If the rotary has numerous advantages over piston engines, why does CART and F1 outlaw the use of it?

Originally posted by gusmahler
If the rotary has numerous advantages over piston engines, why does CART and F1 outlaw the use of it?

Better yet -- If it DIDN'T have distinct advantages why would it be outlawed? :D :mad:

Originally posted by gusmahler
If the rotary has numerous advantages over piston engines, why does CART and F1 outlaw the use of it?

because no other makers can replicate the inherent advantages of the rotary engine in their pist-on offerings, so they did the next best thing: flex their political muscles in motorsport and BAN IT ;) :mad:

many of the rules and regs put in place for racing are done so in an effort to homogenize the cars -- if the cars all perform the same, then the race is a closer test of driver ability (and ability of the crew to get the most out of the limited specs).

The same reason audi got their quattro drive outlawed some years back -- it provided too much of an advantage over the other cars.

Of course, not all racing organizations try to get the same car for every driver... in those cases it might more likely be politics and money. Ferrari, for instance, spends many many millions on F1 development, and will win most of the races.

-ss

let's not also forget that most companies and engineers haven't really learned much about wankel-types, and would have to throw bajillions of dollars into devving one...

now, of course i don't care and want to see high-profile series de-reg'd, so Mazda can go and really knock our socks off with a 1.5L 3 rotor built to last only 350 kms ;) (like in F1...)

Originally posted by RXhusker


Better yet -- If it DIDN'T have distinct advantages why would it be outlawed?

I don't know. I can understand it being outlawed in events where many different classes run simultaneously. But in F1, if rotaries provided a distinct advantage, everyone would be using them. For example, IIRC, there was a time when F1 allowed both turbos and non-turbos. But the turbos were so much faster, all the competitive teams had them.