Wankel types are so fucking cool. Not a lot of engines out there that can come close to their power to weight ratio.
Maintenance is just a bitch…
Also you get to say Wankel all the time with a serious face.
You’d want to pronounce it closer to as it is in German to be accurate.
(/ˈvaŋkəl̩/, VUN-kell)
Yeah, but I’m seven and a half years old and American.
Your account would then exist in violation of COPPA and should be banned.
(Yes, I’m aware you are not being serious.)
so you pronounce it like a chinese?
汪克尔
I don’t think you understand how LITTLE that clears up the pronunciation
Anyone who calls it a “rotary” engine is physically incapable of having fun. Plus rotary engines are reciprocating engines that powered early WW1 fighter planes, where the whole engine spins with the propeller for reasons I’m too modern to understand.
Air cooling, spin the heads so they get a whole lot of fresh air at all times and they’re lighter than the alternatives.
They’re called rotaries because they have rotors.
They’re called wankels because it’s a much funnier word.
They’re called Wankels because one of the contributors was Felix Wankel and his last name happens to have humorous connotations.
Too bad there are no Tossel or Buggel engines though…
Also very fuel inefficient, which is the main reason you don’t get them in cars anymore.
If they had only gone to laser ignition and roller apex seals…
Huh… can you explain? Did they ever do research on roller apex seals?
Idk what you’re talking about with laser ignition, but I guess that the name is self explanatory… as in a laser pulse instead of a spark to ignite in the combustion phase….
But the roller seals are suuuuper fucking interesting. But that would bring its own issues. Sure you’d save the sliding of the apex seal against the chamber walls, but then you’ve got to deal with some sort of roller bearing exposed to the actual combustion process. Plus lubrication is still an issue…
Fun problem to think about!
I don’t know what the other guy is referencing, but I’ve been keeping an eye on a company called LiquidPiston, who are developing a modified Wankel, and the seals are one of the problems they talk about tackling. This article from Ars is kinda recent and goes into it a bit: https://arstechnica.com/cars/2023/11/this-inside-out-design-solves-most-of-the-rotary-engines-problems/
Love me some spinny doritos
I always heard that these things sound really cool but I can never hear them over sound of Mazda fans nutting themselves
mahn i was so in love with my friends mazda series2 rx7 with a rotary engine. it was just so bizarre
And yet when I tell people I’m spinning up the Wankel engine the cops always get called
This is amazing.
Sigh… unzips wankels
First car was an FB RX-7, little rotary goes woooooooo. I miss it 😭
Yeah i had an 83, it was a 12A I guess? Revved like crazy and was one of the more balanced cars I ever drove. Consistently got 20 mpg, not great. I don’t recall it using much oil and thr transmission went before the engine. The nonturbo versions were pretty sturdy, heat kills the apex seals I hear.
Those little red dots on the lower left are the apex seals on their way to the cats
ah moller.