A good ear can determine what the engine is by sound alone. Most four-cylinders have the “swarm of hornets” thing going on. A good inline-six has a moan, the V8 has a range that goes from “thunder” to “scream”, depending on the rev range it’s operating in, five-cylinders and Volkswagen VR6 engines have their own unique tones, and don’t get us started with motorcycles. There is no confusing any of those with a rotary set on kill, however. That noise is all it’s own, the sound of a thousand chainsaws at once, at a volume that would be borderline unbelievable for an engine that size.
Saying that a Mazda RX-7 has a rotary engine is like saying the sky is blue. Of course it does…they came that way from the factory. But no RX-7 came with the 20B three-rotor…that mill was only sold to the public in the Mazda Eunos Cosmo, where the twin-turbocharged three-rotor pushed out an even 300 horsepower and 300 ft/lbs of torque between 1990 and 1995. If you don’t know about the Cosmo, it’s a JDM grand tourer coupe that the U.S. market didn’t get. It’s also a sight more portly than a first-gen RX-7, too. Makes sense to lose a little weight and to add a whole lot of spice to the little wedge, doesn’t it?
