Though the rotary engine certainly has its fair share of detractors, many who find themselves behind the wheel of a Wankel-powered machine from Mazda fall in love with the engine's zippy and rev-happy characteristics... including this particular blogger, who purchased a new RX-8 back in 2004. Regardless, nobody can deny that the rotary has always been a thirsty little bugger, especially when compared to powerplants with similarly rated displacements.
We've been hearing for the last few years – and seemingly every other time a new rendition of the Wankel engine came to market – that the next version of Mazda's rotary would address complaints about its high fuel consumption and emissions. Perhaps the early projections about the so-called 16X engine were a wee bit premature. According to Seita Kanai, head of R&D at Mazda:
The 16X demonstrated the possibility, but that performance is not good enough. We are doing R&D which will incorporate more new technology... The 16X is more a profile of a rotary still in our concept stage. It needs more evolution.That really doesn't sound all that confidence inspiring to us. At this point, only time will tell if the 16X will actually be ready for prime time when the long-rumored next-gen rotary-powered car from Mazda hits the scene in 2012 or so.
Thanks to an astute reader, we now have further proof that owners of Mazda's rotary powered RX-8 wish they were driving a Ferrari instead. Not that we blame them or anything, as the Prancing Horse has been plastered on many of the finest sportscars that this world has ever seen. What we don't recommend, however, is actually attempting to replicate a Ferrari of your own with a Mazda RX-8, as the owner of said car seen in our gallery has done. It's not that the car is an RX-8, a fine vehicle in its own right,– but a Ferrari it is not. The rotary is a fun engine to wring out on the way to its 9,000 RPM redline, but it just doesn't quite match the aural pleasure that a fine Italian V12 is able to deliver.
This particular Mazda-rrari was caught at a mall in Denton, Texas, and we believe it's probably the only one in existence. Before you get real upset about all that's been done to it though, remember that it could be worse. Much, much worse. Just don't tell the guys in Maranello, they tend to get rather upset about this kind of thing.
You've got to hand it to Mazda for its perseverance with the Wankel rotary engine design. Ever since it's engineers managed to make it semi-reliable, the turbine-like smoothness of the quick-spinning lump has seen duty in numerous Mazda-branded vehicles, and even a few others as well. Still, despite constant engineering work and updates to the basic rotary engine design, there is a lingering question about the reliability of the design. Most owners seem happy with the engines in their RX, that is, until a seal blows or they forget to keep the oil supply topped up and it fails to restart. Or it floods in the winter, needing a tow. Alright... so there may be a few problems.
To ease the minds of RX-8 owners and owners-to-be, Mazda has reportedly decided to extend the warranty coverage for the 2004-2008 Renesis rotary engine for a period of eight years or 100,000 miles. Mazda even goes so far as to offer reimbursement to those who've spent money on engine repairs before 100,000 miles. This seems like a nice measure made in good faith on Mazda's part. After all, most educated owners of the rotary-powered cars knew what they were getting when these purchases were made, and the engine was already covered under the same basic warranty that comes standard with all Mazda vehicles. Nice work, Mazda.
