Mazda celebrates fifty years of the rotary engine
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If its not a rotor, it’s not a motor, or so the telling goes.
While Mazda’s rotary has gone the way of the Dodo thanks to modern day fuel efficiency regulations, it still has a global cult following fifty years on from its very first application.
Ditching conventional cylinders that pump up and down or side to side, the rotary was a drum form that used an unconventional triangle shaped piston that spun.
The rotary powered cars were widely loved by tuners, as it was effortless to port which would increase power significantly and also create the iconic rotary brap-brap sound.
Mazda’s rotary icons were also widely used in motorsport with the RX-7 often seen screaming around Climb on Panorama.
Here are some of the highlights of Mazda’s use of the rotary engine.
The Cosmo Sport 110S was ground zero for Mazda’s future affinity for the high-revving rotary engine.
Launching in 1967, the Cosmo became a cult classic thanks to its – at the time – unique high-revving engine that spun up to a heady 7000rpm, which was far more than other petite four-cylinder sports cars could muster.
Its 982cc twin-rotor engine produced only 82kW – not bad for a car weighing under 1000kg – and drove the rear wheels through a four-speed manual transmission.
The Cosmo also sported eye-catching looks with inspiration for the sportscar taken from the Jaguar E-Type and fabled Pinanfarina-styled Ferraris of the time.
The Japanese brand’s 1970s coupe was the little brother to the thicker Mazda RX-2 weighing in at less than one tonne.
Its classic 1970s coupe styling with its big taillights and blocky front styling gave it a muscular presence on the road.
And while all rotary engines spun at an insane rate to produce its power and minimal torque across the band the rotary was joy to drive.
Mazda desired a competitor in the mid-size segment during the 1970s, and remarkably they went to Holden to source the HJ Premier and spank in a rotary engine, creating a weird mash-up..
Unluckily for Mazda, the HJ Premier weighed in excess of 1500kg, and even tho’ it was fitted with the thicker 13B engine that produced 100kW and 138Nm, its relative lack of torque made it a fairly ponderous proposition. It was also rumoured to drink up to 26L/100km.
And while the HJ was a well received car in Australia, the same can’t be said of the Roadpacer which sold only eight hundred units.
The successor to the RX-3 the Mazda RX-7 might be one of the most recognisable rotary powered Mazdas of all time.
A two door coupe that oozed classic late ’70s and 1980s style thanks to its pop-up headlights and slender long bonnet.
The classic of the bunch was the very first generation that was split into three different series built inbetween one thousand nine hundred seventy eight and 1985.
It gave motorsport an almighty crack with it rivaling in touring car races around the global, most famously piloted by Allan Moffat in Australia to win the one thousand nine hundred eighty three Australian Touring Car Championship.
As a sign of its growing classic status a latest example of the Mazda RX-7 Series one sold at auction for $55,000.
The RX-7 SP was a high-performance version built in Australia specifically for racing in the GT productiion car series and was considered the best RX-7 ever built.
It got a carbon fibre nose, large rear spoiler and a big 120-litre fuel tank when it competed at the one thousand nine hundred ninety five Eastern Creek 12-hour stamina race with John Bowe and Dick Johnson striking the Porsche nine hundred eleven RS CS.
It had a big power upgrade than the regular version, with the rotary engine producing an extraordinaire 204kW and 357Nm.
The Mazda 787B was the very first and only Japanese car to have won the Le boy’s 24-hour stamina race.
Mazda entered two 787Bs in the one thousand nine hundred ninety one Le Stud’s race along with an seven hundred eighty seven from the year before as part of its Mazdaspeed team.
All three cars finished the race, which is a feat unto itself, placing very first, sixth and eighth defeating cars from larger more established manufacturers like Porsche and Jaguar and future giants of motor racing like Michael Schumacher.
The Mazda RX-8 was primed to cash in on the memory of the vaunted RX-7, but in most cases it failed to do so.
Its unconventional styling left previous RX-7 owners wanting, and the rotary was commencing to feel dated without a turbocharger to give it more power and increase fuel efficiency.
Unluckily as well, the auto version was detuned from 177kW in manual guise to a rather paltry141kW. Potential buyers wished more from a $50,000-plus sports car in the noughties.
But the RX-8 did have something going for it, despite its lack of power and off-putting styling, it was a hoot to drive in the same vein as other lightweight sporty-ish cars like the MX-5 and Toyota 86.
A frankenstein monster where Mad Mike Whiddett, a kiwi tuner, has grafted the front of a RX-3 onto a RX-7.
Mad Mike, a drifting legend, has fitted Madbul with a 26B quad rotor engine that has been tuned with a peripheral port to produce a hectic 400kW.
Ok, so Mazda may have been clutching at straws here, but it did have plans to build a hydrogen powered RX-8 to help bring its rotary engine into the 21st century and managed to actually produce a limited number.
But unlike modern day conventional fuel cell vehicles, the Mazda RX-8 Hydrogen RE was searing hydrogen to power its rotary engine. It was also able to be run on petrol, too.
And its spectacle was gravely compromised when on hydrogen, producing only 80kW and 140NM compared to 154klW and 222Nm when running on petrol. It also only had a range of 100km when using hydrogen.
Now, since the demises of the RX-8, rotary fans have been asking for the comeback of the engine, and Mazda at times has been more than blessed to oblige with a few teasers and leading quotes.
The most latest example is the Mazda RX-9 which was previewed by the Mazda RX-Vision concept from 2015.
Mazda has admitted that the rotary engine is suited to a spectacle car of the future but that there are a few hurdles to clear before it can be commercialised in the current climate – namely turbocharging to make it more fuel efficient.
Kiyoshi Fujiwara, head of Mazda research and development, is a fan of the engine and wants to bring it back.
“Turbocharging is one possibility for our petite rotary engines, but I cannot say at this moment because it is still under development, which system is better,” said Fujiwara when he spoke to drive in 2016.
“All of the engineers, all of the designers love rotary, love sports car but [not] some of the calculators…” he added.