► The MX-30 meets an RX-3
► What’s changed, and what’s the same?
► Read month 3 here
Not all rotary engines are born equal. Over the years, there’s been the Mazda Cosmo, the OG rotary sports coupe, unveiled in 1964; there was the Le Mans-winning Mazda 787B, with its screaming, four-rotor R26B engine; the 228bhp Renesis engine of the RX-8; and there’s the tiny tiddler found in our Mazda MX-30, an 830cc, single-rotor range extender. Given this rich, 60-year history, we thought it would be nice to drive one of our Mazda’s rotary ancestors, the RX-3.
This sweet little coupe was part of a whole family of cars dating back to 1971 and it proved to be a huge export success for Mazda. Available as a coupe, saloon and estate, with both Wankel rotary and piston-engine options, over 286,00 examples were produced during the 1970s – though this rotary coupe was undoubtedly the star. Looking like a shrunk-in-the-wash American muscle car, it proved popular in the US and Australia, and was raced with some success too, winning the 1972 Fuji Grand Prix touring car race against Nissan’s much more famous Skyline.
This blue example dates from 1973 and it belongs to Mazda UK. It’s powered by a slightly later rotary engine from an RX-7, so it’s not completely original, but its 100bhp, two-rotor 12A unit was fitted to later RX-3s, so it’s no restomod travesty.
And it’s a lovely car to drive. After you’ve taken in all that exterior chrome and badging (MAZDA R.E. RX-3 SUPER DELUXE), the cockpit is pure ‘70s throwback, with ribbed plastic seats, cowled dials and a three-spoke sports steering wheel. It looks and feels so pint-size American, it’s like climbing into an episode of Starsky and Hutch.
The engine sounds gruff and purposeful when you start up, though a couple of prods of the accelerator reveal the revvy sweetness that all rotary engines have. And on the move, that high-revving willingness dominates everything, as the cabin fills with a rasping, soaring exhaust note, a cross between an Escort rally car and a Vespa. It’s surprisingly quick up to motorway speeds, and with the long-throw five-speed gearbox and unassisted steering, it certainly keeps your hands busy. The whole drivetrain feels vigorous and youthful, and it’s only when you get on the spongey, ineffective brakes that your brain lets out a fleeting alarm bell – ‘Oh God I’m going too fast!’ This is a 50-year-old classic, after all.
Getting straight out of the RX and into the MX is a reminder of how safe, comfortable and flabby modern cars are. The MX-30 feels bloated, with fat doors and thick A-pillars. There’s a faint echo of the RX in the three-spoke steering wheel, but otherwise this is a very different car.
And the drivetrain… yes – I know! – it’s a battery car so expectations should be zero, of course. But it has got an engine, and Mazda says it designed the system to be more ’emotional’. At launch, the assistant manager of Mazda’s powertrain development division, Yoshiaki Noguchi, described how the original plan was to run the engine at a constant speed, just like a regular generator. ‘But once we started driving prototype versions, we changed this,’ he admitted. ‘It didn’t give a “Mazda” feeling. We decided to vary the engine speed according to driver behaviour.’
So the engine note of the MX-30 does rise and fall but not in a direct relationship with the throttle. ‘It varies as smoothly as possible,’ Noguchi explained. ‘The curve is more gentle, which also helps with reliability.’ The little engine’s revs are also trapped between 2000rpm and 4500rpm, where it produces its maximum 74bhp. So this is no howling, ultra-responsive, sporty rotary like the RX-3’s. Instead, the motor just does its own thing, often starting up of its own accord, droning away in the background like one of those portable tyre inflaters, plugged into the car’s 12-volt socket and locked in the glovebox.
Still, let’s not be too harsh. This little rotary engine never actually powers the MX-30 directly, it just charges the battery, so the MX drives like any other EV. That means smooth and linear acceleration, and while the car feels much heavier than the featherweight RX-3 (which tips the scales at just 885kg – less than a late-model Lotus Elise), the MX-30 is still fun to point and squirt down a country road. And at least it stops like a modern car, with no eye-widening panic.
So not many family characteristics shine through the 50-year interval between these two cars – except maybe Mazda’s faith in the quirky Wankel engine.
Logbook: MAZDA MX-30 (month 4)
Price: £33,495 (£35,295 as tested)
Performance: 17.8kWh battery, electric motor plus 830cc rotary engine petrol range extender, 168bhp, 9.1sec 0-62mph, 87mph
Efficiency: 37.2mpg (WLTP), 27.1mpg (tested), 21g/km CO2
Energy cost: 22.8p per mile
Miles this month: 852
Total miles: 6928