Thanks for the post Andy. These 3 points I quoted from your post were related to me recently from a friend that has direct contact with some Mazda execs. Right now, everything at Mazda is geared towards calling it an Rx7 but ofcourse things could still change.

 

I really hope they opt for the 350hp version!


From April edition of Super Street online:

RX-8 Replacement
While the NSX is admittedly a faint blip on the radar, a new RX-7 has more supporting evidence. Exhibit A is Mazda's development of the 16X Renesis rotary engine. The 1.6-liter, twin-rotor powerplant has been developed to the point where it needs a home and at 350 horsepower, the RX-7 becomes a logical landing pad. The vehicle pictured is the Karuba concept and while it has not been identified as a possible RX-7 replacement, one of the plans calls for 350-horses and a $35,000 price tag. But the economy and the joint Toyota/Subaru FT-86 may make Mazda re-calibrate and offer a $25,000, 200- to 250-horsepower version. The car will be a two-door coupe and if it comes to market, expect the RX-8 to bow out gracefully. With Subaru offering limited editions of its WRX STI on a near-weekly basis (in Japan) an up-market performance edition with the 350-horse Wankel would drop some jaws and open some wallets. The rumored timeline is a 2011 launch so start the countdown now. - EG

http://www.superstreetonline.com/fea...ken_block.html

 

awsome..
in 2 years we will have newbs asking how do i swap a 16x in my ride lol

 

People thier wont be another RX7, RX9 yes.
110S(cosmo 67-72), R100 (68-73), R130 (69-72, RX2 (70-78), RX3 (71-77), RX4 (72-77), REPU (73-77), Rotary Bus RE26 (74-76), Roadpacer (75-77), RX5 (cosmo 75-81), luce legato (77-81), Cosmo HB (81-90), Luce HB (81-86), RX7 SA_FB (78-85), FC RX7 (85-91), Eunos Cosmo 20B (90-95), Efini RX7 (91-02), RX8 (2003-present), Next vehicle will be a Hydrogen Renesis 16x with a displacemnt of 800cc x 2, what vehicle will it be in well wegotta wait for that.

 

Back in '86, lots of people thought the FC should have been called the RX-8 because up to that point, any body style change meant a new increment in naming. However, I think Mazda opted to stick with "RX-7" because of the name/brand recognition. If they ever actually make a new two-seat rotary sports car and sell it in America, I would not be surprised to see it called "RX-7" again. However, I'd bet there is less than a 10% chance of this ever happening. It certainly won't make financial sense for Mazda to do it...

 

Not for me I think they missed the boat.

 

it needs to be less rx eighty

 

why would it not make financial sense to call it a 7? If Mazda is sure of the success of this car, and if this car is up to RX-7 standards, they should call it a 7....But...... if there is any question as to whether the car will be a hit or not, please don't call it a 7....don't discredit the 7 name. For it to be a 7, it needs to be a no compromise 2 door sports car.

Ive been wanting to buy a 3rd gen myself but I'm waiting to see if I like this next rotary sportscar or not. If I like it, I will buy one, if not, I will get a 3rd gen.

 

All they ever needed to do was make a hardtop Miata with a rotary and call it an RX7. Oh well...

 

exactly right!

 

What I doubt would make financial sense for Mazda would be engineering and marketing a brand new rotary-powered two-seater with significant technological changes to the RENESIS. Two seaters are usually fairly low-volume cars, and I'd be surprised if they could get it to market as cheaply as the 370Z given Mazda's smaller size and market position. I would bet the RX-8 owes a lot of its popularity to its novel semi-4-door body and relative practicality. Would a second two seater in Mazda showrooms just be competing with the less expensive Miata like it did in the early 1990s? Probably.

 

not holding my breath for a new RX-7 it would be nice but if there was going to be one there should be more evidence around. I was easy to see that there was going to be a RX-8 lots of proto cars where around.

 

http://www.mazda.com/mazdaspirit/rotary/16x/

 

That thing is ugly as ****

 

http://www.topspeed.com/cars/car-new...1-ar83269.html

This shouldn’t be the first time that you’ve heard about Mazda bringing back the RX-7. However this time the news seems to be official, and even the current economic climate won’t stop the Japanese automaker from unveiling the new sports car in 2011 as a replacement for the not so successful RX-8. All three previous generations of Mazda’s rotary experimental 7 have been bona fide sports cars that offer their operators a lightweight chassis with razor sharp handling and the exhilaration of rear wheel drive that culminated with the FD3S and despite being down a few ponies from the competition, it made genuine Japanese super cars like the Skyline GT-R and NSX head for the hills.

The next generation RX-7 will be powered by Mazda’s all new Renesis 16X power plant which debuted at the 2007 Tokyo Auto Show inside of the Taiki concept car. The Renesis(2) rotary engine is a 1.6 Liter twin rotor motor that will develop a maximum output of 350 HP and 215 lb-ft of torque. The new RX-7’s exterior will be inspired by the Furai concept and will go head to head with other sport compacts like the Hyundai Genesis Coupe and eventual Toyota FT-86 as well as Japanese thoroughbreds like the Nissan 370Z. If you were excited by the muscle car market coming back into full swing you might want save a little bit of emotion for the return of the sport compact tuning scene.

 

its funny seeing all these pictures of what people think the next 7 will look like because they are so different from one another:

http://www.google.com/images?q=2011+...ed=0CBQQsAQwAA

 

I agree a little too concepty, gotta watch them artist.
What I would like to see is a rotary powered light 2 seater sportscar.
Drop the bells and whistles, just get back to driving for the sake of driving.
Wanna listen to tunes at 140 miles an hour, get a beemer.
Wanna comfortable plush ride, get a caddy or mercedes
Want all the creature comforts and blinding performance, get a vette

What I want is my rotary rocket back!!!!
a reasonably priced 2 seater sportscar with damn decent performance.
with a rotary powerplant of course, why? cause they are sooo cool!

 

I still like the Kabura
http://www.google.com/images?um=1&hl..._rfai=&start=0

put the new engine in that.

 

I agree. I enjoyed my rx7 gtu when I had it and my gtus.
its a sports car it doesn't need all the creature comforts so make them optional. Make driving fun again. Every car I look at now seems so heavy. Why not make them lighter? We need to makes things go back to basics, simple and yet every effective. but still have options though.

They should make a base , sports and luxury and turbo model. verts too turbo vert! LOL! That would be awesome. Kinda like the FC. Each would fit the driver/ buyer/ owner of the car, depending on what you want, need, like and love.
Safety standards front, passager and side air bags? ABS? TCS?! LOL!!

 

What we (existing rotary enthusiasts) want and what makes sense for Mazda to build are probably two different things.

Unfortunately, unless Mazda can find a way to make the rotary get gas mileage that is comparable with that of a similarly powered piston engine, it's going to be a tough sell to anyone but the true enthusiast. In order for Mazda to sell enough of whatever they build to justify the tooling costs, they need to either have a broader appeal or they need to raise the price. For example, the MX-5 Miata appeals to the weekend racer, the young working professional, retirees, and just about anybody else who's looking for a fun, easy-to-live-with two seater, so it works as an affordable higher-volume model. To the extent that the RX-8 succeeded, it was because it also appealed to a broader market by virtue of being just about the only legitimate 4-door sports car.

Probably the most sensible thing way to use the rotary would be in a small volume, rather expensive halo car aimed at the wealthier enthusiast market. Something priced above a 370Z but below a Nissan GT-R. This kind of car would not siphon sales from the MX-5 Miata. Also, people buying something like that wouldn't mind dealing with the inconvenience of the rotary in exchange for the exclusivity. For example, things like the poor gas mileage, oil consumption, and tendency to flood would be more readily tolerated by that kind of buyer than by the casual sports car owner.

The problem is, the FD was a pretty great car but it never found much of a market. It remains to be seen whether Mazda can convince enough buyers to pay extra for a rotary powered sports car just because it is so different.

 

Very well put. I agree with everything you have stated above.

Just dreaming here, but wouldnt it be great if Mazda offered a 350hp crate motor 16x to the public. Maybe that could help offset some of the cost of the design. I believe ford and chevy used to offer (probably still do) crate motors. I know I would buy one for my first gen They would probably sell thousands of them.

 

http://www.motortrend.com/features/a...les/index.html

Mazda Commits to Lighter, More Efficient Vehicles
New Sky Powertains, Possible Rotary Diesel to Key Effort
From the March, 2010 issue of Motor Trend
/ By Peter Lyon


One Mazda engineer, who wished to remain anonymous, confirmed what we've recently outlined: that Mazda is in the process of developing its next generation rotary-powered RX-7. The automaker reportedly has two rotary engine prototypes at present, a gasoline version and a diesel version. The diesel sounds rare, right? Curtiss-Wright built a direct-injection rotary diesel in the early 1970s, but it wasn't a true diesel as it used spark ignition and had a low compression ratio. Rolls-Royce also dabbled briefly with diesel rotary using two different sized rotors.

Mazda hopes to change all that and create a diesel rotary that generates strong low to mid-range torque, while improving on the current RX-8's fuel economy. But our source said not to expect the new sports car -- which will be significantly lighter than the previous RX-7 -- to appear in showrooms until 2013 at the earliest.

Read more: http://www.motortrend.com/features/a...#ixzz0lsDu2ZEG

 

There was some research being done a few years back on a hydrogen-powered RENESIS. Something like that, which would put the rotary to novel and "greener" use, would also be very interesting. Same for a diesel rotary.

 

Just keeping this thread alive while we all hope and wait for some tangible evidence that there will be a next Rx-7. Article dated April 22

http://blog.caranddriver.com/the-con...opel-insignia/

Mazda Sticks with the Rotary Engine, While Audi Adopts It

Instead of the planet, let’s save the rotary engine. The Mazda RX-8 will be taken off the European market at the end of 2010, as its current engine won’t pass Euro 5 emissions. But Mazda won’t abandon the unique engine type. Internally called 16X, the next-generation Mazda rotary will again be a two-rotor setup, but this time displacing 1.6 liters instead of the current 1.3. Even in normally aspirated form, the 16X engine will make around 300 hp, which will be plenty for the smaller, lighter sports car in which it will be found. Turbocharged versions are possible, as is a hydrogen-powered variation. The U.S. market will keep getting the RX-8 for the foreseeable future, but we love the fact that a lighter car in the spirit of the last-generation RX-7 will replace it.

Audi is looking at the rotary engine, too, fitting a Wankel powerplant to the A1 e-tron concept shown in Geneva in March. The one-disc rotary engine was co-developed with Austrian engineering house AVL. We experienced its operation, and it’s smooth and quiet and avoids the shuddering on restart of a piston engine. Who wants to be disturbed as they’re humming and singing and smiling while depleting their electric vehicle’s batteries? Not us. It’s certainly nice, but our next question was whether we could see a powerful rotary-engined Audi without all the electric-motor wizardry. Not a chance, says Ingolstadt. Pity.

 

Just started reading this thread...good stuff but a lot of teaser articles that are killing me for the anticipation of the new RX7.