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Ryan F9 and team have done it again. Only one internal combustion design from the 20th century has gone into production: the Wankel Rotary. Yet every motorcycle manufacturer who tries it goes bankrupt. What’s the curse?https://youtu.be/-3HBAvkc4a0
It’s the name.
Yes, no one seems able to quite make a Wankel work with bikes.But considering that Mazda made rotary engines for about 50 years, I wouldn't describe them as a failure. I had a red 5 speed '82 Mazda RX-7 that was a revving blast to drive. Reliable as a stone, too. One of those cars you regret losing. Just like this one:
You’re just daring me....
I have personal experience with this subject. In 1979 I bought a 1975 Mazda station wagon with the Rotary engine. The little car would run 130+ MPH, handled like a sports car and got around 25 MPG if driven in a reasonable manor. I never really could understand why Mazda discontinued that motor????
Remember the ol' NORTON WANKEL?!?
How many miles to a quart of oil? My nephew bought an RX-8 with his enlistment bonus. I got to drive it and it was fun, but having to check and add oil that often would really suck.https://www.rx8club.com/australia-new-zealand-forum-37/10-things-new-rx-8-owners-should-know-day-1-a-35405/
I would personally. My work Colleague bought his wife a nice condition second hand low mileage RX8 sports car (auto unfortunately). Drove it for a few years until it had 80,000klm (50,000 miles) on it total. Then it got really hard to start when cold. He did all the usual stuff, plugs coils etc until he finally took it to a Mazda expert. He walked into the workshop and there were 3 RX8's on jacks with the engines out. He explained the situation to the expert and the answer was, Yep 80,000 klm is about what you get out of an engine then they don't like starting because there're basically worn out and the low compression makes them hard to start cold. That's what those other 3 over there are in here for. He paid for the rebuild and ditched it soon after. I need an engine even in my Sunday drive car that will go more than 80,000klms.I've driven an RX3 and an original R100 and they fly, esp the RX3 but there's a reason they died out which is obvious. Thirsty and high wear rate.Ciao
You are referring to the later RX8. I had a first gen RX7. I don't know if tightening emission rules was the reason, but the RX8 engine had thinner seals and they indeed had a reputation for wearing out prematurely. The 12A rotary in the first gen RX7 was probably one the most reliable and durable engines that Mazda had ever made up to that time, piston or not. I sold mine with over 170,000 km (110,000 miles), still purring like a kitten. I redlined that tach frequently, thinking it wouldn't hurt the engine. Long after I sold it, I read that that high rpm use actually helped it burn off carbon deposits on the seals! From what I read they would last 150,000 miles with good maintenance. OIl use? Yes. The design of the rotary means that a small, metered amount of oil is burnt off in operation. Normal and predictable. I don't recall specifically, but now that I think about it I probably checked the oil about every weekend, like every car I had owned up to then. The simple rotary otherwise required less maintenance than a piston engine of the eighties. Gas mileage was meh. Think American car V8 level mileage of the same era. But good gas mileage is pretty far down my list of wants when buying a sports car for fun.Rotary engines are light, simple and can rev so high- in principle they should really suit bikes. Suzuki really didn't get their rotary right, the styling was awful. (I never heard of the heard of the Hercules Wankel before the F9 video). Norton simply ran out of money. I've always thought that if Honda had decided to licence and build a rotary it would have been a different story. BTW, Mazda recently announced they would be using a rotary engine as a range extender in one of their hybrid models.
Rotaries are not quite dead yet. Norton tuner Brian Crighton is offering this little tidbit. https://www.autoevolution.com/news/crighton-reveals-new-motogp-like-cr700w-rotaries-are-back-173015.htmlThe issue with the Norton Rotaries was oil related much like the Mazdas. For whatever reason they chose to use aluminum sideplates that were simply etched, no nikasil. As long as oil levels were maintained they would be OK, evidence the Police bike above with over half a million miles. The owner of the US Classic had to bring the head Norton Mechanic over to repair the sideplates on his bike. Work was done at our local Norton dealer at the time. Plates had to be removed, ground flat and re etched with acid.Pete
Ok interesting, I'm assuming you mean the plates on the housing that seal the rotor end faces. The Police bike mileage is a bit of a red herring though as any piston engine operated in the same circumstances gives the same results. Ridden somewhat continuously with minimal cold start cycling the same applies with massive mileage increases compared to the average DD.Ciao