Agreed, but they were getting almost V-8 mileage and delivering 6 cylinder performance. The Datsun/Nissan Z's were a tick faster if memory serves me right.
-
Enjoy XS650.com? Consider making a donation to help support the site.
XS650.com receives a small share of sales from some links on this page, but direct donations have a much greater impact on keeping this site going.
Interesting motorcycles, not XS650
- Thread starter Kevin Werner
- Start date
This was really about the Crighton bike
My lead in was a little misleading maybe?
I just love the rotary concept and that bike delivered in spades.
Seems we are all gearheads here, to a certain extent...
Nah, we never veer off course around here.
Oh, I too love the concept. What RX-7 race cars lacked in torque,they more than made up for in durability. They absolutely dominated the GTU class in IMSA for over a decade. As long as you had water, fuel and oil in them, you couldn't kill them.
Wow what a ride I would have to double or triple up on the old Depends (adult diapers) after that thing cut loose
I drive a hyrbrid now and to put a Wankel in there just to drive a generator sounds like a good idea to me
I would imagine it would be a lot like the huge heavy machinery out there with the ICU running the generator, powering the electrical drive motors
Probably like a locomotive
I drive a hyrbrid now and to put a Wankel in there just to drive a generator sounds like a good idea to me
I would imagine it would be a lot like the huge heavy machinery out there with the ICU running the generator, powering the electrical drive motors
Probably like a locomotive
One of the Wankel's achilles heal is it drinks like a G.I. on a 3 day pass.
Terrible gas mileage and excessive heat are the main reasons it hasn't gone mainstream.... and likely never will.
In other words... it'd make for a piss poor generator.
I guess if they have been working on it this long and it still has major issues, than it's not the greatest engine break thru that was being talked about when I was in high school
Fair comments @Jim
However my RX 8 was a brilliant and an enjoyable ride.
The engine was tiny and produced decent power. I wasn’t running my house lights off it for sure; and yes it used a bit more fuel. But it was fun.
Early Yank V8 motors were 7 litres producing less than 200bhp, no generators either and shite MPG. Later USA V8’s were also poor performers compared to Euro V6 or V8 engines; no generators either....Just sayin’
Anyhow it was about the bloody bike!
Now, there's not many bikes I'd call ugly but I'm working hard with this one.
As we like to say down South "So ugly, it's cute".
The problem is the Wankel's low compression ratio. The higher the CR, the higher the thermodynamic efficiency, with everything else being equal. That's why Diesel engines have much better fuel economy than any Otto (spark ignition) engine, DESPITE the fact that the pretty much instantaneous combustion in an Otto engine is more efficient than the slightly more drawn out combustion event in a Diesel engine (Isokor vs Isobar process)
