Did anybody think that maybe the 16X rotary engine can't fit into a RX-8 bay? which they may had to use a Mazda 6 as a test mule instead.
That 16X rotary engine is bigger by alot. The 16X rotary alone is double the size of a 13B rotary.

 

The 16x is only slightly bigger... and should weight less so i don't think that's the case!
The fact that makes the article incoherent is the mazda6 body part. It is a unibody chassis...

 

Uh...this pic alone tells the story that the 16X is almost double the size of a 13 B rotary . It may not be exactly double the size, but its pretty close. I am pretty sure i couldn't shoe horn in two 16X rotaries into my 13B housing. Saying that , the hosuing for the 16X plus the piping and accesories would make that engine quite larger than a 13B rotary motor, which would not fit into a RX-8. Rotaries can be put into a FWD configuration, blasphemy yes, but its doable, inturn giving us a Mazda 6 test mule.

 

The rotor dimension may be a bit bigger and the perspective misleading, however after reading this http://rotarynews.com/node/view/1050 you would notice that the block is not going to be significantly bigger

 

DD2K5 -

The footprint of the 16x is not much bigger than the 13msp. It is only slightly taller as well. They were able to change the interior volume without changing the exterior nearly as much as you think by decreasing some of the wall thickness.

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2007...opin.html#more

13B housings are 3" wide 5" tall and 3" deep

16x housings are 4" wide 6.5" tall and 2" deep

and FYI it was being used in rx-8s for testing a year ago

 

Mazda stated the housings will be thinner, allowing for a bigger rotor (1.6). The use of aluminum will also make it more thermo-efficient . The demensions will be unchanged, thus allowing for a 16x swap into the rx-8 natural.

 

I am most interested in finding out what tranny options will be available for the first model year. No clutch pedal would be a travesty. I already know I will love the motor. More bhp and torque with turbine smoothness and rotary engine note can't be bad.

 

Standard Manual/Auto Manual will be the best options. The Standard will keep it fun and cheap.

 

Thats gotta be a 6. There is no way they'll make an rx-7/8 into a full 4 door sedan like that.

 

. . . Or they snapped some photos of a Mazda 6 with some white tape on the front while they were testing headlights or something...

This article doesn't tell us anything new... anything that can be substantiated anyway. Its just fodder to keep us drooling along and discussing what is going to come next. . .

Didn't I just read another thread how the 16x was being delayed also? Granted, that could be BS too. . .

Until I see a concept (which I will then doubt if they'll put into production) at an autoshow or read something directly from Mazda with specs and a launch date. . . I'll continue to cynical.

Just release the damn car already!!!

 

READ THE ARTICLE before posting. They didn't say that is the next RX-7/9. What they SAID was that this apparently is a CHASSIS MULE, meaning it may have the skin of a production car but underneath it has something else. I'm not saying I'm hopeful again but at no point did they say that is how it's going to look like....... For some reason they were led to believe that it has a 16x in it.... RTFA.

 

al- eventually you just learn to sort of skip the posts that don't understand "mule".

i'd have been insane MORE insane years ago if i hadnt.

 

Reading is over rated, didn't you know, Charlie?

 

lmao. That's the best looking rx7 i've ever seen

 

I would like to be hopeful about this, so let us assume it's a mule. If these guys actually believed that it was the next rx-? car, then why dont they give us reason to believe it as well? Simply stating it's a test mule explains why it looks like that, but no where do they mention why we should believe it is a rotary car. If they simply mentioned some characteristic about it other than stating it as fact, it would make more sense.

 

Thanks al. Makes me nuts that people dont understand the concept.

 

Hmm, well lets use our thinking caps for a second....

-Its a 2001-2007 Mazda6 body, with funny lights.
-There is a 2009 Mazda6 that was released in 2008 (Nothing to hide there)
-There is a 2009 Mazda3 that was released in 2008 (Nothing to hide there)
-Its clearly not using any new engine for an SUV, as all Mazda SUVs use blocks from existing platforms.

The only logical explanation, considering the mule is of a car that was in development over 12 years ago, is that they was using this shell to hide something. The only thing Mazda has that is worth hiding, is a Rotary engine. The only other thing that could begin to make sense, is a Mazdaspeed 6 or 3. The only problem is, the current gen 6 & 3 has been seen by the public already, and would make 0 sense to use a 10 year only mule to hide the car.

Idk, just a thought.

 

Logic can be a very good thing... Although it appears to be the new 6 body style

 

guys, the Audi in the back is not a car casually there but a car used by Mazda tester for a purpose:benchmarking .

not a rotary IMHO ,but a restyle of 6 involving bumper (see...is different) and headlights.

Diesel engine of current EU mazda6 is not €5 compliant (and BTW..gasoline too)...they need to fix that thing....

 

That's a Mazda 6

gee whiz..............