[Christ]

Originally Posted by Allch Chcar

Yeah, Mazda never did anything like that with the Rotary but that's what we were all thinking of when we saw Rotary. The biggest problem with premium cars having a 4 banger; Noise, Harshness, Vibration. Right? The Duratec can pull the same power with more torque but most people hate the way it sounds. Meanwhile the Miata has some dinky little one model 4 banger. Their lightweight sportscars go best with lightweight high revving engines. In that respect a 4 banger would work but the smoothness of the Rotary means the engine sounds better than a V-6 but weighs more like a 4 banger. The RX-8's biggest problem is the fuel mileage. They made up for the lack of torque with those axle ratios and 6 speeds with close ratio.

The Rotary IS a durable engine. I bet you saw all the consumer reports of engine failure though. I was looking through RX-8s for sale and couldn't find a single Rolling Chassis or engineless, but I did see alot with new engines :har:.

Anyone I think the Atkinson might be a cop out for building 3 cylinders. The 1.3 liter 4 banger used in the Festiva is the smallest 4 banger I've seen. The Volt is getting a 1.4 4 banger because they claimed it was better than a 1 liter 3 cylinder with turbo. With the ease of making 100hp out of a 1.4 I believe they were either fighting going with a 3 cylinder or trying to provide for cruising at 80mph.

Anyway there is some hope for the Atkinson cycle. A study on the effects of ethanol, E85 that is, in the Prius showed a big power difference. It's a bigger difference than most flexfuels... <.< >.>...it might make up for the range loss.

What about apex seal failures on the RX-7, Cosmo, and Commuter engines?

Or were you just referring to the Renesis engine?