New RX on the way....

Crap, that is a pretty cool looking car. I wonder what type of engine will power it?

As a side note, is this new information or just the car they showed a year back?
 
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dougal said:
Crap, that is a pretty cool looking car. I wonder what type of engine will power it?

As a side note, is this new information or just the car they showed a year back?
Click to expand...
I believe it will be a hybrid. Since it won't need to be practical. The Toyota/Mazda partnership seems to be in play.
New CHR handles well, sporty hybrid form of CHR is next. Since the Miata is very cheap to operate- the new RX being efficient is a bonus. Probably slots in the 40k-60k range. Anything higher and mazda would really need some serious power under the hood.
 
I'll believe it when I see it. They tease us every couple years, tryna get us rotor heads excited.
Remember the Furai?

EDIT: "RX" means rotary. If it comes to market it'll have a rotary engine in it. Possibly the 16X...And IF it ever materializes, I imagine it will be a halo type car, competing with the GTR, LFA, and NSX, and cost upward of 60k.
 
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Kaps said:
I believe it will be a hybrid. Since it won't need to be practical. The Toyota/Mazda partnership seems to be in play.
New CHR handles well, sporty hybrid form of CHR is next. Since the Miata is very cheap to operate- the new RX being efficient is a bonus. Probably slots in the 40k-60k range. Anything higher and mazda would really need some serious power under the hood.
Click to expand...

Rotary engines actually make for excellent electric range extenders - more compact than typical pistons and efficient because they only need to work at one speed. Though some feel this would be kind of a cop out.
 
craigo said:
Rotary engines actually make for excellent electric range extenders - more compact than typical pistons and efficient because they only need to work at one speed. Though some feel this would be kind of a cop out.
Click to expand...

I believe AUDI used a ROTARY engine range extender...2010 for a few experiments...

Mazda just filed a patent for their rotary range extender...
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1109760_mazdas-electric-car-gets-patents-for-rotary-range-extender-engine

The rotary-hybrid solution sounds like a better idea for the rotary purists. Imagine the gobs of instant torque at 0 RPM from the electric motor, coupled with an electrically pre-spun turbochargers feeding the 16x rotary as it kicks in. With the rotary no longer needed to provide low rpm torque, the engine can then be tuned for a more efficient rpm range.
 
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I'm still holding out hope but I think the days of the Rotary being the primary power source for cars are over.
IF we see a new RE, it'll be as a hybrid setup
 
Kaps said:
I believe it will be a hybrid. Since it won't need to be practical. The Toyota/Mazda partnership seems to be in play.
New CHR handles well, sporty hybrid form of CHR is next. Since the Miata is very cheap to operate- the new RX being efficient is a bonus. Probably slots in the 40k-60k range. Anything higher and mazda would really need some serious power under the hood.
Click to expand...

The new Supra will be powered by a BMW engine.

I say just drop Toyota's v6 into the new RX, make it light, apply some insane styling, add Rotary shaped exhaust tips LOL and call it a day. Lexus RC's cousin.
 
CX-5um said:
The new Supra will be powered by a BMW engine.

I say just drop Toyota's v6 into the new RX, make it light, apply some insane styling, add Rotary shaped exhaust tips LOL and call it a day. Lexus RC's cousin.
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At that point, it can no longer be called a RX model. RX cars always have a rotary engine in it. Mazda won't do that as they do not want to risk losing their rotary fanbase.
 
Natey said:
Yeah, but the new Supra will also be a BMW Z4 with a different body. No thanks on platforms with multiple cars from different manufacturers.

Behold the 75,000 dollar Chevy Volt.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZidmj1VaFw&t=
Click to expand...

finch204 said:
At that point, it can no longer be called a RX model. RX cars always have a rotary engine in it. Mazda won't do that as they do not want to risk losing their rotary fanbase.
Click to expand...

Yeah I know, I was being sarcastic with the RX with no rotary. That said no one wants to assume risks/costs so platform sharing is a necessary evil :(
 
Neat halo car and all but I wish they'd just build a proper Miata coupe like Porsche does with the Boxster/Cayman.

Make it +/- $30k with the Miata's more simple mechanicals, economies of platform sharing etc and I'd have an efficient, reliable and fun, possible midlife crisis car.
 
finch204 said:
...do not want to risk losing their rotary fanbase.
Click to expand...

You've got to be kidding right? The "rotary fanbase" is virtually non-existent.

Mazda sells more CX-5's in 2 months now than the RX's sold in a whole year when the RX was most popular. I seriously doubt they are worried about a tiny fanbase like that who hasn't seen a production RX they could buy since 2011. It took them years to sell off the existing inventory back then.

Halo cars are great and all, but Mazda just doesn't have the resources to gamble (and lose) yet again on rotary as a single powerplant IMHO, Skyactiv-R press and patents notwithstanding.

Just last year the CEO said (for the umpteenth time) that they have no plans for rotary apart from a possible range extender application. That statement came after the patents and press for Skyactiv-R.

As for the RX label, Mazda had no trouble dumping the crazy-successful Miata name, so I doubt they'd care about dropping a turbo-4 in a new RX. The concept is beautiful and people just want the performance. Few folks care what's under the hood so long as they get their zoom-zoom on.
 
Thaumaturge said:
You've got to be kidding right? The "rotary fanbase" is virtually non-existent.

Mazda sells more CX-5's in 2 months now than the RX's sold in a whole year when the RX was most popular. I seriously doubt they are worried about a tiny fanbase like that who hasn't seen a production RX they could buy since 2011. It took them years to sell off the existing inventory back then.

Halo cars are great and all, but Mazda just doesn't have the resources to gamble (and lose) yet again on rotary as a single powerplant IMHO, Skyactiv-R press and patents notwithstanding.

Just last year the CEO said (for the umpteenth time) that they have no plans for rotary apart from a possible range extender application. That statement came after the patents and press for Skyactiv-R.

As for the RX label, Mazda had no trouble dumping the crazy-successful Miata name, so I doubt they'd care about dropping a turbo-4 in a new RX. The concept is beautiful and people just want the performance. Few folks care what's under the hood so long as they get their zoom-zoom on.
Click to expand...
No sir I am not kidding. It's been mentioned in past articles years ago that the reason Mazda is still working on the Rotary engine is because they want to keep the loyal rotary fanbase. The fanbase might be a tiny population, but Mazda has never been a volume seller anyway. Not to mention, the Rotary engine is part of Mazdas DNA.

Have a look at the articles below and tell me the rotary fanbase is "virtually non-existent". First link is 7s Day coverage in Japan. Second link is rotary revival event in Australia. Both happened this year, 2017.
http://www.speedhunters.com/2017/07/rotary-overload-7s-day-daikoku-parking-area/
http://www.speedhunters.com/2017/05/sydney-rotary-revival-4/

I for one would welcome a new RX model if they can make it more suited to daily driving with decent fuel economy.
 
finch204 said:
I for one would welcome a new RX model if they can make it more suited to daily driving with decent fuel economy.
Click to expand...

Ok, so you're not kidding. Hmmm

There are way bigger meets like the ones you linked to for any number of discontinued cars. ~250 cars attending (45 on the track) for a car that was available for decades is just sad.

Die-hard modders and enthusiasts do not equal a market as the people in the links you give are not even close to being prospective new sports car buyers. Bolt-on wings? Really? If you were running Mazda, that would make you invest over $1B to bring out a new car model that would likely never sell more than 1000 units a month? Sorry, there's just no ROI and the brand is sporty enough without it.

Daily driving with a rotary engine is a risky proposition at best. Inherent efficiency problems (pathetically low mileage), inherent reliability problems, inherent power issues, horrible emissions (burns oil by design), teaching people not to flood it.... on and on. Even Mazda abandoned this tech for daily drivers back in the 70's.

With modern emissions and CAFE requirements, the rotary engine is DOA as a primary powerplant.
 
Thaumaturge said:
If you were running Mazda, that would make you invest over $1B to bring out a new car model that would likely never sell more than 1000 units a month? Sorry, there's just no ROI and the brand is sporty enough without it.
Click to expand...


Exactly. Development costs for a new vehicle can run into over 1 billion, but yet were supposed to believe Mazda will invest this type of money into the RX considering how big of a flop the last one was?

This article sums it up well:

http://www.motortrend.com/news/mazda-still-wants-a-rotary-engine-but-profits-come-first/
 
Thaumaturge said:
⋯ Daily driving with a rotary engine is a risky proposition at best. Inherent efficiency problems (pathetically low mileage), inherent reliability problems, inherent power issues, horrible emissions (burns oil by design), teaching people not to flood it.... on and on. Even Mazda abandoned this tech for daily drivers back in the 70's.

With modern emissions and CAFE requirements, the rotary engine is DOA as a primary powerplant.
Click to expand...
Ha you just hit the nail on the head about the rotary engine! There're too many deficiencies to overcome on rotary engine to be competitive as a modern internal combustion engine in the current era!
 
Thaumaturge said:
If you were running Mazda, that would make you invest over $1B to bring out a new car model that would likely never sell more than 1000 units a month? Sorry, there's just no ROI and the brand is sporty enough without it.
Click to expand...


This is basically what Mazda did with the Miata. I think they sell maybe 2500 per month all over the world?

Personally, I don't think there is a huge market for sports cars. Cars like the Mustang and Camaro get most of their sales via the rental market. I think the 300z is more reflective of the market.
 
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