bye bye rotary engine...

http://www.impomag.com/scripts/ShowPR.asp?RID=19277&et_

bob

On 10/7/2011 7:16 PM, bob urz wrote:
> http://www.impomag.com/scripts/ShowPR.asp?RID=19277&et_
>
> bob

I had the RX-2 coupe and a RX-3 station wagon. Both were a gas to drive.
The wagon was a goofy lime green with an automatic. The small station
wagon concept was pretty practical and it was kind of on the fast side.
Yay!

On 10/08/2011 03:45 AM, dsi1 wrote:
> On 10/7/2011 7:16 PM, bob urz wrote:
>> http://www.impomag.com/scripts/ShowPR.asp?RID=19277&et_
>>
>> bob
>
> I had the RX-2 coupe and a RX-3 station wagon. Both were a gas to drive.
> The wagon was a goofy lime green with an automatic. The small station
> wagon concept was pretty practical and it was kind of on the fast side.
> Yay!

Sad, but the RX-8 is neither sports car nor practical, so it's demise
wasn't hard to predict. That and I bet a rotary is more difficult to
get through emissions.

nate

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

On 10/8/2011 2:45 AM, dsi1 wrote:
> On 10/7/2011 7:16 PM, bob urz wrote:
>> http://www.impomag.com/scripts/ShowPR.asp?RID=19277&et_
>>
>> bob
>
> I had the RX-2 coupe and a RX-3 station wagon. Both were a gas to drive.
> The wagon was a goofy lime green with an automatic. The small station
> wagon concept was pretty practical and it was kind of on the fast side.
> Yay!

If you had sticks, i bet you wanted to run that little beast up to the
redline before you shifted?

bob

I have never owned, or driven a vehicle with a rotory engine, I guess I
wont miss that.
Yep, it is sad, no more rotary engines.Maybe someday they will return
better than ever.I Hope so.
cuhulin

On 10/8/2011 2:30 AM, Nate Nagel wrote:
> On 10/08/2011 03:45 AM, dsi1 wrote:
>> On 10/7/2011 7:16 PM, bob urz wrote:
>>> http://www.impomag.com/scripts/ShowPR.asp?RID=19277&et_
>>>
>>> bob
>>
>> I had the RX-2 coupe and a RX-3 station wagon. Both were a gas to drive.
>> The wagon was a goofy lime green with an automatic. The small station
>> wagon concept was pretty practical and it was kind of on the fast side.
>> Yay!
>
> Sad, but the RX-8 is neither sports car nor practical, so it's demise
> wasn't hard to predict. That and I bet a rotary is more difficult to get
> through emissions.

My understanding is that the surface area of the combustion chamber is
large and rapidly expands during the power stroke and retaining the heat
of combustion is difficult. The result is unburnt gases. My Mazdas had a
heavy cast iron chamber at the exhaust ports which allowed the unburnt
gases some additional time at an elevated temperature. I think you are
right that emissions were a problem. The seals also needed some
lubricating which was done on my cars by pumping engine oil into the big
carb. My guess is that probably didn't help much with the emissions either.
>
> nate
>

On 10/8/2011 5:12 AM, bob urz wrote:
> On 10/8/2011 2:45 AM, dsi1 wrote:
>> On 10/7/2011 7:16 PM, bob urz wrote:
>>> http://www.impomag.com/scripts/ShowPR.asp?RID=19277&et_
>>>
>>> bob
>>
>> I had the RX-2 coupe and a RX-3 station wagon. Both were a gas to drive.
>> The wagon was a goofy lime green with an automatic. The small station
>> wagon concept was pretty practical and it was kind of on the fast side.
>> Yay!
>
> If you had sticks, i bet you wanted to run that little beast up to the
> redline before you shifted?
>
> bob

The RX-2 had a 4 speed, the wagon had an automatic. The rotary worked
great with either setup. I was a conservative driver so I shifted pretty
early. My sister-in-law who had a hot Camaro and kind of a hot foot,
drove the car and told me that the car kept buzzing when she
accelerated. Of course that was the warning alarm that these cars had to
keep folks mindful of the redline. The torque didn't drop off the same
way it does on a piston engine so the buzzer was needed.

bob urz > wrote in :

> On 10/8/2011 2:45 AM, dsi1 wrote:
>> On 10/7/2011 7:16 PM, bob urz wrote:
>>> http://www.impomag.com/scripts/ShowPR.asp?RID=19277&et_
>>>
>>> bob
>>
>> I had the RX-2 coupe and a RX-3 station wagon. Both were a gas to drive.
>> The wagon was a goofy lime green with an automatic. The small station
>> wagon concept was pretty practical and it was kind of on the fast side.
>> Yay!
>
> If you had sticks, i bet you wanted to run that little beast up to the
> redline before you shifted?
>


Every time! They really were as smooth as the advertising said they were.
And they were quick for their day.

I had a '74 RX-4, which was the first one with the "big" 13B.


--
Tegger

Nate Nagel > wrote in
:

> On 10/08/2011 03:45 AM, dsi1 wrote:
>> On 10/7/2011 7:16 PM, bob urz wrote:
>>> http://www.impomag.com/scripts/ShowPR.asp?RID=19277&et_
>>>
>>> bob
>>
>> I had the RX-2 coupe and a RX-3 station wagon. Both were a gas to drive.
>> The wagon was a goofy lime green with an automatic. The small station
>> wagon concept was pretty practical and it was kind of on the fast side.
>> Yay!
>
> Sad, but the RX-8 is neither sports car nor practical, so it's demise
> wasn't hard to predict. That and I bet a rotary is more difficult to
> get through emissions.
>


Rotaries have long, rectangular, square-cornered combustion chambers. My
understanding is that the primary problems with rotary emissions are those
corners, plus the trailing edge of the combustion chamber. Lots of HCs
lurking there, and that second spark-plug only helps somewhat.

Keep in mind that piston engine designers must now grapple with the
emissions effects of the microscopic gap between the top of the piston and
the upper ring. Imagine what rotary designers have to contend with.

--
Tegger

If you want a little bitty Wankel engine to play with, I think some of
those stores that sell model Airplane engines also sell some Wankel
rotary engines.
I have no idea what they cost.
cuhulin