My question is: Why aren't there more rotary cars in the world? What is the real reason why more car companies don't make them? I've never been able to find a decent answer to this question. What do you guys think?

I guess it's lack of know and dedication. No one thought it would be worthwhile to invest in a rotary. They are all concerned about commerce and want the fast money. Plus years back the rotaries weren't exactly know for being the most reliable engines..

3rd gens were overpriced, didn't sell much, and had constant engine problems, they eat oil and gas. Most consumers don't want that. Lack of knowledge also killed them.

or fuel efficient

Doesn't NSU have a patten on the Rotary Engine... Which licensing fee's need to be paid?



The Rotary isn't a drive it and forget about it motor. The lack of maintenance has killed many rotaries.



Also Rotaries don't have the advantage they once did. Take a look at the Honda S2000... Okay maybe a bad example, but it was more HP and a higher redline than any production Rotary in N/A trim.



The Renesis might change that...

the honda B16b jdm motor redlines at 9 grand, that motor came out before the S2000 motor, my .02 cents......................... piece :smirk:

don't you think the 3rd gen engine problems probably came more from the fact that people always drove them hard? They did get 60 in about 5 flat. The guy I bought my car from (89 n/a) said the car's been great to him over the last 13 years; no major problems. The engine now has 143000 miles and is doing great so far (knock on wood).

Should have put this in my last post: my theory is that the rotary is harder to make and is harder to maintain correctly (more sensitive to neglect). I guess lack of knowedge and false rumors really killed it. The only people who deserve to own RX-7s should be die-hard rotary fans anyway. I really hope the realease of the RX-8 will help bring back the rotary. If not, I'll just have to start my own car company, and every car I make would have a rotary engine.

Can i have a job??

when the rotary engine was developed it was a very bad engine. Mazda had to invrst a lot of time and money into it to make streetable. This warded off a lot of other car companies for devoloping the engine because they didnt want to spend the money.