Mazda RX-9 could ditch rotary engine
Born-again Mazda performance flagship may deploy 300kW-plus inline turbo six to take on Toyota SupraThe future of Mazda's rotary engine could be in doubt if the latest report from the USA holds water.
Auto website Jalopnik has cited a source close to the Japanese car-maker purporting that Mazda's next hero car, widely expected to be the RX-9, will be powered by the brand’s new turbocharged inline six-cylinder petrol engine.
Mazda has confirmed it is developing a pair of SKYACTIV inline turbo-sixes — both petrol and diesel – to power a new ‘Large Architecture’ in a longitudinal configuration, accompanied by all-wheel drive, mild-hybrid and plug-in hybrid technologies.
The new report suggests the mooted Mazda RX-9's turbo six will bang out up 450hp (about 335kW), which would make it more than a match for the new Toyota Supra.
If this scenario plays out, it would mean the only rotary offered by Mazda may be a tiny range-extender for its upcoming MX-30 electric car.
Designed by German engineer Felix Wankel in the early 1960s, the iconic rotary engine has propelled Mazda RX sports cars for generations and was expected to power a born-again flagship performance car from Mazda, which celebrates its centenary in 2020.
The first Mazda rotary was the Cosmo in 1965 and vehicles such as the RX-2, RX-3 and RX-7 followed, but the Japanese brand’s last rotary sports car was the 2012 Mazda RX-8, whose 1.3-litre engine pumped out 170kW/211Nm and was good for 6.2-second 0-100km/h sprint.
Despite revealing the Mazda RX-Vision concept (pictured) in 2015, in mid-2019 the state of play for the rotary engine was still fluid with nothing officially confirmed.
“For the rotary engine, of course we continue to research and study. But when it comes to the mass production timing, we still haven’t decided yet,” Mazda’s powertrain development boss Eiji Nakai said last year.
Rotary engine development is exceedingly costly and Mazda will want to make use of its new inline six-cylinder engines in as many models as possible.
The latter is likely to power the next-generation Mazda CX-9 and could also appear in an all-new large SUV that has been referred to as the CX-X.
It will be manufactured at the brand's new $2 billion plant in the USA as part of a joint venture with Toyota, but it's feasible that Mazda’s new electrified inline turbo-six powertrain could also power a new Mazda sports car, in which case it wouldn’t be called an RX.
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