Has Mazda just killed the rotary powered car for good?

Kinja'd!!! "Saracen" (manualdoucheelitist)
11/11/2014 at 17:52 • Filed to: None

Kinja'd!!!1 Kinja'd!!! 17

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!


DISCUSSION (17)


Kinja'd!!! jkm7680 > Saracen
11/11/2014 at 17:53

Kinja'd!!!2

One word: Apex seals.


Kinja'd!!! Brian, The Life of > jkm7680
11/11/2014 at 17:56

Kinja'd!!!5

Other words: no torque and turrible gas mileage.


Kinja'd!!! norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback > jkm7680
11/11/2014 at 17:57

Kinja'd!!!0

But that's two words....


Kinja'd!!! Steve in Manhattan > jkm7680
11/11/2014 at 17:57

Kinja'd!!!0

Probably made by Morton Thiokol. What, too soon?


Kinja'd!!! jkm7680 > Steve in Manhattan
11/11/2014 at 17:58

Kinja'd!!!0

Like the Lucas of seals?


Kinja'd!!! jkm7680 > norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback
11/11/2014 at 17:58

Kinja'd!!!1

Bah, Whatevahhhh.


Kinja'd!!! norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback > Saracen
11/11/2014 at 17:59

Kinja'd!!!4

Why don't we stop worrying about the rotary as good as it was, and wonder why the fuck we still don't have the SKYACTIV-D engine they've been promising. I WANT MY DIESEL HATCHBACK!


Kinja'd!!! Steve in Manhattan > jkm7680
11/11/2014 at 18:01

Kinja'd!!!1

Pretty much - the first space shuttle that blew up? If I recall correctly, their O-rings were to blame.


Kinja'd!!! I Do It For Miatas, NC Owner > norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback
11/11/2014 at 18:05

Kinja'd!!!0

Finally someone asking the important questions!


Kinja'd!!! Leadbull > Brian, The Life of
11/11/2014 at 18:05

Kinja'd!!!2

A picture worth a thousand words:

Kinja'd!!!


Kinja'd!!! Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Saracen
11/11/2014 at 18:13

Kinja'd!!!0

They never made sense anyway. They sounded cool I guess but I can't really think of any other advantages.


Kinja'd!!! ranwhenparked > Saracen
11/11/2014 at 18:16

Kinja'd!!!1

I like that rotaries existed, they were interesting and made the automotive world a richer place, but I also get why nobody makes them anymore. They were just never really better than piston engines in any application where they were used.

I would say they are dead now, unless some Chinese automaker with state funding decides to go after Mazda's Renesis tooling for some reason or Mazda decides to dust off their rotary hybrid idea at some point in the future.


Kinja'd!!! Tohru > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
11/11/2014 at 18:37

Kinja'd!!!0

The military uses them still. Every Abrams tank has a 330cc rotary capable of running on diesel or jet fuel. It's part of the aux. power unit. The tank has an APU so it doesn't have to sit and idle the main turbine at 10-15 gal. per hour just to keep power to the tank.


Kinja'd!!! Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Tohru
11/11/2014 at 18:48

Kinja'd!!!1

Oh I'm aware of other uses. I just mean as an alternative to a traditional piston engine to power a car.


Kinja'd!!! Axial > Leadbull
11/11/2014 at 21:21

Kinja'd!!!0

No, Wankel engine.

This is a rotary engine:

Kinja'd!!!


Kinja'd!!! Brian, The Life of > Axial
11/11/2014 at 23:42

Kinja'd!!!0

*Radial


Kinja'd!!! Axial > Brian, The Life of
11/12/2014 at 03:09

Kinja'd!!!0

Nope, it's a Le Rhône 9J; the whole thing turns about the crankshaft. Radial engines have a crankshaft that turns while the rest of the engine remains stationary about the longitudinal axis.