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The rumor is now a fact: Mazda announced today that it would bring back the legendary rotary engine, though not as the main powerplant of a car. Instead, a version of the rotary will act as a range extender in one of two electric vehicles the brand will debut for 2020. As Popular Mechanics noted in our recent feature about the story and legacy of the Wankel rotary, the engine hasn't been featured in a car since the Mazda RX-8 was canceled in 2018. But there have been rays of hope for the rotary faithful. Specifically, rumors swirled earlier this...

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 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...