Mazda Iconic SP rotary concept

Apologies if there's a thread already. I searched and didn't see one.

This looks excellent and if it takes a hybrid power train for a rotary sports car to make another appearance I would be down. They've teased this for years but this one unveiled this month looks closer than the previous "RX vision" versions. Heavy FD styling and some kind of pop up headlights. Love it.

Mazda Iconic SP from Tokyo Mobility Show

Plus the first 3 rotor single turbo swapped  one will be hilarious.

Fingers crossed it actually gets built..

Whereas the RX-Vision was an updated FD, this looks like an FD blended with an ND.

The last time Mazda teased us with a small, fun car was with the Kabura in 2006.

Have they done anything else with their straight 6? It would be interesting if they put it in this.

not sure how pop up headlights are ever gonna pass ped-pro but it still looks great. 

this will probably be teased with us for the next 5 years before we get some dummed down version of it thats less thrilling or just speculation. 

im all for a hybrid engine rotary sports car thats the same weight as an rx8 with twice the power. finally a way to curb the rotary thirst and give decent fuel economy is just to add an electric motor haha. 

Looks great! I like the M A Z D A font spacing too. 
 

I'm not holding my breath though.

fidelity101 said:

not sure how pop up headlights are ever gonna pass ped-pro but it still looks great. 

this will probably be teased with us for the next 5 years before we get some dummed down version of it thats less thrilling or just speculation. 

im all for a hybrid engine rotary sports car thats the same weight as an rx8 with twice the power. finally a way to curb the rotary thirst and give decent fuel economy is just to add an electric motor haha. 

Yep all this. I don't want that straight 6 in this. I'll take even a hybrid if it means some kind of rotary returns. *Silent whirring _ *small brap brap*_ *silent whirring. It could be fun.

crankwalk (Forum Supporter) said:

Apologies if there's a thread already. I searched and didn't see one.

This looks excellent and if it takes a hybrid power train for a rotary sports car to make another appearance I would be down. They've teased this for years but this one unveiled this month looks closer than the previous "RX vision" versions. Heavy FD styling and some kind of pop up headlights. Love it.

Mazda Iconic SP from Tokyo Mobility Show

 

Plus the first 3 rotor single turbo swapped  one will be hilarious.

I guarantee that'll be Mad Mike Whiddett. He's got multiple 4-rotor RX-7s (turbo and NA), a turbo 3-rotor RX-8, a turbo four-rotor NC Miata (later reskinned to an ND), and a turbo 4-rotor Mazda3.

Can't stop looking at this beautiful jewel

I like how it kinda looks likes it's sleeping. 

That shade of red is *excellent*.

Really curious how much the design will change if this does get built.  And what it will cost.

I have a feeling that unless this becomes the next MX-5 it won't be mass produced. The bean counters will say they can't have another 2 door sporty car in the lineup, or it'll have to be at a higher price segment.

crankwalk (Forum Supporter) said:

fidelity101 said:

not sure how pop up headlights are ever gonna pass ped-pro but it still looks great. 

this will probably be teased with us for the next 5 years before we get some dummed down version of it thats less thrilling or just speculation. 

im all for a hybrid engine rotary sports car thats the same weight as an rx8 with twice the power. finally a way to curb the rotary thirst and give decent fuel economy is just to add an electric motor haha. 

Yep all this. I don't want that straight 6 in this. I'll take even a hybrid if it means some kind of rotary returns. *Silent whirring _ *small brap brap*_ *silent whirring. It could be fun.

Mazda doesn't make rotaries that brap, way too much emissions.    They spent a lot of time engineering anti-brap devices starting with MY1981.

Besides, rotaries are crazy-efficient at WOT, so it would make sense to have a fairly small engine that occasionally runs WOT and then shuts off for cruising.

Did Mazda just hire the people who designed the 400z and say "fd" but modern.

Also, the inline 6 is in an suv. And we have the Atlas, the Barra, the RB, the 2JZ and BMW's newest now!

Great looking car.

Mazda says the MX-5 is very profitable. Could they make the math work for the NE by having a sports car on the same platform? They did that with the NC/RX-8.

pres589 (djronnebaum) said:

That shade of red is *excellent*.

Agreed, it looks pretty much identical to the red on my FD.  Bring it on, we need more cars with real color on them!

https://www.hagerty.com/media/news/new-mazda-patent-will-please-rotor-heads/

Hagarty is reporting the rotary for this wont just be a range extender but the main powerplant for the car. If this is true and Mazda pulls this off (and doesn't make the production car ugly) I think this will be a hit. Never thought we would see the rotary again in the hyper emission restrictive era. 

Snrub said:

Great looking car.

Mazda says the MX-5 is very profitable. Could they make the math work for the NE by having a sports car on the same platform? They did that with the NC/RX-8.

Interesting and seriously attractive. I actually like rotaries, but they've not stored up a lot of good will with the public. I'll take the I6. (Still think that a V6 RX8 would have been the second coming of MazdaJesus).

33hp from the electric motor, is that enough to assist the rotary for better emissions?

Mazda showed a new 2 rotor engine back in May, but they did fake us out with 16X a 10 years ago.

In reply to j_tso :

Given that transitional behaviour is the hardest part of emissions tuning, the electric motor may be able to make the difference where it counts. You may never realize it's doing anything.

j_tso said:

33hp from the electric motor, is that enough to assist the rotary for better emissions?

Mazda showed a new 2 rotor engine back in May, but they did fake us out with 16X a 10 years ago.

I've heard with the hybrid setup they can cut out almost all of the idle emissions which was a a crucial part of it. Somehow with how smooth rotaries are and having electric assist, this might be a ultra smooth delivery with actual torque.