Word comes through this morning that the last of Mazda’s Renesis rotary engines, the heart of the RX-8 sportscar, has just rolled down the production line. Will the RX-8 be the last ever mass-produced rotary powered car?
Takashi Yamanouchi, Mazda’s president hasn’t given rotary fans much hope. “Production of the RX-8 will end, but the rotary engine will live on as an important part of Mazda’s spirit,” he said.
Although, Mazda did add an extra 1000 RX-8s to final production to cater to rotary devotees. Mazda dealer, Kenichi Tsunoda, shared this story: “One of the buyers who rushed in was a gentleman in his 60s who had just retired, and finally made the decision to purchase the car with his dream engine. The rotary lovers are truly car fans.”
Mazda’s use of rotary power reached a high point in 1991 when their 787B won the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Although, the merits of that win have been the subject of discussion here on AUSmotive recently.
For all of the good aspects of rotary engines, fuel consumption has been an achilles heel. Indeed, the RX-8 failed to meet Euro 5 emissions standards, introduced in 2010, which essentially made ongoing production no longer viable.
Commenting on the RX-8, Masato Sase, from Deloitte Tohmatsu Consulting Co, said: “Fuel emission standards can mean the life or death to some products. It makes no economic sense to build cars using a certain technology, and if there isn’t ample demand for that, it’s difficult for them to survive.”
As such Mazda will now concentrate its efforts on its fuel effcient SkyActiv technology. This will include a return to Le Mans as a supplier of diesel engines in the LMP2 category from 2013.
We wish them well.
[Source: Automotive News]