I am always sceptical of these things, but I must admit, this thing is pretty ingenious. I know the Wankel looks good on paper, and it runs great, but its just not as efficient as ones common sense might think, it has a bunch of problems.
From what I understand, the Wankel's downfall was the seal between the rotor and the wall.
"I know the Wankel looks good on paper, and it runs great, but its just not as efficient as ones common sense might think, it has a bunch of problems."
Two biggest problems:
1. Poor fuel economy
2. Seals
But they are back to using them again, in the Mazda RX8--just the sports car. When Mazda first introduced them in the 70s they had sports car RX7, Sedan RX5 and RX3 and a pickup if my memory is any good.
My Dad got the large sedan (actgually station wagon) with a manual. It was really fast.
First production rotary was in Germany about 1967, in a car called the RO 80 by a company called NSU. Now part of Audi.