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Mazda RX-9 Rotary Coupe Rumored to Arrive in 2020

What started with the Mazda Cosmo Sport of the ‘60s, hit the peak with with the 787B racecar and ended with the RX-8 may be making a comeback. According to an Australian automotive publication, Mazda is working on an all-new model powered by a rotary engine and underpinned by a RWD platform inspired by the backbone of the FWD Mazda6.
Mazda rotary engine 1 photo
Wait, what? Exactly! The rumor mill is a never-ending soap opera in the world of cars and overzealous enthusiasts. The Wankel-licious Mazda heritage makes no exception to that general rule, but what Motoring is reporting is far from being the scoop us rotaryheads were expecting to hear from Mazda headquarters.

So get this - the publication’s unnamed insider tells that the purported Mazda RX-9 rotary coupe “would sit on a heavily reinforced version of the Mazda6’s platform, but calibrated for rear-wheel drive.” While the MX-5 Miata (ND) is employing a rear-wheel drive platform, it’s too small for a large two-door coupe like the purported RX-9. Furthermore, adapting the 6’s FWD and AWD platform to rear-wheel drive is, in terms of engineering and financial efforts, like trying to eat soup with chopsticks.

There’s another problem we must point out. The RX-8’s 13B Renesis engine was powerful enough and revved like crazy, but the lack of torque and excessive oil binging makes it far from complying with Mazda’s outgoing SkyActing greenness. They will need an all-new Wankel engine if the RX-9 does come to fruition, probably the much-rumored Mazda 16X mill. When? In 2017 as a concept vehicle that celebrates 50 years since the rotary-engined 1967 Mazda Cosmo Sport debuted.

Three years after, the Aussie motoring outfit speculates that Mazda will launch the RX-9 to celebrate 100 years since the Japanese manufacturer was founded. On an ending note, it doesn’t come as a surprise that rotary coupes are Mazda’s second priority after the MX-5. We foresee a future where a new rotary Mazda will happen, but the publication’s report appears to inflate the subject with Hearst-style yellow journalism.
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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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