Building a solid, reliable rotary engine is no easy task. The
fact that GM couldn't do it should come as no surprise, and
certainly not an indictment of the engine they failed to build.
In the 1970s GM could hardly build a roof with tight seals, let
alone a wankel engine. Mercedes made some tri and quad rotor
prototypes and they couldn't get the seals to work reliably
either. Gotta love that Japanese engineering!
Vernon Head wrote:
>
> Ironically, GM experimented with a couple of Rotary Corvettes in 1973. One
>was 266 cubic inches, the other was a whopping 390! So much for lightweight,
>compact engines. They scrapped the whole thing because of overwhelming
>emissions problems.
>
> -Vernon
>
> >>
> >> The first wankel engine ever to run was in 1957. The first piston
> >> engine ever to run (steam powered) was in the 1700s. The piston
> >> engine has had about 250 years more development time than the
> >> Wankel (guess that makes it 250 year old thump-thump technology).
> >>
> >
--
Michael R. Clements
mrc01@flash.net
A government big enough to give you everything you want
is also big enough to take away everything you have.
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