revival of the rotary engine
mazdaMazda Europe, Mazda’s European subsidiary, will present the “MX-30“We will unveil the range extender to the world for the first time.
A range extender is a type of EV (electric vehicle) equipped with an engine or other prime mover dedicated to a generator to extend cruising range.
In Mazda’s case, the engine to be installed is a rotary engine.
Approximately 190,000 Mazda rotary engine vehicles were sold from 2003 to 2012.RX-8” in the end, so far there is a gap for about 11 years.
Why has Mazda revived the rotary engine at this time?
Looking back, the history of the Mazda rotary engine has been full of twists and turns…
Mazda’s rotary engine began in the 1960s with a technical partnership with NSU and Wankel of Germany. “Cosmo Sports” appeared in 1967, six years after the technical partnership.
From the 1970s to the 1990s, Mazda continued to develop its rotary engine.
However, while the entire automotive industry grapples with exhaust regulations, Mazda is the only company in the world that mass-produces rotary engines for mass-produced vehicles.
The next termRX-7“It doesn’t come true…
Under these circumstances, it was only after the mid-1990s that Mazda faced a crisis of Rotary’s survival.
With the end of production of the “RX-7”, the concept model exhibited at the 1995 Tokyo Motor Show was the “RX-01”, which was an image of the later RX-7.
However, Mazda at that timefordUnder his umbrella, the project was forced to scale significantly due to management streamlining.
Despite this, Mazda officials insisted that the revolving fire should not be put out and negotiated doggedly with Mazda’s senior management. As a result, mass-produced vehicles have two doors like “RX-7”sports carInstead, it will be changed to a 4-door, 4-seater, and development will take GO.
The “RX-EVOLV” exhibited at the 1999 Tokyo Motor Show appeared as a concept model. This leads to the “RX-8” displayed at the 2001 North American International Auto Show (commonly known as the Detroit Show).
The author (Takeshi Momota) was present at the development site using the general circuit of “RX-8” in the United States due to another accident.
At the time, the comparison car Mazda used with the North American market in mind wasBMW 3 serieswas.
Finally, the appearance of the production model “RX-8” had to wait until the 2003 Detroit Auto Show, four years after the appearance of the “RX-EVOLV”.
Later, I attended the “RX-8” international test drive event held in Lagunaca, California, and at that time, I heard many stories from Mazda officials about the struggles towards mass production of “RX-8”.
