What killed the rotary engine? Wankel engines have struggled to compete with piston cylinder engines, despite their many ...

This eliminates the confusion with the similarly-named rotary engines that had pistons in a radial configuration. These were widely used to power airplanes, as well as a few motorcycles and cars.

The new RX-8 sport coupe is the only car on the market to have this power plant (Mazda’s other products have piston engines). But the rotary had to come a long way to be here. Its presence under ...

This engine is the basis of the modern “Wankel” rotary engine. Piston powered engines, chiefly the Otto and Diesel cycle, are current kings of the internal combustion mountain. Piston powered ...

The history of the rotary engine is a strange and wonderful tale that dates back as far as 1588 when Ramelli invented the first rotary-piston-type water pump. Almost 200 years later James Watt ...

especially by mechanics who have trained and worked only with piston engines. This leaves the rotary to be championed only by enthusiasts who often have an obsession with all things rotary that's ...

Transforming the up-and-down movement of a piston into a rotational one means losing some power due to friction, and that's why many engineers tried to create a rotary engine. But only one made it ...

heavy-fueled 25 hp rotary combustion engine that produces the same power output as piston diesel engines up to 10 times larger. Following its subcontract with Parsons, LiquidPiston received an ...

Liquid Piston has taken its revolutionary engine out for a spin. The Connecticut-based startup has been developing a tiny new type of rotary engine for several years that’s so innovative it ...

Mercedes put serious research into the engine, and GM even believed that the rotary would supersede the piston engine in everything from the Vega to the Corvette. It appeared that the Wankel ...

Rotary engines have almost completely gone out of production, but they’re still beloved by enthusiasts. Eschewing pistons for a spinning three-sided rotor, they rev to the moon and sound great ...