So I was watching an RX8 video on YouTube of some guy revving his 8 to 10k RPM, and commented on how I can't wait for the 16X to debut (it is still coming someday, right..? A lot of people keep telling me Mazda's like, bankrupt and not going to make anymore rotary cars, which would suck), and I mentioned the 16X's better fuel economy and this guy "DrewLSsix" commented:

As a total n00b, I was just wondering if this is true at all? Are there any rotary-head mechanics who have actually done this kind of thing? I've seen the 3-Rotor RX8's and RX7's on YouTube which look/sound amazing, but the general sentiment I get in the comments section is that these engines get atrocious gas mileage.

The video is here FYI: http://www.youtube.com /watch?v=Q-0BjrIq0ws

Thanks for helping the n00b

 

I'm bored at work, so here it goes.

Just ignore him....don't even bother....

 

Believe it or not...yeah

 

...I'm not trolling, it was a serious question... I know people do the 3 and 4 rotor engines, I've just not really been able to find anything relating to gas mileage being made better or worse by adding a rotor but down-tuning the horsepower in order to get a strong balance between the two things. I was just curious because I hear so much word-vomit about these kinds of things from so many opinionated people who may or may not have any idea what they are talking about. O.o

 

One of the 3 rotor guys on here gets 8mpg on a good day, 4mpg is often seen.

No, I double checked, those aren't typos.

The rotary has great mechanical efficiency, however is has terrible thermal efficiency. There are ways to improve gas mileage of a rotary, but those methods do not include anything involved in that comment you quoted.


...and you are correct, there are a lot of people out there that vomit things about the rotary that have no idea what they are talking about. There are even plenty of those on this forum.

 

Most aftermarket applications in the rotary world rarely get proper tuning. Even when they do get extended tuning time the emphasis is usually on "power" or "safety." In both of these applications a margin of error typically consumes more fuel.

Stress is applied whenever there are opposing forces. Constantly revving the engine between 2000-6000rpm can be more stress than driving at 7500rpm. Youtube is a video extension to facebook; everyone is a critic and an expert...