When i was in tech school, we found a garage full of rotary engines still in the crates(more than 50) from the 60's. Supposedly GM had made a deal with the school to teach how to work on them because they were the wave of the future. What happened? They are small, light ,powerful. I know the make allot of emissions, but the mazda rx-8 passes the smog-tests.
2006-09-10 06:45:56 · 9 answers · asked by isx650 2 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Other - Cars & Transportation
As a Rotorhead (that's what rotary drivers call themselves) I can say that many of the answers you've gotten are pure bull.
What killed rotary sales in the U.S. was a bad report from the Govt.
Story behind the bad report: GM had licensed certain horsepower ratings of rotary engines from Mazda (Toyo Kogyo). They were working on a mid engine replacement for the Corvette. Mazda found out they were working on horsepower ratings for which that they were not paying license fees. Mazda pulled all licenses from GM and suddenly Consumer Report (owned by GM) tested some 1973 RX-3s and said they got 12-14 mpg vs the 28 Mazda claimed. The E.P.A. followed suit and got the same results. The problem was that both testing was done by computer. (put a sensor in the exhaust pipe and the computer gives the fuel mileage.) Neither test involved actually driving the cars on the road. The computer program was set for a piston engined car, while a rotary is actually between 2-3 times more efficient.
I owned a 73 X-3 at the time and so was contacted when Mazda sent a request to all owners of that model to keep track of gas mileage and report it to Mazda. Mine was getting 30 mpg and that turned out to be about average. Mazda went to court and WON!!! (I was getting 14 mpg going as hard as I could on the SCCA Race Tracks with my 320 HP racing rotary!)
The "Mazda lies about fuel mileage" report was big news and made the headlines. When Mazda proved it was right, that story made page 24 inside lower on a page. (not big news!!)
Mazda sales fell off and Mazda actually didn't have a real 1976 model years, selling their left over 75s as 76s.
The RX-7s came in from 1979 -93, but only rotorheads bought them and so they were finally discontinued in the U.S. (I still have a 1 of 109 imported 1989 RX-7 GTU-S) The RX-8 is another attempt at entry into the U.S. market. The rest of the world has had a continuous stream of rotaries.
As far as the rotary pickup getting less than 10 mpg. Again, BULL. I owned a 1974 REPU and got 20+ all of the time.
The rotary engine had seal problems on pre-Mazdas. (Mazda bought the rights from NSU of germany) The NSUs got 50,000 miles to the engine! Mazda actually had a 50,000 mile warranty on their cars in the 70s. I've put over 100,000 miles on each of my rotaries with never a problem. (My present one runs like new and has over 119,000 miles.)
Noisy? Not unless you go with an open exhaust. The rotary has always had the nickname "whisperjet" It can't be heard over the sound of the monster exhaust pipe on the average "street racer" Honda as it eats his lunch.
Smog dirty? another old wife's tale. Rotaries pass smog with no problems. I live in Vegas, where we have stiffer smog inspections than California. I just did my annual smog inspection this week and the readings were better than my newer Ford Aerostar. (also better than required for a 2006 car!) If you screw with the carbs/FI, smog gear, or computer you will screw up smog readings just like on a piston engine.
2006-09-12 17:26:53 · answer #1 · answered by dallenmarket 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It would have been sweet! I read that GM had designed a rotary to be used in all its vehicles.A twin rotor for small cars. then triple or maybe 4 rotors for bigger trucks and cars.The great thing about it was they designed one basic rotor assembly and intended to just add more rotors on a engine to meet any demand. But then the OPEC oil embargo came and changed everything.The one problem they had back then in the 70s was they sucked gas .Ive heard that the newer rotorys are a lot more economical I would have loved to see what one of those bigger GM rotary engines would do.I had seen where they at least got to build a prototype Wankel Rotary Corvette
Wanted to add that Ford had plans for a rotary also but it fell through like GM's.
2006-09-10 06:53:17 · answer #2 · answered by Mr Toooo Sexy 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
One problem, plain & simple. Very poor fuel mileage.
Other than that it had everything going for it, simplicity, amazing power in HP/Liter, very low emissions, light, compact, reliable, low maintenance.
Early problems with oil consumption and seal reliability were solved a long time ago, as well as NO2 emissions issues. They're not harder to work on, its just that they are so unconventional in design, that conventional mechanics don't know how to work on them. Noise was never an issue, they are extremely quiet with a regular muffler system.
The fuel mileage problem was never solved. Even the RX-8 with all its technical wizardry still can't get good fuel economy.
2006-09-10 19:33:24 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Though the rotary engines made a lot of horsepower for their size, they were not very fuel efficient. (Mazda rotary pick up averaged 6-7 mpg). Also, they were more difficult to work on than conventional piston engines.
2006-09-10 06:59:35 · answer #4 · answered by colglennlarson 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The old rotary engines were indeed belching out loads of pollution, horribly loud, had difficulty with combustion chamber seals failing, extremely hot exhaust and were gas hogs. However the new generations of rotary engines have overcome these obstacles.
The new rotary engines are clean, quieter, seals don't fail, properly muffled, and more economic. Hot exhaust are about the only shortcoming left.
But, they are ex$pensive.
2006-09-10 06:55:58 · answer #5 · answered by Albannach 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Only Mazda used rotary engines due to their high power output given their small size.
Other manufacturers worried about reliability issues.
2006-09-10 06:51:40 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
It had problems with seals, pollution and noise.
too bad, it was a very promising design. Fewer moving parts, almost no vibration to speak of.
Perhaps now with all the sturdier materials for seals and emissions devices the little demon will experience a revival.
They were compact and produced lots of power for their size.
Stay tuned for further developments.
2006-09-10 08:15:51 · answer #7 · answered by mindbender - seeker of truth 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Id say because they are catalytic converter melter's, what did you do with the ones you found? You could make some nice pocket change selling them.
2006-09-10 07:11:13 · answer #8 · answered by icantthink4155 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Boost goes in. Apex seals come out.
2013-09-27 09:26:29 · answer #9 · answered by thelochnessmonstah 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋