1973 Mazda RX-3 (Rotary Engine) Commercial

Reaganite Republican ^ | Reaganite Republican

[Reaganite Republican]

Remember this-

'Piston engine goes boing, boing, boing, boing boing, boing... but the Mazda goes hmmmmmmm.'

[YouTube]

If you've ever driven a car with a rotary engine like a Mazda, it really is a lot of fun, very torquey and revs like crazy, always super smooth (except most from the 70s tend to backfire)- it's a shame the couldn't make them work out in a more substantial way. Besides smoothness of operation, the motor is compact, light, and simple, with only two moving parts.

But in an example of epic bad timing, Mazda launched the Wankel-engined RX series just was the first oil crisis was about to hit... when the rotary-type engine was still going through development challenges, using substantially more fuel than a comparable piston-engined car. Alas, you could get a Honda with 50% better gas milage for less money.

Worse yet was how the apex seals at the tips of the tri-rotor(s) wore-out to quickly, it was a materials issue that was not fully solved until the 1980s by Mazda. These hard-to-resolve challenges had GM, Citroen, and others pulling the plug on their own Wankel rotary engine programs (before they hit the market) in the mid 1970s as well.

In fact, not only did R+D costs/recalls almost bankrupt Mazda by 1975, but the original developer of the Wankel engine -Germany's NSU- was itself wrecked by trials and tribulations involving the company's way-ahead-of-its-time Ro80 and it's troublesome rotary engine (partial engine rebuild required every 10K miles to replace apex seals!). 

NSU Ro80

I used to know a guy who had a cherry NSU Ro80 in California, but even he had replaced the original NSU engine with a Mazda rotary in the name of more power, dependability, and access to parts. If you look at the (front-wheel-drive) Ro80, it's pretty hard to believe the car came out in 1967, the styling is 10-15 years ahead of it's time... clean, aerodynamic, great visibility. 

By 1977 NSU had been broken by the Wankel rotary engine that was supposed to spring the Neckarsrulm motorcycle/auto maker into the Big Leagues, and the remains of the company was absorbed by Audi, which continues to be paid royalties on the Wankel design from Mazda to this day. And clearly new parent company Audi absorbed more than a little bit of the look for their own cars, starting with the first aero-look Audi 5000 in 1983.

If you ever have a chance to drive a rotary-engined automobile -Mazda, NSU, whatever- by all means give it a go... especially if you can find a stick shift,
like my college girlfriend's RX-7! I love 'em-



photos Aronline

[Charles Martel]

I remember seeing a 10-hp Sachs Wankel “MAC 10” outboard in a shop in Mississippi. Mid-1970s, I believe. I think the shop went bankrupt with that motor still in inventory (German-Italian outboards weren’t big sellers on the Mississippi Gulf Coast).

[equaviator]

No kidding? If I could get one of those outboards on a bass boat...I’d love to try it out on Lake St. Clair.

[redfreedom]

I’ve also studied this engine, it’s my favorite. The engine block rotates around the crankshaft. This engine had so much torque it could tear the airplane up if not properly piloted.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nk9Dl6RZxmQ

[posterchild]

Yes. It had a clear plastic ‘block’ and an electric motor which made it turn.

[Charles Martel]

Evinrude outboard company (actually OMC, the parent company) made a rotary outboard and beat everyone by a mile in a race.
They banned the engines because they were so fast and not considered fair.

OMC would have probably pursued the Wankel designs for ordinary consumer use, but by 1975 or so EPA was already making noise about wanting to regulate emissions on outboards. It was also around that time that those Kawasaki 2-stroke street bikes began coming up against bans in California, so the regulation death-spiral had already begun.

[Reaganite Republican]

“As a young boy I had a plastic wankel rotary engine model which fascinated me.”
__________________________________________________________________

You mean the clear plastic one, lubricated with graphite?

Run by C or D batteries?

I had it too! Had a V-8 as well, I think they called it the ‘Visible V-8’

[Reaganite Republican]

I had one too, as well as a V-8 one just like it

[Tucker39]

I have a neighbor two doors down who has several cars, which did include an RX8. Real cute car. Thought I might like one, until the rollback came and hauled it to the shop because it wouldn’t even run.

After the seventh (7th) trip on the rollback, he got rid of the pos, and I lost my desire to own one. Face it; if that design had really been great and dependable, Wankel would have been another Shelby or some such wealthy automotive celebrity, and many besides Mazda would be using it SUCCESSFULLY. IMHO.

[Allen In Texas Hill Country]

Mazdas
Let me see. ‘73 RX-3 wagon.
‘82 B2000 pickup
‘82 used RX-7
‘88 MX6-GT. I think that was a turbo piston.
‘93 RX-7 pocket rocket. Twin rotary turbo. I only got it up to 155 before I let up. Top was 160-165 area.
‘08 CX7 which we still drive today and plan on keeping.

On the ‘73 the seals on the rotors went out and Mazda said the engine needed to be replaced. It cost me $300 and they paid the rest. This was after the warranty ran out.

The tranny on the truck needed replacing or fixing which came outta my pocket.

And the bearings on the CX-7s air or power steering units went out. That was a major fix all of which Mazda took care of well after warranty. CX-7 is a nice car.

[Does so]

I’ve got a RO-80 brochure. :)

[cyclotic]

The first 4 speed I ever soloed in was an RX-7

Didn’t go far enough to get good at it.

[nascarnation]

My buddy from Germany told me that the NSUs were so bad that when drivers passed each other on the road, they held out their hand with the number of fingers displayed indicating how many engines they’d gone through.

[nascarnation]

GM spend a lot of money on rotary development but the gas mileage and emissions were a big problem.

The long, thin combustion chamber is exactly the opposite of what you want for efficiency and low emissions. Unequalled smoothness though.

[nascarnation]

Both still on sale, largely unchanged.

48 bucks on Amazon.

[Reaganite Republican]

No kidding

[Reaganite Republican]

Very cool

[Reaganite Republican]

That’s a twin of the one I used to drive in college, my GF’s car

Same year, same color- deja vu!

[Reaganite Republican]

Cosmos was the upscale coupe, they made them until just a few years back for the Japanese market

[Reaganite Republican]

The Vette prototype was great looking too

[Reaganite Republican]

A true believer, you are- and early adaptor!

I just went to the Mercedes museum this summer in Stuttgart,
saw all the Benz rotary prototypes, C-111 and such