Mazda Stops Rotary Production

By Logan Utsman on Wednesday, June 27th, 2012

In the early 1950s, a German engineer by the name Felix Wankel put into production the first publicly available rotary engine. Since then, a few automakers have adopted the piston-less powerplant but none have been as successful with it as Mazda has. In 1967, the Cosmo debuted as the first 2-rotor passenger car and ever since then, there has been a Wankel powered Mazda spinning its guts on the best roads and race tracks the world has to offer. That is until now as the book on production rotary engines might be closed for good.

According to an Autoblog article, the assembly line responsible for Mazda’s engine, the RX-8′s Renesis, was recently turned to idle. While the company may have a long-standing history with the rotary, there are currently no plans to restart production. Despite a few rumors and talks of a next generation Wankel, those were started many years ago and with Mazda’s new image of high fuel economy and Skyactive technology, there is serious doubt they’ll follow through. It may seem excellent on paper, but the Renesis was plagued with issues in practice. Poor mileage, numerous service bulletins and excessive oil consumption contributed to falling sales of the RX-8.

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