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Sorry, rotary fans, Mazda's RX Vision probably won't happen

Mazda is doing a lot of things the right way in this age of beige-ness. It just crammed a turbocharged inline-four into the improved CX-9, a bold move unto itself, and one that should also be heartening for Mazdaspeed fans. Wouldn't that engine make for a swell Mazdaspeed3 or Mazdaspeed6? There's a reasonable ray of hope there, but not necessarily a guarantee. The RX Vision, though, is a pipe dream. Mazda is smart to keep the rotary dream alive. It's smart to keep developing it in back rooms and to keep the idea on the public's mind. Credit where credit's due: Mazda has solved some of the stickiest issues the rotary engine has, through savvy engineering and perseverance. We've seen promising patent filings for the Skyactiv-R engine, which is supposed to be found in the RX Vision concept. Mazda uses every opportunity to remind us that development is continuing and that the company would love to bring a rotary-powered sportscar to production. I believe it. But the RX Vision is just a design study. And there are some harsh realities about rotary engine emissions and fuel economy standards that are difficult for modern piston engines to achieve without expensive componentry. Emissions and fuel economy are both bugbears of the rotary, in case you've forgotten. And that explains Mazda's interest in running rotaries on hydrogen, but down that road lie infrastructure challenges as daunting as making a gasoline-powered rotary burn as clean as one of Mazda's Skyactiv piston engines. All this is meant to put Mazda's recent comments to Top Gear in context. Mazda's design director, Kevin Rice, spoke to TG at the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa D'Este, and was waving Mazda's rotary flag quite enthusiastically. "In the back rooms at Mazda, we're still developing it," Rice said, "and when the world's ready to buy another rotary, we'll be ready to provide it." I'd like that to be a comforting statement, but given the realities of fuel economy and emissions regulations and Mazda's position in the market, it seems like a hollow platitude. "When the world's ready" is just another way of saying "when we solve the fundamental issues with this engine layout, and there's an unambiguous market study that shows we can build these cars and make a profit, we'll consider it." That seems like a lot of "ifs". Perhaps Mazda does have a clean-burning, efficient, cheap-to-produce rotary running on an engine dyno in Hiroshima, and it's prepping an RX-9 for the next auto show.

Mazda RX-9 could be a 400-hp, 2,900-pound coupe due in 2019

Mazda poured fuel on the white-hot rumors of an RX-8 successor with the RX-Vision earlier this year. The long, low rotary-powered coupe was lovely, but as we reported, it wasn't going to happen. But now, there's another chapter in the RX rumormill, and like overnight parts, it's from Japan. Japanese site Holiday Auto claims that Mazda will debut the so-called RX-9 at the 2019 Tokyo Motor Show. But before that happens, the Zoom-Zoom company will preview the production model with a concept at next year's Tokyo Motor Show. 2017 is important, marking 50 years since Felix Wankel had the screwy idea for his eponymous engine and 40 years after the company's first rotary powered car, the Cosmo, hit the market. Exciting as Holiday Auto's report is, the stats on this long-rumored car are better – via Google Translate, the Japanese site claims the RX-9 will use a 1.6-liter, two-rotor Wankel with a single turbocharger. It's good for around 400 horsepower. Holiday Auto isn't exaggerating when it claims the car could have "bike-like acceleration." As with other Mazda products, a low curb weight is key, which is why engineers are targeting a meager 1,300 kilograms (2,866 pounds) for the production model – that weight should be pretty evenly split, too, thanks to a rear transaxle. So yes, the RX-9 will be stupid fast and extremely agile. But it will come at a cost. And by cost, we mean that the RX-9 will start just south of eight million yen. That's $79,641 at today's rates, or enough to purchase about 2.5 RX-8 R3s, the hardcore handling trim of Mazda's last-gen rotary car. And if Mazda follows Nissan's GT-R pricing model, we'll see a six-figure RX-9 by 2025. When it comes to Mazda rotary rumors, grains of salt are a must. That's doubly true when we're talking about a possible concept that won't debut for over a year. But with the RX-Vision, Mazda showed that it hasn't abandoned rotary power, and with 2017 marking a big anniversary for the technology, it seems unlikely that the company will let the date pass without some acknowledgement. A concept car seems like a solid bet. Related Video:

Japanese students turning Mazda CX-5 into Dakar Rally-ready off-roader

Students at Japan's Nihon Automobile College (NATS) are transforming a first-generation Mazda CX-5 into a full-blown off-roader that looks ready to compete in the Dakar Rally. Named CX-Runner, the one-of-a-kind model will make its debut at the Tokyo Auto Salon opening its doors in January 2020. The Tokyo Auto Salon is the Japanese equivalent of the annual SEMA show, so anything goes under the bright lights. NATS students began the CX-Runner project with a used 2012 CX-5 and seemingly set out to leave as few original parts as possible. While the project isn't finished yet, a sketch released by the school suggests the crossover will receive wheel arch extensions, an external roll cage, a beefier suspension, and a shorter front bumper that increases the approach angle.  Photos published on the school's official Facebook page show the project is moving along nicely. The body extensions are made with a composite material that looks like Kevlar, and fitting the rear wheel arches required sealing the back doors, which is fine; the CX-Runner will be a two-seater. We don't know if students are planning to make changes to the CX-5's powertrain yet, but a thick skid plate will protect whatever is under the hood from expensive impacts with obstacles encountered off-road. nats-mazda-cx-runner-project-1 View 3 Photos The Tokyo Auto Salon will open its doors on January 10, so the students have time to finish the custom-made body kit, install the suspension, paint the CX-Runner, and fit the roll cage. They're not just doing this for fun, though. NATS began offering a customizing class in 1998, and building a tuner car is one of the requirements aspiring builders need to fulfill in order to graduate. With that in mind, it's no surprise that NATS will again have a big presence during the 2020 edition of the Tokyo Auto Salon. In addition to the CX-5 off-roader, its students are building six custom cars including a Nissan 370Z roadster wearing front and rear fascias sourced from a GT-R, a Toyota 2000GT-inspired convertible based on the Suzuki Cappuccino kei car from the 1990s, and a four-door, five-seater Toyota 86 built on Camry bones but powered by the coupe's flat-four engine. Relate Video: