Reply To: Wankel Engine

[amuller]

I’d like to have one to play with.

Many big US companies put a lot of money into Wankel engines–OMC, Curtis-Wright, General Motors, others…. Some of the problems can be solved with engineering, like the tip seals, others are fundamental to the design. One is the high surface to volume ratio of the combustion chamber, leading to high heat loss and low thermal efficiency. Another is the need for total-loss lubrication, leading to high emissions.

I’m vaguely remembering that OMC made a Wankel snowmobile engine (??) but ended up not producing it. (??)