Rotary.

"Jay_Hoff" (jayhoff) 01/14/2015 at 23:29 • Filed to: None

0

18

Taking to a car guy on Facebook tonight who says the RX7 is due back in a few years with a price of 35k. I told him the rumors are false and the rotary engine is dead. So what is your thoughts on the rotary coming back?

TheHondaBro > Jay_Hoff 01/14/2015 at 23:32

0

I don't want it to come back.

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > Jay_Hoff 01/14/2015 at 23:34

2

Y not. as long as it comes on a car looks like an FD. which is impossible since pop ups are outlawed :(

Jedidiah > Jay_Hoff 01/14/2015 at 23:34

4

Too fragile and too fuel inefficient and burns to much oil to merit a greenlight in a world ruled by ecoterrorists.

They need to develop new materials that make a better apex seal for the wankel. We might see rotary engines as supplimentary power in hybrids, but not the traditional wankel; they'd be a new design.

Every time someone has tried to make a wankel, it was flop. Some technology is proven to just not work.

daender > Jay_Hoff 01/14/2015 at 23:35

3

If they use it as a generator to power hybrid cars, then I could see it coming back.

Tinfoil Hat in a thunderstorm, now with added diecast > Jay_Hoff 01/14/2015 at 23:35

0

What goes around comes around? I don't know for sure but I think I read something about its possible use as a generator in some upcoming/planned hybrid but it wasn't going to have a direct mechanical connection to the drive train! Why they would use a rotary as opposed to a piston engine beats me.

scoob > Jay_Hoff 01/14/2015 at 23:36

2

The next RX-7 is actually rumored to be an AWD ~500 HP rear-engined V7.5 20° rotary with electric motors powered by an A/C.

It will compete against the NSX and the supposedly upcoming Supra.

Zipppy, Mazdurp builder, Probeski owner and former ricerboy > Tinfoil Hat in a thunderstorm, now with added diecast 01/14/2015 at 23:45

0

I'd say it's for a smaller package in the vehicle, and I think rotary engines prefer steady RPM.

Scary__goongala! > Jay_Hoff 01/14/2015 at 23:48

0

I don't ever see it coming back. Yes it is a cool design and what not but Im still not particularly in awe of them. Plus I don't see them having much of any chance at meeting future emissions and what not.

MR2_FTW - Group J's resident Stig > Jay_Hoff 01/14/2015 at 23:57

0

The rumors are false and the rotary engine is dead.

jsemerica > Jay_Hoff 01/15/2015 at 00:00

1

Lots of good unbiased facts on here.

Conan > Jay_Hoff 01/15/2015 at 00:14

0

About as true as the guy who told me that all cop Crown Vics are AWD.

samssun > Jay_Hoff 01/15/2015 at 00:17

0

Pretty sure the relentless pursuit of parts per million, parts per billion, parts per infinity "improvements" to emissions with no concept of diminishing returns have made the rotary impossible to bring back, no matter how optimized.

orcim > Jedidiah 01/15/2015 at 03:07

1

I love this post. It's perfectly correct (so I'm agreeing with you) and 100% wrong, given that tomorrow, something might change to invalidate its correctness. Like a lot of science, in fact.

I call it the turkey test. Is it possible that on at some point in the future, everything we know is false? Maybe that couldn't happen with the Wankel, but fuck me with a stick, what's our efficiency on the top piston engined design we have (which wouldn't be any fun to drive) today? Something's gotta give, sometime, someplace. Just my opinion. Ymmv.

BATC42 > Jay_Hoff 01/15/2015 at 04:44

0

I think it won't make a comeback as a proper engine. It would require too much development to be as efficient as today's engines. Though a single rotor or a bi-rotor engine could prove helpful thanks to packaging and its small size as a generator in EVs.

Wurrwulf > Jay_Hoff 01/15/2015 at 08:21

0

http://liquidpiston.com/technology/how…

I want Mazda to work with these guys. With manufacturers going back to lighter weights in the name of fuel efficiency, we will soon be able to have fun, tossable cars with 100-150hp a la the FB/FC. I think this single rotor engine scaled properly could produce that power. If it were in a 2300lb two door body, it'd be a blast.

orcim > Jedidiah 01/16/2015 at 23:50

1

I see I wasn't clear, also. Late night stuff.

The "turkey test" is simply a turkey being raised for meat. Harvest day is 1000, but up to day 999, there's a nice man that comes and feeds and water and makes sure the turkey is fine. Day 1000 comes and past performance dictates that today's performance will be same with feeding and watering, but the man grabs the turkey by the neck, sticks it in a cone and off's it.

Moral: what you know you know doesn't mean you know what you need to know.

Some little change could make a wankel ok. Without market testing, we'll never know. I still give high marks to their experimentation with it.

Jedidiah > orcim 01/16/2015 at 23:59

0

I agree, but I'm a little less optimistic about them. They certainly need a breakthrough in research, which will only happen if they become marketable.

Unless they are revolutionized, I wouldn't buy one. Even if they did make a new and improved wankel, I still don't think I'd buy one because I don't really like trends with modern car design.

If wankels get some factory sponsored racing research, it might eventually trickle down towards a production car. The best solutions to problems often come from extreme duty situations like racing.

orcim > Jedidiah 01/17/2015 at 00:04

1

I agree with everything you said, 100%. My point was just that if some foundational concept changed, the wankel *could* (not *would*) become viable. For that reason, I can't "write it off" in my mind, just say "not yet" and continue to pay attention to new engine designs.

God's but I wish there was a competitor concept to the piston engine, though. If only to drive the piston engine (or replacement) faster for development. I like the incremental improvements, but wonder where the technological leaps might be.