Rotary comes back around

It might not be in a screaming, high-revving sports car. It might not be in a charming, coke-bottle-shaped little coupé, but, when the rotary returns in the MX-30 R-EV in the summer, it’s a welcome dose of innovation to the future of automotive.

Not an RX-EV, interestingly, which barring the first, the Cosmo, is carried the most famous of all Mazdas rotaries. Instead the 'R' stands for return. 

The RX-8 was thought to have been the last hurrah for the Japanese manufacturer’s take on the Felix Wankel-invented engine. Just 1.3-litres in capacity, but being a twin-rotor it was effectively double that and capable of straining to beyond 220bhp. 

The peak of the RX-8 came in 40th Anniversary form, celebrating four decades of the rotary, but in that time it failed to shake concerns about overworked and failing seals, subsequent oil leaks and expensive bills.

Yet owners were – and are – willing to risk it. The RX-7 was the longest-lived of all rotaries, from sleek and pretty in first generation form to small-screen superstar in third, the FD. The likes of Need for Speed gave it wings, and it’s a darling of the modified scene.

The 7 replaced the 3 and Luce/RX-4, flying in the face of naming conventions. Purposeful and handsome, the two-door is a firecracker of a car. Naturally highly strung, it's free revving with a soundtrack to match.

Only one is probably rarer: the stunning Cosmo. This roadster holds a very special place with anyone who likes Japanese cars because it was the first proper sports car. Certainly the first bigger than a kei car, and it's hard to think where the styling could be improved.

That was revealed in 1967, and the fact that Mazda has brought back the technology it pioneered half a century later is another string in the Cosmo's bow.

The principle of the CX is the same but the application is very different – and it is very much a rotary. Instead the single-rotor motor is a range extender, and supposedly good for more than 400 miles combined. Around 50 of those can be purely electric. After that the 830cc so-called rotary engine generator powers the electric motor. The generator, Mazda says, has no direct connection to the wheels. The benefit is no jarring switchover of power.

The R-EV's top spec model, like the rotaries of yore, will be a rarity here with just 400 coming to the UK in the summer. But every MX-30 will have the option of of rotary spec.

There'll be plenty of rotaries at the first Assembly of 2023 on Sunday 29 January – join us by buying your tickets while you still can.