okay so me and my friend were arguing about the life of a rotary compared to the life of that other kinda engine. Rotary last longer, right?

(please no comments about my stupidity or my lack of grammar)

 

Generally, I find a piston engine lasts a little longer (Generally). but of course if properly maintained, any engine will last a long time.

 

damn

but i'm still gettin an RX-7

 

word. rotaries seem to last as long as anything, but i wouldnt say that they last longer than piston motors. piston dudes throw rods and crap like that all the time, theres so many places that something can fail in a piston motor, whereas with us, its usually one of 2 things. apex seal or coolant seal.

 

I believe the reliability issue becomes the rotary engine's strong suit in race aplications.

Some pistons engines in race vehicles need to be rebuild/replaced every couple of races while similar rotary engine counterparts might last double the time/miles or maybe even the whole season without too much work.

Ofcoarse we are talking about a couple of hundred miles per season if you're racing. So in terms of longevety a race engine doesn't last that long anyhow.

On the streets generally due to stupid car owners driving RX cars they kill off most of our engines quicker than piston engines. Reason being that piston engines can take more abusive maintenance practices. While a rotary NEED to have things done RIGHT.

 

It's like asking how long will my brakes last? Well, if you never use them, forever,lol. The key to anything is MAINTENANCE!!! the only thing we have against us is the overheat situation. Do it once and your looking at a soon rebuild. Other than that reliability is all relevant. Meaning how you drive and maintain your vehicle. rx7doctor

 

There has ben countless people reaching the 200k mark in there 7. I have one in my yard right now with 183k on it and still goin strong I exspect it to make 200k with out a prob. The general asumption is that they do not last longer. The factor to consider is this is a sports car and face it if you own one you probly beat on it hard. I mean who dosent run there 7 like a true sports car? That being said you are bound to end life sooner then nitended. Look at race motors on recipicating engines. One race! Thats it all the race engin 350 big blocks my dad built were rebuilt evry race and commonly went in a race. The rotary seems to be more faild prone do to it not seeming to be as tollerable to neglected abuse. Such as cheep oils exstended oil changes improper maintness collant problems over heating oil seals and so forth all be pointed towrds the owner. As well abuse in a hot enviroment tends to take a stronger tole on them. Recipicating motors do have more fail points and commonly lose timmin chains and bend rods and throw rods and bend valves. I cna tell you how meany pistons ive broke and rings seasd in my 2 stroke dirt bikes "race bikes" and how meany cranks ive locked up in my yz 250f. I would tell your friend by history comparison the recipicating lasts longer but there is to meany factors to judge by. most recipicating owners dont beat there cars to hell like most 7 users have thow rotarys have ben proven to last just as long. For comparisons look at mazdas race sean. I cant recall names off head but mazdas reply to ther cars finishing 24hrs of lamaz was. we never once had any doubt of the car or motor finishing the race. They had went on to do so good they got banned. Infact that was mazdas reson for enting the race seen to prove that the rotary despite common balive had exsactly what it took to win and without a failure rate infact mazdas DNF rate is 0

 

This is pretty much the key. Abuse a piston engine, it'll still run 200k miles. Abuse a rotary... good luck seeing 100k.

-=Russ=-

 

i feel the opposite is true, i redline my rotary daily and i expect it to last a while whereas i would never do that with my piston engines. piston engines however can take lack of maintenance far better than a rotary can.

 

I believe the Abuse term is meant for upkeep/maintenance/repair. Not driving style.

 

Depends on what rotary you're talking about. The 1st gen 12A engines last for forever, they're tough.

 

If you need a source, www.howstuffworks.com , find the write up for the rotary engine, on one of the pages it notes some of the pros (fewer moving parts for example) over piston engines. Just because rx7club.com might be a little biased

 

i just hate 98% of all piston engines and 100% of all automatic transmissions

 

Wrong.
Do some research on diesel piston engines and figure this out yourself...


-Ted

 

You can probably make any kind of engine last a long time, just do the maintenance that they are supposed to have. The problem is what did the previous owner do if its used? The next problem is finding a mechanic that understands(and can work on) a rotory, most think they run on FM... F*cking Magic! And their eyes glaze over when you ask them a question about it. Spend time on this forum and you will know tons more than the corner mechanic about your rotory.

 

I was waiting to see who was going to bring up a diesel engine. FIY: I've heard stories of a few later model semi trucks breach into unknown territory, 1,000,000 miles!!! On the original motor. Thats just crazy. Keep in mind how stout these I-6 blocks are, and how many highway miles they put on. Also how many drivers of these trucks are **** about maintainence, since this is what brings home their bread and butter.

With that, I must conclude that, so far, a piston engine last longer.

 

yeah, i cant imagine getting 1,000,000 miles on a rotary motor. lol

 

Bingo. I actually consider *not* running a rotary engine hard abuse (as long as it's fully warmed up).

Simple fact is, a rotary engine doesn't last as long as an equally maintained piston engine. A 200k mile rotary, while not unheard of, is rare. A 200k piston engine isn't that special anymore.

-=Russ=-

 

my 87 is 6 owners deep and 216050 miles strong... and still burns hondas.... now it just needs a water pump gasket and some new mounts

 

hey guys I am new to rotary engins but I alrady love them,
this is how I see you can make youre point take a piston engine and reve it up like a rorary engine every time you need full power whell I downt think it wil last as long as a rorary but you can alsow rty this (like I sead I am new to rotary engines) downt rev your rotary more then a piston engine I think it wil last way longer (and no I couldent controle my self do this if I had one).

Paul

 

my diesel escort has either 160,000 or 260,000 miles on it, might be even more than that.(odometer only goes to 10,000 place) It's just now getting broken in and 45 mpg. I love my car.

 

Actually, many semi trucks go far over 1,000,000 miles. I even saw a turbocharger off a semi truck last 900,000 miles (turbos usually dont last long)

 

*grumbles*

I'm *not* quoting that post a few above, just because it makes English majors cry (like a lot of this board does).

One of the worst things you can do with a rotary engine is baby it. If you never wind it up hard, you'll get increased carbon buildup, increased deposits on the spark plugs (and subsequently fouled plugs), non-functional 6th ports & VDI from lack of use, and a whole host of other Bad Things.

Argue all you want about it, but the fact is, based on numbers, a rotary engine will NOT last as long as a piston engine under reasonably similar conditions. Get over it. A rotary engine is less fuel efficient, shorter lived, and significantly more expensive to rebuild than a comparable power output piston engine. They're also incredibly fun to drive behind, have no problems with sustained high RPM operation, and come packaged in one of the (IMHO) nicest sports cars that's affordable by a normal person. They're easy to work on, and most failures will still get you home. It's perfectly possible to drive a rotary engine with a blown rotor, and many people here have done it (me included). Throw a rod in a piston engine, and you're not going ANYWHERE under your own power.

-=Russ=-

 

Though it may be off topic, I feel I must say something.

I am assuming that you are referring to the post from the member that is residing in the Netherlands, in which case I should point out the likelyhood that either Dutch or Frisian is his native tongue.

I thought the same thing when I saw the post, but I took the time to look at the poster's location.

 

Yah I am from The Netherlands (thnx jrs10 fore pointing it out I appreciate it) and yes I am ashamed fore my bad English but there is no better rotary forum so I am goanna stick with this English one.

And thanks fore the info over babying a rotary but as I sad before I wouldn’t be able to not rev the engine because it wouldn’t be any fun.