Ten inaccurate preconceptions about Wankel rotary engines discussed

Over the next ten days, we will be posing questions to Nathan Bailey, Managing Director of Advanced Innovative Engineering (https://www.aieuk.com) around popular preconceptions people still hold with regards to Wankel rotary engines. After working in rotary engines for over 20 years, it will be interesting to see his comments with regards to the current State of the Art and where he believes Wankel rotary engine technology fits in today’s world and maybe also the future.

The questions to be posed:

1. Isn’t Wankel rotary engine technology dead? Haven’t they all disappeared?

2. Aren’t rotary engines unreliable and use excessive oil?

3. So aren’t Piston engines better than rotary engines anyway?

4. Isn’t Mazda the only company still developing rotary engines?

5. Aren’t rotary engines noisy and have poor emissions?

6. I understand rotary engines can only run on gasoline?

7. With the move to electric powered vehicles, aren’t rotary engines becoming irrelevant anyway?

8. I believe there are different types of Wankel rotary engines around. What are the differences and which is the best?

9. Don’t Wankel rotary engines inherently cost more to manufacture than piston engines.

10. Why should I choose a rotary engine for my application?

The concept behind this questions and answer series is to ignite debate around Wankel rotary engines and to get people to think and hopefully reevaluate their current thinking on this amazing technology that has never truly received the recognition it deserves, as one of the great inventions of the 20th Century (in our opinion anyway).