Kit cars with rotary engines.

[BlueMR2]

Does anyone make a rotary engined kit car?

Would they be good for a westfield/caterham style car if theres room.

I imagine theres a lack of rotary engines to use from donor cars, but high revving and with possible twin turbos it would be pretty impressive and smooth.

[Furyblade_Lee]

One of the first Sylva Strikers had a Mazda rotary engine, i think owned by Jeremy Phillips's brother (?). I also think it is still going after about 15 years, and is raced. Not sure what the advantages will be over a normal engine, but it can and has been done. Do a Google search for the Striker.

[kylemrushall]

Furyblade_Lee said:

One of the first Sylva Strikers had a Mazda rotary engine, i think owned by Jeremy Phillips's brother (?). I also think it is still going after about 15 years, and is raced. Not sure what the advantages will be over a normal engine, but it can and has been done. Do a Google search for the Striker.

nicknamed the flymo i believe, i went in the car with the rotary engine in France driven by Charles Stirling (750 Racer) it really really went but it was a thirsty monster.

[oh feck]

I think there was a company called Rotus that made rotary powerd seven copys.

[Sam_68]

I've also seen a rotary power Eldon Roadster (a Seven type) and a rotary powered Noble 23 (Lotus 23 replica).

Whilst they're surprisingly heavy, Mazda rotaries are really quite compact once you've stripped all the emissions crap off them, so to be honest you could fit one in almost any kit car without too much difficulty. The only real problem you'd have would be manufacturing a gearbox adapter plate, if you wnated to use it in anything other than a inline, front-engine/rear wheel drive installation.

[oh feck]

Sam_68 said:

Whilst they're surprisingly heavy

I think a Rover K series is 96 kilos (ish)
230hp Rotary from the rx8 is 102 kilos
But ones got 70 more hp and revs 2.5k higher
(both bare engines and comparing it to the 160vvc)

[chuntington101]

i think i saw one in the 7 type car.

one problem with them is heat! they make sooo much of it! lol

Chris.

[Corpulent Tosser]

There used to be one competed in sprints/hillclimbs in Scotland, that was a couple of seasons back I think it was a Westfield, it was surprising full under the bonnet from memory, the engine may be compact but the ancillaries took up a lot of room.

[Sam_68]

oh feck said:

Sam_68 said:

Whilst they're surprisingly heavy

I think a Rover K series is 96 kilos (ish)
230hp Rotary from the rx8 is 102 kilos
But ones got 70 more hp and revs 2.5k higher
(both bare engines and comparing it to the 160vvc)

I think the 13B from the RX7 is quite a bit heavier than the Renesis, though, isn't it?

Though in any case what I was trying to say was that they are surpisingly heavy for their size - they are a lot more compact than a conventional 4-stroke, but not any lighter.

[chuntington101]

Corpulent Tosser said:

There used to be one competed in sprints/hillclimbs in Scotland, that was a couple of seasons back I think it was a Westfield, it was surprising full under the bonnet from memory, the engine may be compact but the ancillaries took up a lot of room.

was that a truboed one?? a westy would be very intresting with the 13B turbo motor under there!

Chris.

[BlueMR2]

They sound pretty interesting. Makes for something abit different, although you'll probably need a big fuel tank to get any kind of range from them.

[Corpulent Tosser]

chuntington101 said:

Corpulent Tosser said:

There used to be one competed in sprints/hillclimbs in Scotland, that was a couple of seasons back I think it was a Westfield, it was surprising full under the bonnet from memory, the engine may be compact but the ancillaries took up a lot of room.

was that a truboed one?? a westy would be very intresting with the 13B turbo motor under there!

Chris.

I am fairly sure it was a turbo, there was certainly plenty of plumbing under the bonnet. I don't recall it being particularly quick though.

[chuntington101]

Corpulent Tosser said:

chuntington101 said:

Corpulent Tosser said:

There used to be one competed in sprints/hillclimbs in Scotland, that was a couple of seasons back I think it was a Westfield, it was surprising full under the bonnet from memory, the engine may be compact but the ancillaries took up a lot of room.

was that a truboed one?? a westy would be very intresting with the 13B turbo motor under there!

Chris.

I am fairly sure it was a turbo, there was certainly plenty of plumbing under the bonnet. I don't recall it being particularly quick though.

yeah thats the problem with te rotory engines. they move SOOO much air you need to run MASSIVE turbos with them. most of the RX-7 guys go for something like the GT47's. these are what alot of the V8 guys are running!!!

so along with the BIG turbos you need BIG intercoolers to keep the charge air temps down. not easy in the tight confines of a 7 style chassis.

Chris.

[kiwimazda]

We run a 13b N/A with a 51mm IDA Webber in sprints. This engine develops about 275 bhp.
The RX7 will be up for sale soon and a new 300bhp engine is being built(again N/A)
This is going to be put into a Westy or similar.
In New Zealand there is a Chevron kit car (7 stlye). The common engines for those are rotary.

Ther is another westy here in Hampshire that is rotary powered but it hasnt been used for some time and I expext the whole car would be in need of a birthday

[odyssey2200]

I know where there is a Mazda Rotary engine up for grabs if anyone wants one.

[kiwimazda]

Ive got about 6 complete engines and 4 in bits. Clutter city

The Chassis that I amconsidering are

Raw Fulcrum
Westfeild
Spire. The reason for this is that we can graft a 13b on to a Type 4 VW gear box. Turn the diff over inside it so you get 4 reverse gears. Then turn the whole lot around so the engine is mid mounted.

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t21/kiwimazda/P...

This is what i will be selling soon

Edited by kiwimazda on Saturday 9th August 15:37

[Davi]

is 4 gears not a bit limiting? Have you considered the Subaru box?

[kiwimazda]

I did think about that but I never use 5th in the 7 and we have an adaptor kit available to us. Again its all open air thinking for now.
Westys,raw etc is good for parts and back up but I dont know alot about the spire as far as tech stuff for racing is concerned

[antnicuk]

I have played with rotary engines for 15 years. I'm re building a stylus with a 13b turbo engine and box. They are light engines compared to 4 pot. I can hold a 13 b bare block in my arms. They are perfect for kit cars as they rev and dont have a huge amount of torque. Its very easy to get 450 flwhp from a 13b rotary which is why i'm now fitting one in a Stylus.

Heat is an issue but one that i think can be resolved........ hopefully!

here is a link to my build for those that are interested.

http://www.clubstylus.be/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&...

[kiwimazda]

Antnicuk you pop up everywhere.