Happy 40th anniversary !

[NOPSTNS]

as of the may 2007, mazda has been producing rotary engines for 40 years!\

in 1967 the cosmo 110s was released in japan. it was a 1.0 liter rotary with 110hp. thats 110hp per liter in the 60s! in 40 years the engine has only grown 20 cubic inches and horsepower has doubled since then!!!!!!

1970 was the release of the r100 for the US, this yr marked the entry for wankels in america. then the rx2, onto higher numbered rxs, my personal fav the FD rx7. production rotaries hit a pinnacle in 2002 when mazda released the limited edition Spirit R. available in type A,B, and C this limited run model was to give the final production year of the rx7 to be a memorable one. the spirit R type is rated at 276hp but it was clear it was much higher than that.

rotary engines may have been cancelled for the US shores after 95, but mazda has continued on with production until 2002 and then in 2003 they released the RX8, there was no cease in production of rotary engines (contrary to popular belief).

extreme changes in rotary technology were realised with the release of the Rotary Engine Genesis (RENESIS) engine, a topic for another time!

mazda remains the ONLY japanese company to ever win at the LeMans 24 hr race. in 1991 they ran a 2.6l 4 rotor twin turbo producing about 700hp at 9,000 rpm. that all 3 entrants placed in the top ten and first place was us!

the 787b was the name of the car. and rotary engines were given a 15 yr ban in lemans until piston engines caught up in technology. in 2006 we returned with a 3 rotor N/A engine and were hit with more restrictions than ever (worst of all for the dear wankel was the throttle body inlet restriction) and after a lukewarm season mazda replaced the 3 rotor with the new 4 cylinder direct injected turbo they run in the speed6, speed3, and cx7. displacement is turned down to 2.0l by stroke reducing measures....

in 2010 mazda will be releasing a new rotary engine, porducing more power, consuyming less gas, and having better emissions all at the same time. there is much speculation as to what they have changed, my personal opinion points in the direction of....DIRECT INJECTION! also a topic for another time......2010 is going to be 40 years of rotaries in america so this will be a well planned event. no one knows what car will bear this new rotary, most believe it to be the second gen rx8 (i am one of them) some think a return of the rx7 is on its way, some think it will go into some other concept, who knows....only time will tell........



heres to another 40 of equal accomplishments.


(pics and a video demo of the rotary to be added shortly)

edit, heres some vids on youtube...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhxKqtUUmoU

vid from car and driver tv, short take on how rotaries work...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGrD7...elated&search=