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Originally Posted by CorneringArtist
They've already tested the rotary generator in the Mazda2 in 2013. It was a single rotor 300CC unit and reached about 400km combined range. Full electric was 200km. I'm guessing if they can minimise oil consumption or even have a feed system to maintain oil levels, it might solve that problem.
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I know they have tested it a long time ago, but it then just kind of disappeared. I could never find much technical data on it.
This actually makes me wonder if they will implement some designs from the 16X concept, namely the flatter rotor, direct injection, and all-aluminum construction(old 13Bs all come with aluminum housings and cast iron plates).
Quote:
Originally Posted by forcedot
I think you are down playing how inefficient these engines were.
An Evo for example made 70hp and 150 torque more (yes double the torque), was much heavier, had AWD, and yet was able to still be more fuel efficient than an RX8.
ANNND Evos were known to be one of the worst fuel guzzlers of the day when compared to any other car like a 135i that was able to produce even more power and use much less fuel.
I can't see a rotary ever making a return, especially with all the advancements in the piston engine. Even as just a range extender, its automatically a less efficient platform which defeats the whole purpose.
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You can't compare an ICE-powered car and a range extender, as the load is constantly changing for an ICE-powered car. Pretty much every RX-7/RX-8 owner nowadays drives the piss out of them and rev them to redline every day. Of course the gas mileage will be crap because we are optimizing for smiles per gallon.
I realize that a rotary is not as efficient as a piston engine, I stated that, and Mazda realizes it as well. But what if you compare this new 300cc rotary range extender to a piston engine that can generate the same amount of power at a constant load? You just have a set RPM you can optimize everything(air flow, fuel injection, etc.) for and that can certainly have some interesting results.
One optimization I can think right off my head: I know that a stock RX-8 ECU will have the AFR in the range of 10 when you floor it, and in general, it runs pig rich to, ironically, help the catalytic converter. There is no need for that in a range extender. You can always just target close to the 14.7 stoich AFR and adjust a tiny bit for the NOx emission.
All that said, I am not delusional. There are definitely problems and that's why I am not overly optimistic about it. Last time I checked, Mazda only has about 20 people working on the rotary engine, so I am not that hopeful. The Renesis in RX-8 was already on the back bench when it was in development and look what happened. This will also give the marketing department a run for its money given rotary's track record of non-reliability.