Curious: who would buy a new RX7?

MightyBobo

I remember hearing that somehow the "true" displacement of a rotary was in actuality double what they say it is, but I cant remember why...I'll have to look into it...

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Lug

That's how they were rated on the racing circuit after kicking mucho asso in GTU racing.
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In 1991, Mazda became the first Japanese manufacturer to win the 24 hours of Le Mans. The car was a 4-rotor prototype class car, the 787B. The FIA outlawed rotary engines shortly after this win. To this day the rotary powered Mazda is the only Japanese manufacturer to have ever won the prestigious 24 hour Le Mans race outright.[citation needed]

Mazda began racing RX-7s in the IMSA GTU series in 1979. That first year, RX-7s placed first and second at the 24 Hours of Daytona, and claimed the GTU series championship. The car continued winning, claiming the GTU championship seven years in a row. The RX-7 took the GTO championship ten years in a row from 1982. The RX-7 has won more IMSA races than any other car model.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda_RX-7

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mjd77

For the record, I will consider one but for now I am considering the 370 or the slightly improved RX8 R3 or just holding on to mine until there is some concrete info about the new rotary. Even more important to me than the power, if they can't do something about the gas mileage I dont think I could pull the trigger. I know the 8 is a performance car, but I cant accept the fact that with my mostly highway driving commute to work I still only manage about 20mpg. I know 2 people that have 350zs with a similar commute and they manage close to 30mpg.

Forrest

Its true if you grandma at 60-65 you can obtain those numbers in the 350z. But i dont know about my 370z i have not driven it enough, i am suspecting grandma'ing it will achieve 28mpg. Thats what i have seen on a long highway drive no nasty hills.

k.alexander

Long highway rides, relatively flat, cruise set to 75. I get 28.5mph in the 370Z.

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Lug

Houston to Louisiana and back with cruise set around 80 MPH about 90% of the time = between 26 and 27 MPG in 2006 350Z Auto.

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mjd77

You are correct. It is actually 1.3L per rotor, so technically it is a 2.6. So you essentially have a 2.6L rotary engine that has the low end power of a 4-cylinder and the gas mileage of a V-8. Not real impressive when you look at it that way.

Lug

This is incorrect. From the WIKI:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda_Wankel_engine
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In auto racing, the displacement of a Wankel engine is usually doubled for classing purposes. For Japanese tax purposes, the displacement of Wankel engines is defined as the equivalent of 1.5 times the nominal displacement. So the 1.3 L 13B engines count as just under 2.0 L for these purposes.

The 13B is the most widely produced engine. It was the basis for all future Mazda Wankel engines, and was produced for almost 30 years. The 13B has no relation to the 13A. Instead, it is a lengthened version of the 12A, having 80 mm (3.1 in) thick rotors. Each rotor had a displacement of 654 cc, for a total of 1308 cc displacement in the engine.
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The upped cc measurement was strictly for balancing racing capabilities.

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