Mazda's RX-Vision concept features all-new rotary engine

The Mazda RX-VISION concept car is powered by a next-generation rotary engine. (Mazda)

The centerpiece of Mazda's stand at the Tokyo Motorshow is likely to get petrolheads in a spin, quite literally.

And that's because it is a wonderfully sleek and elegantly elongated coupe with an all-new Wankel rotary engine and therefore a vehicle that hints at the company's future plans for a flagship, Porsche-baiting sportscar.

While Toyota is using the Tokyo motor show as a platform for forging ahead with hybrids and hydrogen, and Nissan as the location for betting its future on plug-in electric powertrains, Mazda is daring to be different and persisting with the Wankel Rotary engine.

A revolutionary design that promised so much through its reinvention of the internal combustion engine upon its debut in 1960, every car company from GM to Mercedes experimented with it. Yet, 55 years on, only Mazda has ever managed any success with it. It has powered the brand's high-performance RX-7 road cars and its Le Mans-winning race car and, if everything goes to plan, a production version of the RX-Vision as soon as 2017.

The concept is meant to represent the ultimate front-engine, rear-wheel drive sports car, and its interior is as spectacular as its exterior. The company has fought the urge to overload the cabin with screens and switchgear in favor of hand-crafted levers and buttons and a simple set of gauges all wrapped in leather.

But it's the engine that's going to grab attention. Called the SkyActiv-R, Mazda says that the powerplant is a new dawn for rotary that will offer up all of the benefits and has finally addressed all of its limitations.

Rotary engines use a triangular rotor rather than banks of pistons that go up and down. The rotor spins inside an oval housing and each revolution is akin to the four-stroke cycle of a traditional internal combustion engine.

It is much more compact, lighter and delivers smoother acceleration, less noise and vibration plus a flat torque curve. All huge benefits. It means a car can have a lower center of gravity, a better power-to-weight ratio and has less need for weighty sound-deadening materials.

However, a rotary engine can drink more fuel, wear out more quickly and can be much less reliable. Until now, that is. Mazda won't reveal the car's performance or economy figures but promises it will deliver in terms of speed, responsiveness and environmental responsibility.