Piston or Rotary
 

from an OBJECTIVE point of view (meaning a non-opinionated) which kind of engine is actually more reliable? Like which one would last longer, need less maintaining etc. (try 2 b objective even though this is an rx-8 site)

I think the longest lasting piston engine (that I have ever heard of) was over 2,000,000 miles. a 1966 volvo. until I hear of a million mile rotary, that is my reliability benchmark.

how long are you going to keep your car Methusala?

A "racing" rotary is genrally rebuild once a season, were a racing piston engine is tore down and rebuilt after every race. Just a little interesting fact.

But aside from that, for reliablity I would got with a diesel piston engine. It is common to see diesel engines push over 1,000,000 miles.

I don't know about a diesel Wankle. Yes a diesel buring wankle was made and ran, just not put into production, and not talked about very much.

Piston...no question. Question is, which is the most fun to drive for under $30k?

Plus, if you want an engie that will last forever...buy a diesel. Good MPG and plenty of torque to boot!! :D

- Irish :cool:

IMO piston engines will generally last longer, afterall, you've got 99% of the manufacturers out there building them....... some are excellently engineered while some are crap whereas the only people building rotaries are Mazda.

There's no basis for comparison unfortunately and we live and die by how much r&d is done by Mazda.

If anything, whenever I go to start a piston car, it's almost guaranteed that it will start, no ifs or buts, and I can generally move it whenever I want for as short a distance as I want. Everytime I start my RX-8, I start crossing fingers and hoping and praying that it will start. :rolleyes: I practically piss my pants if the engine starts making that nasty metallic scraping noise that it makes if it doesn't fire up right away. And heaven forbid I ever one day need to move the car just few feet away and turn it off again.

Cold start issues have little to do with reliability, that's about the care the owner gives the engine. Different animal, different rules for operation.

NA rotarys can last in excess of 200,000 miles. While I'd go with a diesel piston engine, the NA rotary can match very well with many piston engines.

I wouldn't go by one volvo making 2 million miles. There have been a lot more piston engines made, and so an exception has more chance to surface. I would rather see averages so that we can see some sort of trend.

Rotary has a lot less development than pistons, and as someone else said, there is only mazda doing development on a rotary right now, unlike everyone else doing piston work. On the other hand, the rotary has far fewer moving parts...

You also have to take into account the rotary burns oil, if a driver neglects checking the oil and the engine is destroyed, does that count against reliability? I don't think it should - neglect is a completely different matter. Also consider the bad reputation that the rotary has for reliability due to the RX-7 and it's twin turbos built into a really small engine bay that didn't get enough cooling. People turned up the boost and had issues - again, this was a failure in design of one specific car model, and doesn't impact how reliable the RX-8 will be.

I don't think a properly maintained RX-8 will have any issue lasting 200,000 miles. If you want more miles, have it rebuilt, and while that's being done, get a p&p ;)

Rotory lasts longer if maintained according to manufacturer's recommendations concerning oil levels and changes. Engine burns some oil to lubricate the rotories.

3 moving parts vs. 50+? If they're equally well-maintained, my money is on the rotary.