A second run for the rotary-powered engine seems to be in the making with Mazda reportedly working on a successor for the RX range that ended with the RX-8. The rotary engine or otherwise referred to as the Mazda Wankel engine once won the engine of the year award almost a decade ago.
Mazda’s rotary engine production was ceased with the discontinuation of the Mazda RX-8 back in 2012. Until 2012, Mazda had been producing rotary engines for their production cars since 1963. With the introduction of the future RX-9, the ‘odd one out’ makes its return.
In terms of design, the RX-9 should be inspired by the RX vision concept car that Mazda recently showed at the 2015 Tokyo Motor Show. The Japanese brand is supposed to officially reveal an RX-9 prototype by next year before launching the official production car in 2019.
Mazda has however remained silent about the RX-9 until this date. Nothing has therefore been confirmed although a recently dyno report gave some insight as into what kind of power we can expect. The metrics report revealed 400 hp and a weight of 2,800 pounds, which is below 1,300 kilograms and lighter than a McLaren P1.
The small engine is expected to come in the form of a 1.6-liter twin-rotor rotary engine, diverting power to the rear wheels via either a manual or automatic transmission.
