Quote:
Originally Posted by wmjinman
I always loved the aerodynamic look of those RX-7s. In fact, I have a friend who once had one. My understanding is that while the rotary engines have an amazingly high level of condensed power for their physical size, fuel economy was never their strong suite. Not sure why - something inherent with the design, I think.
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If you think of the combustion chamber of a rotary engine compared to a piston engine, the rotary engine has a higher ratio or surface area to volume. A cylinder is a nice regular space with minimal heat loss through the inside surface area compared to it's volume while the rotary engine's combustion chamber is a more irregular space that loses more through it's inside surface relative to it's volume.