ON the subject of torque, the rotors spin 1/3 the speed of the eccentric shaft right? So maybe this "overdrive" accounts for a torque loss, horsepower will not change with gearing, but torque will... so this could be why a rotary (NA) can put out tons more horsepower than a comparable sized motor, but not tons more torque. The rotary is going against itself in the torque, it sorta is a geared motor, like .333 to 1.00. So all in all, I'm very impressed with a small 1.3 liter rotary putting out more torque than a 2.0 liter piston, which has a much bigger crank throw for torque. Its a worn out argument, I'm personally happy with a turbo rotary, and my NA daily driver is just fine. The ultimate torque is a semi truck, I'd take an RX over a semi. Torque pulls, horsepower wins !! HAHAAHAAA!! Just a thought, I might just be rotor lover too......

 

if the rotary is a 2.6 it makes less torque, if it's a 1.3 it makes more. torque is measured te same as though it were a piston engine, it is delivered far differently.

In a piston engine you have 1 power/2 Rev of each piston
in a rotary engine you have 1 power/1 Rev of each rotor

this makes the torque delivery a little smoother, like a 6cyl engine. the reason torque is different from that of a piston engine is pretty simple: one is a rotational engine, the other is a reciprocating engine.

as far as it making more power, the argument is the same 1.3<rotary<2.6
the biggest advantage for the rotary is that it can spin faster and therefore make more power.

 

not true, hp is directly related do torque. so if torque is lost so is HP. HP = (Torque*rpm)/5252

 

If a car has toqure an automatic tranny is the best way to go, so i say no rotary can ever have the same toqure to hp ratio as a v8 at any range.

 

is it just me or is this argument already played out

engines with lots of displacement make lots of torque at low rpms

smaller engines have to rev up to make usable power, because power is tq x rpm / 5252

there are always tradeoffs. if you want both, turbocharge a bigger engine. you'll have more tradeoffs there, but thats just life, isnt it?

in the end you can do whatever you want with your car, its just how fat your wallet is. some engines are just well suited to some tasks and not others. you cant compare dragsters with autox cars, just like its kind of hard to compare the power delivery of v8's to smaller rotary engines.

i say just add more rotor(s) and boost. torque is always a good thing, as long as the rest of your **** is up to snuff

 

I'm not trying to compare apples o oranges, although some of you are. I posted my dynosheet for nillahcaz (I should have PM'd it to him)-- as I mentioned earlier. Maybe before I get slapped with a wet trout, people should read. Per displacement, the rotary engine does some pretty cool stuff, like the Hayabusa engine. But does displacement really matter when I can't get better than 18 mpg on my NA? The only thing the displacement argument has going for it is the weight of the 13b, which really isn't all that light. Yes, the 13B can rev given enough air and fuel. Yes, it has lower reciprocating mass. But the car still needs to rev high to have any real usable power. The engine in my T-Bird happens to be a truck engine from an F-150. I didn't expect high horsepower numbers-- I needed torque to move my 2 ton barge. My powerband is not 1600 rpm-- that's just the illusion some of you got with the dynosheet. Besides, gearing is a huge factor IMO on the usability of a powerband. Basically, many of you are comparing my apple to your oranges, when I didn't put my apple out there for comparison.

Nonetheless, the NA rotaries have no torque in the grand scheme of things. I don't care if it's a small engine. I don't care if you can port the **** out of it. I don't care if it's faster when you add another rotor. I know you guys love your cars. I like my Rex too. If any f you follow any of my other posts, you could see so. I just don't think it's good to have "one eyed" fans represent the whole community. It's just a fact-- NA RX-7 equals no torque.

 

*giggle*
this is a fantastic thread... every time I need a little pick-me-up I just come have a read...