Mazda to administer SKYACTIV treatment for rotary

The RX-8 will be quietly put down next year, but that doesn't spell the end for Mazda's wankel rotary engine
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The automotive industry harboured such high hopes for the Wankel rotary engine in the 1960s and 70s. Prototype Corvettes and Benz's famous C111 were among the cars that trialled the innovative engine technology — just as the first oil crisis hit in the early 1970s.

Mazda remains the only company to persevere with the technology in series production, but now the Japanese company is forced to re-think its position on the innovative technology. As if peak oil production weren't enough of a hurdle for the Wankel engine, now there's global climate change also.

With new environmental legislation in the works, Mazda has already chosen to end production of the rotary-engined RX-8 sports car and concentrate its R&D efforts on the environmentally friendlier SKYACTIV technology for reciprocating engines.

But as it turns out, the company remains committed to the rotary engine and will return to the orbital design at a later date. During the recent Tokyo Motor Show, motoring.com.au met two men with a future vision for the rotary engine: Mazda CEO, Takashi Yamanouchi and head of R&D, Hirotaka Kanazawa. Both men spoke through an interpreter, with Kanazawa-san first off the rank.

"Of course we haven't given up," he said, at a dinner the night before the motor show opened. "Of course we are exploring the potential [of the rotary] in a range extender application, as well as hydrogen [combustion]. And our rotary engineers are also working on SKYACTIV RE [rotary engine]."

Kanazawa-san particularly emphasised the place in Mazda's future R&D plans for the hydrogen-combustion application, which is already being trialled in Norway. Clearly hydrogen could absolve the rotary of both its shortcomings: profligate waste of non-renewable fuels and contributory CO2 discharge. While the rest of the world is grappling with fuel cell technology, Mazda's rotary combustion approach is ready-made for a future hydrogen society. And that's almost certainly why the company persists with the orbital engine concept.

"The strength of the rotary engine is compact size, light weight, high power and less vibration," Kanazawa-san continued. "So capitalising on these strengths, the rotary engine will match very well with a stylish and lightweight car."

Kanazawa said too that he welcomed the entry of the Toyota 86 and Subaru BRZ coupe twins in the sports coupe segment. It's his view that Mazda is an expert in that segment, and competition can only open up the segment to more customers. More customers mean greater economies of scale to support the development of a new rotary-engined coupe — either with suicide doors as in the RX-8 or a more conventional design like the earlier RX-7 models.

"We haven't reached the planning phase yet; our first priority is to introduce the next MX-5 as early as possible."

As Kanazawa's boss subsequently explained to motoring.com.au, the development of the next MX-5 doesn't necessarily preclude a new-age RX-7/8 or even an RX-9. Yamanouchi-san was our next interviewee to discuss the future for rotary, at the motor show the next day. After first clarifying that his R&D colleague from the night before was not speaking while under the influence of the evil drink, the Mazda CEO had this to say about the future for the rotary engine on Mazda's watch.

"I think there are two major directions that the senior management have been discussing," he said. "One is the application where we use the rotary engine as a powerplant — a conventional powerplant. We need a major plan to upgrade both the low-end torque and improve fuel efficiency; otherwise we don't see that course making much progress.

"But the other [direction] is what Kanazawa-san said: using it in that kind of application... essentially the application of the rotary engine as a range-extender, powered by hydrogen. So it only emits steam... and the engine is used solely to generate power for the vehicle."

Yamanouchi-san admitted that he had nothing further to offer, concretely, on what will ultimately follow the cessation of RX-8 production in June next year, but he says the company still sees development potential in the rotary.

"I've been saying everywhere that we will continue research [into] the rotary engine; we won't extinguish the flame of the rotary engine."

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