The Mazda Iconic SP, a RWD RX-8-meets-Miata hybrid sports car concept, was unveiled at the Japan Mobility Show and is slated to run on a rotary-electric drivetrain that will burn biofuels, hydrogen, or LPG. Mazda also confirmed that the vehicle could be made more compact, hinting that we could see it realised as both a four-seater RX-8 replacement and a Miata-like compact roadster.
Mazda has been pushing the revival of the rotary engine as a mild-hybrid powertrain for some time now, but its showing at the Japan Mobility Show may be its most exciting vision for the future of its rotary-electric powertrain yet. The Mazda Iconic SP — which one must assume was named as such because of its obvious MX-5 Miata and RX-7 heritage — is a two-seater electric roadster concept that Mazda recently unveiled.
The compact sports car fits in somewhere between the Mazda MX-5 Miata and RX-8, in terms of size, but it is powered by a twin-rotor rotary engine that acts as a generator or range-extender for the 365-hp electric motor. The low-profile rotary engine will reportedly be located in the centre of the vehicle to grant it a 50-50 weight distribution — a trait that earned the MX-5 Miata its reputation as one of the most fun cars to drive — and a low centre of gravity.
That horsepower figure is more than double the 181 hp currently available in the Mazda MX-5, making it a rather exciting prospect, even if the Iconic SP weighs in at around 500 lbs more than a standard Miata (3,197 lbs for the Iconic SP and 2496 lbs for the MX-5 Miata). The rotary engine is also supposedly versatile enough that it can run on anything from biofuel to hydrogen, or even LPG.
In addition to an exciting, if somewhat unorthodox, drivetrain, the Mazda Iconic SP shown off at the Japan Mobility Show was deliberately oversized, meaning that it could be used as a concept to form the base of a two-seater MX-5 Miata roadster or a more practical five-seater RX-7 or RX-8 revival.
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Julian van der Merwe – Magazine & Specialist News Writer – 425 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2022
My interest in tech started in high school, rooting and flashing my Motorola Defy, but I really fell down the rabbit hole when I realised I could overclock the i7 930 in my Gigabyte pre-built PC. This tinkering addiction eventually lead me to study product design in university. I think tech should improve the lives of the people using it, no matter the field. I like to read and write about laptops, smartphones, software and trends in technology.
Julian van der Merwe, 2023-10-27 (Update: 2023-10-27)
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