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The new Mazda rotary is shipping! And it is, as-expected, a CUV turd!
The only bright spot is it uses half the 16X engine, so technically the "rotary is still alive".
But 4700 RPM and 74 HP in a wrong-wheel-drive, boring idiot-mobile ain't quite what we were promised...
I have been waiting since 2015 saving my money for when this car eventually releases. The RX9 will come, it is part of Mazda's DNA. In the meantime lets support the company in anyway we can; I always recommend Mazda to my friends.
I have been waiting since 2015 saving my money for when this car eventually releases. The RX9 will come, it is part of Mazda's DNA. In the meantime lets support the company in anyway we can; I always recommend Mazda to my friends.
You're going to be sitting on a big pile of money.
Didn't I read recently that they stopped production on the MX-30? Like, before any of the rotary extended ones hit production? At least for the American market...
"Mazda, the automaker with the longest and richest history of using the Wankel rotary engine announced on June 22, 2023 that it resumed mass production of rotary engines for a new variant of the MX-30 compact crossover. "
Didn't I read recently that they stopped production on the MX-30? Like, before any of the rotary extended ones hit production? At least for the American market...
Yup, it's dead. Just about a month after all the hoopla.
Clearly they stopped it because we didn't believe hard enough! Oh, no, wait, it was because it was a bad idea.
I disagree with a caveat. As a short range electric only, yeah. Super limited market, not going anywhere in the US.
With a range extender though, you've got exactly what people need during the technological transition we're currently going through. 100 miles of range is PLENTY for the vast majority of people, and the range extender makes up for the charging infrastructure as it gets to where it needs to be over the next... however many years. It's a good size; as big as necessary to meet your typical use case and no bigger. The RX-8 style door setup is also incredibly practical. If I was in the market for a runabout type car (and could stomach a cute ute or any other non-actual utility ute), it's exactly the sort of thing that would be at the top of my list, rotary or not.
But yeah, the first linked article is fun and exciting, but the second one is a month newer, and sorta kills the first. It sounds like it's only dead for the US market though, and ROW still gets them, so there's still hope for the 8X(/16x?). Might even come back in something else. A lot of advantages to such a compact range extender. ICE isn't dead yet, and many manufacturers are getting in their final ICE hurrah. Mazda hasn't really stepped up yet, and I hope we see something exciting soon, before the door fully closes.
I've also thought this for many years. Having an electric first vehicle with a gasoline range extender seems like the perfect solution to the very long transition to come.
No, its not dead. Read the last sentence of the second to last graph of the R/T article.
"The MX-30 will live on in overseas markets with that rotary engine and a smaller battery equipped."
All this shows is the stupidity of trying to sell a pure EV with a 100 mile range, in LA and SF, of all places. This was an obvious failure from the start. Has nothing to do with rotary power, or the feasibility of same. I wish Mazda allocated capital more wisely.
The rotary is back in production, as the SAE article states. With a (scalable) whole cloth redesign, not a cost cutting patch job. We should be rejoicing, not despairing.
Last edited by kevink0000; 08-18-2023 at 12:10 PM.
You are better off melting those down and sell them as copper. It costs the government more to mint one than they are worth in the form of fiat currency.
Oh and you guys are still waiting for the RX sports car?
the RX9 vision concept was just announced as the 33 Stradale from Alfa Romeo. See more
Umm, Yeah thanks guys I told you this would fail (MX-30 RE) as it is NOT a Rotary Engined Mazda, it was ALWAYS a Generator...an expensive Generator.
To Add an all NEW Design Single Rotary Generator (with a small gas tank) becomes an expensive folly, so the MX-30 with a small Battery was ALWAYS
going to be expensive, then add in a Rotary Generator just adds another $9,000 USD to the price (Guess as this RE addition was never a free add on!).
And YES I will say this again Mazda bosses ARE STUPID, why the hell do they think this was a GOOD Idea from the Start.
Why do you think it was ONLY sold in California, well because the Green Lefties there are the only ones with money who would
waste their cash like this.
ALL this Hybrid CAR BS is just Bullshit, expensive BS.
It is either a Battery Plug In or a Gas Engine only (ICE)., EVERY other combination is just an Expensive EXTRA cost $$$s which you never recoup the benefit from.
I also said Mazda needed a V6 Engine of its own as the Rotary is environmentally DEAD, ALL here said No a 6 cylinder engine car was not needed, well what else do they use for Power, Turbo 4's ? Mazda has been there and done that.
So then Mazda announces that a 6 cylinder engine of their own design (a new straight 6) YES! and WOO Hoo! Very Good, just 8 years too bloody late, but it is finally here and a great engine.
So that brings us to the beautiful RX-VISION Concept.
The RX will never happen, so why don't you do this Vision with this new 6 Cylinder Engine?,,,Yes ?...NO ?
Lets take another 10 years to think about it, you see this is the problem with this Brand now, FORD Fucked it and their recovery from them has
taken way too long (yeah I know Covid happened), no Mazda CEO is prepared to take that gamble, like a 6 Cylinder Sports Coupe.
You have the Japanese who control EVERYTHING in USA and Europe and just nod their head to local State Managers and still do nothing, it is sad.
To Add an all NEW Design Single Rotary Generator (with a small gas tank) becomes an expensive folly, so the MX-30 with a small Battery was ALWAYS
going to be expensive, then add in a Rotary Generator just adds another $9,000 USD to the price (Guess as this RE addition was never a free add on!).
I thought the idea was small battery + range extender for similar price to large battery electric only ?
Fairly certain the BEV(battery electric vehicle) craze is going to die out. Just look at what the majority of people buy now adays, Trucks and SUVs. The recent ford sales stats prove that nobody cares or really wants EVs. The small population that was rich enough and could cry loud enough already own Teslas and are happy thinking that they are saving the world. Sadly Mazda hopped on the hype/fear bandwagon and focused on the EV route instead of releasing the Rx9 before restrictions heightened.
Still have not seen convincing CO2 studies done on the full emissions comparisons at actual commuting speeds. I'd think this would be a simple calculator to setup which could base on the current US power grid (or wherever). A year or so ago I did the CO2 calculations for the US power grid and the best Teslas CO2 were basically matching a 30mpg average ICE car emissions. My friends all had a huge argument over this and we literally sat down and ran the numbers for different commuting speeds. Marketing can make people silly and the vast majority will fall for it. Sadly it takes too much effort, brainpower, and time for most people's attention span to disprove the marketing schemes.
Costly Hybrids are coming from the notion that EVs tend to be better in the 0-50mph range, where ICE start becoming more efficient above ~50mph. Maybe more efforts will be made towards stronger EV gear boxes for efficiency at higher speeds, or they will just limit the torque outputs on motors with weaker gearing. EVs right now are only efficient and only work in short range city driving due to charging times (cities are pollution hotspots). ICE cars are perfect for long distance highway driving and refueling. Hybrid is the only way to meet the emissions standards while meeting actual consumer demands for a competent vehicle. BEVs are dumb, nobody wants to turn a 3-4 hour trip into 8+ hour trip due to charging. That being said going hybrid you are essentially doubling down on the initial cost emissions and $$$ wise, so is it really better for the environment? Spending the bonus 10-30k$ upfront to make a hybrid/BEV to save ~1k$ in gas per year is also silly considering most people only keep their cars for 8 years.
Considering sports cars are such a small portion of sales and usually used less mileage wise, it would be nice if there could be exceptions or looser restrictions for % sales. I am sure the 20k miles I have driven in my Rx8 over the past 10 years barely compares to an EV initial emissions build cost.
Minc - I just copied your last post to my stepdad. We’ve had several conversations about whether he should buy an EV. You stated the argument well. I suppose it helps that I agree with your perspective.
Oh bonus, one of the guys in the Assetto corsa community has released an Rx-Vision model. So I threw an Rx8 in there to compare body lines. I believe that he pulled the specs like wheelbase from the mazda/granturismo press release: Link
Umm, Yeah thanks guys I told you this would fail (MX-30 RE) as it is NOT a Rotary Engined Mazda, it was ALWAYS a Generator...an expensive Generator.
To Add an all NEW Design Single Rotary Generator (with a small gas tank) becomes an expensive folly, so the MX-30 with a small Battery was ALWAYS
going to be expensive, then add in a Rotary Generator just adds another $9,000 USD to the price (Guess as this RE addition was never a free add on!).
And YES I will say this again Mazda bosses ARE STUPID, why the hell do they think this was a GOOD Idea from the Start.
Why do you think it was ONLY sold in California, well because the Green Lefties there are the only ones with money who would
waste their cash like this.
ALL this Hybrid CAR BS is just Bullshit, expensive BS.
It is either a Battery Plug In or a Gas Engine only (ICE)., EVERY other combination is just an Expensive EXTRA cost $$$s which you never recoup the benefit from.
I also said Mazda needed a V6 Engine of its own as the Rotary is environmentally DEAD, ALL here said No a 6 cylinder engine car was not needed, well what else do they use for Power, Turbo 4's ? Mazda has been there and done that.
So then Mazda announces that a 6 cylinder engine of their own design (a new straight 6) YES! and WOO Hoo! Very Good, just 8 years too bloody late, but it is finally here and a great engine.
So that brings us to the beautiful RX-VISION Concept.
The RX will never happen, so why don't you do this Vision with this new 6 Cylinder Engine?,,,Yes ?...NO ?
Lets take another 10 years to think about it, you see this is the problem with this Brand now, FORD Fucked it and their recovery from them has
taken way too long (yeah I know Covid happened), no Mazda CEO is prepared to take that gamble, like a 6 Cylinder Sports Coupe.
You have the Japanese who control EVERYTHING in USA and Europe and just nod their head to local State Managers and still do nothing, it is sad.
YOU GUYS KNOW I LOVE THIS BRAND, But!
I think a non-plug-in hybrid has its worth if you live in the city and gas prices are high. Yes the battery will need replacement down the line, but if you know what you are doing, the battery will still live a long life. Our Prius taxis prove the point.
Plug-in hybrids' environmental benefits will heavily depend on the fact that you can actually plug it in. Supposedly, they emit more if they are not plugged in because of their battery dead weight.
MX-30 was more of an emission requirement thing. I suppose it is a distraction while they offer something more competitive.
Funnily enough, there is a BEV version of the CX-30 in China, and it actually has an okay range. No idea why they aren't offering it anywhere else.
07-10-2023 | 04:16 PM
And it is, as-expected, a CUV turd! 
saving my money for when this car eventually releases. The RX9 will come, it is part of Mazda's DNA. In the meantime lets support the company in anyway we can; I always recommend Mazda to my friends.
