Wankel Repower

[MPH 12]

Herb, do you have any first hand knowledge of these engines?? Always thought they were interesting but never been around one. The auto version sure didn't seem to prove out to good..MPH

[MikeES 469]

Great idea, but around here (north Wisconsin) you can find old Arctic Cat snowmobiles with this Wankel Engine in it. Usually can buy the whole snowmobile for $150. I thought that the Rotary would make a great pulling engine (because of the flat torque curve) but they are specifically NOT allowed in Garden Tractor Pulling. I owned a couple of Arctic Cats with Wankels (back in 70s) and I owned a Mazda RX4 with a twin rotor engine (13B). Great engines, very smooth, unlimited rpms, excellent power, and durable (I drove the RX4 for 130,000 miles). That Wankel should drop in a Sim/AC very easy. The drive shaft connection would be the most work. Good Luck! Mike S.

[JimV 0]

Marty, I only posted the link because a Wankel was mentioned by someone in a prior post. Sorry, the only thing I know about rotary engines is from the old Mazda ad (they go hmmmmmmmmm).

[Roy 0]

Looks interesting. I had a 1974 RX-4 wagon which I liked but was probably the only lemon Mazda ever sold. The power was great but, thanks to smog controls, it was stumbly/erratic at low speed in town. Sort of like a Mopar before it warms it. Do you suppose I could stuff one in an AC B-1 or Simplicity 700?? Roy

[carter 0]

Made rotor seals for these guy's back in the early 70's. At that time they were going to replace the reciprocating piston engine. Didn't work out that way but the Mazda and the Sachs both ran pretty well in the right environment. Immagine parts would be a real problem today if you broke one.

[Kent 436]

You'd have to have a 2:1 gear reduction on one of these things, or you'd have a BGB turning 8,000 RPM.... don't think that'd work too well or too long... The Wankels don't have power at low RPM, so you'd have to keep the RPM up, kind of like a two stroke... they're smooth though, and will rev to 10,000 RPM stock. Know a guy who put one in a VW Super Beetle... it'd run 125 MPH if you could keep in on the ground. He put the radiator for it up front where the spare was, and had to put weight in the trunk to keep the front end from getting too light at high speed.

[Woodydel 0]

A different repower.......[A href='http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1682103788']http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1682103788[/a]

[Roy 0]

Kent, Per the e-Bay add the Sachs Wankel is governed to 3600 rpm and would pull an 8kw generator. Sounds like it would work OK provided it turns the right direction. Did you visit the link and watch it run? Roy

[Kent 436]

Roy, I didn't check it out before replying above -- I should have since it is a low RPM engine, similar to a 2-stroke(2- or 4-stroke doesn't apply to a rotary engine).... I checked it out -- if it didn't require pre-mix it could be an interesting project since he's only about an hour away.... Kent

[stevejj56 0]

The engine does run premix fuel. It would have good top end power,but no torque. They can make a snowmobile run,but in the sled their not goverened at 3600 rpm.

[Roy 0]

I don't understand why so many say a Wankel doesn't have any torque. My RX-4 pulled fine from low revs. If you look at some of the published torque and hp curves for Wankels they show good torque. Their torque couldn't be any worse than the 22RE engine in my Toyota truck (no guts below 2000 rpm). Also, if we are to run our tractors at 3600 rpm like everyone says we should then a Wankel would be well into its torque curve. Roy

[beamer 0]

I LOVE IT!! I really like to see experimentation.. Marion Kerr