A new Mazda RX-7 successor could happen, and a rotary engine is on the cards
Mazda fans have been hoping for a rotary-powered sports car since the Iconic SP concept was unveiled in 2023
Mazda has shared worryingly few updates about its new rotary-powered sports car since the unforgettable Iconic SP concept was revealed back in 2023, however Auto Express can reassure petrolheads that the dream of an RX-7 successor is still very much alive.
The Japanese brand signaled its intention to put the 2023 Tokyo Motor Show concept Iconic SP into production the following year, with Masashi Nakayama, general manager of Mazda’s design division, stating at the time that “it has been designed with real intent to turn it into a production model in the not-so-distant future.”
But despite attention being focused on the new Mazda CX-5 SUV and a more serious move into electric cars, the project isn’t dead. “If there's a feasible way to do that, then I'm sure if somebody will do it, it's Mazda, because here the enthusiasts still make things happen,” the brand’s product planning supervisor in Europe, Moritz Oswald, told Auto Express in an exclusive interview. “I think at the moment the MX-5 is still our halo car that stands for everything that Mazda products should. Could there be something next to it or above? Yes.”
“The amount of car enthusiasts in this company is insane,” he said. “Everybody loves cars, so of course there is a deep desire to keep on launching emotional products. So are we looking into that? Yes, of course. But again, we are also a company that has to bring in revenues.”
He added, “that's also why we are showing these kinds of concepts, because we also want to see how it is resonating, what's the feedback, to try and find out how big is the opportunity that we have there.
As encouraging as that is to hear, Oswald didn’t offer a timeline for when the production version of the Iconic SP – whatever it might be called – could launch.
Deputy general manager of R&D Mazda Europe, Christian Schultze, was equally enthusiastic about the possibilities that come with a new sports car but explained to us some of the challenges this project faces: “One thing you must understand, Mazda stands for cars for ordinary people.
“People have a specific design and expectations for our cars, so making a sports car that is for everybody is a real challenge.
“If I say I want to sell something for $100,000, I can make a credible sports car. But if I say I want to make something for normal people like me and you and everyone, this is a real challenge.”
The sleek and stunning Iconic SP concept was heavily inspired by the iconic third-generation Mazda RX-7, also known as the FD-generation – right down to its pop-up headlights and fluid shape. It even featured a rotary engine, which both Mazda and the RX-7 are synonymous with.
Will the new Mazda RX-7 still feature a rotary engine?
While some are going down the electric route for their next models, Mazda likes to do things its own way and we got the sense the plan is still for the road-going version of the Iconic SP to feature a rotary-hybrid powertrain, just like the concept, and the striking Vision X-Coupe we saw last year.
Rotaries are smaller and lighter than conventional combustion engines, making them ideal (in theory) for sports cars. All three iterations of the RX-7 were powered by high-revving rotary engines, as was the RX-8 that followed in the 2000s. The Iconic SP concept featured a twin-rotor unit alongside two electric motors that supposedly produced 365bhp.
Mazda showed how the rotary engine could be used for a plug-in hybrid with the short lived MX-30 R-EV, as well as the Vision X-Coupe. However Schultze wants to ensure this unique engine Mazda fans love so much can actually drive the wheels, not just generate energy for some electric motors.
“If you want to have it more sporty then maybe you look rotary plus a more sporty oriented hybrid, more parallel hybrid rather than a series hybrid,” said Schultze, “because people who cherish the engine, they want to feel the power of the engine directly, not only listen to it.”
He added a rotary-hybrid set-up like in the Iconic SP “is a highly efficient powertrain. And if you fuel this with CO2 neutral fuel, you don't need to feel somehow ashamed [when driving it] because you can say, I'm compatible, I'm sustainable, I'm renewable.”
Although Schultze did admit “there are things which are difficult, for example, emissions – feasible but difficult – so we need to look into what is possible for the future.”
Everything we know about the Mazda Iconic SP concept
At the 2023 Tokyo Motor Show unveiling of the Iconic SP and the updated MX-5, Mazda President and CEO, Masahiro Moro said: “We are determined in the age of electrification to keep the joy of driving which the MX-5 represents alive, and the Mazda Iconic SP, with its dual rotary power generator EV powertrain, is our dream solution.”
The actual size of the Iconic SP (4,180mm long, 1,850mm wide and 1,150mm tall) is close to the final FD-generation RX-7. With rotary power plus the SP’s sleek design, it’s impossible not to make the link to Mazda’s nineties sports car icon.
Mazda says the Iconic SP weighs 1,450kg. While that is over 100kg more than the FD RX-7, it’s relatively lightweight compared to, for example, the latest BMW M2 (1,725kg).
The SP looks almost identical to the Vision Study Model concept, aside from a new headlight cluster. The sleek coupe profile, low bonnet, smooth surfacing, curved side window and overall proportions all mimic the FD RX-7, too.
Inside the minimalist cabin, we can see a gear selector for an automatic gearbox, and a touchscreen in the middle of the dash with readouts on regenerative braking, launch control, active aerodynamics, G-force vectoring control and a 360-degree camera. The driver’s display has a G-force readout and a mini-map of Monaco’s street circuit.
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