Wheels, November 2005 Issue....

"Wheels" Magazine, Australia's top selling car mag says a new rotary engine is being developed for 2007.
The brief news item says that Mazda are developing a "WIDE" rotary engine that delivers more than 200 KW engine power and that its Not Turbo. Wheels first reported this back in 2002, and their contacts say that the rumour from Japan is very strong and it will surface in 2007.

My prediction on this info is.. Given that the 20B triple rotor (a 13B with and extra rotor) has reliability and design problems with the longer eccentric shaft, not to mention fuel and emission issues, my tip is Mazda will continue with a 2 rotor motor, but as the Wheels article say "Wide", perhaps a wider width of the 13B rotors (RX-8) of say 4-5mm each would give around 20% more power, and perhaps will be called a 15B?

Will the new power plant be offered in the RX-8 or a new model, or the
resurrection of the RX-7?
I think it will go in the 8!

PS: 'Wheels' Magazine Honoured the RX-8 with Car of the Year Award in February 2004, its competitors for the Award were....
Audi A8,BMW 5 Series,BMW Z4,Crossfire,Honda Accord Euro, Jaguar XJ, Lexus RX330, Nissan 350Z, Nissan Maxima (G35?),Renault Megane,Smart Roadster, Subaru Liberty, Subaru Outback, Toyota Kluger, Toyota Prius II,VW Touareg, Volvo XC90 and a Holden (GM) AWD.
What a memorable year for brand new models in Australia, the RX-8 won with 'Wheels' calling it Bold and Brilliant.

 

Sounds like the rumored 1.5L, and sounds very good . 3 years would be the perfect time for a revamp of the 8 too.

 

10 mm wider. that would put it just under 1.5 litre i think. close enough. would coincide with road and track saying " no major changes until late in 2006"

 

200kw = ? HP. anyone know the conversion?

 

The big test is how nervous Mazda Japan gets in the face of rising oil prices

 

~268 HP

http://www.onlineconversion.com/

 

272hp

 

it's about 270 hp.

 

oooo, I see someone used metric and someone used international HP. I averaged the two since I didnt know which the SAE uses :p :D

 

haha, 3 different #s. No sense overrating it before it comes out eh? :D

 

To convert kW to SAE net hp, divide the kW value by 0.7457, ie, 268 SAE net hp

 

3 years would be the perfect time for a revamp of my driveway, too.

 

actual power output is claimed output (268h.p.) - (30h.p.) for an actual h.p. of around 238... lol i knew that h.p. number would hold true eventually

 

It should come out as 200 kw and then later retracts as 190 kw plus free service or buyback option :D

I hope Mazda doesn't make the same mistake three times.

Seriously though, this should be good news for all of us regardless what power it comes out to. Just the fact Mazda is giving us some rotary love is enough.

 

this could be cool my only concern would be that the combustion chamber shape might make the flame front issues worse by being larger, thus worse fuel economy. I would actually like a 1.5L 3 rotor, with smaller chambers which would be more efficient I would think. Maybe with direct injection and some sort of hybrid combo, we can have the best of both worlds. Mazda is not stupid, but the next go around is going to have to be a super efficient engine.

 

I would think the bigger issue that flame front instability (which is a dynamic, and fixable problem) would be increased rotor weight, which must go up at least linearly with chamber size. More weight, more interia, more chance to have the rotor and the housing occupy the same space at the same time.

 

Can't Mazda just come out with a hybrid 8? That would bump up the torque and in my eyes that is what we all want. 200whp 200tq.........I'm happy with that

 

One word...WEIGHT!!!!

 

how much more would it weigh?

 

I think I could give up a little weight for more torque and better fuel economy. Honda's Hybrid system in the Accord is pretty small and I think it would be a great fit in the 8.

 

Taking the Toyota Prius against the Corolla, on which it is largely based...another 170-200Kg

Taking the Honda Civic hybrid against the sedan on which it is based...another 100-120Kg.

How does your 8 feel with a full load, ie, 4-up adults on board? That's an approximation of the impact of adding the weight of hybrid technology.

 

The accord hybrid is 3600 lbs. Non hybrid 3300 lbs. So I figure add 300 lbs. I think that would ruin the 8's balence. More applicable would be the escape weight hybrid/nonhybrid. (Remember the accord hybrid has TONS of aluminum bits to hold down weight. Expect more like a 500lbs addition to our car, but that is my guess and not based on any numbers.)

DAMMIT TIMBO BEAT ME TO THE PUNCH!!

 

But the entire hybrid section of the Accord is between the engine and the firewall, so the balance would not be affected at all. And if it added 30 or so to torque and 10-15 hp while increasing gas mileage, the 300lbs is not so much IMO.

 

300 lbs is huge, dude. Think about that. Put two full grown men in your car and then add 15 hp. You are working with a net LOSS in hp/weight.

 

Accord is fwd; 8 is very specifically constructed as rwd so it'd be hard to expect you could fit the stuff where it might be best from a balance point of view. However, IMHO, this is all academic; if fuel economy floats your boat, best not to think about a rotary...or any car with similar performance, for that matter ...based on current technology