Andy Burns wrote:
Doctor Drivel wrote:

Andy Burns wrote:

You'd think with Mazda effectively canning rotary engines (or at
least pressing pause)

The RX8 is still made.

They might be flogging off the last few sitting on the dock-side or in
showrooms, but they haven't made them for over a year ...

http://www.autoweek.com/article/2011...NEWS/110829973

Exactly what I was telling but the senile ones sent many silly posts.

http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1...says-mazda-ceo

We've known for a while that Mazda was planning to reinvent the rotary
engine as a range-extender for an electric car, but now the automaker's CEO
has confirmed the plans. Speaking with reporters at this week's2012 Moscow
Auto Show, Mazda CEO Takashi Yamanouchi reaffirmed his company's commitment
to the rotary engine and said there were plans to launch an extended-range
vehicle with a rotary engine as early as next year.

Mazda's last car to be fitted with a rotary engine was the RX-8 sports car,
which ended production earlier this year. The RX-8 used its rotary engine to
power its wheels, though this proved to be a rather inefficient form of
propulsion.

For its return, the rotary will be used solely to charge a battery, which
will then power an electric motor driving the wheels of whichever car it is
fitted to. There have been reports that Mazda was testing a rotary
extended-range vehicle that ran on hydrogen, though any production version
is likely to use regular gasoline.

Rotaries, like most internal combustion engines, are most efficient when
they maintain a steady rpm level. Acting as a range extender would allow the
engine to operate at a constant rpm.

"The rotary has very good dynamic performance, but if you accelerate and
brake a lot there are efficiency disadvantages," Yamanouchi explained to
Autocar. "The range extender overcomes that. We can keep it spinning at its
most efficient 2,000 rpm while also taking advantage of its [compact] size."

It's not clear yet what type of vehicle Mazda will launch its new rotary
extended-range drivetrain in.

Note, Mazda wasn't the first to proceed down the rotary extended-range
development path. Instead, it was Audi that showed the rotary-packing A1
e-tron concept at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show. That allegedly led to talks
between Audi and Mazda, and rumors that Mazda was developing a
special-purpose rotary engine for the Audi A1 e-tron. While Audi chose to
forgo a rotary for its eventual road-going A1 e-tron, it appears Mazda won't
doing the same.