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Well rotary engines are less thermally efficient than piston engines however they are much more volumetrically efficient. Mazda chose the rotary because of it's compact size so whether you compare it to a 2.6 or whatever, the fact remains that it's a small engine relative to the amount of power it makes. The engine being smaller with less moving parts allows you to have a low center of gravity and low polar moment of inertia. The boxer engine is quite small and they've done a pretty good job with weight distribution and center of gravity, but I still believe the RX8 as a whole package is more rewarding to drive. How many cars under $50k can you think of that seat 4, have a low center of gravity, and are double-wishbone on all 4 wheels? (well multi-link rear, but still)
I get the feeling subaru/toyota benchmarked the Porsche because they couldn't benchmark the RX8 which would've been the more logical choice since the engine is in the front unlike the Porsche. Had they chosen to go with double-wishbones up front I don't think they would've been able to hit their price target nor fit their engine inside.
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