Why the rotary is dead

[kevm14]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=v3uGJGzUYCI

Pretty concise. And way less angry than those "debates" with Toomey like 5 years ago.

[Adam]

Did Toomey think the rotary engine was the ultimate internal combustion engine?

[kevm14]

Pretty much. I guess Mazda had some success racing with them in the 70s.

[Adam]

Pretty much. I guess Mazda had some success racing with them in the 70s.

Also with the 787B in '90/'91.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda_787B
Good race engines don't necessarily translate to good street engines. Especially with oil consumption being a designed-in feature.

[kevm14]

Fuel efficiency and durability are important for racing though. Maybe durability is addressed by squirting even more oil in.

[bill25]

Good explanation from the same guy describing how it works:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sd6pJtR4PaY

[Adam]

Fuel efficiency and durability are important for racing though. Maybe durability is addressed by squirting even more oil in.

The 787B used a tri-rotor version of the engine. More rotors = more durability? Maybe the terrible street fuel economy is acceptable in racing applications?

[kevm14]

There are a lot of similarities to a 2 stroke engine. That is a lot of the reason it makes a lot of power per displacement. But I think the biggest Achilles of the rotary is not the apex seals. It is the way the flame works. And that is inherent to the design. Fancy materials can't fix that.