Hey guys i have experience with honda/acura and nissan tuning and i have an oppertunity to get into the rotary world.

I just want to know what makes the roatary so different from a normal piston engine when it comes to tuning. This seems to scare alot of people off, but i just want to hear your guys experience.

Detnination experices or timing experience? General afrs?

Any things to watch out for? Reading plugs the same ? Egts?

Give me some insight please

 

Rotary engines are more sensitive to detonation.
Piston engines can tolerate more detonation due to the piston rings being located down the skirt of the pistons.
In rotary engines, the apex seals are a lot more exposed.


-Ted

 

thanks for the reply ted!

I am assuming that ignition timing can be acheived best on a dyno just as a piston engine? Lets say you find optimal timing thresh hold and you are taking away 2-3* for safety margin (bad gas and transient occurances). Should a rotary engine have much more of a safety margin considering there more prone to detonation?

Basically what i am trying to get at is the way you tune a piston engne in terms of the order you do your tuning is very much similar in rotaries except due to the different engine characteristics (combustion design) it is more prone to detonation events. Do i have that right? Cruising, idle, part throttle afrs can be tuned quite similar.

 

Yes, all the tuning techniques are the same.
The only differences are slight variations in base / starting ignition timing.

Keep in mind that the rotary engine does not see dramatic increase (i.e. changes) with changing (i.e. advancing) ignition timing, when you start to get close to the optimum ignition timing values.
For example, you could advance the igniton timing + 5-degrees, but maybe gain 2 - 3 hp on the dyno.
In this case, it's safer to back the ignition timing down versus trying to gain that minimal power.
Here, EGT's increase significantly.


-Ted

 

thanks for the insight!

The results seem very similar to a piston engine by the sounds of it. I am assuming crank timing/ base timing are different based on what port you have on your rotor. The higher the overlap the lumpier and harder to stbalizer idle. Porting on a rotary engine is like changing a camshaft in a piston engine.

 

I have some bad experienced with rotaries and detonation, but mostly it was lack of research or insignificant tuning patience. Plus some *** hole built my last turbo motor with non-turbo rotors. !wtf!