Well now, according to Japanese vehicle magazine Holiday Auto, rotary-lovers can start putting money in an RX-9 piggy bank, because the board of directors has allegedly formally approved the development of a rear-wheel-drive sports vehicle equipped with a turbocharged 1.6-liter dual-rotor SKYACTIV-R engine, weighing less than 1,300 kilograms (2,866 pounds), and launching itself around with 395 hp. Indeed, it seems the rotary will soldier on.
Advertisement
Mazda even admitted in the past that they have a dedicated engineering team, working on the rotary engine for the past eight years, looking for a breakthrough.
Between the Mazda RX-9 and Toyota Supra, based on whatever information there is on both models, which one would you rather splash the cash for? A new sports auto is said to be in preparation, which would be none other than the RX-9… A prototype of the RX-9 is now tipped for introduction at the biennial Tokyo Motor Show in 2017, with the production version then coming out at the same venue in 2019.
Advertisement
The rotary engined Mazda RX-9, a successor to the issue-plagued but cult RX-8, has been apparently approved by the top brass at Mazda and will be introduced in 2020. Excited? But wait, there’s more! The auto is expected to carry the RX-9 nameplate and debut as a prototype in 2017, followed by a production version in 2019 before it hits dealers in 2020. So, it’s not a matter of if the rotary-powered Mazda RX will return, but a matter of when that will happen.
