Test drive Mazda RX-7: RX factor

Driving the best-selling Wankel-powered car of all time

During the summer of 2012. production of the Mazda RX-8 with the Wankel engine was discontinued. From this rotornata era in the history of the Japanese manufacturer entered a period of hiatus, but the results of research and development were not stopped. While we departed the earlier 7 RX-1979, we wondered if we could trust it.

The RX-7 has been an eloquent “Yes” in the debate about the Wankelovium engine. Delivered from Mazda in 1978. the sports coupe was offered only with the Wankel unit, while almost all of the RX-7's ancestors were luxuriously equipped with special models of the standard series, sold with four-cylinder piston engines.

The big exception is Mazda's origins in the Wankelite car, the 1967 Cosmo Sport. Like the RX-7, the low, Japan-only Cosmo Sport operates exclusively with a rotary engine and has an extremely high price tag. Accordingly, its appeal is small - from Cosmo Sport, only 1519 copies are produced, which today are the subject of comp all over the world.

Mazda manufactures pickups, vans and trucks with Wankelow engines

For many years before the RX-7, the Japanese company installed its rotary machines for almost all types of vehicles - even SUVs and compact 20-seater buses. The top is probably the Mazda Roadpacer, a luxury limousine, 4,85m long, served in Japan from Holden, GM's Australian subsidiary. Premises from 1975 to 1979. The Roadpacer was supplied in Japan, not the engine, but at the Mazda plant in Hiroshima, it received a two-rotor Wankel engine with 135 hp. The device did not cope quite hard with the 1,6-ton live weight of the thoroughbred Australian bull, and the amount of gasoline, smothered during the four chambers of its carburetor, rarely fell below 25 liters per 100 km.

It just so happens that our alarming RX-7, sold in Japan, Australia and the USA under the name Savanna RX-7, is a sure result of a long period of experimentation with various transport tasks for the Wankelowite model. And the result is a sports car! Very beautiful, very fast and even very European sports car, which is more pleasant than the previous Mazda American style design with an emphasis on chrome details. Thirty-five years old are not visible at all in appearance and completely deprived of a chrome model with a flat muzzle and headlights like eyes on a sleeping doll

Should the Mazda RX-7 mimic the Porsche 924?

Some critical voices point out that the design of the RX-7 resembles that which hit the global market back in 1976. Porsche 924 - however, this can only be true for the front end position. But the Triumph TR7 as well as the Fiat X 1/9 have the typical face with retractable headlights from the second half of the seventies, while the pretty domed glazed rear Mazda comes closer to the English model - TVR Vixen 1967. And this, for one, the design of the Mazda RX-7 is as modern and unusual as the proposals exclusively with the Wankel engine. It is its properties that we intend to explore, how to take a longer journey after.

Firstly - even today a person can be impressed by the visual lightness and dynamics of a stylized person without any body “banter” - there is a lack of modern wavy shapes with side edges and light accents. The only decoration on the side is a black rubber protective liner.

Feeling the galactic expanse

When you take a seat behind the wheel, the impression of transparency, freshness and dynamics acquired outside does not leave you for a minute. Slim front speakers and a low front end allow a perfect view towards the road and towards the bonnet. Neither the color of the plastic in the interior, nor the modest width of the 1,65 m body - less than with today's Mini - violate the feeling of galactic open spaces. And this, mind you, was achieved in a sports car only 1,26 meters high. An important contribution to the great impression of spaciousness is also found in solariums from all over the rear. She replaces the last column, and the light rushed into the compartment like a winter garden.

To run it, you need a decent rpm - at least 3000 rpm. Then thanks to the clutch you doze off easily and the RX-7 gear goes off smoothly, and immediately starts greedy for even higher revs. More than 4000 rpm double-rotor Wankelov motor works with real satisfaction and adjusting the needle, tachometer up to 7000 rpm.

An advertisement signal similar to, somewhat, door open warning, remind the driver that you should not overdo it with high revs. Otherwise, you will not hear practically any mechanical sounds - only from the exhaust pipe carries a characteristic trumpet sound, imposing a memory for Alfa Romeo.

The Petstepennata transmission, which is graded over a wide range of gears, needs high revs for decent acceleration, but it allows a high top speed of 192 km / h. Moreover, it enables energetic and precise shifting. Thanks to the hand-friendly leather steering wheel and the tight suspension tuning, the pilot loves every approaching turn for the second time.

Rapid simplicity and straightforwardness of control

Because there is no amplifier, the maneuvers into place require some effort - although the Japanese kata weighs only 1050 kilograms. Otherwise, the RX-7's driving was marked by the swift simplicity and straightforwardness of the controls, which in modern sports coupes such as VW Scirocco or BMW "block" Soire (weighing 1,4 tons) is achieved only using sophisticated technology. In contrast to the RX-7, it only needs precise steering, a grandiose view and a rigid rear axle with springs that the driver can easily control with his headquarters in the role of ESP.

In terms of gas mileage, the results weren't as brilliant. A former auto motor und sport test, the Wankelow Mazda is pleased with 14,6 liters per 100 km, which, however, has not worried the author of the article since 1979. On the contrary, he praises the RX-7 for "pretty bad" wasting a tank of fuel.

American customers on the RX-7 weren't shocked by the gas mileage either. They bought like crazy Wankelov's chevrstat Mazda. The first generation RX-7 was produced in 474 copies. All the Wankels record, which has not been reached until today. But the incredible increase in power and prices for subsequent generations of the RX-565 turn it into a sports-folk favorite in an expensive exotic breed, constantly threatening extinction.

RX - gallery more

Almost simultaneously with the appearance of Ro 80 at NSU in 1967. Mazda announces a trade premiere for its Wankel model. The Cosmo Sport 110 S has a power output of 110 hp. and reaches a maximum speed of 200 km / h.

In the seventies, there are many models in the Mazda lineup with a Wankel engine, but their bodies come from the standard series with a piston engine. The first RX appeared in 1970. as "2" (Cosmo Sport was "1"). On its base served as Mazda 616, sold in the Japanese market under the name Capella. The situation was just as difficult in the successors of the first RX - right up to the RX-7, which receives its own body, and so again, according to tradition, the first Wankelow Mazda cars

CONCLUSION

The RX-7 is the most successful Wankel vehicle of all time. After a longer test drive, the person is certainly very good at the craze of bygone days of buyers. Not only does this come from the engine revving with the speed of the turbine, but also an attractive package that includes Mazda models that look fresh and sexy even today - excellent visibility, excellent handling, high road performance and a relatively spacious interior that gives off a double seat feel. station wagon. Today specialized service centers and a large fan community are making the effort to keep Mazda going forever.

TECHNICAL DATA

Mazda RX-7 (1979) buy cheap online

ENGINE Two-rotor Wankel motor, chamber volume, 573 cm3, which is equivalent to a working volume of 2292 cm3, power 105 k.s. at 6000 rpm, max. torque 144 Nm @ 4000 rpm, compression ratio 9,4: 1, oil cooler, Nippon four-barrel vertical flow carburetor.

POWER TRAIN rear wheel drive fully synchronous, five-speed gearbox, optional three-stage automatic, mainly 3,91: 1 transmission

BODY AND SUSPENSION Monocoque coupe, with two doors and 2 + 2 seats, front coaxial springs and shock absorbers with lower wishbones and reactive lateral stability, rear rigid axle with double wishbones and Watt's side mechanism, coil springs and telescopic four-wheel shock absorbers, front and rear stabilizers, 185/70 HR tires 13.

DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT Length x width x height 4285 x 1675 x 1260 mm, wheelbase 2420 mm trunk volume (ams standard) 109 l, with folding backrest 344 l, tank 55 l.

DYNAMIC CHARACTERISTICS AND CONSUMPTION time Acceleration from 0 to 100 km / h in 10,1 seconds, maximum speed 192,5 km / h, consumption 14,6 liters per 100 km. (values ​​measured from auto motor und sport, pcs. 14/1979).

PRODUCTION PERIOD AND FIGURE RX-7 as a whole from 1978 to 2002, 1985st generation until 474, 565 copies, of which 377 are exported to the USA.

Text: Frank-Peter Hudek

Photos: Natasha Gargolov

CAREFULLY

Kirill Iliev:

Mazda RX-7 is not afraid of high revs - it was made for them

IN THE FOURTEENTH the classic rally Tour Varna launches one Mazda RX-7. Driving the Vankelovia model was its owner - a competitor in drifting Kirill Iliev. Even before the start of the race, when veteran automakers were waiting in the parking lot in front of the cathedral, in the city center, a black and well-preserved (especially inside) RX-7, to generate strong interest among the bitten part of the audience. For everyone's pleasure, Kirill opened the hood and everyone could see a small rotary unit with four spark plugs on one side.

Traditionally, it is believed that Wankelow cars are capricious and have a short life, but Mr. Iliev looks at these issues with surprising calmness - however, he knows him better, because this is his third car in this model. If you need to replace the seal, the complete kit costs about $ 300. The car is at 111 km and so far the engine does not show any signs of wear, as we saw later, during the competition, the master of control in the closed route from descents and sharp turns. The machine struggles to be heartily, flaring trails with a characteristic whine on the rotor, and finished pretty ahead in the rankings.

When asked if there are similar performances not related to health risks on a bicycle, Kirill Iliev replied: "No, this Mazda is not afraid of high revs - it was created to work like this." It turns out that the real danger to the engine is the formation of carbon deposits from low-quality gasoline or due to a poor fuel process. Soot not only wear out the seals, but also the nadir of the engine casing - thus, it is even pleasant to drive at high speeds from time to time, and at heavy loads, pour a little two-cycle oil into the fuel.

Kirill Iliev, who is a BMW driver in drifting competitions, nevertheless does not use rotornoto his treasure for everyday driving. “To muddy the waters, mainly on Saturday and Sunday. The expense is quite high, but the movement hides the risks. " A healthy philosophy is visible here - a resource, it is really good to save on a similar car, but not out of stinginess, but for valuable and pleasant moments - for example, walking on some good day off or participating in a rally for veterans.