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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.

Flyin' Miata is building a V8-powered MX-5 ND

It's cold in many parts of the country, but this V8-swapped 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata that Flyin' Miata is developing has us dreaming about throwing on a parka and taking a very brisk drive. This beast is the product of the talented folks at Flyin' Miata, but we can't get too excited just yet. According to the company's brief Facebook post, this is just a dummy V8, placed under the Miata's hood to confirm fit. Judging by the photo, the engine fits like a glove. "There's still a long way to go before this is a real thing," Flyin' Miata writes, but the company admits everything looks "very promising" so far. The post doesn't mention any details about the estimated specs, but Autoblog reached out to Flyin' Miata for more information about this intriguing build. Keith Tanner, one of the mad scientists who shoehorns V8s into Miatas at the Colorado outfit, told us that Flyin' Miata is looking at both the LS3, which will provide between 430 and 525 hp, and the LT1 which is 460 hp out of the box. A supercharged LT4 is also being considered, but as Tanner put it, "that might be a little nuts" in a car as light as the ND. In any of these engine configurations, Tanner estimates the V8-swapped ND should comfortably be a sub-4 second to 60 mph car. The transmission will be a Tremec T56 Magnum six-speed manual. The suspension, brakes, fuel system, cooling system, and the chassis itself will all be beefed up to handle the power, as per normal FM practice. The one question mark is the rear end, as the ND's existing one simply won't be up to the task of putting that much horsepower to the ground. The 2016 Miata was one of the best cars we drove in 2015, but Flyin' Miata knows how to turn a standard MX-5 into an absolute hotrod with the company's LS3 V8 conversions for earlier models. Imagining the more modern chassis from the latest generation with a massive dollop of more power is an exciting thought. We can't wait to see how this project turns out. Related Video:

Confirmed: Mazda Miata gets more power, higher redline, telescoping wheel

Our friend over at Road & Track, Bozi Tatarevic, has a keen nose for stuff just like today's Miata news, and he spotted an article by the Japanese car magazine Car Watch that details Mazda's upcoming updates. Car Watch actually got to drive the car, too. There's a lot to go through, but the highlight has to be confirmation of what we told you earlier this year about a significant power bump: The Miata will indeed get an increase of 26 horsepower, from 155 to 181. But the power's not the whole story. Mazda has increased the redline from 6,800 RPM to 7,500. It's not clear at this point where torque and power peaks are in the rev range, or how these changes affect low-speed drivability, but more revs are almost always a good thing and aren't likely to detract from the roadster's fundamental goodness. Car Watch reports that lighter pistons and connecting rods are fitted to help reduce rotational mass in the 2.0-liter inline-four. Some valvetrain changes were needed to support the higher redline, mainly stiffer valvesprings to prevent valve float. Mazda also changed the shape of the valves and optimized the intake ports to breathe better at higher RPM. The inner diameter of the exhaust ports were increased to flow better through a new muffler better tuned to the engine's new operating range. This confirms and gives a little more detail to what we reported earlier based on a leaked document from Mazda Canada. Car Watch also confirms that the revised Miata will get a low-inertia dual-mass flywheel, which should help absorb some vibration, noise and harshness from the higher-revving engine without losing too much of the directness that a single-mass flywheel provides. Mazda usually gets stuff like this right, so while we won't know until we get a chance to drive it whether the DMF feels "right," we're not too worried about it. There's also a telescopic steering wheel, a first in any Miata, which has a range of about 1.1 inches. That doesn't sound like much, but it should help folks with longer legs reach the wheel without having to crank the seat forward. Interestingly, Car Watch reports that the telescoping wheel was opposed by some in the company seeking to save every fraction of an ounce of weight, and to get it through, the company apparently had to change some of the material in the upper steering column from steel to aluminum to satisfy the weight-conscious. Little details like these are fantastic.