I understand that emission might be an issue... But I can't see 3 rotor hybrid. Just because its.. well, hypocritic to have 3 rotor engine that likes to drink gas and have electric motor? I rather buy all electric before I by hybrid.



Also, I think Mazda view Rotary engines as high performance engine and not family oriented engine. It would be a shame if they use 3 rotor hybrid to save gas.

 

Those plans look absolutely disgusting...

 

Why would it be the next RX-7? Wouldn't it be the RX-9?? I doubt they would go "back."

 

Whoa! Not so fast to bash there, about the hybrid idea. If they were to build one, don't go looking to disable it just yet... Believe it or not, hybrid technology can be (and sometimes is) used to enhance performance as (somewhat) more of a focus than saving fuel. Look at the specs on the Accord hybrid, or the new Lexus hybrids that are coming out, for instance.



I believe that a standard rotary engine (Renesis) would lend itself even better to the performance potential of hybrid technology than any piston engine, for a couple of very important reasons.



First is the relatively high physical orientation of the e-shaft in a rotary. It happens to be very similar to the physical layout of an electric motor. It seems that this would allow more flexability in optimizing the size and shape of the electric motor (which, I presume, would be mounted inline of the e-shaft between the engine and tranny) for greater efficiency and output. Packaging would, in fact, be relativelyeasy because the rotary is very short (for the electric motor, at least...the batt's are another matter).



The second reason for the rotary hybrid argument is that the rotary is naturally most efficient operating at high rpms. All production rotarys are a compromise of high end power for low end driveability. Electric motors, on the other hand, are most efficient at 0 rpm, that is the moment they start turning. This means that when combined, they would compliment each other very well, and allow for more efficient and higher output of the rotary itself, without concern for low end lack of torque.



The way I see it, you could think of a rotary hybrid as a high reliability electric turbo, albiet one with a severe weight and cargo space penalty (batteries), but it would also benefit from emissions and consumption equal to or better than that of a standard Renesis.



Finally, since the engine component could basically amount to a retuned Renesis, development cost for Mazda could be kept relatively low, since there would be no need to develop a new larger engine. Although hybrid technology is not cheap, from what I understand, developing and producing a new rotary engine is extremely expensive, and probably prohibitive, considering the limited target market.



So, that's why I hope they do it. Actually, barring some kind of breakthrough in rotary engine design (unlikely), I think the rotary hybrid is the only way forward for something like a new gen RX-7 or -9 or whatever they'd call it.



Of course none of it would be any good if the car was ugly though...

 

Don't get me wrong.. I think Hybrid idea seems pretty good. But the thing I like about last generation RX7 is that it has good weight to power ratio.. But mainly its one of the lightest sports car on the market..



With Hybrid, just as you mentioned, it adds extra weight. Especially with today's safety requirements, its hard to get high HP sports cars that weigh less than 3K (unless small, limited engines - ie elise).



I would love to get a hybrid for daily to save gas, but not sure how hybrid will compare to non-hybrid in performance (handling). We shall see. I've heard its going to be RX9 and Mazda is working on it to beat the competitions...

 

I agree with that, I've always equated mazda to a kind of japanese lotus with the lightweight mentality (prolly cause they always seem to be breaking down too). I'd be in favour of a mx-5/miata sized coupe in line with a porsche caymen with a standard renesis engine and then a focused lighter & harder model maybe with a turbo, but more power 1 way or the other.

 

yep, it goes 2 ways. we hear a lot about it and never see it



or



it just shows up out of the blue one day....

 

The Kabura is horrible looking. This is what I want to do for a similar FD. Order a Noble....put a 20b in it. What do you guys think??

 

I'm pretty sure that Mazda will keep the next supercar under wraps until it is right ready to release it. Kind of like a 'shock and awe' deal. I've always thought that the MX-5 should've had a rotary variant in the first place. You'd think that Mazda would come up with such a car for the SuperGT series in Japan. The only representative in the last couple of years for a Mazda model has been the RE Amemiya FD and I'm not sure that they receive much, if any support from Mazda. At any rate if there is a successor to the RX-7 I'm sure that parts of the world and a select few people will modify it to produce performance above and beyond the 3rd gen. Most of us rotorheads are just that way.

 

Unfortunately, if we see a 3 rotor in a production car, it wont be N/A. You wont see the same dynamics in the intake mani as a renesis. The odd rotor throws it all off.



Just speculation but, if Mazda can pull off a multi displacement system, direct injection, anything that can really reduce fuel consumtion. Maybe we will see a 3 rotor with some boost. And it seems they been playing with the supercharger idea, so..