rotary engine revival
mazdaMazda Europe, a European subsidiary of Mazda, will present the “MX-30“We will reveal the range extender to the world for the first time.
A range extender is a type of EV (electric vehicle) that is equipped with an engine or other prime mover dedicated to a generator in order to extend the cruising range.
In the case of Mazda, the engine to be installed is a rotary engine.
About 190,000 Mazda rotary engine vehicles were sold from 2003 to 2012.RX-8” at the end, there is a blank for about 11 years so far.
Why did Mazda revive the rotary engine at this timing?
Looking back, the history of Mazda’s 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 own rotary engine.
However, while the entire automobile industry is in the throes of exhaust gas regulations, Mazda is the only company in the world that mass-produces rotary engines for mass-produced vehicles.
Next termRX-7” does not come true …
Under such circumstances, it was past the mid-1990s that Mazda faced a crisis of Rotary 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 next RX-7.
However, Mazda at that timefordUnder its umbrella, the project was forced to scale down significantly due to streamlining of management.
Despite this, Mazda officials insisted that the fire of the rotary should not be extinguished, and negotiated tenaciously with Mazda’s upper management.As a result, mass-produced vehicles have two doors like the “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” exhibited at the 2001 North American International Auto Show (commonly known as the Detroit Show).
The author (Takeshi Momota) happened to be present at the development site using the general circuit of “RX-8” in the United States due to another incident.
At that time, the comparison car that Mazda used with the North American market in mind wasBMW 3 serieswas.
In the end, the appearance of the “RX-8” production model had to wait until the 2003 Detroit Auto Show, four years after the appearance of the “RX-EVOLV.”
After that, I participated in 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 toward mass production of “RX-8”.