What type of engine does a Mazda RX-7 use?

The Mazda RX-7 uses a rotary engine.

Unlike a conventional piston engine, the RX-7’s Wankel rotary engine uses triangular rotors spinning inside epitrochoid-shaped housings. The rotating motion performs the intake, compression, combustion and exhaust stages without pistons moving up and down. This gives the engine a compact size, low weight and smooth operation.

Mazda produced the RX-7 from 1978 to 2002 in three generations. Early cars used the 12A two-rotor engine, while later models used 13B variants. The third-generation FD RX-7 became especially famous for its sequential twin-turbocharged 13B-REW engine.

A common mix-up is calling the rotary engine a Wankel engine as though these were different answers. Wankel is the engineer’s name for the rotary design, while “rotary engine” is the standard category name. The RX-7 was not powered by a V6, inline-four or flat-four engine.