The first time *(yes, it's friday now) I saw a rotary engine in
person it was on the Mazda RX8 (never saw the engine compartment on
the RX7 or other wankel engined vehicles). I was amazed at how small
and compact the engine was. Almost seemed like a big generator,
rather than the 200 hp engine it is. But yes, the achilles heal of
the rotary has always been poor fuel economy.

On Oct 4, 2007, at 11:37 PM, Jake de Villiers wrote:

> Until Jim explains properly:
>
> The rotary isn't very efficient Craig.  Smooth, yes, powerful, yes,
> good on
> gas, no.
>
> Its also more difficult to keep the lubricating oil out of the
> combustion
> chamber, so the hydrocarbon emissions are a little high.