New 220hp 690cc Twin Wankel Engine

[Rich82GS750TZ]

Interesting info. I had no idea rotary engine's were so fuel inefficient. Does the same go for bigger rotary engines in cars?

I haven't read it all, but this article seems to touch on the issues.

https://carfromjapan.com/article/car-maintenance/why-the-fuel-economy-of-rotary-engines-is-bad/

[GS1150Pilot]

Interesting info. I had no idea rotary engine's were so fuel inefficient. Does the same go for bigger rotary engines in cars?

Yes. The RX Mazdas have generally gotten terrible fuel mileage, and Citroen's models with rotaries were even worse.

[Nessism]

I had an RX-7 that I modded and the mileage wasn't much different than my Datsun 2L 510 that was similarly mildly modded.

What was different was the quality of the power; the Mazda was so smooth and it pulled like a freight train.

My RX-7 had a standard 12A engine which I modded by "street porting" with a Racing Beat template. A generic header with turbo muffler exhaust was used, and a tiny Holly 460 4B carb on a (I think) Racing Beat manifold. That engine just flat ripped! I had it dyno'ed, mostly to check mixture, and the dyno dude shut it down early, while the power was still climbing hard at 6500 rpm, where it made 125hp at the rear wheels. Modern engines make way more of course, but that engine was just plain cool. I could carry it in my arms. My dream is to install one into a Bug eye Sprite. That would be a FUN project.

[GS1150Pilot]

Dunno, Ed. When I was racing Mini Coopers, a friend was running a really sweet 510. Sure, it got crappy mileage when he had the race engine in it, but it got almost 30 with a mildly hotted up street motor. Another friend struggled to get 20 in his stock 90's RX-7.

Edit: And I could easily top 30 if I took it easy in the Mini.

Put 'em all on an autocross course, and the Mini owned the other two-and passed the gas pumps the RX-7 couldn't.

[Nessism]

The autocrosses I ran in were OWNED by a dude in a 240Z. He flat out knew how to drive!

[RustyTank]

Thanks Ed. That was a fun video

The autocrosses I ran in were OWNED by a dude in a 240Z. He flat out knew how to drive!

[GS1150Pilot]

The autocrosses I ran in were OWNED by a dude in a 240Z. He flat out knew how to drive!

If we get down to best cars out on the course, back when I raced, a heavily modded X1/9 destroyed every car out there, but interestingly enough, there was a guy in a manual 1980-something Civic wagon who would clean out his class against much faster cars, so yeah, I agree, the driver makes a boatload of difference.

[GS1150Pilot]

As an aside, I never loved the way rotaries drove. They had no real redline, granted, but they didn't make great torque and never felt like I wanted a motor to feel. I suspect, when I get my first electric vehicle, I may be reminded of those aspects.

[RustyTank]

I haven't read it all, but this article seems to touch on the issues.
https://carfromjapan.com/article/car...ngines-is-bad/

Thanks for posting this article. It was interesting read.

[xkaes]

I'm just glad that the Suzuki RE5 was retired before I bought my GS550 in 1977. Pretty much the same sized engines, but a LOT more complicated -- and THIRSTY!