Would anybody buy a car with a rotary engine?
Discussion
In principle a great design being very compact, powerful and with few moving parts. Although in practice compared to piston engines they are very thirsty, have poor emissions and are not as durable. RX8 is probably the zenith of wankel engine development and the downsides were still just too great over an equivalent piston engine.
They are very smooth and powerful for their size and to a lesser extent their weight. This enables you to package a car with more interior space and a weight distribution conducive to better handling. They have intrinsically poorer fuel consumption than similarly powerful piston engines and are less durable.
When most of the cars on the road are boring, nose-heavy front drive boxes, usually with four pot diesel engines, you can see where the public's priorities are.
When most of the cars on the road are boring, nose-heavy front drive boxes, usually with four pot diesel engines, you can see where the public's priorities are.
The RX8 230 bhp I really enjoyed its handling on the track - have never driven on the road.
I've no idea what MPG it did or didn't do
It appears from users that it has low MPG 20's (Very similar to the same powered Focus ST 2.5 yet those owners and others seem to generally ignore that.
I have heard that they can have hot starting problems and no idea what % it impacts but there is noise about rebuilds - the thing which is overlooked is you can buy Rx8's for £1k or that kind of money if it goes wrong scrap it and buy another its many multiples cheaper than a Focus ST.
New models though as its only Mazda pushing the technology R&D is tiny v piston engines in road cars so getting it to pass the EU regs may cost so much that they simply wouldn't make any money from the car sales. Plus hybrid/electric is the new tech so focus on that game.
Good on them for being different and not just with engines but light cars and simple fun cars like MX5
I've no idea what MPG it did or didn't do
It appears from users that it has low MPG 20's (Very similar to the same powered Focus ST 2.5 yet those owners and others seem to generally ignore that.
I have heard that they can have hot starting problems and no idea what % it impacts but there is noise about rebuilds - the thing which is overlooked is you can buy Rx8's for £1k or that kind of money if it goes wrong scrap it and buy another its many multiples cheaper than a Focus ST.
New models though as its only Mazda pushing the technology R&D is tiny v piston engines in road cars so getting it to pass the EU regs may cost so much that they simply wouldn't make any money from the car sales. Plus hybrid/electric is the new tech so focus on that game.
Good on them for being different and not just with engines but light cars and simple fun cars like MX5
Welshbeef said:
The RX8 230 bhp I really enjoyed its handling on the track - have never driven on the road.
I've no idea what MPG it did or didn't do
It appears from users that it has low MPG 20's (Very similar to the same powered Focus ST 2.5 yet those owners and others seem to generally ignore that.
I have heard that they can have hot starting problems and no idea what % it impacts but there is noise about rebuilds - the thing which is overlooked is you can buy Rx8's for £1k or that kind of money if it goes wrong scrap it and buy another its many multiples cheaper than a Focus ST.
Good points. The main thing I think is that you can't really "baby" a rotary to get (say) 30mpg on a run. If my RX8 would do that, as my 350z will, then I think a lot of the moans about economy would be alleviated. I've no idea what MPG it did or didn't do
It appears from users that it has low MPG 20's (Very similar to the same powered Focus ST 2.5 yet those owners and others seem to generally ignore that.
I have heard that they can have hot starting problems and no idea what % it impacts but there is noise about rebuilds - the thing which is overlooked is you can buy Rx8's for £1k or that kind of money if it goes wrong scrap it and buy another its many multiples cheaper than a Focus ST.
underphil said:
they don't make for economical cars because they aren't efficient under partial load
- but are actually very efficient at high load & rpm, combined with their compact size it makes them the ideal range-extender engine for hybrid vehicles
Does anyone have stats on that for the tear Mazda won Le Mans? Was better economy one of the key aspects to beat opposition that year?- but are actually very efficient at high load & rpm, combined with their compact size it makes them the ideal range-extender engine for hybrid vehicles
vikingaero said:
I'm on the other side of the fence on this. Look at the values of 2nd hand RX8's and see the reason why - the wankel engine.
I currently have a Clubman but would have seriously considered a 2.0T or V6 RX8 for one reason - longevity.
I wouldn't, I would probably have ended up with a 3-series coupe instead - the only aspects in which the RX-8 is a better car than that derive from the choice of engine. I currently have a Clubman but would have seriously considered a 2.0T or V6 RX8 for one reason - longevity.
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