Wankel engine
[Wankel Engine in Deutsches Museum, Munich, Germany]
The first working prototype of the Wankel rotary engine
ran for the first time on February 01, 1957
Posted on 02/01/2007 6:54:54 AM PST by yankeedame
[Wankel Engine in Deutsches Museum, Munich, Germany]
The first working prototype of the Wankel rotary engine
ran for the first time on February 01, 1957
The Wankel rotary engine is a type of internal combustion engine, invented by German engineer Felix Wankel, which uses a rotor instead of reciprocating pistons. This design delivers smooth high-rpm power from a compact, lightweight engine; however, Wankel engines have been criticized for poor fuel efficiency and exhaust emissions.
Since its introduction in the NSU Motorenwerke AG (NSU) and Mazda cars of the 1960s, the engine has been commonly referred to as the rotary engine, a name which has also been applied to several completely different engine designs.
Although many manufacturers licensed the design, and Mercedes-Benz used it for their C111 concept car, only Mazda has produced Wankel engines in large numbers. As of 2006, the engine is only available new in the Mazda RX-8.
Wankel first conceived his rotary engine in 1954 (DKM 54) and the KKM 57 (the Wankel rotary engine) in the year 1957. Considerable effort went into designing rotary engines in the 1950s and 1960s. They were of particular interest because they were smooth and very quiet running, and because of the reliability resulting from their simplicity.
First Wankel Engine NSU KKM 57P
Autovision und Forum, Germany
In the United States, in 1959 under licence from N.S.U., Curtiss Wright Corp. pioneered minor improvements in the basic engine design. Curtis-Wright takes 50% of the license income made in the USA and limited its development activity to a minimum.
In Britain, in the 1960's, Rolls Royce Motor Car Division at Crewe, Cheshire, pioneered a two-stage Diesel version of the Wankel engine.
Also in Britain Norton Motorcycles developed a Wankel rotary engine for motorcycles, which was included in their Commander and F1; Suzuki also produced a production motorcycle with a Wankel engine, the RE-5. Arctic Cat produced snowmobiles powered by 303cc Wankel rotary engines in 1971 and 1972. John Deere Inc, in the US, had a major research effort in rotary engines and designed a version which was capable of using a variety of fuels without changing the engine. The design was proposed as the power source for several US Marine combat vehicles in the late 1980s.
After occasional use in automobiles, for instance by NSU with their Ro 80 model, Citroën with the M35 and GS Birotor using engines produced by Comotor, and abortive attempts by General Motors and Mercedes-Benz to design Wankel-engine automobiles, the most extensive automotive use of the Wankel engine has been by the Japanese company Mazda.
NSU Wankel Spider, the first line of cars sold with Wankels 3-Rotor Eunos Cosmo engineAfter years of development, Mazda's first Wankel engined car was the 1967 Mazda Cosmo. The company followed with a number of Wankel ("rotary" in the company's terminology) vehicles, including a bus and a pickup truck. Customers generally loved them, notably the smoothness. However they had the very bad luck of being released in the middle of efforts to decrease emissions and increase fuel economy.
Mazda later abandoned the Wankel in most of their automotive designs, but continued using it in their RX-7 sports car until August of 2002 (although RX-7 importation for North America ceased with the 1995 model year). The company normally used two-rotor designs, but received considerable attention with their 1991 Eunos Cosmo, which used a twin-turbo three-rotor engine.
In 2003, Mazda introduced the RENESIS engine with the new RX-8. The RENESIS engine relocated the ports for exhaust and intake from the periphery of the rotary housing to the sides, allowing for larger overall ports, better airflow, and further power gains. The RENESIS is capable of delivering 250 hp from its minute 1.3 L displacement at better fuel economy, reliability, and environmental friendliness than any other Mazda rotary engine in history.
NSU Wankel Spider, the first line
of cars sold with Wankels
3-Rotor Eunos Cosmo engine
Things that make you go hmmmmmm.....
Happy birthday Wankel ping!
I actually owned one of the Mazdas with this rotary engine back in '73. As I recall, it was fast as hell. Of course, my previous car had been a Vega so my senses may have been considerably dulled. Man, talk about "True Confessions". I don't think I have any dirtier little secrets I could publicly reveal than having owned these two cars! But, I think the statute of limitations has expired.
I owned a 1983 Mazda RX-7 in my early 20s. I loved that car. It was the best car I ever had. My ex-husband specialized in fixing them, and I swear, even after the divorce he kept that thing running like a charm for me.
I always felt so special that I knew the car had a different engine and that I knew what that engine was. LOL, the things that matter when you are 22. Now I drive a Ford minivan that I hate with the passion of 1,000 burning suns, but hey....my sports car days will come again sometime.
Many homebuilt/experimental aircraft have a rotary engine.
1975 Hercules Wankel Motorcycle
The Wankel Engine soured me on stock investments at a very early age. :-)
(No details, but can you say -- Ouch!)
Rotten gas mileage. Doomed from the start for mass applications.
Where did you get the date of the first working prototype. My boss is the Automotive teacher here at the high school and he would love to use this in his lessons today, but I can't find anything in your link that confirms the actual date.
1976 Suzuki RE5 Rotary.
I was *lookin'* for that one!
I knew either Kaw or Suzuki made one.
There are probably better pix, that was first one that Dogpile listed.
They weren't a big seller. >:-}
Five Worst Engines | Overhyped and Underengineered
DSPORT ISSUE# 119 5 Comments
5) Mazda 13B-MSP Renesis
http://dsportmag.com/the-scene/five-worst-engines-overhyped-and-underengineered/5/
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