Latest News > Rumormill: 2012 Mazda MX-5 to get rotary engine

We love rumour mills and for all their speculations quite often there is something fruitful to be gained from them. The latest rumours to surface are that the next generation Mazda MX-5 could well be coming in at around 2,200 pounds and boast an incredibly impressive 50 miles per gallon. But more impressive than that is the little Miata won’t be losing any horsepower to compensate. How? I hear you ask!

Mazda has been developing, in recent years, a new line of engines known as the SKY-G engines and it’s not hard to believe the above figures when combined with the current test reports we’ve heard from the line of eco friendly engines. However Best Car Japan is hearing something very different from Mazda HQ in Japan.

According to the Japanese magazine reports are that the 2012 Mazda MX-5 will be receiving a rotary engine (made famous by the Mazda RX-7) with a displacement of 1.2 or 1.3 litres. This will certainly help the roadster drop a few pounds in the process as well as offering a smoother delivery of power to the rear wheels.

However as we all know the Rotary line of engines is everything but fuel efficient which is why it regularly makes appearances in top spec Japanese racing cars. So in order to achieve its figures for economy something is going to have to give right? Maybe something of the Hybrid variety maybe? That sounds a bit far fetched to some but the wankel/hybrid marriage has already been completed in the form of the Fiat 500 prototype created by FEV. The fiat actually has a rotary engine that acts as a generator for a lithium-Ion battery pack housed deep in the belly of the little run about.

So based on this information it’s not hard to believe that perhaps Mazda could be developing something super special. But with all this speculation and knowing Mazda as a brand we are still hoping for a small, efficient and compact four cylinder engine with some form of turbo charging to achieve the power delivery. Mainly because the Miata is currently so competitively priced and adding hybrid technology tends to only add a lot of cost and weight, not to mention performance.