On Monday, at the Mazda Tech Forum in Frankfurt, Germany. Wheels reports that a Mazda executive confirmed to the press that Mazda is continuing to develop the Wankel rotary engine concept, dead since the 2012 discontinuation of their RX-8 sports car. “We’re still continuing development of the next generation rotary engine,” stated Mitsuo Hitomi of Mazda. "We cannot improve the rotary engine to the current conventional engine emissions," continued Hitomi, "we are investigating various kinds of emission systems to ensure ideal conditions." Hidetoshi Kudo, a Mazda R&D executive, confirmed that laser and plasma ignition systems have been considered for use in their next rotary engine, both to improve power and reduce emissions, but cost is an issue with these high-tech systems.
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