2012 Mazda RX-9 ???

[fernan2]

new details emerge

http://www.worldcarfans.com/11011042...details-emerge

[DantKR]

Don't they come out with this rumor every year?

[Matador]

Yep, right after the Supra rumors get stale.

[RRnold]

With a drawing like that, they better hurry up if they want to meet that 2012 deadline!

[RWDJunkie]

That sketch doesn't really move me. As is, with the lack of a rear end, and the longer front... it looks like a beefed-up, rwd, Mazda CR-Z.

Electric super charger sounds... interesting though.

[2jz-gte4life]

i like this concept better

[OldSkoolToys]

1250KG


300hp


W/ a lightweight Wankel sitting nearly center on the chassis?


Oh wait, more news to up hope only to be crushed. I'm numb to it all after waiting for a new Supra for 12 years.

[Giccin]

http://autos.yahoo.com/news/the-futu...rs.html?page=2

I know it isn't "highly" credited source but.. news is still news and this forum has been rather slow for the past couple months.

Unlike the outgoing RX-8, with its complicated rear-door setup, the RX-9 will be a coupe. This means it will be more of an RX-7 for the 21st century, but with a twist. That twist will reportedly be in the form of hybrid technology Mazda will borrow from Toyota, thanks in part to an agreement the automakers signed last year. Apparently Mazda will only use Toyota's hybrid drive unit, with the main power coming from the Mazda-built rotary. The hybrid unit will reportedly be used primarily as a power booster and range extender. Our confidant tells us there is no point in doing with a rotary what a current gasoline engine can do, hence the move to a hybrid-assisted setup.

So there will be an RX-9.. and it will be a hybrid?!

[WingsofWar]

ARTICLE POSTED - FEBRUARY 29, 2012
Rotary 16x Direct Injection Renesis

Despite plans to stop production of the RX-8 sports coupe in June and no commitment from management to replace it with another Wankel-powered car, Mazda may be on the verge of a major rotary breakthrough.

Mitsuo Hitomi, general manager-powertrain development, says the auto maker soon will complete development of an all-new rotary engine that meets future fuel-economy and emissions standards.

While Hitomi won’t confirm a completion date, his disclosure is evidence the rotary is alive and well at Mazda and that a new car powered by the engine could be on the way.

“We think we’ve found a way to improve the rotary’s fuel economy to be truly equal to that of conventional piston engines and, if so, we believe we can reintroduce the rotary to the market,” he tells WardsAuto in an interview.

Hitomi declines to pinpoint when that might happen, but suggests the timeframe roughly would be equivalent to any other engine plugged into one of Mazda’s vehicle programs. Best guess is two years, once the application has been determined.

Fuel economy and emissions were improved in the developmental engine “first, by changing the shape of the troichoid housing,” the Mazda executive says.

“The rotary has many seals, and ‘sealability,’ particularly at the apex, or tip, of the rotor has been a longstanding problem” dating back to the mid-1960s and the Cosmo Sport, Mazda’s first rotary car.

“Even with our current 1.3L Renesisrotary, gaps can develop between the apex seal and troichoid housing in light-load operation when imbalances in centrifugal force and gas pressure occur,” he says.

Specifically, centrifugal force pushes the seal onto the housing surface. In low engine-rpm ranges, or under low-load conditions, gas pressure in the combustion chamber can cause the seal to lift off the surface, resulting in combustion gas leaking into the next chamber.

By changing the shape of the troichoid housing, the seals remain flush to the housing, Hitomi says. “In addition to reducing emissions, better sealing improves fuel economy and overall performance.”

A second engineering enhancement focuses on ignition.

“I can’t specify how we plan to address this problem,” the Mazda engineer says, “but the rotary’s spark plug is in a recessed position (below the housing surface), compared to that of a piston engine.

“This causes ignitability problems and increases fuel consumption. We’ve found a way to make dramatic improvements,” he says.

In June, AutoCar reported Mazda would introduce a laser-injection system to replace conventional sparkplugs.

Hitomi counters popular perception that a rotary engine’s fuel economy is inherently poor.

“In the past, Mazda engineers made a conscious decision to focus on the rotary’s weaker points – low torque, for instance,” he says. “This led to adopting a complicated and large variable-intake system, as an example.

“Moving forward, we plan to put greater emphasis on the rotary’s strong points – low vibration, compact size and high power output. And in this way, we can improve fuel economy.”

One result of that: Mazda will simplify the intake system, which in turn will reduce engine size.

Hitomi believes the new engine eventually will be adopted for extended-range electric vehicles like the Chevrolet Volt. He doesn’t say so, but that could mean a future RX-8, RX-9 or even an RX-7 EREV.

Mazda isn’t alone in looking at EREV applications for rotary engines, which are drawing interest from others, including engineering experts AVL, for their compact size and light weight.

The new Mazda engine will not necessarily be the 16-X prototype displayed at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show, which reportedly was targeted at 1.6L in displacement and would generate 350 hp.

Mazda’s Skyactiv fuel-efficiency technology could be applied to the new rotary, as well.

“I think that whatever engine we introduce – conventional gasoline and diesel or rotary – the technology is applicable,” Hitomi says.

At a press briefing in December, Hirotaka Kanazawa, senior managing executive officer in charge of Mazda’s technical operations, openly discussed three Skyactiv engine series: the gasoline Skyactiv-G now on the market, diesel Skyactiv-D and rotary Skyactiv-R.

Since 1967, when Mazda introduced Cosmo Sport, the auto maker has sold nearly 2 million rotary vehicles. In the engine’s 1970s heyday, four out of five Mazdas sold in the U.S. had rotaries.

SOURCE: http://wardsauto.com/vehicles-amp-te...otary-new-life

[OrbitalEllipses]

I'll believe it when I see it.

[Dark]

I really hope Mazda will bring the more refined rotary to the table.

[Sparkplug]

Originally Posted by OrbitalEllipses

I'll believe it when I see it.

Same. After years of waiting, I don't think Mazda has it in them anymore.

[tranzformer]

Originally Posted by OrbitalEllipses

I'll believe it when I see it.

But if it does come true.....

[Mitch]

Be still my heart. And here I had thought wankles were all but extinct. Here's to hoping that by the time Mazda finishes development of this new engine, the next round of emissions standards haven't killed it in the womb.