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Mazda Confirms Skyactiv-R Rotary Engine for Future Sportscar, Says Schedule Isn't Fixed

Only seven hours separate us from the official debut of Mazda's mystery concept with subtle retro hints. However, the veil of secrecy is already lifting, as it's been revealed that the Tokyo Motor Show bombshell has a rotary engine under its hood.
New rotary engine under development 1 photo
Photo: Mazda
This is the news millions of Mazda fans from across the world have been waiting for. However, this silver cloud has a black lining, as the serious technical difficulties faced by engine developers mean that the project cannot be rushed.

Speaking to Autocar magazine, Mazda's CEO Masamichi Kogai has said the concept we'll see tomorrow has classic coupe proportions and a 2-seater configuration, unlike the RX-8, which was a 2+2 model.

Also speaking to the publication, the company's head of research and development Kiyoshi Fujiwara hinted that this could be the most difficult project undertaken in recent years. The rotary engine poses a number of technical difficulties that need addressing even before the market case gets put together. However, this unique cylinder configuration is viewed as being synonymous with the Mazda brand.

Frankly, we're not in the least bit surprised by the fact that this still undisclosed concept is powered by a Wankel. When Mazda announced its lineup for the Tokyo Motor Show, a classic 1967 Mazda Cosmo Sport 110S was included for no good reason other than it being awesome.

It would be nice to have a new RX-8 by the time we celebrate the Cosmo's 50th birthday. However, Mazda bosses don't want to stress out their engineers and have them pulling a Dieselgate.

"Initial targets for rotary were set higher than gasoline. I said before it would be difficult for mass production, and this encouraged our engineers to work harder to achieve these targets. I believe one day our engineers can overcome those challenges and meet targets. &D are working very hard - the targets are strict, rotary engines have lots of issues, and we need to solve each of them. It's not just emissions, it's performance as well, and making it easy to maintain. A rotary engine is a difficult engine to solve all these problems," Kogai said.

So Kogai wants to hear a "we love it, please, please make it" first and then think about doing the marketing work or giving the engineers a bigger budget.
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About the author: Mihnea Radu
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Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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