Mazda RX-4: Tough Engine. Tough Car.

Mazda RX-4: Tough Engine. Tough Car.  Gas Mileage? Tough Luck.

Bad timing, that's all it was. The RX-4 premiered in the 1974 US model year with a larger two-rotor 13B engine. It was their largest car but they were selling it as a small car.  At 177 inches (4.5 meters) for the coupe, it was only five inches longer than a Chevy Vega and nearly 20 inches smaller than the next larger Chevy Nova. It would blow the doors off any Camaro but a Z-28 and had plush velour seats like a Cadillac.

The RX-4 replaced the 1800/Luce that had been dropped from the US line after 1971. It wasn't as attractive in many people's opinion, and the 1800 had a more economical piston engine. Wikipedia reports that the RX-4 actually returned better mileage than the smaller RX-3, but I think they meant the RX-2. Still smaller, but not as much. 

The coupe would last until 1978, the wagon a year longer. This slot would be taken by the smaller Mazda 626 which was the next generation up from the RX-2. An 1800cc conventional 929 came out in 1973 but wouldn't be exported to the US until 1987, after the Acura Legend had cleared the way.

The first attempt with the 1800 wasn't successful.  The RX-4 lasted longer but it was never as popular as a Toyota Corona or Datsun 610, both of them the biggest cars each brand offered, and closer to the size of an RX-3. Most Americans were going either smaller or bigger. The demographics of Americans looking for bigger cars were such that they were loyal to American brands and I see no similar-size cars from anyone except for the Ford Maverick and (ironically) Dodge Colt.

The RX-4 was the most expensive Mazda at a time when exchange rates and new tariffs on Japanese products had raised prices.  Oil seals and gaskets on older rotaries had been unable to stand up to engine heat and Mazda was fighting consumers on warrantee replacements. One of the reasons the rotary had been lauded was because it was easier to meet emissions standards with it.  It was able to do this because the thermal reactor had more unburned hydrocardons to work with.  In layman's terms, that's unburned gas.  The engines were tuned to run a rich fuel mixture.  The EPA said the cars got 10.5 mpg.  The EPA tests did not reflect real-world mileage but by the time they adjusted it was too late for Mazda.

This was the wrong car at the wrong time. How did Mazda react? They made the Cosmo RX-5. A car the size of a Dodge Dart/ChevyNova.