Mazda will bring back the Rotary Engine with Turbocharging

Back in the early 1960s, Mazda signed a licensing agreement with NSU, a small German company building a single rotor rotary engine. The reason for looking at this oddball technology was somewhat of a self-preservation move. The Japanese Government was looking at ways of strengthening its domestic auto industry and was looking at merging companies to make a stronger entity. Mazda wanted to remain independent and so the search for a reason began. The rotary engine proved to be the reason.

Kuala Lumpur: After revealing the gorgeous RX-Vision concept in Tokyo, Mazda finally gave some information on the anticipated return of the rotary engine. Code-named 16X, the new engine is being developed by a dedicated team of 50 engineers for the past eight years.

Mazda is looking for a breakthrough in the design of the iconic rotary engine in order to bring it back to production and so far, the 16X unit hasn’t reached the performance targets set by the company. This came straight from Mazda’s boss Masamichi Kogai who spoke to reporters last Tuesday.

"50 years ago we took on the challenge of the rotary engine and were successful in mass-producing and commercializing it. It hasn’t been an easy path; we’ve had our share of setbacks and challenges and are no longer producing rotary engine vehicles. However, one day the rotary will make a comeback,” said Masamichi Kogai, Mazda President and CEO.

The reason why Mazda hasn’t announced a date for the return of the rotary engined sports car is simply because the company is not keeping a traditional timetable, as officials are reluctant to put more pressure on their engineers to solve the main issues of the rotary technology, like the worse fuel efficiency, the higher emissions and the overall reliability problems when compared with the traditional piston-driven engines.

Read Also: Tokyo Motor Show: Mazda RX- Vision showcased New Rotary Engined Concept

With speculation that Mazda may launch two new rotary-powered models, a new RX-7 in 2017 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Cosmo Sport, Mazda's first rotary-powered car, and an RX-9 in 2020 to celebrate Tokyo’s hosting of the Olympic games, perhaps we’ll see a turbocharged SkyActiv-R in a new RX-7 sports car and an electrified SkyActiv-R in a high-performance RX-9 flagship.

So, the rotary engine will return in the future. It’s not a matter of if but when, so cross your fingers for those 50 engineers to achieve their goal if you want to see the RX-Vision actually making it into production.

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