The rumours have been flying in every direction about a successor to the RX-8 and another addition to the front-engine, rear-drive RX family - preferably with a rotary engine. And things only escalated when Mazda pulled the wraps off the RX Vision concept vehicle late last year.
At the time, the Japanese automaker insisted the RX Vision was merely a concept and a ‘design study’, quashing the hopes of some for a true modern performance car to emerge from Mazda.
Now, though, that storyline has been given another twist as it seems that the company's bigwigs have gone ahead and greenlit the project’s design and production roadmap after some consideration. The report comes from Japan’s Holiday Auto magazine, who claim to have inside knowledge of Mazda’s workings enough to be fairly certain too of the sports car’s introduction: 2020.
Because the gestation period will take several more years, it will likely be revised before it emerges from the factory floor. Mazda is quite likely to preview the car at a prominent motor show before the final spec and design are set in stone, most likely in late 2017 or early 2018.
Holiday Auto says that the engine that will power the new car, to be called the RX-9, will be a new type of rotary motor called SkyActiv-R, displacing 1.6-litres and comprising of twin 800cc rotor chambers. The engine will also be turbocharged but will also be the first to use Mazda’s new high-compression HCCI technology to generate over 300kW.
Coupled with a purported kerb weight of around 1300kg, the next Mazda RX will have a power-to-weight ratio to punch above its price point. And if the current MX-5 (ND) is anything to go by, Mazda’s ability to make a car sparkle through the bends can’t be matched by many others in the industry.
Safety regulations will mean that the the RX-9 will have to have to undergo some key design changes from the RX Vision concept and it will likely be less low-slung, taller, and have a shorter wheelbase. Bearing all these compromises in mind, Holiday Auto has concocted these renderings that also add in some cues from Mazda’s current crop of cars.
Perhaps, with a little luck, Mazda will see fit to bring an updated RX Vision concept to the 2016 Tokyo Motor Show. One that better reflects its journey toward becoming a full production model.
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