New Mazda RX Vision concept

[ZDan]

Originally Posted by strat61caster

Like the RX-8, it would be silly to not base a rotary coupe off the ND's chassis.

Therefore, the "base" vehicle already exists, and it's getting a Fiat subsidy.

Honestly I wouldn't mind an RX-5, just an ND with a Wankel

In the past I've thought that a higher-performance Miata/MX-5 should have been available, and in the days of the rotary that would have been a decent plan. Today, I think that Mazda should produce a higher-performance-than-Miata fixed-roof sports car, but to base its existence on the viability of it being a rotary is misguided.

*IF* they were to make a viable rotary engine, IMO it should be OPTIONAL on both the MX-5 and a new -7/Vision.

I like the rotary, but the *inherent* problems and the fact that you can get equivalent power/weight and power/size from a compact piston engine make it unnecessary at best. I also like turbine engines too, but there are reasons why it doesn't make a lot of sense for a volume production car. Rotary for the sake of rotary is dumb. The Vision deserves to make it to production, and a compact V-4 would offer all of the size/power advantages of a rotary without the inherent fuel-efficiency and reliability issues.

IMHO!

[Irace86.2.0]

Originally Posted by ZDan

I like the rotary, but the *inherent* problems and the fact that you can get equivalent power/weight and power/size from a compact piston engine make it unnecessary at best. I also like turbine engines too, but there are reasons why it doesn't make a lot of sense for a volume production car. Rotary for the sake of rotary is dumb. The Vision deserves to make it to production, and a compact V-4 would offer all of the size/power advantages of a rotary without the inherent fuel-efficiency and reliability issues.

IMHO!

I think rotary for the sake of rotary is awesome. The low production numbers for this car means rotary enthusiasts would be the owners, and they could manage the car fine. Seems like sports cars drive brand enthusiasm more than profits.

[gymratter]

The Mazda RX-9, if it ever happens, could arrive on the market with doors very similar to those used throughout the Aston Martin range.

In patents filed to the US Patent & Trademark Office, Mazda has designed swan wing doors which open out and pivot up by 15 degrees. By comparison, Aston Martin’s doors tilt up by 12 degrees.

Although the doors aren’t revolutionary, they would add a point of difference to a new RX-badged Mazda if the vehicle is ever given the thumbs up for production.

Rumors of a Mazda RX-9 have been swirling for over three years but the automaker has yet to confirm or totally deny the prospect of a new rotary-powered sports car. Instead, Mazda has kept up the hope of its fans by saying work is being done on a new rotary engine and that it could be on the cusp of returning.

Will all of these rumors prove true or false? It’s difficult to say at this stage but there is certainly hope within Mazda that the RX-9 could see the light of day.

[vh_supra26]

New Mazda RX concept car set for Tokyo Motor Show as Mazda confirms intention to bring the rotary engined sports car to life

Mazda’s RX Vision concept car is gaining momentum on its road to production and will influence the look of other cars as the brand prepares to unveil a new concept car at the Tokyo Motor Show in October.

It’s almost two years since Mazda first revealed the RX Vision, which gave us our best indication yet that a new rotary-powered Mazda sports car was in the pipeline. Since then it has gone a bit quiet, as Mazda bosses have been trying to piece together a business case for the car.

However, a conversation with Mazda’s Vice President for R&D in Europe, Matsuhiro Tanaka, at the recent Frankfurt Motor Show shows things are back on track. “With the Tokyo Motor Show we will be introducing a new design concept - you can think of it as an evolution of theme of the RX Vision.

“When we introduce a concept our intention from the engineering and design community is to make it a reality,” Tanaka told Auto Express. “What I will say is that we are making the utmost efforts to try and make this a possibility.”

Asked if Mazda would consider forming another alliance, like it did with Fiat on the MX-5, to help reduce costs, Tanaka said: “Currently we have absolutely no plans to make any such alliances.”

It’s understood that Mazda wishes go it alone with the RX Vision because of how precious the brand feels over the Rotary engine technology currently under development.

New Mazda RX rotary engine: hybrid or non-hybrid?

The Mazda rotary-engined sports car is expected to arrive with a pure combustion engine instead of relying on electrification. The Japanese manufacturer showed its RX-Vision concept sports car at its Los Angeles Auto Show in 2016 - and a production version is thought to be earmarked to coincide with Mazda's centenary celebrations in 2020.

Speaking at the LA show, the firm’s head of R&D Kiyoshi Fujiwara admitted that several challenges remained before the long-awaited successor to the RX-7 and RX-8 could be given the green light and acknowledged that a rotary engine development team was still active.

“It is a small group of engineers still working, but they are still working,” Fujiwara told Auto Express, before revealing that there are “more than 10 staff and fewer than one hundred” committed to rotary development. “The things standing in the way are both the business case and the technical challenges - but I am optimistic that a solution for the technical challenges can be found.

“We have had significant challenges as a business even five years ago and there are debts from the past 30 or 40 years that need to be overcome, but if cars like the new CX-5 are successful then a production version of the RX-Vision could be a possibility. So you can see that CX-5 is extremely important.”

When asked if one of the potential solutions on rotary tech could be electrification, Fujiwara said, “All of our other internal combustion engines will have to have some form of electrification at some point - mild hybrid or 48-volt electrics” he said. “So yes, that type of technology could be in rotary engines in the future.”

“However, I believe I would like to introduce the new rotary engine without electrification,” he said, “because I think that is what the rotary engine fans will want.”

One other potential product strategy could be for the production RX-Vision to arrive in 2020 with a new generation of rotary engine, and then for a higher-performance version to overcome the technology’s inherit torque deficit by using 48V-based electric turbochargers.

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/mazda/9...still-on-track

[guybo]

Another big problem with rotary engines is that they will kill Mazda's CAFE standards avg fuel economy. Why would they want to produce an engine with 100 year old technology that gets horrible gas mileage and terrible efficiency? They are going in the right direction with the new SkyActiveX HCCI design- that's the engine of the future, not some inefficient ancient crappy unreliable wanker engine.

[Cole]

Originally Posted by guybo

Another big problem with rotary engines is that they will kill Mazda's CAFE standards avg fuel economy. Why would they want to produce an engine with 100 year old technology that gets horrible gas mileage and terrible efficiency? They are going in the right direction with the new SkyActiveX HCCI design- that's the engine of the future, not some inefficient ancient crappy unreliable wanker engine.

Why does any car still use a design that's over 100 years old for their engines?

Electric motors are the future, not some internal combustion engine with a ton of moving parts.

[krayzie]

Originally Posted by Cole

Why does any car still use a design that's over 100 years old for their engines?

Electric motors are the future, not some internal combustion engine with a ton of moving parts.

The AC motor was invented in the 1800s and cars on the road were in fact electric powered over 100 years ago tho.

Then there's the conspiracy of whether The Ford Motor Company was owned by Standard Oil.

http://jalopnik.com/why-electric-car...ago-1771719651

http://jalopnik.com/5564999/the-fail...-thomas-edison

http://jalopnik.com/5870808/how-a-ne...ic-car-in-1900

http://www.reformation.org/who-killed-electric-car.html

[HKz]

Originally Posted by guybo

Another big problem with rotary engines is that they will kill Mazda's CAFE standards avg fuel economy. Why would they want to produce an engine with 100 year old technology that gets horrible gas mileage and terrible efficiency? They are going in the right direction with the new SkyActiveX HCCI design- that's the engine of the future, not some inefficient ancient crappy unreliable wanker engine.

eh, their new gen engines and partnering with toyota for their hybrid/electric tech will be more than enough to sustain a high cafe standard so im not sure if that is a concern.


with all the rumors and hype, it certainly sounds like mazda will have at least one more rotary project.

[WolfpackS2k]

Originally Posted by guybo

Another big problem with rotary engines is that they will kill Mazda's CAFE standards avg fuel economy.

You might want to do some research on how manufacturer CAFE standards are calculated. A low volume sports car built by Mazda would have little to no measurable effect on their CAFE fleet average.

[mazeroni]

Unless Mazda starts posting $billion dollar profits each quarter (they are at around $100million right now), or Toyota wants to hand over the Supra platform, I'm not going to join the hype train for an RX anything.

At this point, the SkyActiveX technology is much more interesting to me. I don't know why we would want to innovate the rotary when Mazda can obviously be more successful focusing on conventional engine tech.

How about a 300 hp Miata with a turbo SkyactiveX engine that also gets 40 mpg? Maybe start there and see how that goes.

[WolfpackS2k]

^Maybe because the SkyActiveX engines are low revving boring lumps of engines?

Also if Mazda could scale up the Miata platform for use as a new RX7, a new sports car would definitely be possible given their current financial status.

[gymratter]

Originally Posted by WolfpackS2k

^Maybe because the SkyActiveX engines are low revving boring lumps of engines?

Also if Mazda could scale up the Miata platform for use as a new RX7, a new sports car would definitely be possible given their current financial status.

yup, almost like what Toyota did with the Celica Supra.

[vh_supra26]

[guybo]

SkyActiveX is Mazda's new (still unreleased) HCCI tech. Revolutionary tech- anything but boring.