Mazda 787B "The Legend" 4 rotor Le Mans car

[@alansupra94]

@mediarocker543 Yeah that 4 rotor engine is reliable because it was properly machined and rebuild by professionals. Also it NA which takes quite of bit of stress off the seals. They are excellent race motors but come with a high rebuild rate just by design.

[@Kinngvon]

Watching these 787B videos makes me proud to be a Mazda fan

[@elroby998]

non credo faranno mai più un'auto con un suono così spettacolare...è fantastica

[@PragmaticTornado]

This is one of my all-time favs from the Gran Turismo series, most because of it's engine, but also the sound and overall presentation. I'm sure it's quite a kick riding one of these babies.

[@ackers72]

i was at le mans in 1991 when this car won it is by far the most amazing sounding car i have ever heard especially at full racing speed!!!!

[@TallGraham]

Ive been next to that car warming up and running the noise it makes in the "flesh" is incredible!

[@zebatov]

Man, I'm so glad I never took japanese in high-school because it makes it super-easy to understand the narrator!

[@Luminaring]

I work briefly on this car, we talked about the problem of low torque in the pits, so this was the answer, I think the idle sound like that because the spark is every other firing, because of exhaust poisioning at low rpm. used a very reliable chassis and trans second sourced. they seemed to know the hp and reliablity might get them banned. I also did very general concept worked on a car later to be the Miata, the hood bulge, grill opening, headlights, all back in 1986.

[@Swansen03]

@deggis4 to clarify a bit, and, lots of into out there, my understanding is, yes, rules changed, regulation was set into place and HP standards made. NIssan was making a 1200hp car. So, with the new changes, and this is where the interpretation plays, Mazda hadn't really done so well with this car, however, there was difficulties classifying the rotary engines against piston engines. oddly happened after they won. although a wankel may displace 1.5L, its said to be 3L etc, this is the issue.

[@Thoooooms]

Fantastic. You know you're doing something right when you build a car that sounds like a bike :D What a phenomenal car.

[@2104alba]

Fantastic sound... a great car with a great history... congratulations Mazda!!!!

[@cakraft24]

the idle is do to it being a very high performance engine not just being a rotary. on piston engines it is the result of the cam profile on the rotary type it is the result of port timing,size etc. just to be concise

[@7mgtesr20det]

@SlicertekPictures0 Those are variable geometry intake runners. By adjusting them at different lengths, you can change the powerband of the engine. Longer tube = more low end torque Shorter tube = more High end torque

[@deggis4]

@xb250power That was just part of the confusing separation between "C1" and "C2" classes in 1991. C1 cars were compliant with the new 3.5 L engine rules that became mandatory in 1992. All other cars, complying with the old GrC regulations, were in the C2 class. Not sure according to what criteria FIA/ACO set the minimum weights for the C2 cars.

[@Luminaring]

I did some concept work for the v-stacks and their movement back in '86.

[@TheRagnarokTuba]

I thought my 2nd Gen RX-7 sounded evil without a muffler! Thanks for putting this up.

[@37Viggen]

Great vid!! The 787B not just sounded good, it was also a great looking sportscar. :o)

[@Chillout47]

From what I remember this was before they put the chicanes in on the Mulsane straight, they were doing about 230 miles per hour flat out.

[@yerboogieman]

They sound of a gentle and soothing Brapp Brapp Brapp, when ported and tuned right.

[@Yago174]

787b rocks i love the sound it makes at idle

[@Swansen03]

@Swansen03 now, to the next point, the ban was only for a short period(a few years i believe) and has since been lifted. My understanding from this point is that Mazda switched builders for quite often and it was difficult for them or reliably work out bugs from their engines. With all that instability it led to the platforms demise from racing. It wasn't necessarily the engines downfall, just the teams constant flip-flopping.

[@shiftscene]

the uneven idle sound is just a characteristic of the rotory engine. it has to due with the way the rotors spin and since the 787B has ITB's on it the only way to smooth it out would be raise the idle to 2000 rpms or better but this causes the engine to run hot while at idle the street cars have computer control as wel as a ton of vac lines to help but the idle runs rough on them as well as on my 89 rx-7 and the idle ajust is an air adjust screw at the top that doesn't really seem to work

[@AngelCreator]

Wow, that's all I can say. I love the car and the engine.

[@djbrissette]

@mediarocker543 actually in racecar applications, it has proven to be a very reliable engines! The mazda team opened the engine apart after the 24 hours, and they came to the conclusion that it'd be able to run another consecutive 24 hours!

[@bhoppin18]

Just shows you how well built the car was and how great the rotary engine really is. Believe or not, whether anyones knows it or not, The current 3 rotor RX8's nearly had the same issue as far as making it fair and so hey had certain restrictions for racing.

[@KingCast65]

The only Japanese car I have ever owned and likely will ever own, is a Mazda. Mine was a U.S. spec Turbo II but they are all good, the RX7, any RX7 I love them, especially the older ones. I remember in '85-86 some rich kid at school (undergrad) had a brand new GSL SE, silver.

[@bavarianbass]

@chandni89xOx you meen the gt3 r hybrid? it did almost win at the 24h of nurbürgring-nordschleife... only 1 and a half hours before the end the engine blowed up... they were superior and first that point of the race

[@rjherche]

@bavarianbass The R26B in this car was only used in 1991. The previous Wankels were inferior engines with higher fuel consumption.

[@MazdaUSA]

Cool!

[@golem72002]

intake & compression are at the sametime, & so is the powerstoke & exuast. Gearing on the rotory can change it form two stoke to octto, or four stoke. a few where geared diffrently depedending on proupse. Have you seen the Revtech engine it's suppose to be 1/4 of an noraml enigine & make 4x time the toruqe.

[@deggis4]

@Swansen03 Maybe. Anyway, rotary engines have been allowed at least since the LMP regulations were formed around 1999/2000. The "ban" - and I refrain to use that word without quotation marks - basically only lasted one year. The new engine rules came for 1992 season, but that was also when the Championship was cancelled at the end of the year. Same cars were still used for the 1993 Le Mans race, but from onwards 1994 there was no Group C and any continuation of the rules ends there.

[@tdnoz]

DAMN, nice sound!

[@SpideyFan6010]

Apex seals aren't prone to failure as much as the stock cooling systems that were made for them which cause early apex seal failure. The apex seal itself is not bad but the surrounding systems that lack reliability cause it to be the reason why a lot of rotaries are not on the road. People do power upgrades and add to much heat for the stock system to handle and they pop. Any engine that doesn't receive the right amount of cooling will fail weather it be rotary or piston.

[@steenrye]

imagine having a car that sounded like that in idle :) How cool it would be to cruise around busy parking lots!

[@maxpower700]

lovely sound!!!

[@stryfe2000turbo]

It was actually their second year. The two 787s entered in the 1990 LeMans failed to finish due to electrical problems

[@camilo161616]

that sound in low it's beatifull

[@ProfessorIgor]

thie engine and the 3.0 litre Ferrari 412 F1 car from `95 are the best sounding engines I have ever heard.

[@AndyWillow1989]

I had a '90 13b and a 1991 20b. Sick cars. A lot of maintenance but i highly recommend the 20b. lots of yum torque :) and, i THINK there is like one dude in the world that can convert your tv screen and gps stuff (the original ones in the car) into english and usable in the states, theres someone here that does it for aus so im sure it can be done for the states.

[@E1N9A8N0DA]

Good suggestion, tpvalley. I guess weight handicap was not a rule that was allowed for Le Mans Racing. I don't know if it was possible back then. Even today...

[@DeathAndMajesty]

Rotaries do have a strange sound to them and you either love it or you hate it. You have to appreciate this motor as an engineering benchmark.

[@Daddy0089]

absolutely, the best car in the world, the best performance, and the best engine. MAZDA!! yess

[@vesparecord]

is an amazing sound!

[@DKLONGHORN]

I had an eargasm as soon as he turned on that beast 4 rotor engine

[@ALittleAnnoyed]

the regulation were strict on DOHC 4 valves per cylinder tat did not allow a larger engine. rotary engines do not use valves or cams so they were not able to find a way to restrict it effectively. the jaguar had a really old iron bloc engine while the benz had a SOHC 2 valve engine

[@mmeyer1]

thanks man

[@DemonT88]

what a fantastic car.

[@thyrn]

thats one of the best engines ive heard

[@Chillout47]

What an amazing car. Best race car ever.

[@roku_nine]

@6277302 i think its a formula nippon car, the track is fuji speedway

[@bmx4637]

the best part = number 3 in the description. How badass is an engine that is so good it's banned because nothing can match it?!

[@heatever]

8:17 awesome backfire!

[@alexanderb112]

Formula Mazda: It uses the RX-8's Renesis motor for open wheel cars. Not the same as this at all, but it is an open wheeled rotary car made by Mazda.

[@bhoppin18]

This engine will be a mystery which is proves why it goes down in history

[@SpideyFan6010]

Damn that sucks about your Cosmo being rear ended man. Maybe you might get another some day you never know. He had the big trailer with him and the guy was trying to get rid of it and Chuck just couldn't pass it up. He had 2 FD's and the Cosmo on the trailer on the way back to Texas from last years 7stock.

[@cervinima]

What a sound!!!!! I love it

[@james6speed]

simply awesome!

[@supersevenn]

Look at years further back ;) And please show me those 13b NA making 370 whp. id love to see that. . .sounds like fantasy. Im a racecar engineer, my father drove the first RX7 ever at lemans 24 and i have friends at Speedsource, so id really love to see what your talking about. 13b racing peripheral ports NA dont make more than 320 at the flywheel. (and mazda doesent magically make more power than other engine builders) im anxiously awaiting your finds =)

[@TezzaMcJ]

it would be epic if mazda made a rotary F1 car, and be great to see the green and orange out on the track again

[@BIZNAILEY]

actually an 8 cylinder. though it has 3 combustion cycles in every rotation, it only has one power "stroke" per rotation per rotor. while a regular piston engine produces one power stroke per every 2 rotations of the crankshaft per cylinder. 1 x 4 = 4 1/2 x 8 =4

[@pininfarina575]

there's nothing in the world world that is more exciting than a screaming internal combustion engine like this one or a F1 engine

[@magooracing]

The bouncy idle is because of the shape of the ports they use. I think they call it "J" port or "bridgeport".

[@huckebeinFW]

You're absolutely right. FIA's claim that the rotary engine gave Mazda an "unfair weight advantage" is nonsense. Mazda R26B weights 180 kg and produces 690 HP, which can be easily matched with a 6 liter V8, that often weights less. Additionally, R26B consumed far more than a conventional V8 of the same power, which actually puts the rotary in disadvantage. Mazda 787B was just a very good racing car (and that not because of the engine), too good for the small Mazda team to be left by FIA to win.

[@Echo51]

@cliffkemp The fuel restriction was not a problem for the wankel engine, and was one of the advantages of it, the only reason they detuned it was because it would cause mechanical faliures

[@nostyx]

that car is indeed a legend. 2.6L of naturally aspirated mazda rotary fury!!

[@steveo_80]

all that power from only a 2.6 litre engine. amazing

[@dietydevil]

which is fastest 787B or Buggati? i am confused with this

[@wermach123]

This car was never banned, it won Le Mans only after the Sauber Mercedes dropped out. It was deemed uncompetative at the end of the season, so they replaced it with anewre car based on the jaguar XJR-14 chassis. It raced the next year at Le Mans without much success. So mazda simply packed up its bags and called it quits.

[@totto210]

370 kmh in 25sec.... monster for me one to the best car

[@WildDanHibiki]

how many horses did these beasts pull?

[@lolahavasuaz]

Great vid, my last two post's were not to drum1983 sorry! ouch some guy posted to this and I can't find it now, Sorry his comment had nothing to do with your vid.

[@mart182003]

alright thanks, where can i get my hands on this engine and how much?

[@bertanderny]

gearing depends on many factors its just personal choice. Most group c cars have 5 gears because of the high power they push out.

[@87chrissss]

research research research!! Mazda began as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd, founded in Japan in 1920. Toyo Cork Kogyo renamed itself to Toyo Kogyo Co., Ltd. in 1927.

[@ViperTG]

Nice sounding car.. But FIA did NOT ban the car from Le Mans as FIA does not have control over Le Mans. Le Mans is ruled by the ACO, and rotar engines has competed at Le Mans several times after 1991. FIA did ban it from the Sportscar World Championship it was competing in, to unify the engine types to 3.5 L F1 engines.

[@SgtH3nry3]

Well, that is logical since the displacement of the engine was MUCH smaller compared to high-revving 3,5 liters. Also any car which has enough money spent on maintainance can last long. If you replace the lubricant, piston rings, gaskets, pumps, etc every now and then. Also multi-rotor designs with a broad powerband can be quite torquey, but this is the same with piston-powered combustion engines.

[@Drum44er]

Mazda should make a Wankle supercar..it would have so much power and it would be light as hell because it wouldnt be a V8 or V12 it would be amazing

[@tornvmax]

No doubt it is a great car. Got to give props to a well engineered automobile even if it isn't "the greatest ever" or whatever.

[@pdaniel8]

at 6:07 ... omg, just awesssooommeee!! I want my car to sound like that when I shift up a gear

[@Davidovar34]

yeahh, excellent engine sound =D

[@deggis4]

@henrii123 Interesting interpretation of history, since Mazda used rotary engines for several seasons in the World Sportscar Championship. Before Le Mans '91 it had not won a race. And it did race until the very last race of the '91 Championship but continued being an underdog. If it was "banned", how this was possible? It is possible because it was not "banned". The regulations changes for season 1992 were set in stone possibly already in 1990. It's legend now, but that doesn't erase history.

[@PosthumanKindergarten]

maybe to stop the air flow through the front alloy for some reason

[@FunteX]

@rjherche wrong, only smaller engines.

[@bhoppin18]

mistake, they used parts of the 12a motors for the Koni challenge cars..

[@phibah]

Oh you think! Thank you :)

[@BrapBraap]

The really cool thing is that a japanese company (spoon) took that engine an placed it in a tricked-out rx-7. I have a nice film to prove it. Will be posted soon. The engineresponse on that thing is intense... and the noise..

[@Gabithima]

Nice thats the first real car Ive seen yet.

[@james6speed]

@skp1970 rotaries are outlawed???? tell me more

[@Swansen03]

@carmodifire Diesels are very heavy, they are just much more efficient than a petrol.

[@DanielenviO]

awesome !!!

[@sausageslaps]

each surface of the rotor is considered a combustion surface. each rotor is officailly classed as 3 cylinders

[@ALittleAnnoyed]

the silk cut jaguars and mercerdes-benz did not have the most high-tech of engines. the rotary had a major advantage although it carried redicilous amount of fuel

[@NickG40]

this thing sounds good.

[@lzhmax]

eye-watering car...amazing

[@anguruso]

Look at how powerful the car is! It only takes 4 people to push it onto the rug.

[@BEAMERNOOB]

i herd there are like j shaped injectors thats why they idle so bouncy..correct me if im wrong

[@brownthug2b]

does mazda run in the lemans today???

[@twistedsting]

yeah and it was an episode on topgear i think thats what you mean right?

[@Drum44er]

yeah i know, thats a concept car though, i dont think you can buy it...its just for auto shows. and test purposes. can you go out and buy a Furai at the local mazda dealership?

[@robsnizzle79]

I luv that sound.......... that cars siiick