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Mazda still has a team working on rotary engines

The flame still burns within Mazda to stage a rotary engine revival. Before you start getting excited, it's way too soon to start saving money for the fabled, next-gen RX-7 or RX-8. Still, company boss Masamichi Kogai confirmed to Autocar that the Japanese automaker has an engineering team dedicated to improving the Wankel. This development group has the hard task of trying to make the rotary stack up to modern internal combustion engines in terms of emissions and fuel-economy standards. Neither factor were ever exactly Wankel's strong suits. Kogai described them as working "very enthusiastically" to Autocar. The boss didn't discuss any future RX-vehicles or the size of the team, however, a report from last year indicated that there were 30 engineers in partnership with universities to update the engine's design. After problems keeping up with emissions and fuel economy, Mazda built it's last rotary for an RX-8 in June 2012. Since then, there have been intermittent rumors of a return. One possible solution was a design called the 16X that was supposed to offer more torque and better fuel economy. Another possibility was a small-displacement unit as a range-extender in an electric Mazda2. Rumors of a new RX-7 have been heard for years. In 2013, Kogai clearly said that it wasn't happening. When asked again last year, he reiterated the same point.

Watch this 1,500-hp Mazda MX-5 smoke a race track

In December 2014 we watched New Zealand drifter "Mad Mike" Whiddett assemble his RADBUL, an NC-series Mazda MX-5 Miata with a four-rotor engine aided by twin Garrett turbochargers. The Dr. Frankensteins at engine builders Pulse Performance expected their creation to be good for 1,500 horsepower. This year we get to watch Whiddett run the monster around Highlands Motorsports Park in New Zealand, brewing up enough tire smoke to set of fire alarms in the International Space Station. When the car was finished in February Pulse Performance put it on the dyno, toning down the boost because "the tires easily smoked the rollers." The result on the day was 1,032 horsepower from the 2.6-liter engine. When Whiddett campaigned it at the Forth Worth, TX round of this year's Formula Drift Pro Championship, he said tiny adjustments have a huge effect on the way the car behaves so they were still trying to find the right balance a few months into the season because of the testing limit outside of competition. Unsurprisingly, he also said the car "is so damn fast that I'm actually having trouble slowing down." RADBUL is the third in Whiddett's line of Mazda drift specials, after the RX-8 BADBUL and the RX-7 MADBUL. Check out the video above for the ballet, and for more, check out the behind-the-scenes and the 360-degree POV videos.

Mazda6 AWD: More evidence surfaces

Last month, we learned that Mazda was seriously considering adding all-wheel drive to the Mazda6 line-up due to high demand. Now, more evidence has surfaced that an all-wheel-drive Mazda6 could be coming sooner than later. As first reported by Motor Trend, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website has listings for both the 2018 Mazda6 with the standard front-wheel-drive powertrain and a 2018 with all-wheel drive. Clicking on the all-wheel-drive link reveals that it has the exact same safety ratings and features listed as the front-wheel-drive model. Both pages also have links to the same technical data sheets, all of which are for the 2016 Mazda6. This is the case with the 2017 model listed on the NHTSA site, too. Naturally, this by no means confirms that Mazda is bringing an all-wheel-drive version to the United States. It's possible the inclusion was a mistake, or someone might have even typed an "A" instead of an "F" when creating that page. But also considering Mazda's interest in offering all-wheel drive, the existance of all-wheel-drive Mazda6 variants overseas, and the likely minor technical hurdles to overcome, we'd say the odds are pretty solid that we'll see four driven wheels in a Mazda6 in the near future, even if not this model year. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Featured Gallery 2018 Mazda6: LA 2017 View 16 Photos News Source: NHTSAImage Credit: Drew Phillips Rumormill Mazda Safety Sedan