The rotary engine sucks!

[fastfredracing]

First off, I always liked the rx7. I had a few. Back when I was autocrossing my 911 SC in ASP, there were 2 modified rx 7 cars, that I could never beat. Came close a few times ,but never got it .
I also worked for a mazda/vw dealer in the early 90's. Every really cold winter morning, the tow truck gods would deliver us a few no start rx 7 cars. It was easy . We would pull the fuel pump fuse, charge the battery, and crank the hell out of them till they would clear themselves and start .
Thought this was a funny article anyhow :

The Rotary Engine Sucks
Freddy "Tavarish" Hernandez
Today 5:41pmFiled to: rants
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The Rotary Engine Sucks

Every time a new Mazda model is announced, a certain number of unwashed yokels always seem to mention that the car would be hella better if only they used the Wankel rotary. News flash: the rotary is a garbage engine.

I imagine that automotive engineers have a tough go in life. They’re obligated to dress like they took a homemade animatronic to prom, they’re the only people other than third graders that would actually spend money on a protractor, and they create cars with engines that permanently-between-jobs journalists can mock for not giving them an instant boner. Hey, I get it.

However, that doesn’t excuse the fact that the Wankel rotary engine is a goddamn mess and anyone with a degree in engineering that proposes it as an idea should be fired. Out of a cannon. Into the sun.

I’ve owned one, so yes, I know what I’m talking about.

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Don’t believe me? Here’s how it works.

In a regular piston engine, pistons on a crankshaft move up and down and harness the power of combustion. Over the years, this type of engine (known as the Otto cycle) has become quite efficient, powerful, and emissions-friendly. It’s in everything from Smart cars to Ferraris.

In a rotary, instead of having pistons or anything that makes sense to a learned person, there’s a Dorito-looking rotor on an eccentric shaft that moves in an oblong arc in a housing that’s sealed with what might as well be string cheese. It also harnesses the power of combustion, but an inherent design flaw means that it burns oil like your uncle’s ancient lawnmower with the grace of an armadillo in a washing machine, and it was created by an insane Nazi.

But wait, that’s not all! It’s also impossible to start reliably, if you turn it off before it’s fully warmed up, you’ll have to clear your schedule for the next few hours to get it adequately cool down and un-flood itself and the entire engine lasts maybe as long as the first minor service interval on your aunt’s Honda Civic.

It has the fuel economy of an ‘80s cruise liner and the torque output of a clothes hamper falling down the stairs. It’ll start or not start, depending on what you had for breakfast that day and if you were mad your mother earlier that week, and the only exhaust note it knows is a drone that sexually attracts homicidal bees. And it was made by a ****ing Nazi.

It’s a hateful motor and no matter how many rotors you slap on it, it doesn’t make up for the fact that it sucks. The rotary engine should be forgotten like phrenology, LaserDisc, and Mambo Number Five.

It’s not even the MySpace of engines because the rotary didn’t lead to an evolution of anything. I imagine the rotary engineers just shrugged their shoulders after countless failed iterations and collectively said “Man, what a colossal waste of cocaine that was.”

Don’t be fooled by enthusiastic forum fanboys; every single rotary owner knows what it’s like to wake up and wonder whether or not they’ll engage in the miracle of automotive transportation because of the gigantic piece of **** lurking in their car’s engine bay. Instead, get a V8. Get a V6. Swap in a golf cart motor. Rip out the floor and use your bare feet against the asphalt. Anything other than the rotary.

That is all.

[stuartj]

Yeah true, but when one is howling through a cutting, with 11000 rpm on dial and the thing has blown its muffler to bits again it sounds like the gates of Hell have opened and a shrieking, flame throwing banshee punctuated by overrun explosions has been unleashed. Even if you're consuming 1 litre of fuel for every two kilometres....

[Reg]

My Dad as an 84 with the 13b that has never had anything but plugs n oil changes and a set of wires all these years with over 100000 miles on the clock.

[wdfifteen]

I got in on the tail end of GM's rotary experiments. We were working on manufacturing the rotor at the same time we were doing emissions control. We were going to make the rotor from powdered iron and just about had it worked out when the emissions guys pulled the plug on the whole project.

[ted]

Last I heard Mazda is getting very low on 4 rotor motors...
They do sound racey at rpm.

[Brando]

That article definitely gave me a few chuckles. Quite an apt evaluation of the Wankel engine. Thanks for that!

[GH85Carrera]

I was at Road Atlanta when the first of the Rotary Mazda race cars were practicing along with normal cars. The engine sound is unique, and to me just the sound of BAD. I have never heard a rotary engine note that sounded pleasant to me.

I admit to extreme prejudice for a LOVE of the flat 6 911 engine. Even after a 12 hour road trip in my 911 I love the sound. I would commit myself to a rubber room if I had to listen to a rotary engine, especially one with little or no mufflers for 12 hours.

[Laneco]

I've had 12A's and 13B in both carbed and injected form. Pretty much zero issues with any of the pistonless wonders. Not like you have to do valve adjustments or anything.

The exhaust note is mostly just loud. Not pleasant in pitch and it has no rhythm. Just sort of a mechanical screaming sound. With an open exhaust, you really need to wear earplugs.

The article was funny, but I am still a fan of the rotary engine. Awful lot of HP for a 1200 or 1300cc ish engine.

angela

[tevake]

Yep they do shriek for sure , but do sound SO GOOD on those auto rev matching downshifts.
Really blew my mind at Laguna Seca for the first time last summer. Sitting mid way down the corkscrew. And hearing them approaching the top of the section and hearing the three super quick blips of the throttle before seeing them dropping down the hill.

Very distinctive and exciting.

Cheers Richard

[SiberianDVM]

Some ChumpCar teams run RX-7 with rotaries. Even with so-called mufflers, you can identify one from the other side of the track. After just a few hours into an endurance race, the muffler guts are completely burnt out, so they are basically running straight pipes.

At Rd Atlanta this year, one of them was pitted next to us, and we noticed that his exhaust pipe was hanging lower, and lower, and lower. Sure enough, eventually it broke and caught a rear tire on fire. How the heck they didn't just blow up is beyond me.

[aschen]

there is a name for rotary enthusiasts but I feel dirty saying it in polite company....

[tevake]

Hey, we are not all that polite, but very curious.
Just whisper it.

[scottmandue]

Yes, they are horrible engines in horrible cars!
So... if any of you want to get rid of yours I will be glad to take it off your hands...as a personal favor of course!

[aschen]

Originally Posted by tevake

Hey, we are not all that polite, but very curious.
Just whisper it.

rotards, you probably already knew it


In my adult life I try not to use the word retarded in the derogatory sense. I used to think it was funny until I realized I know all sorts of wonderful people and family with mental handycaps


Any sort of car enthusiast is fair game though, especially those fans of magical spinning triangles.

[stuartj]

Originally Posted by ted

Last I heard Mazda is getting very low on 4 rotor motors...
They do sound racey at rpm.

Great footage, but most of what youre hearing is the dog gears. And the way that thing is pulling- that's a turbo 13B. Turbo is much quieter. The car Ive rallied in is a carbie 13B with a dog box. The noise in a competition stage is very loud, especially once the muffler is gone, but you don't notice too much. Transports though, between stages, are mind bending, but mostly due to the shrieking dog box. Have to wear headsets all day, and usually just leave the helmets on.

[ted]

Originally Posted by stuartj

Great footage, but most of what youre hearing is the dog gears.

Agree, I actually was in the same race as the video above.
I still like the sound of a high rpm rotary, high pitched engine.

Perhaps this video has a little more rotary sound and less whine.
That's me moving over in the #10 Camaro.
https://youtu.be/3hQHnrL29b8?t=2m25s

My Weisman box has some gear whine too.
https://youtu.be/ai7FNGvcOo8

[cgarr]

Here is a real "rotary" engine in the dark!!

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by Laneco

The article was funny, but I am still a fan of the rotary engine.

Yep.
I had my Dad's 1992 RX 7 twin turbonator for about six months. It is now in the capable hands of OneWhippedPuppy.

In Greek mythology, a Rotary Engine powered the Trojan Horse. Felix Wankel did not invent the Rotary Engine, it invented him. If the Star Ship Enterprise had been powered by a Rotary Engine, Scotty would have had all the power he needed...

Stay Rotary My Friends.

[rfuerst911sc]

I remember going to my first 24 Hours of Daytona after moving to FL. from N.Y. I went with my oldest son. Jim Downing was running a Mazda Kudzu I think it was a 3 or 4 rotor engine. Sitting in the front stretch bleechers was almost too painful ! You would hear the sweet siren song of the Ferrari 333 then the deep growl of the Panoz and then the get out of my way I'm screaming like a chainsaw on steroids Mazda !!! I could live with the Ferrari or Panoz but the Mazda not so much.

[herr_oberst]

Originally Posted by aschen

wonderful people and family with mental handycaps

This reads like a sniglet: Handycapped. Someone who isn't skilled with tools.