotary coupe not before 2020

It's a question of when not if Mazda will produce its long-awaited 'RX-9' – and return to Le Mans

Mazda's next-generation rotary engine, dubbed SKYACTIV-R, and the vehicle it will power – a sports coupe inspired by last year's RX Vision concept – is highly unlikely to arrive before 2020.

Chief among the reasons for the drawn-out development program for what's widely expected to be called the RX-9 are emissions targets, which need to take into account strict new CO2 mandates in Europe and North America – its largest potential market – next decade.

Yasuhiro Aoyama, the Executive Officer of Global Sales and Marketing at Mazda Motor Corporation, told motoring.com.au the company's famous rotary engine will live again, but that its commercial release are a considerable way off.

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He said the rotary engine was a crucial part of Mazda's history and what he calls the company's "challenging spirit", the ability of a relatively small company – with around two per cent global market share – to defy accepted norms.

Despite their relatively small capacity of just 1.3 litres, Mazda's mainstream rotary engines were notoriously thirsty, as any RX-7 or RX-8 owner will tell you.

As such, one of the biggest problems in developing a new rotary engine – the last of which was seen in the RX-8 in 2012 – is ensuring it meets emissions regulations when it launches, which motoring.com.au sources insist won't be before the end of this decade.

"Mazda will not give up the development of the rotary engine for the future, but not without any kind of confidence for fuel economy, performance or profitability, so we can properly market it," said Aoyama-san, one of Mazda's most senior executives.

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The SKYACTIV-R rotary engine will make use of a number of CO2-lowering tricks as it seeks to attain Euro 6 emissions compliance, something the RX-8 was not capable of.

As we've previously reported, both turbocharging and electrification are under investigation for the new rotary, which must also follow Mazda's ethos of creating light-weight, fun-to-drive vehicles.

The rotary engine is unique in the automotive world, its triangular 'rotors' replacing traditional pistons and enabling it to spin faster and generate more power from a smaller engine displacement.

Although Audi also owns the rights to the 'Wankel' engine and most recently employed it as a small engine-generator in an A3 e-tron plug-in hybrid prototype, Mazda remains the only company with plans to incorporate it as a primary powertrain.

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So if Mazda's rotary program dies, it's possible the iconic Wankel engine will never been seen in production again.

However, another top Mazda executive told motoring.com.au he was excited about the potential of a new-generation rotary sports car, and if anyone is an expert on rotaries it's Nobuhiro Yamamoto.

He worked on rotary engine development for the second-generation RX-7 and also the 1991 Le Mans 24 Hour-winning 787 race car – the only Japanese car and the only rotary-powered car to win the world's most prestigious sports car race.

Currently Mazda's Program Manager, Product Division, overseeing the latest MX-5 roadster and RF, Yamamoto-san said working on the Le Mans-winning race car in 1989 was a "highlight" of his career, but remained cagey about new road-going rotary products.

"I cannot tell you anymore than that -- the RX Vision concept reveal -- but of course we're always hoping someday we can get such a model into production, and I really want people to have expectations on such a vehicle one day," he said.

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Clearly, there's a strong desire within Mazda to keep the rotary dream alive and Aoyama-san hinted that the recent upgrades to its Hiroshima 'mother plant' to build the MX-5 and MX-5 RF will not be the last.

"We can develop a very emotional connection with our customers, so MX-5 can give us [momentum] not only for the commercial side, but also it's really important for image," he said.

"So that's why we continue to develop or enhance our plant. Our challenging spirit, that's our core competency, I believe, so I won't give up development of the rotary for the future."

Yamamoto made it clear it was also a matter of when — not if — Mazda would return to the scene of its greatest motorsport success.

"Of course, we always dream about some day coming back to Le Mans, but in order to go back we have to have good business base and we have to add profit as a company. We'd first ensure that and keep having the dream of going back."

Mazda is widely expected to reveal more concept versions of its born-again rotary coupe in the lead-up to its production release in 2020 – the car-maker's centenary year – before it celebrates the 30th anniversary of its Le Mans win in 2021.

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