Just when we as rotory enthusiasts had made peace with the 110-130K mile rebuild Mazda produced the RENESIS engine spelled C-R-A-P.
That sick, anxious and often disappointing feeling trying to start a 1969-73 top start twin distributor 10A or 12 A fit in a neat body like a R100, RX2 or RX3 had all but faded from our memories, until the RX8.
In defense of the R-100,RX2 and RX3 a 1974 and up engine upgrade was a wonderful fix. . . . until 2004.
Mazda has stopped production in 2012 , for good reason , but not before shooting all us rotor heads squarely in the head.
The idea that the basic engineered design has rotor design problems, hot start problems, side seal carbon buildup, short engine life, apex seals with no room for wear, heat buildup around exhaust ports and oiling starvation in the front rotor, combined with a very limited capacity for modification make it very hard to defend.
The body is delightful, the ameneties awesome and the engine, well it could learn alot from a 1978 RX4 wagon . . . . . . . . . . retrofit- Working on it