At present, whether it is tens of thousands of family cars or millions of super sports cars, engines are mostly divided into two types, either turbocharged or naturally aspirated. But in fact, there is another kind of engine called rotary engine. Speaking of him, many old drivers will think of Mazda. There is also a saying in the car circle that other car companies build cars to make money and build more cars, while Mazda makes money to study rotary engines. Generally, turbocharged and naturally aspirated engines are reciprocating, and the piston is in the cylinder, doing reciprocating linear motion.
Different from the rotary engine, it uses the expansion force generated by the oil-gas mixture to drive the triangular rotor to rotate, and then converts it into driving torque. Compared with the traditional engine, it does not need to do reciprocating linear motion, which greatly reduces the power loss of the engine and the path of power transmission and output. The rotor of a rotary engine can do work three times per revolution, while the general four-stroke engine can do work once every two revolutions.
Therefore, the working efficiency of rotary engine is very high, and it has the advantages of smaller volume, lighter weight, lower center of gravity, faster and more stable operation. Although I think of Mazda when I mention the rotary engine, it was actually invented by the Germans. Later, Mazda, which has always had a soft spot for black technology, invested heavily in this technology and began to study and improve the rotary engine. The most brilliant moment of the rotary engine is 199 1 year for 24 hours in Le Mans. A Mazda 787B car with a rotary engine won the championship with a lead of two laps, which is also the best result achieved by Japanese cars in this event so far.
So, in the second year, the FIA issued regulations to divide the competition into two groups. One group is not limited to engine type, and the maximum fuel consumption is reduced. The other group has unlimited fuel consumption and can only use piston engines. This provision is equivalent to competing with Mazda's rotary engine. The disadvantages of the rotary engine here are high fuel consumption and short service life.
Compared with the general four-stroke engine, the rotary engine has no high compression ratio, which makes the combustion insufficient, so it will lead to very high fuel consumption. Moreover, after the rotary engine works for a period of time, due to the wear of oil seal materials, it is easy to leak air, resulting in a long service life.
However, Mazda's insistence on rotary engine is not only because it has won unprecedented honor, but also reflects Mazda's paranoia in technological breakthrough. This paranoid personality is also reflected in its persistence in the desire for nature and its aversion to small-displacement turbines. When all car companies are considering changing a beautiful car shell to please young consumers, only Mazda is immersed in the corner of black technology, which may be the reason why his sales have been tepid.