new rotary engine trouble ?

What problems were unsolved?

IIRC from previous threads (I know SFA about cars btw) there was a main seal on the engine that was prone to failure

Apex seals - kind of a service item, but a bit of a strip down to replace.

60k miles seems to be about right.

Apex seals and the rotor tips used to wear.

The apex seal problem was solved in the early 70's. I never heard of rotor tip wear.

Came across alot of it when I did a stint in a scrappies.

What wore? The groove for the seal?

Which problems are you talking about. I'm not aware of any problems with a rotary made in the last 25 years.

Relatively high fuel consumption and using engine oil between changes?

Yes, the effective and durable gas seals at the three tips of the rotor and at the sides has been a major problem. This was so seemingly intractable initially that the other car makers also in the race abandoned the programme very early leaving only Mazda to soldier on. After so many incarnations, the trouble free period of a Wankel engine as we now have in the Mazda RX series is at long last comparable to that of a modern conventional combustion engine. But, it is a gas guzzler! 10 to 15mpg if I remember correctly. THIS is the major issue at the moment. On the other hand, it is extraordinarily smooth and quiet running, unequaled by any conventional engine design, even the V8 notwithstanding, for the generative motion is rotatory instead of up and down then being converted to rotatory. Yes, I have a dream, one day....

Those are characteristics of the rotary and not considered problems.

Erm... Aren't the apex seals at the tips of the rotors?

They sure are, hence the name. But they are not the tip of the rotor.

You asked, "have mazda solved all the previous problems with this engine or is it still trouble awaiting? "

Take a look at:

I thought I had also seen a car magazine that did a long term evaluation which complained about high oil consumption.

Andy

Fuel consumption?

Tim

In message , Lin Chung writes

I prefer Sir Frank Whittle's approach to smooth running rotary engines although I concede it isn't practical for road vehicles.

I notice that the RX8 was only a tiny fraction of a second faster round the top gear track than a thirty year old lotus, so what is the point?

mrcheerful

This site is well worth a study:

Especially (for this thread), this one:

It managed it more than once :-)