Report: Mazda planning RX-9 sports coupe, will get 16X rotary engine
Mazda is most famous for their legendary RX sports coupe, which featured a rotary engine. As the RX8 comes to the end of its generation, Mazda already had plans ready for a new RX-9 sports coupe as well as a completely new rotary engine.
The new RX-9 supposedly won”t repeat the old RX-8″s four-door coupe layout with the suicide doors. That said, the new RX-9 is planned to share major chassis and suspension components with the MX-5 roadster. A major goal for Mazda is to keep the curb weight down to 1250kg or 2750 lbs. That”s quite good for a car that”s planned to have around 300-hp on tap.
The engine obtains a new name of 16X versus the Renesis making it sound like a new diet and exercise routine to help drive the new American dream to lose weight. However, insiders say that it is rumored to have an electric supercharger that”s “quite a lot bigger” than the 2.6-liter twin-rotor unit used in the 228-hp RX-8. The new 16X will also be more efficient than the Renesis after the engine in the RX8 consumed too much fuel and burned too much oil to meet the most recent EuroV clean air standards.
Despite the shortcomings of the Renesis rotary in the RX-8, it was still a considerable success moving up to 10,000 units annually around its debut in 2003.
Mazda is still unsure as to whether the new 16X equipped RX-9 will be configured to run on regular gasoline and sold in large numbers like the outgoing RX-8, or be changed into a potential standard-setting clean-air project featuring hydrogen.
Either way, Mazda remains devoted to keeping the iconic rotary because of its significance in the brand”s history.
– By: Chris Chin
Source: AutoCar
