Mazda Rx-8 What to look for when buying ??

They'll get better with time and R&D, think about this: Mazda is the only car manufacturer that has actually made the engine work from a mass production standpoint so therefore any research in relation to successfully putting it into consumer passenger vehicles has been essentially done by one car company. Nearly 100 years behind the start of standard piston engine research for industrial purposes, compound that time for research with the sheer volume of companies investing time and research into them then and now and where the rotary is now is an impressive feat.

The are still quite a few companies making them in Russia, Australia, Japan and the Czech republic, its just Mazda is the only car company, they are still used in aviation although not as widely as 50 years ago and also used in model aeroplanes (German companies makes mini ones).
 
I thought what the aviation industry describe as a rotary engine was an entirely different beast to the wankel style rotary?

ie. a radial array of pistons, but still essentially a piston engine, just a different layout.
 
What the aviation industry describe as a rotary engine is vastly different from what Mazda describe as rotary (that type of engine would involve the engine being bolted to the drive shaft and the whole engine rotating with it, however what the aviation industry describe as a radial engine is very similar to what Mazda describe as a rotary. Hence why in many places you will see it referred to as a Wankel radial engine.

On another note Mazda are the only company making production road cars with rotary engines today because GM, Mercedes and Peugeot all abandoned the tech in favour of "normal" designs.
 
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They'll get better with time and R&D, think about this: Mazda is the only car manufacturer that has actually made the engine work from a mass production standpoint so therefore any research in relation to successfully putting it into consumer passenger vehicles has been essentially done by one car company. Nearly 100 years behind the start of standard piston engine research for industrial purposes, compound that time for research with the sheer volume of companies investing time and research into them then and now and where the rotary is now is an impressive feat.

Emissions is a massive driver for engine technology. Wankels are inefficient
 
I think if we move to hydrogen they will take off, they virtually run of the stuff as is. Like someone said its a pet project, a good one though.
 
What the aviation industry describe as a rotary engine is vastly different from what Mazda describe as rotary (that type of engine would involve the engine being bolted to the drive shaft and the whole engine rotating with it, however what the aviation industry describe as a radial engine is very similar to what Mazda describe as a rotary. Hence why in many places you will see it referred to as a Wankel radial engine.

On another note Mazda are the only company making production road cars with rotary engines today because GM, Mercedes and Peugeot all abandoned the tech in favour of "normal" designs.

What the aviation industry refers to as a radial engine still has reciprocating pistons connected to a common crank, it's just that the pistons are stationary unlike a rotary engine. So, completely unlike a Wankel engine.
 
I was so close to buying one of these today. It had sat nav, heated leather seats, xenons etc...It was in really good condition inside and out and drove really well. I was impressed at how it handled corners at speed. The issue I had was he stated full service history yet when I got there it only had history up to 2010 :(

It had only done 10k since it's last proven service but with a car like this it worried me that it didn't have any stamps for the past 4 years. He tried to tell me that the guy before him did the services every 3000 miles and he had it done recently and wouldn't listen when I tried to tell him anybody can say that but without any proof it's just somebodies word.

I do feel a little gutted and it is such a nice car :( He wanted £2200 which seemed to be a decent price, especially if it would have had full service history.
 
Tbh I'd be far more interested in when it was rebuilt than whether it was or was not serviced before it last blew up

With most cars history really matters - with one you know will need a rebuildit almost doesn't matter how it was treated before so I'd be more interested in that aspect - especially when its only £2k anyway
 
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