Rotary engines aren't exactly efficient engines that's the only bad thing I can see about them. Hating on them for the reasons I’ve seen in this thread is pretty foolish.

We have a guy locally that has over 200k miles on his 12a. It's his daily driver and not boosted. I think if you maintain and tune them properly they have their applications and will last like any other engine.

 

For every 200K Rotary engine that is still going strong, I bet there are 10 that popped for "no reason". Apex seals are the devil.

Why do you think Mazda pulled the FD Rx7 in NA? Too expensive. Unreliable. Horrid gas mileage. They do really poorly in cold climates as well.

The pluses? Can make retarded power. Can beat the poop out of them. Nice small package. And finally the eleventiybillion RPM rev limit.

Don't get me wrong, I sell my kid on the black Market to get a minty FD.

 

I believe the FD went on to 2002 in other places. I don't believe the "No Reason" thing sorry 90% of the time is tuner error.

 

I bet that if you part them, you will get more $$$ I heard somewhere that kidneys worth well in this time of year

 

I had a mint FD. It was OK, but I enjoy the miata much, much more.

 

and for every 200k rotary, there are a 1000 500k piston motors

 

...umm prove it?

Bryan Taylor you are by far the largest rotary hater I have ever known...like I hope the RX-8's success and the Furai make more manufacturers pick up rotaries, just to spite you.

 

the repo truck my dad used to drive was a 2001 gmc 3500hd GAS motor with 515,000 on the original motor. i would take a pic, but he just change companies 2 weeks ago. now its had like 7 transmissions, but the motor is still original, only in its 2nd set of spark plugs too, and it would go 10-40k on oil changes. and i have seen several imports go that far, hell the old parts delivery truck at my work was a chevy van with 350k when they sold it, still running. how about you show me some rotaries with over even 100k on the original motor? they are VERY few.

 

First Rotorys are the most efficient motor other then bike motors. How many motors do you know that have a 1.3L displacement and can make up 400+ whp.

The biggest reason the FDs got pulled in America was stupid ******* idiots. First mazda didn't have techs that could really work on rotorys so when ever something happened to the motor instead of fixing the issue they just swapped motors. Second people were buying the FD thinking they were just everyday cars not knowing that they were sport breed cars that require higher maintenance. Lastly FD owners have noticed a flaw in the design for cooling and cause the rotory to overheat easier then the FB and FC causing the apex to flux easier and those poop quicker. People on rx7club.com have fixed the cooling issues have been getting 100k out of modded rotorys. No I don't have any post off hand.

Ben, I would have kill you guys if you used the 26B in the store front. every time I am there I go paw that motor. I would love to see a N/A 26B in a miata, talk about gas eater thou.

 

I think you mean specific power, not efficiency. Specific power is the power output per engine displacement, like kW/l or HP/cu in.. Efficiency is the fuel consumption rate at a particular power level, like lbs/HP*hour

 

What i meant by them not being efficient was MPG. they do not get good MPG per liter.. this will be the death of the rotary in future designs unless they figure it out.

 

Yea I was thinking efficiency as for power for size not as in gas intake. That i will give the rotory gets **** gas mileages.

I wonder how the rotory would work with the HOO fuel(if you don't know what i am talking about seach online for water fuel).

 

I've had 3 RX7s, an '86 GXL, a '91 convertible, and a '94. Never once had major engine issues out of any of them (the '91s tranny bit the dust, so I had a TII motor/trans swapped in). The key to keeping them running well is controlling the heat as mentioned, and devoting the time to maintaining them.
I've noticed that most people that don't understand the way they work are the first ones to voice a negative opinion about them, and in no way am I saying that's what's going on here, but just what I notice after being around them for so long.
As far as fuel efficiency, hell, not one of the 7s I had got less than 22-24mpg as long as I wasn't being a speed freak, which is pretty nice considering most V8 sports car's get the same mpg but were slower.

 

Really?

I can see selling a FD for a Miata for financial reasons, but not because you enjoy the Miata more. However I have never driven one, and never ridden in a rotary FD. Did get a ride in a 500whp LS1 FD at a local autox last year.

BEAST.

 

that had this thing called tq...ride in a rotary motor powered car, you'll see what your missing.

 

Sold my mint <30k 96M, picked up a mint, bone stock 94 FD, loved the acceleration but wanted my little roadster again. Sold the FD, and now I have a turbo 91 NA. My miata isn't as sexy to look at, but IMO it's more fun.

 

ok, if the why run the MX5 and RX8 ecu's in paralell? If you swap in the rx8 cluster, what is left for the mx5 ecu to run?

 

Nice, how long do you think it'll be till you get it on the track?

 

Just my .02 Everyone I know that has an RX-8 has had nothing but problems with them. Just to support America here, my brother has a 2002 Chevy 2500 with 220K on the clock and he uses it everyday to pull Fema trailers. Original motor and tranny, grant it, it has the Allsion tranny and the 6 liter. He laughs when I drive my Miata but i can only help but smile when we pull up to the gas pump.

 

Sorry, this area of the development will not be open for discussion at this time, for several reasons to include legal.

We're hoping to have it ready for the open house this summer. Body & paint at the end of the month. Probably. Hopefully.