Mazda Designer Resurrects Hope for Wankel-Powered Sports Car

The head of Mazda Motor Corp. design tells Automotive News he will "never give up" on the idea of resurrecting the company's RX sports car series but only if the new model can be powered by the company's legendary Wankel rotary engine.

Ikuo Maeda points out that the "R" in RX stands for rotary. He acknowledges the company could use one of its more efficient Skyactiv piston engines in a sports car. But he says such a model would not use the RX nomenclature.

Mazda dropped the most recent RX model, the RX-8, in 2012 as sales declined. Last year CEO Masamichi Kogai said the company could revive the series, but only if global demand reached at least 100,000 units per year.

The bigger issue is the car's unique rotary engine. The smooth-running Wankel, with its unusual triangular "piston" and two-lobed combustion chamber, drew plenty of attention in the 1970s.

Sealing, emissions and fuel economy have been developmental challenges. Mazda has been trying for years to improve the latter two issues in its compact powerplant as global emission standards and fuel economy requirements tighten.