new rotary engine trouble ?

The rotor is the big solid bit of alloy in the middle.

The apex seals are attached to the end of the points, i.e. the rotor tips. But they aren't the tip itself, just a bit of summat attached to make it seal better.

More than most people are ever likely to want to know is here...

So? You don't drive flat out all the time, the RX8 is plenty fast for today's roads. A modern road car is a compromise between many factors; RX8 is probably easier to live with than a 30 year old Lotus. The point of this engine is clearly the rotary smoothness.

It might as well be a two stroke with the oil it uses !!! we've got one at work 16K on the clock and its had around 12 litres of extra oil !!!! its driven by a woman (no offence) and it aint hammered poor mpg as well

should have bought a crossfire !!

I thought we were talking about engines, not cars. How well would the Lotus engine do trying to haul around something as lardy as an RX8?

Cheers,

Colin.

It could just be the Apex seals then.

Ah, it's the Apex seals being referred to then.

Be great for tailgaters.

In message , "Dave Plowman (News)" writes

Great for drowning out "Kevin's" woofer when he pulls up alongside you at the lights.

Of course as you know, it has been done before :-

The message from "Dave Plowman (News)" contains these words:

Ha - now you can /really/ blow them away.

Wow! Now I am beginning to understand why Mazda quit marketing the rx-7 in the USA....a lot of misinformed people about the history of the Mazda rotary engine program.

The first Mazda with a rotary introduced in the USA, I think was the rx-3, and it did have a few problems relating to the apex seals and cooling in general. I don't think any of the rx-7 rotaries inherited these issues, in fact I understood that the intention of the initial rx-7 USA debut was to demonstrate that all of the issues with the rx-3&4 engines had been resolved in the new rx-7 rotaries.

Today the Mazda 13b and above series of rotaries is probably the most sought after engine for use in homebuuilt aircraft, due to it's smooth operation and overall reliability, as well as a better HP/Weight advantage over most conventional engines.

I am glad they continued to have success with rotary powered vehicles elsewhere around the globe. I would like to see them market the "Cosmo" full size car which is in the Lexus/Infinity high end competition in Japan and elsewhere.

I think the biggest problem with the Mazda rotaries is that they were never able to successfully win over a skeptical USA market, in spite of having resolved early technical issues long ago, in the pre rx-7 days. As is apparent in some of the comments from others in this thread......IMHO, anyway. Joe.

A. Those are powerful engines and not what one would buy for the milage.

B. Any engine will use oil between changes.

A problem what was solved almost three decades ago has no bearing on the reliability of the current engine. Good grief!

Don't know about that number but it is a powerful motor. And not one would buy as an alternative to Prius.

No more of an issue than with other motors know for high power and low milage.

No she shouldn't.

"High oil consumption" isn't a "flaw" in rotaries - It's absolutely mandatory. Gotta lube those apex seals somehow, and so far, the only practical method found has been to add a bit of oil to the chamber, where, by neccessity, it "goes away" out the tailpipe in short order.

If anything, "high oil consumption" is simply a fact of life with a rotary, since they're essentially *DESIGNED* to burn at least a portion of their oil in normal operation.

I don't think safety and seating capacity are the first things on a buyers mind. my point was: in thirty years neither performance, handling or economy have actually improved in a comparable vehicle. I agree that airbags and things make them safer, but there is a reason that we don't all buy Volvos, even if we all agree they are safe.

mrcheerful

: In article , Chas Hurst : says... : : > 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.

Stagnation o't lung.

Ian

They're not comparable in any way, shape or form.

If you want a 30 year old comparison to the RX8, look towards a 3lt Capri or Alfa Bertone GTV.

A) It still uses more fuel than many piston engines of comparative output.

B) I thought so when I had the Fiat Croma. But after I got the Saab 9000, I was perplexed that it didn't use any oil between changes. Well in any case it used so little oil that it didn't need a top-up. I never lost sleep thinking about topping up the oil, it wasn't necessary. It has now done 120,000 miles and the situation is still the same.