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To: bmwcyle

Um.... yeeaaaaaaaa, according to Mazda’s marketing department.

Actual rotary engine owners, however, seem to have differing definitions of “fixed” from the manufacture(s). I’ve had more than one friend with a RX-7 who, after a seal tear-down and then an engine replacement, decided that however neat, cool and wicked fast the RX-7 with a Wankel was... it simply cost too much to keep running.

Mind you, I think that the Wankel concept is cool. The seals, however, give engineers fits in several ways - how their mating aspect angles change throughout the cycle, materials failures, spring pressure failures, blow-by, etc.

The failure rate of apex seals vs. the failure rate of rings in a piston engine pretty much tells the story that they’re still not in the same reliability/longevity ballpark as recip engines.


26 posted on 07/31/2007 8:03:58 AM PDT by NVDave
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To: NVDave

The wankel was too heavy and too hard to do anything to without taking it all the way apart. Weight translates into efficiency (or lack thereof) at some point.


28 posted on 07/31/2007 8:20:10 AM PDT by jeddavis
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To: NVDave

No Rx7 or Rx8 owner I know had any problems well over 100000 miles.


29 posted on 07/31/2007 8:25:00 AM PDT by bmwcyle (Satan is working both sides of the street in World Socialism and World Courts.)
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