Mazda Stops Production of the Last Rotary Engine Powered Car

Hugh Pickens writes "After a 45-year production run, Mazda Motor Corp announced that the latest edition of the Mazda RX-8 will end production in June 2012. The Japanese automaker ... introduced its first rotary engine car in 1967 and is the only automaker in the world that makes rotary engine vehicles, once the darling of the automotive industry. Such engines have fewer moving parts and are quieter than comparable piston engines but are more expensive to manufacture and consume more fuel. Cumulative sales of Mazda vehicles with rotary engines total about 1.995 million but Mazda sold only 2,896 RX-8 cars last year, with 1,245 of them in North America and 963 in Japan. 'Although R-X production is ending, the rotary engine will always represent the spirits of Mazda, and Mazda remains committed to its ongoing development,' says Mazda Chief Executive and President Takashi Yamanouchi recalling the victory of Mazda's rotary engine at Le Mans 20 years ago... Mazda does not have flashy green technologies in its lineup that its bigger Japanese rivals do — such as the hybrids at Toyota Motor Corp. or electric vehicles at Nissan Motor Co. The fading away of its prized rotary engine — although largely symbolic — is yet another blow."

Re:Quieter?

[andydread]

When I go to the track with mine and open the hood all the V8 drivers are ready to race. They see the tiny engine and just know they are going to spank it. When reality sets in and the big V8 gets spanked properly by my 1.1 liter rotary engine (in a Jap car) they start screaming about how rotaries suck and power to weight and blah blah but they lose. What they don't know is that I am squeezing 761HP out of a 1.1 liter in 1700 lb car. I am quick to tell them that it is a 1.1 liter engine though. And yes they are loud as hell not quieter. And I have never had an engine blown while racing. Build it properly and don't lean it out and you wont blow it that easily. I have seen rods go flying out of piston engines and catastrophic blower disasters from V8s though and yes waiting for those to clean up can be a drag.