‘Greener’ Replacement for Popular Mazda RX-7 in the Offing!

Mazda RX-7 Eco-friendly sports car illustration (Image via: Motor Trend)

The Mazda RX-7 is seemingly one of those things from the past that refuses to die a silent death! The RX-7 which hit the streets for the first time over 30 years ago in 1978 is one of the most successful rotary-engine powered cars ever.

For those less car savvy folks out there…

A rotary engine is a type of internal combustion engine. However its functionality is a little different from a conventional piston engine.

The rotary engine was an early type of internal-combustion engine, usually designed with an odd number of cylinders per row in a radial configuration, in which the crankshaft remained stationary and the entire cylinder block rotated around it. The design was used mostly in the years shortly before and during World War I to power aircraft, and also saw use in a few early motorcycles and cars.(Via: Wikipedia)

So why are we still talking about a sports car from the 70s?

Mazda RX-7 first generation car (1979–1985) (Image via: Wikipedia)

For starters the Mazda RX-7 was a highly successful sports car from the Japanese automobile company. What’s more influential though is the fact that the US market for an affordable rotary engine powered sports car is still very promising.

A replacement for the RX-7…

Is therefore on the way! And apparently it’s called the next generation 16X rotary inside the company for the time being.

So why should we care?

The new replacement for the RX-7 will have a bi-fuel rotary engine and consequently either gas or diesel can be used to power it.

However this 2 stroke, 16X rotary engine is claimed to be even more versatile than that, since according to initial reports the engine can run on just about anything, even castor oil!