Mazda's rotary engine legacy is very much alive in this part of the world.
Mazda may not be producing the performance rotary engines it used to but enthusiasts of the Dorito power unit are still as passionate as ever. This was put on display at the 2023 Haruna Rotary Meet where YouTuber noriyaro had a walk around the rotary cars at the Ikaho Skate Rink in Japan.
As expected, the one-engine make-meet was full of different builds of the Mazda RX-7 and RX-8. There were also a few Savannas and Cosmos, including a six-rotor-powered Cosmo capable of revving up to 10,000 rpm. A four-rotor RX-7 also made the event, which was seen revving up to 9,000 rpm on a dyno.
The road that leads up to the venue was the same route Takumi Fujiwara from the Japanese comic Initial D takes when delivering tofu in his father's Toyota AE86. Since the Mazda RX-7 FD was one of the main cars in Initial D, the meet was joined by FD-generation units that pay homage to comic series.
One owner arrived with a replica of the Initial D FD, which has the same yellow paint with the massive wing at the back. It also came with a black hood and front lip that complete the look. Under the hood, the vehicle was said to make 420 horsepower.
The meet was also attended by the “Greddy 6” built by Japanese tuning company RE Amemiya in the late '90s.
noriyaro/YouTube noriyaro/YouTube noriyaro/YouT
Based on the Autozam AZ-1, the Greddy 6 is a street-legal car said to be fitted with Porsche suspension, Ferrari F50 rear brakes, a 450-hp 20B engine with a big single turbo, and a Mazda 787B transmission casing.
Speaking of the Mazda 787B, it brought the first 24 Hours of Le Mans win to the Land of the Rising Sun. Moreover, the 787B is the only Wankel engine-powered car to win the endurance race.
The brand's signature rotary engine has made a return in the Mazda MX-30, but now only functions as a generator or range extender for the electric motor. Gatherings like Haruna Rotary Meet bring owners and fans a sense of pride in what the Mazda engine had once been, and hopefully will be.
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Keyword: Listen To This Six-Rotor Mazda Cosmo Scream At 10,000 RPM