Posted on 12/09/2024 9:12:28 PM PST by Red Badger
The electric motor might carry the hype banner at the moment, but some minds remain convinced that there's plenty of innovation left to be extracted from internal combustion. AIE is one of the rotary engine's biggest champions and has been advancing new rotaries via the latest manufacturing tools and techniques since 2012. Its latest release shows that Wankel engines can be a perfect fit for compact, power-demanding applications in robotics and aerospace. More palmable than a basketball, the 40ACS Wankel packs a power-to-weight punch in a package that disappears away in small spaces.
The last time we looked in on AIE (Advanced Innovative Engineering), the British company was touring and testing its 120-bhp 650S, an automotive-grade rotary engine designed to replace a traditional four-cylinder or work as an EV range-extender. That engine remains the largest unit in its lineup, and the new 40ACS drops on the opposite end of the line as one of the company's smallest offerings.
AIE has long looked to capitalize on the power-to-weight advantages of rotary design, and the aforementioned 650S boasted a 1.94 hp/lb ratio when we looked at it during development back in 2016. It packed on a little weight in production, but its power-to-weight sits at a still-solid 1.55. It puts out 2.75 lb-ft (3.73 Nm) of torque at 8,000 rpm.
Named for its 40-cc displacement, the 40ACS doesn't hit quite as high a ratio, but it still pushes comfortably past the 1.0-hp/lb mark with a 1.14 resulting from a 5-hp output and 4.4-lb (2-kg) core weight. It measures in at 6.4 in (16.3 cm) tall by 7.7 in (19.5 cm) wide by 6.7 in (17.2 cm) deep.
(Excerpt) Read more at newatlas.com ...
Everything old is new again.
When I was a kid I got to ride in a car with a Wankel engine.
And that was many, many decades ago.
Great. Now solve the short seal life problem.
Interesting - I remember back when they started looking at them - I believe the original design was called a Tri-Dyne - then they showed up in race cars and could really whine out - but low torque at low end made them tough to get rolling w/o some extra wear and tear on the clutch. Never was in one of the rotary engine cars, so I can’t slam or praise them.
I so wanted to buy a used RX-7.
~~~~~~~
I bought a brand new one in 77... it was one of the first ones in North America and was bought right off the floor at an auto show. It was never winter driven but it wasn’t all that practical for business and it has been stored away since 1990. It only has about 60,000 miles on it. I keep saying that ‘one of these days’, I’m going to pull it out of storage and do a complete overhaul of it....
We had an RX-3 wagon for a few years. I remember it was fast, backfired a lot, and got terrible gas mileage for a subcompact.
I never got to drive it as my folks traded it off before I got my license. Too bad, it had a five speed, and an eight-track tape deck!
I remember when Mazda made small trucks and cars with the “Wankel Engine” yet they never called it the Wankel.
Still remember the Mazda jingle.”Piston engine goes ping ping ping but the Mazda goes ‘M-m-m-m-m’”.
“A British American law firm.”
Tiny, Wankel & Wanker.
Just rewatched “Beatles 1964” which is a new documentary based on the original footage shot by the Maysle brothers. They had basically unlimited access to the Beatles from their arrival flight until departure from Miami two weeks later.
In one scene Murray the K (who comes across as an annoying loudmouth) called their song “Love You Do” instead of “Love Me Do.”
John corrects him but you can tell he knows Murray is just a jerk opportunist. After a few joking exchanges John calls him a Wanker. Murray, obviously unfamiliar with Brit slang hops right on it and calls himself “Murray the Wanker.”
The main thing that killed the earlier versions of the Wankel was the lip seals on the rotors failed and they began burning a significant amount of oil. I wonder if that issue has been resolved?
tiny wankels will only cause blindness
Not completely. Ceramic tips have replaced the steel tips.
I wonder if they have solved the rotor tip and side seal problems that ultimately caused the Mazda Wankel to be discontinued.
Liquid Piston (https://www.liquidpiston.com/) claims to have solved that problem by moving the seals FRom the rotor to the housing in their “non-Wankel” rotary engine.
Yes terrible gas milage. Mine had a holly 4 barrel carb, and was tuned to almost 200hp, we had to de-tune it back to about 180hp just so it would idle. Fun car, had fun beating up Rx-7’s which had the same engine but weighed more.
We also owned a ‘79 RX-7.
Wonderful, fun and practical car for us newlyweds.
Absolutely trouble free.
Only thing that annoyed us was the dealer installed radio.
Wife traded it in for a Ferrari Dino three years later.
I don’t know what a Ferrari Dino is, but I assume it is expensive. You must make a good income.
Look that up in your Funk and Wankle.
That was a very popular joke on Laugh In.
Their largest one is 150hp.............
It’s a cute entry level 6 cylinder Ferrari of that era.
Wasn’t originally that expensive. Comparable to mid level Porsche in price & performance.
Wish we had keep it. They’re now worth a fortune.
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