For more than a decade the name Wankel has popped up whenever car enthusiasts start talking about advanced-design automotive powerplants. The theory of the Wankel engine goes back to 1954 when Dr.

Rotary engines (also known as Wankel engines and Wankel rotary engines) are quite different from piston or "reciprocating" engines. One of the distinguishing features is that they don't need valves to ...

Rotary engines differ from conventional ones in many respects — and one of them is the fact that they use two different spark plugs. Here's why.

TWENTY-FIVE years ago, a German book salesman named Felix Wankel entertained a revolutionary, if not heretical notion: he fell to wondering if the standard gasoline engine, man’s commonest prime mover ...

The Wankel rotary engine is known for its troubled life in the mainstream automotive industry, its high power-to-weight ratio, and the intoxicating buzz it makes at full tilt. Popular with die-hard ...

The extraordinary Crighton CR700W extracts an incredible 220 hp from a 690cc twin-rotor Wankel engine, and weighs just 129.5 kg (285.5 lb) dry for a MotoGP-level power-to-weight ratio. Its maker ...

Kennedy is not just another writer. Since the early 2000s, before televisions were a thing in every household, he enjoyed his dad's stories of the Safari Rally cars. He finally got a chance to attend ...

Mazda 13B rotary engine in a white Mazda RX-7 engine bay. - TTTNIS/Wikimedia Commons When it comes to unconventional engine design, few exceed the Wankel rotary in terms of weirdness. Despite that, ...