Is there any extra care needed with the rotary engine?
 

I never owned one before. I heard they burn oil more so than piston engines and you need to let the engine warm up before driving or problems with engine flooding occur. Any truth to these rumors?

There's quite a number of small things that can be done to help extend the life of and keep a rotary healthy. Searching through these forums should net you some solid answers, and I'm sure some of the pros will end up responding to you as well.

One thing I can answer relatively confidently:

The rotary doesn't inherently 'burn' more oil than any other engine (perhaps even less, lots of less moving parts!), but it does (intentionally) consume oil during the combustion cycle. Oil is injected directly into the combustion chamber (I believe). This oil is used to lubricate the seals, ensuring a proper seal and less wear and tear on seals during combustion - at least from my understanding thus far.

So, the car does go through more oil than normal healthy piston engines, but it does so by design for engine longevity, not because of a defect or design flaw.


You'll probably get lots of mixed answers concerning flooding. Flooding is a problem for all auto engines, but from reports it seems that the RX-8 renesis rotary does seem rather prone to flooding in particularly cold climates. Warming up a car prior to driving in very cold weather, and not stopping the engine while still cold, is something that can be done to prolong the life of most engines however, so if you're the type that likes to take good care of your car, you'd probably be doing it anyway.

Problems...
 

They don't 'burn' oil like a traditional worn out piston motor, they inject oil into the seal area, which uses it up. The pump is computer controlled, so the harder you drive, the more oil it 'uses'.

I have never flooded my RX-8, though if you stall it when it's stone cold, it is probably possible.

Don't worry about rumours, just drive one and feel the way the rotary zings up to 8000 revs in a heartbeat! You won't want to go back to a pokey old piston engine!
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For a simple break-down of how a rotary engine works, check out this page: http://auto.howstuffworks.com/rotary-engine.htm