To all Mazda fans; a while ago we had reported about the plans that Japanese car manufacturer have in reviving the legendary rotary engine and the effort that they are putting in to make it better than the previous version. Although that piece of news is already more than enough to carve a big smile on the rotary lovers’ faces, they might be jumping in joy too as there is a big possibility that the new engine will probably be fitted in an all-new Mazda RX-7.
And this piece of news did not come from an anonymous inside source or leaked information; it actually came from the Mazda Motor Corporation’s sports car chief himself, Mr. Nobuhiro Yamamoto. While addressing the press at a launch of the updated MX-5 Miata, he said that the return of the RX-7 in 2017 will mark the 50th anniversary of the company’s first rotary-engined car, the Cosmo Sport back in 1967.
He also added that this future RX-7 will have a curb weight close to the new Toyota 86 of around 1,200kg and will put more attention on the driver’s involvement. As the powertrain head of the FD3S, Yamamoto had a lot of great moments with the sleek and sexy sports car, so bringing back the RX-7 to life has always been at the top of his checklist.
However, he stressed that the new RX-7 will not follow in the footsteps as the previous FD in using forced induction. Do not worry; this is not another sports car following the hybrid trend. He does, however favors the car to be naturally-aspirated and fitted with the 16X rotary engine that had yet to see use in any of Mazda’s production vehicles. With a 1.6-liter displacement, Yamamoto said that this new 16X is capable of generating an output close to 300-horsepower in a naturally-aspirated configuration.
