"rbowman" That reminds me, the Wankel is coming
back.

https://www.foxnews.com/auto/mazda-confirms-return-of-the-wankel-rotary-engine-in-2020



It's not only Hollywood that's dredging up old ideas... I
remember when the first Wankels showed up at the SCCA
races at Lime Rock. There was some controversy on how you
measure the displacement and how that relates to a
conventional engine. The real problem was in that era you
were supposed to be able to hear race cars and something
that sounded like a quiet Hoover didn't draw many fans.
iirc they didn't do particularly well either.

They got past the chattering seals problem in a couple of
generation but I don't know if they ever got past the
efficiency problem. Race cars won't have to meet EPA
mandated fleet mileage requirements.


I used to have a '70 Arctic Cat with a Wankel. It was not
very
fast but sure had good low end torque! Very good at pulling
a
sled full of firewood or a loaded sled with ice fishing gear
on
Keweenaw Bay on Lake Superior. Those were the 'good ol days'
for me. Now I'm just an old buck... phil k.

writes:
On Sun, 20 Oct 2019 18:58:46 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:


Don't forget the water injector too. Increases power and fuel mileage.

Actually water injection does work. (they did it on planes during
WWII).

Just look at old 60's and 70's movie footage of the Boeing 707
takeoff - all that black smoke is from the water injection.

I could almost see having a small electric car just for local commuting,,, but then you still have to pay full price for insurance for another vehicle.

It is sobering when you consider that the equivalent power flow through a standard gas station filling hose is something like 1 Million Watts.

Mark

On 10/23/2019 07:56 AM, wrote:
I could almost see having a small electric car just for local commuting,,, but then you still have to pay full price for insurance for another vehicle.

It is sobering when you consider that the equivalent power flow through a standard gas station filling hose is something like 1 Million Watts.

Something like an electric Messerschmitt would be fun:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messerschmitt_KR200

Three wheeled vehicles are a gray area currently but in many states they
are classed as motorcycles. The insurance on my bikes is a lot less than
on the car and in this state it isn't legally required.

I doubt it would work. What people think they *should* do usually isn't
what they do do. In this area, unless the gas prices go off the chart,
people would drive MRAPs if they could get their hands on them.