MAZDA

Japanese brand will relaunch its legendary Wankel engine in 2023

Mazda announces that it will relaunch its legendary Wankel engine in 2023! A gem of engineering and technicality, introduced on the Cosmo Sport 110S in 1967. This time it will serve as an electric range extender on the MX-30.

Do you remember the Mazda Cosmo Sport 110S? Unveiled in Tokyo in 1967, this two-seater coupe was Mazda's answer to the Japanese sports of the time. Toyota 2000 GT and Honda S800. It was a focus of innovation, starting with its very original design and unprecedented dimensions. And especially its mechanics that we had never seen in Mazda until then: a Wankel engine! No V-shaped, flat or in-line cylinders, no camshafts or crankshafts here. But a twin-piston rotary engine! This is German engineer Felix Wankel who was at the origin of this technology, developed at the time for the manufacturer NSU. It equipped several models of the brand, including the Prinz, Aranha or the very baroque RO80 sedan (RO for rotary, of course).

A trademark...Mazda bought the rights in 1961, and the manufacturer's first production car to be equipped with it was this little Japanese sports car! It then heralded a great period of Mazda's rotary engine. like the models R100, RX-2, RX-3, RX-7 or even the Mazda RX-8, removed in 2012. But why did you trust this technology and why abandon it? One of the advantages of the Wankel engine was its approvalmuch less noisy and vibrating than a conventional heat engine. But its high consumption – of both gasoline and oil – did not make it the most economical. Only NSU and Mazda trusted this technology, but it was never really democratized…

Back to electricity...Ten years after the RX-8 disappeared, and the end of the Wankel engine, it's back! Mazda has actually confirmed for 2023, in a completely different way than known. It will no longer be the main driver, but will act as a range extender to power an electric motor! It's on the crossover MX-30 which will appear for the first time, but could be applied in the future to Mazda's entire electric range. When we speak here of a Wankel or rotary engine, we are referring to the way it works. It will use the same principle as before: a triangular rotor that rotates in a circular chamber. But here, manufactured essence point, only generated electricity. The new Mazda MX-30 R-EV still has some surprises in store, but it will be presented – along with its technical specifications – at the next Brussels Motor Show in January 2023.

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