And I thought CVTs and wankels were cool

[GDII]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CmGJucRDBk

Seems a bit odd. But works in theory.

(stolen from another forum)

[Lith]

There have been all sorts of interesting designs I've followed over the last decade or so, only one I've seen actually running is the Scuderi engine - will be interesting to see if that gets a bit further than the rest seem to.

[Grrrrrrr!]

Sealing looks like a challenge, and those guide grooves will wear pretty quick if the oil film breaks down.

[VR-4Squid]

I agree, sealing that (and keeping it sealed for a reasonable lifespan) will be tricky. There are a lot of faces that will require precise machining too.

The biggest hurdle to mass production I can see is that it isn't modular or easily scaleable to cater different power requirements.

With a conventional piston engine you can use the same rods, pistons, valves etc for a family of 3,4,6,8 cylinder engines (or the same block/crank with different size bores).

With a Wankel rotary you can use 1,2,3 or 4 rotors.




Imo variations on the internal combustion theme are not the answer, after more than 100 years of continuous development the IC's efficiency is only ~25%

[amdeman]

That is thinking out of the box!

Imagine being able to.say that there's two large hairy balls under the hood...

[hsmidy]

like so many things in life great in theroy, but not so practical

[RedMist]

Space used for one cylinder is huge. I do like the pre-chamber intake idea. Basic supercharging.... for free.

[cogent]

Mate are you saying rotarys arnt cool?

[RedMist]

Mate are you saying rotarys arnt cool?

Not at all. Rotaries have six to twelve power strokes per rotation. This thing has one, in a casing that appears bigger than a 13b.

I am truly dissapointed that Mazda pulled the plug. Especially as I own a 13b and it's going in my new offroader.