Mazda Patent Should Help Keep Rotary Hopes Alive

Rotary engine fans are an odd bunch, but boy, are they patient. Say “maybe in the next decade” to them and they’ll pass their time doing whatever the hell rotary fans do in their off hours until it’s finally time for a resurrection of the pistonless internal combustion engine.

Over at Mazda, it’s been a long wait. Rumors of a successor to the RX-8, which bit the dust in 2012, have circulated for years, but company brass have remained focused on new crossovers, more efficient Skyactiv engines, and, more recently, electrification. And yet the automaker refuses to close the door on a rotary revival, keeping hope alive for those waiting for a new RX- product.

This latest patent from Mazda should tide them over.

Japan’s Motor Magazine uncovered a patent late last week that suggests Mazda engineers have begun thinking in earnest about a new sports car. While the patent details a “Vehicle Shock Absorption Structure,” in essence a bumper, the vehicle the impact-absorbing apparatus attaches to is worthy of note. It’s a spaceframe-type vehicle, rear-wheel drive in layout, with double wishbones up front and a small engine bay.

The placement of a prominent crossmember suggests a compact engine residing just aft of the front wheels, while heavy use of aluminum, carbon fiber, and plastic throughout the vehicle hints at a featherweight ride tailor-made for tossing. A Mazda source told the magazine that the company has its eye on a specialty platform that wouldn’t appear anywhere else in the lineup.

While the patent is the best evidence yet of an eventual RX-9, the prospect of not-unsubstantial development costs and low production volumes will weigh on the minds of those whose job it is to greenlight such a vehicle. Certainly, greater volumes of popular products could grease the wheels for a rotary resurrection, which is why sports car fans should root for the success of Mazda’s upcoming Alabama-built crossover.

That midsize unit will roll out of the joint Mazda-Toyota plant come 2021, with Mazda hoping to utilize every last bit of its allotted capacity. In the meantime, there’s a tweener CX-30 to tempt buyers and nourish Mazda’s coffers.

As for the actual powerplant destined (or not) for an RX-8 successor, the automaker plans to return rotary power to its model line next year, in the form of a range-extending generator bound for an electrified model. The sports car application of Mazda’s new rotary technology would adopt a turbocharger the EV extender model lacks.

“That is the dream of Mazda,” CEO Akira Marumoto said last year when asked about such a model. “So, my role is to make Mazda prosper so we can release such a model.”

[Image: Mazda]