I think its more of a style thing, just something different from the pack. Kind of the same reason people bag their suspension and roll an inch off the ground, which doesn't really make much sense either. They sound wicked and spit flames all the time so I can understand why people like it from that aspect. Also, they make alot of torque when tuned right, and ls swap is big $$$

 

Their viewpoint: The small size and weight are the key features. You're basically getting more power per litre than in any other setup and you're getting the motor lower and further back for better weight distribution.

They're not a bad designed motor either, but real life has shown that the rotary won't take over the world like the modern piston motor has.

I personally like them, but I don't love them. If I ever got a nice FD, I would keep the rotary, but at the same time, I haven't bought an FD because of the rotary.

 

In theory they're pretty good, but in real life, the day-to-day drawbacks outweigh the benefits, assuming it is something that you want to drive on a regular basis. But luckily they are typically paired with the RX cars that have a good chassis to begin with, which helps make an argument for them. Additionally, their strengths aren't limited just to rotary engines either.

Rotary engines had always been touted for their simplicity, since there were so few major moving parts, but in the real world, there weren't many people who were suitable for doing maintenance on the engines, so reliable mechanics were fewer and farther in between. Not even all Mazda dealerships were capable of servicing them.

Don't get me wrong, I used to want an RX-8 when I first saw them, as I test drove them a few times when I was in college since I was looking for a new car. I really dug a lot about it, as the configuration was nice (with it having four doors and four seats for real adults while maintaining the look of a coupe), but when I used to post on rx8club.com or whatever site it was, people were talking about how poor the mpg was for being as light as it was while not exactly having a monster engine under the hood. But it sure was fun to drive when there were corners involved, as it was very well-balanced.

 

The Rotary is an aircraft motor just like the Boxer Motor, but The Rotary can take on a Boxer motor ten fold. Rotary motors have fewer parts and don't leak coolant and oil like Subaru's. Subarus and Porches are the only company that uses Boxer motors. Both are unreliable automobiles. The rotary is exclusive to Mazda because the own rights to the Rotary. When you look back at Mazdas past..... They started out making Rotary powered scooters. Then they slowly progressed to Rotary powered vehicles. Then the 1970s oil crisis hit and Mazda had to move to mainstream piston engines. This is why I believe Mazda's are unreliable. If they stuck with Rotary motors they would have been better off. But in this day in age the Rotary uses too much gas and is not efficient. There have been rumors of a Rotary powered hybrid, but that wont work. Most hybrid owners don't redline their cars. A Rotary must be redlined every so often to burn off deposits so that it remains in good health.

 

 

Sounds like no one here can really tell you. Of course their design is inferior to the piston engine, reliability and efficiency don't exist much in the rotary, boost the fuck out of anything and it can make power. What is great about these engines, is similar to what we love in our k20s. High revving monsters!! These rotaries use momentum to make more power at higher rpm, hence having a rotor that will rotate one direction, opposed to a piston moving up and down. Wether to you its worth the hassle, or not, they are known for being great engines around the time they came out, in 1984, this rotary of 1.3l came out with 135hp, thats pretty impressive for the year. The same time the first honda engines made like 60 hp. I wouldn't get one, because i just wouldn't spend so much time replacing apex seals every 40k miles. But to those that still do, congrats.


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Rotaries were first mass produced in an arctic cat snowmobile and experimental in plains. also, Wankel Rotaries are not the only rotary motors made / designed. There is dozens of rotary motor designs. Most of the motors weakness comes from the Apex seals. It is Horrible on gas, because a single rotor fires 3 times for 2 rotations. a single piston 4 stroke fires 1 time per 2 revolutions. the displacement size is actually only 1 side of the rotor, so for proper displacement values, you have to times it by 3. hence a 1.3L racing in the 3.0-4.0 liter class.

IMO, it's a junk motor because no one has perfected it. look how many different brands and models of every 4 stroke motor there is, it's been perfected time and time again. there's really only 2 or 3 forms of the Wankel rotary, and only 1 brand in mass production (Wankel).

EDIT - Bolded is wrong. proper displacement is air moved per rotation. x1.5. The wankel 1.3L races in the 2.5L class though. they double the displacement for racing purposes.

 

because they care about handling. A 13b is tiny and light weight. It sits behind the front axle effectively making the rx7 a mid engine. It is really down low too (low center of gravity). Also, they are really smooth. What else? Its unique...and the only reason people blow them so often is they dont know the proper way to use it; eg if Air temps are high (sitting in traffic), dont just take off WOT, get some air moving, running pre-mix, proper tuning, etc.

They can easily go 100k moded 320whp if taken care of (even if driven really hard and raced)

IMO, it's a junk motor because no one has perfected it.

There is only ONE japanese car that ever won the 24hours of LeMans....guess what its the Mazda 787B (roatry). You sound like an idiot btw.

 

Weight, size, balance and lower to center of gravity. ALSO CUZ FUCK YOU THATS WHY!

 

because http://youtu.be/EOmdBMBI-dI

I think its the same argument between Forced Induction and NA

 

Unlike piston engines, rotary engines will last longer and run healthier by constantly taking them to high rpm.
The gas mileage is also fairly consistent. Drive hard or take it slow, you will get similar gas mileages regardless. That's why at the track rotaries tend to get the same, if not more mpg than 4 cylinders.

 

The gas mileage is also fairly consistent. Drive hard or take it slow, you will get similar gas mileages regardless. That's why at the track rotaries tend to get the same, if not more mpg than 4 cylinders.

But that doesn't matter when the gas mileage sucks when you're just driving around town. I would accept worse fuel economy on the track, which is expected, if the gas mileage on the other 29 of the 30 days of the month is far better, which is when it is most significant.

 

I am rotor head and I think the main thing for me is like another member said it's a style thing. Just being different from the rest of the crowd. The sounds of the rotary. The attention they get. You don't see them all the time.


Plus Rotaries are beast at the strip....

 

Oddly a lot of RX-8 owners are very disappointed by the mpg and don't always find it justified. Additionally, not everyone drives like a redlining maniac when going down the street to pick up groceries or going on a highway trip to visit family, so it's very relevant and not nearly as dependent on "how you drive around town."

 

Are we talking rotary fans or rotary owners? The two can be very different. I'm sure people who bought the rx8 without fully understanding the rotary are going to be disappointed by the mpg.
"redlining like a maniac" is taking my words out of context. I guess that's the thing about the rotary, they're so smooth and free-revving that cruising down at 6k rpm really doesn't feel like it would in a 4 cylinder

 

So an archaic engine was able to win an endurance race against much more advanced engines years ahead of anything we have on the streets now? Ooooook. And just because fuel efficiency and extreme long term reliability for a rotary don't meet YOUR standards, doesn't mean a rotary isn't a superior choice for certain applications; like a race car or sports car, which either way require a lot of maintenance. the extremely low center of gravity and low weight much more desirable.

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Interested as well. In to find out what's so great about rotary.
Pros and cons?
Have sources to back it up. Let the debate begin.

 

RE Amemiya 10,000rpm + RX7 awesome.

 

Lol. ^ exactly. Again my "junk" comment. It will never make it in the common world without much more technology involved. Yea it CAN be dependable, but look at your average consumer or even a fairly intelligent owner, there's still a high chance they will blow it up.

Daily driving conditions are much harsher on an engine. Much more extreme temperatures, much more stop and go, alot less cooling ability, AFR range is much greater, usable Rpms is much greater. Etc etc.

 

Alot less cooling ability? Please explain further. Afr range is greater LOL What?

Rotarys are junk, terrible fuel economy, engine flooding, and a real pain in the ass to work on.

All mine were pretty easy to work on. Again you say junk, so a junk engine is one that gets terrible fuel economy and has engine flooding issues? I can name a few psiton engines like that.

Wrong. Rx8's still have an extravagant amount of reliability issues.

Ok. PLease tell me what these are? Are they the same as above?:wavey:

 

Rotarys are junk, terrible fuel economy, engine flooding, and a real pain in the ass to work on.

 

1-10 afr? Are u serious? No street vehicle ive ever seen does 1 afr. At min your lookin at 14.3-15.8 for cruising and 9-11 on wot for turbo and a lil leaner (11.7-12.9 for na motors. Do some more reading please.
A race motor will see alot more then just .5 afr difference i can tell you that. So your saying a race cars afr would never change from 12.0 all race? That has to be the dumbest thing ive ever heard. Off throttle response would be shit, milesge shit, what about part throttle going around corners? Still no change?

 

Re-read it smarts. Could be anywhere from a 1-10 chanhe difference. And you still missed everything else about it what I said. You are missing the point completely, a rotary motor is not capable of the harsh daily driving condition changes, and still being reliable. Mazda has proves this time and time again. Have fun running in circles. Bye now.

 

Jeez christ. We have a genius here people! You just cant argue with honda ricers.

 

talking big for someone with 10 posts lol

 

Yea, because post count determines knowledge. Ass.

 

Hahaha yea i know right? Or is it the fact that i have a rsx? If you would research before saying something, you may actually sound smart.

 

I've worked on a number of rotaries, Have owned a rotary, and have helped rebuild one. I've done a bunch of research on them. Take your own advice. Re-read this whole thread, and realize in every post I have said it is a junk motor for street use. It is unreliable, it needs to be Rev'ed up and stomped almost constantly to last, (which is Illegal, so how does that even fit on the street?), It is delicate in terms of heating and cooling, It requires special maintenance that most aren't accustomed to, It can't use synthetic oil, I can sit here and go on and on. Everything has been said by more than just me in this thread, you for example. NOTHING has pointed to it being a car to be used on the street. For example, the oil is the majority of the motor's cooling capability, a RX8 holds 9 courts including the coolers, How long do you think that oil takes to get to operating temperature? well considering by k20 with 5 quarts and a oil heater/cooler combo takes 20-30 minutes in the summer, and it can take up to an hour in 0 degree whether, I would say atleast 30min in summer and atleast an hour in winter. Now let's add in the fact that that motor depends on oil for combustion, lubrication and cooling, and is known to have APEX seal problems, and oil injection problems. Now let's add in that your typical driver starts a car and drives, and even your enthusiast and knowledgeable driver isn't going to wait 30min/1hour. Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen right? oil way to thick and cold, motor needing to be rev'ed to hell to not get carbon build up and fail, and oil coolers so huge that on the highway doing 65mph in 0 degree whether, I'll be surprised if the oil ever gets over 125 degrees. and the motor is stuck in it's worst case scenario, cruising at part throttle? THE MOTOR IS JUNK FOR STREET USE. Mazda proved this over and over again. It is a motor to be used with knowledgeable people and in ideal scenarios, in other words, that is a BAD choice for a money making, street driven, production car.

EUREKA! A perfect motor for street use!! That's just one of the many problems with them. Would you like to go on about how the rotary is perfectly suitable with it's current technology being driven everyday?

Let me add in, in almost every post I also said it is a perfect motor for racing, and is MOST reliable when in high RPM, WOT. I also stated I have HOPE for the future of the motor and I THINK it would be a perfect combo with gasoline/electric, That would take almost all stress and reliability questions out of the motors equation.

 

Seems that from this thread, what you can gather is that rotary engines are only for an enthusiast. If you like rotary engines I'm sure you would defend them to no end but the real world shows that they are junk. Had a couple friends with rx7s, they loved them even though they went through a couple engines while owning them. I drove an rx8, it drove great but I hardly found any owners who recommended them. It seems the rx8 could have been a great success with just a standard boosted motor like the mazdaspeed 3 but maybe with more hp. The idea of the car was great, it looked sporty and had some practicality with its doors. I would consider rotary junk for daily driving purposes, too much work to make owning one worth it as your only vehicle. The idea behind them and the performance aspects are great though. I'd love to own an FD rx7 as a car to only drive once in a while, but for the money your approaching the cost of building a supra, 300zx tt, skyline etc.... Which I would consider better cars.

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Better cars in what aspect?

 

Those three cars that you have named off are pure enthusiasts cars. Very overpriced while skylines cost pennies over-seas. I wouldnt consider a v6 tt that only displaces 300bhp to be a "good car" imo.

 

Well, technically only one of them is a V-6 (300ZX) while the others are I-6s. They were overpriced at the time only because they came out when the yen was strong, which made them expensive when their final generations came out in the early '90s. They knew what was up, Toyota actually ended up dropping the Supra's price by a significant margin as a result about halfway through its final life cycle in the US. But obviously they've held their value pretty well, since that block is no joke. Skylines might be cheap overseas (but a lot of the cheap ones aren't GT-R models), but that doesn't matter much since to have one here isn't cheap and increasingly difficult. And even those who thought they owned a legalized one obviously ended up with some serious headaches in the past few years, despite how much money they paid to get one.