http://www.freedom-motors.com/
I don't know enough to comment.
I'm hoping Ree or Fred or the mysterious Ron can tell us if this think looks any good. We were talking about engines recently
http://www.freedom-motors.com/
I don't know enough to comment.
I'm hoping Ree or Fred or the mysterious Ron can tell us if this think looks any good. We were talking about engines recently
The problem with the Wankel engines was the apex seals.
These are the seals at the tips of the rotor that seal the combustion chamber. They perform a function similar to piston rings in our conventional Otto cycle engine.
Mazda Motors' first stab in the American market was with Rotary engine vehicles. The last rotary model they produced was the RX-7.
Suzuki even made a rotary powered motorcycle back around 1975 or so, but only for two years.
Saw a backpack leaf blower that if I recall correctly was made Husqvarna and had a rotaty engine.
It is definitely a usable power source, just not "conventional".
Jim
I don't yet really understand how Wankle engines work, but it seems that they have something in common with 2 stroke engines, in that they have ports instead of valves.
david
Go to the link and click "Rotary Principle"
Look at the animation on top, then study the diagram comparing a four stroke to the Wankel.
The offset lobe of the crank the rotor works against is one of the secrets.
That's it!
It makes sense, and it looks like it makes 3 compression/combustion cycles per revolution... it's the offset crank gearing that blows my mind. If I could turn it over by hand and see it for myself, it would make more sense to me...
david
its in alot of the smaller mazdas.. we were looking at a rear engine car with one.. at the text school. its pretty eat kinda like a big triangle inside of a circle that spins around...
The wankel engine was first used by NSU. Nsu made two cars that used the wankel engine. The Spider and the Ro-80.
The twin rotor Ro-80 had problems with the seals and the engines would wear out and be done for about every 20,000 miles. NSU also made motorcycles and mopeds, perhaps they even fitted some of these with rotary engines? I know that sachs made a very small rotary engine, for use on lawnmowers and small generators. Maybe they even had plans for a rotary powered moped? Would have been neat. Mazda made rotary engined cars for decades.
After the reliability issue was solved, the only problems the wankel had was fuel consumption and pollution.
Because the engine is constantly burning fuel (unlike conventional engines) it can eat alot of gas very quickly. And the ports in the engine need to be timed accurately for less pollution, or more power (I don't know if they've found a way to comprimise yet)
Freedom motors has claimed to solve all the emissions and efficiency problems, and gets very good gas effeciency according to there page
I guess they have got things worked out if they have the <a href="http://www.moller.com">skycar</a> hovering reliably
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