[Main General Bulletin Board | BBFAQ | Prev by Date | Post Followup ] Member Login / Signup - Members see fewer ads. - Latest Member Gallery Photos Yes and No Like This Post: - Subscribe to Daily Digest for this Bulletin Board Posted by Justin VanAbrahams [Email] (#32) [Profile/Gallery] (more from Justin VanAbrahams) on Sat, 21 Sep 2002 04:43:41 In Reply to: curious ... for RWD this means rotary engine advantage?, J, Fri, 20 Sep 2002 23:23:24 Alert me when someone posts in this thread: Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup

This is a tough question to answer. The simple answer is Yes. A rotary engine is more efficient, mechanically speaking, than a traditional piston-based engine. I suspect the big reasons why rotary engines never caught on are reliability, noise, and emissions, or at least some combination of the three. Overall efficiency is tough to argue - the "low compression ratio" problem doesn't really exist in the purest sense... since there is no true compression in a rotary, it isn't a one-to-one comparison. I suppose the only real way to form a comparison is to look at overall fuel economy vs specific output. From this standpoint, the rotary stands up well against piston-based motors, but certainly isn't exceptional.

The new Mazda Renesis motor may change a lot of this. It is truly an advanced example of a rotary, and gets around a lot of the old problems, including by and large the "low compression ratio" issue that plagued earlier designs. Reliability should be up, and it promises to be clean-burning as well. I'll be very interested to see how the RX8 does once it's released.

-Justin

posted by 64.166.4...

• Saab first with FWD and transversely mounted engine?, J, Thu, 19 Sep 2002 01:37:36
  • dumb question.. what..., lando, Thu, 19 Sep 2002 17:20:38
    • Re: dumb question.. what..., Justin VanAbrahams , Thu, 19 Sep 2002 20:18:38
      • curious ... for RWD this means rotary engine advantage?, J, Fri, 20 Sep 2002 23:23:24
        • Yes and No, Justin VanAbrahams , Sat, 21 Sep 2002 04:43:41 <-- Viewing This Message
          • rotary CR?, JimBlake , Mon, 23 Sep 2002 10:23:24
      • Re: dumb question.. what..., BHarvey, Fri, 20 Sep 2002 10:29:54
    • Re: dumb question.. what..., J, Thu, 19 Sep 2002 19:22:31
  • Re: Saab first with FWD and transversely mounted engine?, compaqted, Thu, 19 Sep 2002 09:37:19
    • DKW in backyard....., Richard Miller, Thu, 19 Sep 2002 18:22:37
      • R U sure? 92001, 92's transverse, 93's inline..., Mike Lynch , Thu, 19 Sep 2002 19:25:50
        • Positive on the Deke n/m, Richard Miller, Fri, 20 Sep 2002 11:32:28
    • In fact the 92's engine was sourced from DKW..., Talladega900, Thu, 19 Sep 2002 10:12:39
  • NO!, JimBlake , Thu, 19 Sep 2002 08:58:10
    • Re: NO!, EW, Thu, 19 Sep 2002 14:54:56
      • Correct, and his name was Sir Alec Issigonis..., SPG VT, Mon, 23 Sep 2002 20:22:43
    • Re: NO!, Aaron Govatos, Thu, 19 Sep 2002 09:05:49

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