An integral part of Mazda's revolutionary engineering heritage has been the company's nearly 40 years of experience with the rotary engine. Mazda is the only automobile manufacturer in the world that offers a pure rotational internal combustion engine. Mazda's rotary engine heritage includes the first rotary-powered car, the 1967 Cosmo 110 Sport, the original RX-7 sports car (1979), and the only Japanese sports car to have won the renowned 24 Hours of LeMans endurance race, the Mazda 787B (1991).

Mazda aims to stand conventional sports car thinking on its ear with RX-EVOLV concept car, a rotary-powered, four-door, four-seat true sports car that promises to be the next big thing in sports cars. The "RENESIS" rotary engine in the RX-EVOLV represents the potential that Mazda believes lies within this unique powerplant. The "RENESIS" (Rotary Engine GENESIS) twin-rotor engine delivers a potent 280 horsepower, the highest output ever achieved by a normally aspirated rotary engine, and revs to an astounding 10,000 rpm.

The "RENESIS" rotary engine has been developed and refined from the multiple side-port experimental rotary engine which powered the RX-01 concept sports car unveiled at the 1995 Tokyo Motor Show.