Mazda RENESIS Rotary (RX-8)

“Mazda has again brought powertrain alchemy to the masses with the rotary engine”
Jeff Bartlett, Motor Trend

Felix Wankel, pioneer of the rotary engine, Kenichi Yamamoto, the first head of Mazda’s RE (Rotary Engine) Research Department in 1963, and Nobuhiro Hayama, today’s general manager of Mazda global powertrain activities: the names are synonymous with rotary engines and, now, the International Engine of the Year 2003, the RENESIS Rotary.

The achievement is against all the odds: rotary engines had been dismissed by many – including Europe’s emission legislators, who banished Mazda’s last Wankel, the 13B-REW, from its markets in the last decade – as too inefficient, too polluting.

However, the Japanese car maker has bounced back in tremendous style, the 2003 RENESIS gathering 316 points, some 72 more than the second-placed Volkswagen. Indeed, 44 of the panel of 50 judges voted for the RENESIS to take the most prestigious Awards title – a massive endorsement of Mazda’s efforts with this unconventional engine.

The starting point for RENESIS’ – appropriately, it stands for ‘RE (rotary engine’s) GENESIS’ – rise to glory was the Multi-Side-Port rotary Engine, or MSP-E. This unit was introduced in the RX-01 concept at the Tokyo Motor Show in 1995. It was then presented in a refined version at the 1999 Tokyo Motor Show in the RX-EVOLV four-door sports car concept, forerunner to the eye-catching RX-8 that it now powers.

Naturally aspirated and available with two power outputs (192bhp or 240bhp), the rotary impressed the judges with its silky smooth power delivery, incredible refinement and willingness to rev so freely.

Perhaps winning the International Engine of the Year 2003 title will see Mazda invest further in rotary engines (for now, some 60,000 a year will be made at Mazda’s Hiroshima factory). That RENESIS already meets the forthcoming 2005 EURO 4 emissions standards proves that Mazda’s brilliant adoption of Felix Wankel’s concept has a very promising future.