Word comes through this morning that the last of Mazda’s Renesis rotary engines, the heart of the RX-8 sportscar, has just rolled down the production line. Will the RX-8 be the last ever mass-produced rotary powered car?
Takashi Yamanouchi, Mazda’s president hasn’t given rotary fans much hope. “Production of the RX-8 will end, but the rotary engine will live on as an important part of Mazda’s spirit,” he said.
Although, Mazda did add an extra 1000 RX-8s to final production to cater to rotary devotees. Mazda dealer, Kenichi Tsunoda, shared this story: “One of the buyers who rushed in was a gentleman in his 60s who had just retired, and finally made the decision to purchase the car with his dream engine. The rotary lovers are truly car fans.”
Mazda’s use of rotary power reached a high point in 1991 when their 787B won the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Although, the merits of that win have been the subject of discussion here on AUSmotive recently.
For all of the good aspects of rotary engines, fuel consumption has been an achilles heel. Indeed, the RX-8 failed to meet Euro 5 emissions standards, introduced in 2010, which essentially made ongoing production no longer viable.
Commenting on the RX-8, Masato Sase, from Deloitte Tohmatsu Consulting Co, said: “Fuel emission standards can mean the life or death to some products. It makes no economic sense to build cars using a certain technology, and if there isn’t ample demand for that, it’s difficult for them to survive.”
As such Mazda will now concentrate its efforts on its fuel effcient SkyActiv technology. This will include a return to Le Mans as a supplier of diesel engines in the LMP2 category from 2013.
We wish them well.
[Source: Automotive News]
6 replies on “Rotary closed line”
Hopefully they can incorporate SKYActiv into a next-gen rotary powered vehicle, otherwise it’ll be a sad loss to the motoring community.
Long live Rotary!
The FD RX-7 is still such an advanced chassis and still races today. The REW sequential turbocharged rotary engine has its flaws too but the power is amazing from such a compact and light weight unit.
Thank you Allan Moffat for engaging me as a youngster with your peripheral ported RX-7 running amok in the Australian Touring Car Championship.
Long live the RE!
How about oil consumption? My neighbour bought an RX8 brand new years ago and after a few weeks of driving the oil light came on on the dash. WTF? Went back to the dealer and they failed to mention to him that it normal and to check the oil every week. On a brand new latest technology car, are you kidding me? He kept it for a year then flogged it off. No wonder their resale has dropped into the sink and every little P platter and his dog can afford them and driving them around. Just insane for a brand new motor vehicle to not only drink fuel like it does but drink motor oil too. Don’t forget in terms of CC these engines are tiny. I can understand why Mazda has basically given up on the rotary engine. Seriously if they were a real viable option (remember it’s a German invention) the German car manufacturers would have adopted these engines a long time ago. Yes they rev, but so do the latest piston engines too. Norton tried a rotary in a motorcycle too (still think it races around) but really even they are banging their heads against a brick wall too. Quirky and nice, but just not viable.
The next Le Mans entry from Mazda will be a diesel powerplant, pretty embarrassing for the rotary fanbois when their beloved engines are shoved aside for an oil burner!
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