Classic Cars – The Mazda Rx-7

Image via Wikipedia

Image via Wikipedia

Image by dave_7 via Flickr

Without the persistence of a team of engineers and engine designers under the direction of Japan Kenichi Yamamoto, the development of the Wankel engine or rotary, this beautiful design, high performance sports would never have happened.

In 1961, the Japanese company Toyo Kogyo, which later would be renamed Mazda, under license from the patent NSU-Opel in Germany, to all the rights to develop a new rotary engine.

The rotary engine was named after its inventor, Wankel was not pistons and crankshaft, as such, but consisted of a layer of injected single rotor about an axis extending center that was connected to a rear differential drive system.

In theory, the rotary engine far better because of its simplicity in design, an internal combustion engine of conventional piston, moving parts, much less go to the inverter output power and evil directly.

Yamamoto Mazda team began working to develop a rotary engine capable of overcoming the problems of loss of compression, exhaust, and overheating of the rotor blade tip, which had limited success in developing Opel technology in 1950.

Following the success of earlier models, the RX-2 RX-3 RX and RX-5, despite the economic problems in the company, Mazda has finally arrived with the larger 12A engine, which was adjusted to a brand new RX-7 built from 1978 to 1980 and 2 in the series built 1981-1983.

Mazda RX-7 was a hard-top two-seater sports coupe and two curved, streamlined and immediately captured the imagination of the automotive world, all hailed as a design classic. The design of the car was built entirely on the engine and exhaust configuration.

A twin-rotor engine with what was considered equivalent to just 550 hp for the rotor 12A RX-7 was capable of speeds over 130 km / h and a high torque at low engine speed range 0-60 mph in just 6.3 seconds. CV was officially only 100 horses, but considering how light the car was, was often described as driving a scooter, gave power to weight ratio a yield equal to 230 hp.

Exciting to drive because of the delicacy inherent in the Wankel rotary engine flow was low vibration or shock felt at high speeds. The alarm was installed at the tachometer to warn the driver when the 7000 rpm redline was approaching. If exceeded or ignored alarm engine cut to protect the ends of the ceramic rotor overheating.

The car was expensive to maintain, is the engine inlet about 20 miles per gallon, but at half the price of a Porsche, and all right, such as electric windows and sunroof, the RX-7 have been asked by young and old. More than 475,000 cars were sold with the original design of the mark 1

RX-7 was loved by the good and bad, and has appeared on TV shows, commercials and movies.

In Japan the car was taken by the runners Original Drifters streets of Tokyo because of its speed and maneuverability.In Britain, a modified version of 12A Turbo RX-7 was built by Elford Engineering was the unofficial record for Night Watch fastest lap of the M25 motorway, which rings London for 5 years.

This turbo setup that uses the venturi principle to recycle exhaust gas to further increase the power of the car at speeds over 145 km / h and was adopted by Mazda engines in the new 13, 3 of which increases the number of model high-end production in Japan from 1984 to 1985 .

Various modified versions of the RX-7 was produced for different markets around the world, with limited production and emission control system in the U.S. version and the injection of several design awards changes that the Japanese market and European and national level.

The production of the Mazda RX-7 13, continued until 1988 with the RX-7 Savannah Convertible and the new model 2 is often referred to as the Series 4, which sent some of the brand in a line of classic design and it seemed the main competitor, the Porsche 944