More than a decade has passed since one of the great icons of sports cars left us and, why not say it, one of the most special cars that have been marketed this century, the Mazda RX-8. Mazda can boast of a career that has been closely linked to one of the most ingenious, desired and interesting internal combustion engines that could have been used in a car, the rotary engine.
And as we can already anticipate, the rotary engine is also called to play an important role in the future of Mazda. But not as we knew it until now.
Let’s forget about ultra-compact rotary engines turning well beyond 8,000 rpm to enjoy a good sports car. The future that Mazda has envisioned for its rotary engine is quite different, but no less interesting.
The rotary engine returns in 2023, was it worth the wait?
Although it was an open secret, Mazda confirmed just a few days ago the return of the rotary engine in 2023.
The most appreciated quality of these engines has undoubtedly been their ability to achieve great performance and great power with a compact size, as well as a very high maximum revs, highly desirable qualities in a sports car. On the other hand, rotary engines have also been subject to not a few drawbacks, related to lubrication and exhaust gas temperatures that, ultimately, result in high consumption and emissions that, without a doubt, were the consequence of their disappearance. in the automobile market.
But its high performance at constant revs, its compact size and its smoothness – Mazda would have managed to significantly attenuate its vibrations and its noise – would have made it the rotary motor is the perfect solution to use it as a range extender or, in other words, as an electric generator to recharge the batteries of an electric car and ensure that you can travel more kilometers without having to stop to recharge them.
Is it worth waiting for 2023?
From this medium we do not hide that Mazda is one of our favorite brands, for enjoying some of the best internal combustion engines and products with a very high perceived quality for its price. But we are also honest in acknowledging that, At the moment, there are not too many arguments to consider Mazda when buying an electric car. First, because its range of pure electrics is reduced to a Mazda MX-30 with a very fair autonomy (200 kilometers according to WLTP) and a high price for the possibilities that autonomy offers.
Today, we would recommend other electric vehicles available on the market that offer more range, better features, and/or a more affordable price than the Mazda MX-30. But that is precisely one of the keys for which we do believe that it is worth waiting for next year, which will be when Mazda recovers the rotary engine to extend the autonomy of the MX-30.
And it is that a Mazda MX-30 equipped with a rotary engine could be positioned as one of the most interesting options on the marketand a product halfway between plug-in hybrids and pure electric with greater autonomy.
Mazda has not yet anticipated the technical characteristics of its rotary engine, nor the Mazda MX-30 that will use it to extend its autonomy, or its price. But with 200 kilometers of electric autonomy, the Mazda MX-30 could more than satisfy the needs of its owners on a day-to-day basis, who could use it on all their journeys without consuming fuel. And the rotary range extender would achieve something that is currently not feasible, increase range enough, while consuming fuel, to be able to tackle long-distance trips without having to stop to refuel.
