New Yorker

Don't know if this was previously posted, but here's an interesting article by Frank Markus in June's Motor Trend:
Mazda Rotary Turbos: Were All Those RX Motors Just Upside Down? - Motor Trend

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

I stopped reading when he referred to oil consumption as a defect.

New Yorker

That's too bad. And he didn't:

"But the design has always suffered from inherent shortcomings. Oil consumption and apex-seal wear plagued the earliest examples. New seal materials and revisions to the exhaust porting helped solve these problems, but then as emissions regulations phased in, the little hummer required elaborate thermal reactors and the like to achieve compliance, but Mazda engineers prevailed."

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

Plagues the earliest examples? Oil consumption is not a problem or a short coming, it's by design. And a lot of modern engines consume oil by design, including the N55 twinscroll turbo straight 6 in my 335i which consumes about a quart of oil between changes.

"seal revisions and exhaust porting solve these problems" This guy doesn't know what he is talking about.

New Yorker

^ When the author says "oil consumption… plagued the earliest examples," I believe he's referring to the earliest rotary engines from decades ago; not the fact that oil is injected to help lube the seals by design.

NotAPreppie

I like how he says that the new intake port orientation will allow for long intake runners for a resonance supercharging effect.

You know, kind of like what already exists for on the Renesis.

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

Oil consumption has always been engineered into the 13B. And oil is injected to cool the seals as well as to help with lubrication.

nycgps

iTrader: (1)

rofl

he doesn't know why Mazda turn it upside down ... it was explained in the patent that was filed like months ago ... jesus, and he does not seem to understand how it actually works (not even rotary engines in general)

did this "editor" actually did his homework b4 he put this bs out ?

New Yorker

This "editor" earned his "Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering" from the "University of Illinois" and his "Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering" from the "Rackham School of Engineering" at the "University of Michigan". He was a Technical Director at Car and Driver and is the Technical Director at Motor Trend.

Where'd you get your Masters? And where have you written about technical aspects of automobiles? (Besides here, I mean.)

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

That is fine and all, but it's obvious he has not read the technical papers on the Renesis or any rotary specific books. Just because you have a degree in a specific field doesn't make you an expert. I work with doctors all the time that have no business practicing medicine because they haven't learned anything new in 20 years. I am sure that is why he works for magazine rather than for a manufacturer or engineering firm doing actual engineering.

New Yorker

Markus, in fact, did actual engineering. And while automotive engineering would certainly be a cool profession, I could see how leaving that to become a national auto journalist specializing in technical issues might be even more appealing:

"I started critiquing cars at age 5 by bumming rides home from Sunday school in other parishioners' new cars. In those days I was terrorizing my street in Prairie Village, Kansas, in my most prized possession -- a pedal-powered midget racer purchased by my dad and grandpa. Ten long years later my folks let me buy a banged-up '66 Mustang (six-cylinder, three-on-the-floor coupe) for $125 and even let me drive it home solo on my learner's permit. I learned a lot about auto repair fixing that heap up --- like, rear brake drums won't come off, even with the assistance of a propane torch, if the emergency brake is firmly set.

Since 16 I've been getting paid to drive new cars I don't own, and I still love it. That first job was running parts for an Olds dealership in Memphis, Tennessee. It only paid minimum wage, but brought with it wholesale pricing of any part in town, even those to fix up my second '66 Mustang, a convertible with Flintstones floorboards and a school-bus yellow respray over aqua interior. I fashioned floorboards from galvanized ductwork, sheet-metal-screwed them in, and treated it to a $299 quickie re-squirt in Tahoe Turquoise in time for senior-year cruising. I knew I'd only find joy in an automotive career, and engineering seemed the most likely way to achieve that. So I went after a couple of Big Ten degrees in mechanical engineering and landed in Lee Iacocca's "New Chrysler Corporation."

While there, I helped lay the foundations for the original Neon, LH cars, and second-gen minivans. I loved every second of that job, but when a friend told me about an opening for a technical editor at another car magazine (C&D), I jumped at what was the car-biz equivalent of running off to join the circus. I loved that job, too, until the phone rang again with an even better opportunity: the chance to drive other people's new and old cars for money, with Motor Trend and Motor Trend Classic magazines. It's nearly impossible to imagine a better job, but I still answer the phone..."

Anyway, it's just an interesting read, is all.

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

TL;DR, he doesn't know what he is talking about on this subject, that is the only relevant point to be made.