Read about this recently, apparently it was news dating back sometime in August. Are they for real??

 

mhm mhm. better start stocking up on blown engines and parts before they are gone

 

They need to keep producing 3 rotor E-shafts...

 

Major wack, can't believe they just bailed on us...wankel must be cringing up in the heavens.

Well, it's my goal in life now to preserve the Rotary culture in the streets and also obtain as many engine parts as stated earlier by Rotary9196. Not only is the engine really dope, it's rare now??? So crazy.

 

Why's that?

 

If this were tur, don't you think there would be some kind of comment to this affect here? http://rotarynews.com/

I think this is more about the ending of production of the RX8 and wankel cars in general for the next few years as IS discussed on that web site.

 

Man, whatever the case may be, it's my deepest hope that Mazda continues. I can deal with a slight pause, but not something indefinite. That would suck.

 

we're gonna get extinct!

 

Nah, VW will make their tiny Wankel and put it in the back of one of their SUVs to generate electricity. I can't remember what car magazine I read it from. Automobile, Car and Driver, something like that.

 

Dont let me become the president of Mazda development, I'll start Rotary Miata campaigns and R&D on rotary shifter karts.

 

Seems like it is tur there. check out the link


http://rotarynews.com/node/view/1161

 

Only 1,134 Rx8's sold last year... Can you really blame Mazda when folks vote with their wallets?

 

Yup, I have to agree. For the price of a new rx8, there are many better choices. No one wants bad gas mileage and be n/a(yeah I said it :P) And the resale value of the rx8s are less than FDs.

 

This isn't the first time that Mazda has dropped its rotary engine sports car from the U.S. lineup. The RX-7 was pulled after the 1995 model year. A rotary-powered car didn't return to American showrooms until the 2003 introduction of the RX-8.

And the RX-8's demise may not be the end of the rotary engine at Mazda. A source says engineers in Hiroshima are still working on the next generation, 1.6-liter rotary engine, code-named 16X, that is said to have lower emissions, better fuel economy and more power.

 

Perfect, just what I like to hear man

 

keep your fingers crossed that i get the siamesed RE26B shaft and modified center iron sorted out. of course it will probably be close to $10k for a complete short block after it's all said and done.

 

Also OEMs are supposed to continue making parts for some time after the end of a production run of a given car. Not sure how long (heard numbers like 10yrs being tossed around), but you can still get new crate motors for FDs last time I checked about a year ago. Doesn't matter to me anymore though

 

$10k would be a cheap price for that package, assuming all new parts and seals.

 

depends on what the customer wants to build the application for, but no way it would all be new for that price. a whole new modified block alone would cost over that figure alone without adding in the month + in labor.

4 new rotor housings alone = $3k
4 new rotors = $2k
5 new irons = $3500
new front cover...
new stat gears..
new oil pump.
etc etc etc

you get the picture... and i didn't even add in all the other misc items like seals and double gasket kit or that it would be peripheral ported. $20k for a whole new complete RE26B would be more doable for those who would want it completely new versus excellent used parts. but hell, don't quote me as i haven't even started machining the shafts or working on modifying the stat gears or iron yet.. then there there is the lubrication system..

at any rate we have a serious lack of 3 and 4 rotor alternatives in the states which needs to be remedied. my aim is to build it AND make it more compact than any other 4 rotor version to date.

 

^ I STILL think you're headed in the right direction.

 

4 rotors for everyone

 

Rx-8s were first brought on to the market in 2004, not 2003, says the stickler for history of the rotary.

Sure, we're technically orphans, but Mazda is not done with the rotary! I'm sure we'll hear more about the status of the hydrogen and the 16X at sevenstock later this month.

 

sorry but hydrogen is a pipe dream, will be many many years and would require many manufacturers to jump on the same exact boat for hydrogen filling stations to pop up in the amount needed to convince people to buy a hydrogen powered car. i don't know of a SINGLE hydrogen filling station anywhere nearby nor any plans to build one, so who here would buy one?

the cars were built and sent in '03, marketed as '04 models. car manufacturers always sell their "future"cars marketed for the following year, not the current one that it was received and began sales. my '87 was built on 7/86 and probably delivered in 1986.

at any rate, hopefully they do reintroduce something once they have let the dust settle from the RX8 sales dropoff. the FC was the best seller of all time for the rotary powered cars and they tapered off dramatically in '91 which is when the FD came out in '92 but it was a bit pricier to build and sell so it was limited and only sold for a few years in the US. the 8 had decent initial sales but after 8 years of a similar model without much of any change to the car, sales began to plummet because why buy a new 8 for $32k when you could buy a used one for $8k? they both had the same engine, looked identical for the most part but only minor things were upgraded on the later models for reliability.

 

It's rumored they are going to put a new rotary engine in the mx5, or continue with the rx7.

 

rumor is just rumor, they have never taken a step back in models since the inception of their rotary engines. 110s, R100, RX2, RX3, RX4 cosmo, RX7, RX8... etc