Hello to all u car ppl out there! Anyone know about rotary engines? what're the pros and cons of them? -unsure
In a rotary engine, the cylinders move around a stationary crankshaft. Typical combustion engines have a moving crankshaft which pulls the pistons along stationary cylinders. I don't think both engine types are about the same when it comes to pros and cons with the exception of how rare rotary engines are. One thing to keep in mind though, rotary engines tend to run more richly than typical engines.
Rotary engines are small, lightweight engines that can produce an amazing amount of power for its size... for those that care for the hp per liter argument, it is the best engine for it... due to its size and weight it is easy to make a well balanced 50/50 front/rear vehicle... although on paper, RX-7s and RX-8s are FR, most people liken them to MR even though the engine is just barely sitting on top of the front axle instead of the more traditional, behind the driver's seats in cars like the MR2/NSX/etc... RX-7s have plenty of potential still left on the engine, common mods include porting the rotors which yield a nice chunk of hp... RX-8s have virtually no potential other than FI... or the more extreme route of the third rotor which I've heard yield upwards of 600whp... cons... the bloody thing runs hot, hotter than hell... burns oil like a mother... fairly inefficient... and if u have an RX-7 running on Turbo, ur looking at a rebuild at about 75k miles... current gen RX-8s seem to not have this issue, but then again not many have hit the 75k miles mark yet... so far for those that have, I haven't heard of a rebuild yet... in general, it is not a car for junior... hell no... it is a sensitive machine...
There are arguments on displacement. Some argue it's a 1.3L, others 2.6, some say 3.9... all because it's does not run like a traditional 4 stroke engine. Many enthusiasts like to say 1.3, but it burns gas like it's a 3.9 equivalent, haha. It's main advantages are weight and balance which are already mentioned. The engine internally is much more balanced as well since everything is much closer to the axis of rotation. This balance allows the engine to safely reach higher RPMs.
rotary engines are expensive to fix, go through oil like mad (people i know with rotary keep a 1L jug of oil in their cars just in case), and are a hassle to modify/maintain. On the other hand they can run at high RPM's and sound pretty awesome with a good exhaust setup.
rotary car is for Show and track if u need it for normal usage... hell no.. u just trying to play fire near yr bank book, credit card and wallet.
rotary engines not just for track and show, they can be practical in cars like the maxda rx7 and rx8 they are a lot more efficient due to the design and so even a small displacement rotary engine can match a larger displacement 4stroke combustion engine however rotary engines require high maintenance, as said before they consume a lot of oil and the carbon tips used to seal the "chambers" wear out pretty quick and are costly, they require replacement every 60k miles i think. Also due to the design again, they run pretty low compression ratios, so they guzzle gas http://auto.howstuffworks.com/rotary-engine.htm
the main adv is it small and could be place right next to the firewall so you get a 50/50 balance which really helps out the handling of the car. It produces as much power as a V6 without the weight and size. Con mazda ecu doesn't automatically adjust the fuel and air ratio to the engine so every mod that mess with those things will require some knowledge in that area for tunning. The engine create lots of friction to the cylinder walls so they break a lot faster than a normal engine.
Thats not true, the 8 was a disaster...I'e been snooping around the rx forums and they say the new rx will have way better fuel, 2x of that of the current rx-8 and have the balance and power close to the 7-clapclap. But yeah back to the tread question. Rotaries drain your pocket in terms of gas. Rebuilding an engine is not so bad and you only have to do it say every 70,xxx km's. Costs are dependant though and the quality of the build. It handles better than any car due to its 50/50 distrubution. And you have to love the Rotary idling and accelerating sound. Plus its a Mazda Now the negatives I've driven two 7's and an 8. I can tell you with the 7 series 6 i pushed to get an average of 420km's out of a tank babying it along the highway and city. 7 series 8 also babying it about 390km's because it was tt. But i can tell you by far the 8's were the worse....i literally pushed to get 280km's out of a tank -huh. The seals wear out if you don't get quality ones and yes it does need rebuilding. Yes it does require alot of oil lol make sure you check it every two weeks and that you have some always handy lol. It is a high mantainence car and it requires care if you want it to last long or not die on you. It's not so much a day to day car as such, where you can just let it be...it really needs maintainence and care. But they have been one of the best handling cars I've driven. They are great enthusiast cars. Must warn you make sure you have money to spare for fuel if you drive to work/ uni and all lol....unlike me lol....I loved my rotaries but i traded it all in...couldn't afford it anymore lol. Atleast i get alot more bang for buck now lol.
well... rx8 the only pro is beautiful extrerior ad nice interior not as performance oriented as te rx7 especially series 6 onwards with twin turbo...thats hot rx8 is too slow...typeR has faster 0-100km times handling on the 8 is not bad though i've taken a fe won the track, engine soudns nice, more reliable (so to say) than the 7 rotaries are a bitch to service...not any mechanic knows the rotary...so be prepared to pay a premium... so i reckon u should choose another car... i own an evo8 and my07 STI for performance and pratical i would chose evo/sti for PURE PERFORAMNCE GTR...R34 are good price these days for looks....350z with a decent bodykit...not the stocker please no!!! s15 is a fun car to drive on the track too unpredictable on te street... new mx5 is fun for daily twisties and track dont buy supra although they are nice...they are old...maintenance expensive, major service cost $$$ but nothing beats the evo on the track straight from the showroom BUT PREPARE TO PAY FOR $$$ PETROL FOR TURBO CARS!!!!
wow dude... wow... The 8 is far from a disaster... the Renesis is pumping 175whp w/o turbo... ur godly FD pumps out a nice 125whp w/o it's butt buddy the Twin Turbo... and ur calling the Renesis a disaster? the only reason the FD out muscles the new 8's is because the 8's are doing it all motor... instead the FD's have a dual powered vacuum helping it suck air... slap on an $8k turbo at 8psi onto the 8 and ur looking at 330whp... yes... that's better than ur beloved 300whp twinturbos... remember the 8 is about $8k cheaper than the FD BEFORE inflation... and really u gotta understand the concept of how far one can go with a given amount of gas... first off... FD's have a 20.6 gallon tank... compared to the 8's 15.9 gallon tank... that's easily makes up the difference that ur getting between the two cars... secondly, there were issues with the 8's ecu's early on... a simple factory reflash fixed most of the issues with people getting about 12mpg... finally... if ur only getting 280km out of a full tank on an 8... u really need to learn how to drive... i can easily get 385km... and i REDLINE daily... The FD and the 8 are two different cars of different breeds... that's why its the RX-"8" not another generation of 7...
there's a reason why not many ppl buy rotary.. one is not many ppl know how to work around that motor.. another is they're not reliable.. think about why mazda had to recall the entire motor for the rx8 in the us
sigh... they did a VOLUNTARY recall for all the motors... yes some had issues, mostly for people in regions with high heat/elevations and for morons running synthetics(with some exceptions like Royal Purple)... but for the rest of us, we just drove it in during a standard oil change and had them vacuum test our motors... and we were off on our merry way... most issues I heard came from Las Vegas and Arizona...
there's no such thing as "voluntary" recalls.. a recall is a recall because there are problems consumers have from a factory produced good.. first there will be a service bulletin once the company is aware of a potential problem.. if there is enough ppl for it to be a relative factory defect, then it's called a recall.. the motor was a recall that's just how these car companies work.. i should know coz i talk with subaru of america representatives few times a yr and i have been involved with the import industry for quite some time
