Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125890
-- A transcendant high roller Mazda RX-4 rotary engine truck By Charles Clayton Man does not live by motorcycle alone. Sometimes one needs a little hauler, a rolled-up window ride. This little sports truck with the trick engine -is fine if you're ready for comfort, torque and handling in big-foro apan d imen] sions . We recommend it for what it is, not what it isn't. It isn't an economy car. The Mazda RX-4 truck we tested for two weeks and 1,000 mi les had 12,000 miles on the dial when we picked it up from the distributor. You can always tell better from a high mil er what an owner can expect his car to be like in service . And a rotary engine: is, well . .. new-fangled to this day. We needn't have worried, since the ma chine is covered for three years or 50,000 miles by a parts-and-labor guarantee. Toyo Kogyo is that certain of their 80" (meas ured in two chambers), slow-turning twin. You can cook the engine by running it past the redline (7,500) too long, but if you do. the "voice of Toyo Kogyo," the makers, hoots disapprovingly from a speaker hidden somewhere in the cab. If driven at a normally-furious Los Angeles p ace , the slightly-worn hauler gulped a gallon of lead-free every 16 l'z miles, carrying up to three people and o ne or two bikes. That's not bad mileage for a tr uck that's got a " th ermal reactor" smog co n tr ol nearly as b ig as the motor. As d eliver ed, the Mazd a ro tary is the cleanest gas-burner in California and a real smog-fighter. If you happen to like the purple-feathered sunsets that our pollutio n is famous fo r, there is a book that tells how to retune the rotary for upwa rds of 20 M P~, my neighbor, wbo owns a Mazda station wagon with license "HMMMMM" informs me. So the Mazda is not quite an economy truck, which it doesn't pretend to be. It is a high performing pavement handler when you want it to be. Ours had the four-speed stick shift and the optional au to ma tic need not be considered unless you are paralyzed, since it pulls away smoothly from 1500 RP:\I in fourth gear, unladen. The gearbox,is fully synchromeshed and delightful to use when you want to experience all 110 horsepower or 117 po unds/feet of to rque. Yet when idling traffic puts your extrcmeties to sleep, the truck won't complain if you leave it in second or third speed, treating it just like a dynaflo . Creature co mforts are well-appointed in the Mazda truck cab. Everything is to ugh an d du rabl e ye t , so me how, p lush. To call it a " luxurio us " ca b would be stretching, but close. Our test truc k had a very good quality AM radio ($69) an d a heater that could sco rch o ur thr ottle foot. Driving through the scenery at 58 MPH, with the tachometer just needling 3500 RP:\l and the windows shut, the loudest sound you hear is the tires going hmmm while the engine faintly chimes this one steady note. It is truly a transcendent high in motoring. For $3495 (about $300 over the peasant-model J -trucks) and 16·to-20 miles per glug, depending on how you treat your smog. this little truck is a good value these days . Check it out 'a t the Mazda man's and ask him when he thinks there'll be a :\Iazda RX-4 van . • , Spec ifications _ Engine What you see is mostly smog fighting equipment. Tiny twin rotor Wankel, sparked by four plugs, leaves lots of room under the forward -swinging hood. Bed is b ig for a J-model and power is ample to tote a camper. It handles like a sports car and front d iscs stop on a yen. Rotary (2 rotors in line ) 40 . eu . in . x2 ro tors (1308 C.CJ 8 0 C.I.D . total) 9 .1 : 1 C.R . 110 HP/ GOOO RP M (SA E net l 117 Ib ·ft/35 oo RP M (SAE net l DIME NS IO NS & C APACITI ES Wheelbase 104 in. T read : front/rear .. .. .• . .. . .... 57156 in. Overall lengt h . . . .. .. . . .. .. . . ..• . 173 in . Ove rall width . • . ... . .. .. •. .. . . . .. 67 in . Ove ra ll hei ght . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . 61 in . Gro und clea rance .. . .. . . ..... . .•. .. 8 in. Fu el tank ca pacity • . .• . • . . . . . . . . 20.8 ga l. Gross we ight 4120 lb . Curb weight 2720 lb . Gro ss payload ca pa city ... .. . .. .•. 1400 lb . BOX DIME NS IONS Length •..... ..•... . • .• ...... .. . 75 in. Width . ............ ..•.... . . . . .. 62 in . He igh t .. •.. ........ . .. . .. .. . ..• 16 in . Base pri ce . . .. . .• . . . . . . ...•.. . $3495 .00 OPTIO NS Side stripe ..•.• ..... . ... . . . . . . .. 2725 Step bu mper 70.95 Tonnea u . .. • ..•.. ... .. .. .... . .. . 88 .00 AM/ FM • . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . • . ... . . . 89.50 Cab d imensions are ample and controls well laid out for grown people. Windshield washer can be turned on independent of w iper (yay!l but one-speed wi per is too 51 ow (bool), 16