4 ms·

Rotary engines do not "leak oil", they burn oil a modest amount of oil by design. If you think about it, there really wasn't another way to lubricate them. Pra

by jsight 9y ago

Rotary engines do not "leak oil", they burn oil a modest amount of oil by design. If you think about it, there really wasn't another way to lubricate them. Practicality was pretty low, though, as you rightly point out.

busterarm 9y ago
Excluding the Miata, when are sports cars ever practical?
- komali2 9y ago
  Anytime it is time to Go Fast. So always.
  - busterarm 9y ago
    Yeah, and Mazda rotaries are really good at that.
  - TomMarius 9y ago
    It's always nice to be home in Prague from Munich in 2.5 instead of 4.5 hours in exchange for just 1.5l/100km more consumption (and going 250 (155 miles per hour) instead of 130 km/h).
    - komali2 9y ago
      We have the big and beautiful 280 between Mountain View and San Francisco, and I thank goodness every time I make my way to the city for it. I'd never go the speeds on my bike I do on 280 anywhere else, but it's just such a gosh darn huge road I get to make a 45-60 minute trip in like 30 minutes.
      - TomMarius 9y ago
        I though you Americans have it pretty rough when you're caught going over speed limit?
        komali2 9y ago
        That's actually a big question I have as a new Californian. In Houston, you got caught, every time, if you sped on the freeways. The cops were everywhere. Here not only do I rarely see cops, I've read in the local papers that cops can't pull people over for speeding if EVERYONE is speeding. You have to be speeding far above average. So everyone is actually incentivized to speed together. When I first got here I saw comically low speed limit signs - as low as 55mph on freeways! And averages of 65! That's INSANELY slow for how big these freeways are! But apparently it doesn't matter in California, here everyone just speeds and is protected as a group. I don't doubt that I'll pay my dues eventually. You don't get away with 95mph on a sportbike forever. We make targets of ourselves. That's fine, in Houston I got ticketed ~200USD every three years or so, that's a fair price to get to go above the speed limit for me.
        shorodei 9y ago
        I usually go at 75-80 on a "55" highway for my daily commute, never had issues even while passing cop cars. In general, as long as you're not driving like an idiot (switching 3 lanes without signalling) or running old tags, or basically have a red flag hanging, they won't bother you. Although if they do stop your for one of these reasons, they'll probably also ticket you for speeding. Speed limits are enforced far more strictly in residential areas though.
        deleted 9y ago
        [deleted]
        mikestew 9y ago
        It very much depends on where in the U. S. one is at. East of the Mississippi River (eastern U. S.): I'm a good boy who doesn't do more than 10mph over the limit. The exception is Ohio: if I can't avoid the state completely, I do THE SPEED LIMIT. Western U. S.: whatever I think I can get away with. IOW, if I can see for multiple miles with few cross roads and driveways, then it's whatever I feel comfortable with. Though with western speed limits of 70mph and up, one can comfortably get away with 85mph, which is fast enough for me. Much beyond that, on the bike or in the car, and it gets tiring and the difference in fuel efficiency is huge (28mpg or less at "spirited" speeds on a bike that normally gets 42-45mpg). And the last thing one needs in a vehicle with a 5 gallon tank, and an area with few gas stations, is poor fuel efficiency. With increased fuel stops, I'm not convinced that one saves a minute of time after a point. In this instance, think of the U. S. more like the EU. We have Montana and Nevada, they have Germany. We have Ohio, they have (for lack of a better example) the U. K. with speed cameras everywhere (yeah, yeah, Brexit; bear with me for this example).
    - petre 9y ago
      Isn't there an 130 kmh speed limit on Czech highways? I wouldn't trade two hours of my life for being killed and potentially killing others in a car accident. I also quite understand that Germany has highways without a speed limit, considering that 40% of their GDP comes out of the automotive sector.
flavio81 9y ago
Little known fact is also that conventional piston gasoline engines are also expected to burn an amount of oil by design, particularly if given a hard usage.
mikestew 9y ago
Rotary engines do not "leak oil", they burn oil a modest amount of oil by design. I was thinking of the seals, which by about 50K seemed to be a common failure point. But, yes, they did burn a bit by design; no argument there. OTOH, a lot of Wankel defenders in this thread mention RX-8s. I'm remembering RX-7s, and the economy cars that used the Wankels. Those economy cars of the 70s are where the Wankel reputation for poor fuel mileage comes from. Cute TV commercials ("piston engine goes 'boing, boing, boing', Mazda engine goes 'hmmmmm'"), not really the best engine choice to go up against Honda and Toyota at the time.

by jsight 9y ago

busterarm 9y ago

Excluding the Miata, when are sports cars ever practical?

komali2 9y ago
Anytime it is time to Go Fast. So always.
- busterarm 9y ago
  Yeah, and Mazda rotaries are really good at that.
- TomMarius 9y ago
  It's always nice to be home in Prague from Munich in 2.5 instead of 4.5 hours in exchange for just 1.5l/100km more consumption (and going 250 (155 miles per hour) instead of 130 km/h).
  - komali2 9y ago
    We have the big and beautiful 280 between Mountain View and San Francisco, and I thank goodness every time I make my way to the city for it. I'd never go the speeds on my bike I do on 280 anywhere else, but it's just such a gosh darn huge road I get to make a 45-60 minute trip in like 30 minutes.
    - TomMarius 9y ago
      I though you Americans have it pretty rough when you're caught going over speed limit?
      - komali2 9y ago
        That's actually a big question I have as a new Californian. In Houston, you got caught, every time, if you sped on the freeways. The cops were everywhere. Here not only do I rarely see cops, I've read in the local papers that cops can't pull people over for speeding if EVERYONE is speeding. You have to be speeding far above average. So everyone is actually incentivized to speed together. When I first got here I saw comically low speed limit signs - as low as 55mph on freeways! And averages of 65! That's INSANELY slow for how big these freeways are! But apparently it doesn't matter in California, here everyone just speeds and is protected as a group. I don't doubt that I'll pay my dues eventually. You don't get away with 95mph on a sportbike forever. We make targets of ourselves. That's fine, in Houston I got ticketed ~200USD every three years or so, that's a fair price to get to go above the speed limit for me.
        shorodei 9y ago
        I usually go at 75-80 on a "55" highway for my daily commute, never had issues even while passing cop cars. In general, as long as you're not driving like an idiot (switching 3 lanes without signalling) or running old tags, or basically have a red flag hanging, they won't bother you. Although if they do stop your for one of these reasons, they'll probably also ticket you for speeding. Speed limits are enforced far more strictly in residential areas though.
      - deleted 9y ago
        [deleted]
      - mikestew 9y ago
        It very much depends on where in the U. S. one is at. East of the Mississippi River (eastern U. S.): I'm a good boy who doesn't do more than 10mph over the limit. The exception is Ohio: if I can't avoid the state completely, I do THE SPEED LIMIT. Western U. S.: whatever I think I can get away with. IOW, if I can see for multiple miles with few cross roads and driveways, then it's whatever I feel comfortable with. Though with western speed limits of 70mph and up, one can comfortably get away with 85mph, which is fast enough for me. Much beyond that, on the bike or in the car, and it gets tiring and the difference in fuel efficiency is huge (28mpg or less at "spirited" speeds on a bike that normally gets 42-45mpg). And the last thing one needs in a vehicle with a 5 gallon tank, and an area with few gas stations, is poor fuel efficiency. With increased fuel stops, I'm not convinced that one saves a minute of time after a point. In this instance, think of the U. S. more like the EU. We have Montana and Nevada, they have Germany. We have Ohio, they have (for lack of a better example) the U. K. with speed cameras everywhere (yeah, yeah, Brexit; bear with me for this example).
  - petre 9y ago
    Isn't there an 130 kmh speed limit on Czech highways? I wouldn't trade two hours of my life for being killed and potentially killing others in a car accident. I also quite understand that Germany has highways without a speed limit, considering that 40% of their GDP comes out of the automotive sector.

flavio81 9y ago

Little known fact is also that conventional piston gasoline engines are also expected to burn an amount of oil by design, particularly if given a hard usage.

mikestew 9y ago

Rotary engines do not "leak oil", they burn oil a modest amount of oil by design. I was thinking of the seals, which by about 50K seemed to be a common failure point. But, yes, they did burn a bit by design; no argument there. OTOH, a lot of Wankel defenders in this thread mention RX-8s. I'm remembering RX-7s, and the economy cars that used the Wankels. Those economy cars of the 70s are where the Wankel reputation for poor fuel mileage comes from. Cute TV commercials ("piston engine goes 'boing, boing, boing', Mazda engine goes 'hmmmmm'"), not really the best engine choice to go up against Honda and Toyota at the time.