Mazda once again brings up its favorite ‘rotary engine’ topic

Mazda has released a nostalgic video titled “Rotary’s 50th Anniversary”, dedicated to the experience of using the Wankel engine design in its vehicles over the past half century.

The description under it stubbornly emphasizes that “the history of Mazda rotary engines is not over yet”.

No details are being provided, but the Japanese carmaker has hinted many times that it was planning to resurrect the rotary engine tech in a mass-produced vehicle model. The latest such example – the RX-8 – left the assembly lines for good in 2012. Three years later, the company unveiled the hauntingly beautiful RX Vision Concept (see the gallery), but nothing has become of it so far.

Recently, Mazda engineers said they wanted to use a rotary engine as a so-called “range extender”. In other words, they suggested using a gasoline engine purely as a power generator for the hybrid powertrain of the car. Interestingly enough, we saw camouflaged RX-8 vehicles on the Nürburgring this summer, and the automaker applied for a few Wankel engine-based patents after that.

The primary challenge the tech department is facing so far is to make these engines fuel-efficient while minimizing harmful emissions to comply with the latest norms and standards.