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 ...

Wankel rotary engines, typically but not exclusively found in Mazdas, certainly lean on the "quirkier" side of modern powertrain systems, made quirkier because most rotary-powered cars on the road ...

Astron aerospace has shown a partial prototype of a new rotary combustion engine it claims runs at an extraordinary 60% thermal efficiency, burning totally clean with zero NOx emissions and nothing ...

In theory, Wankel-style rotary internal combustion engines have many advantages: they ditch the cumbersome crankcase and piston design, replacing it with a simple, single-chamber design and a thick, ...

In a world dominated by pistons, the rotary engine was something different for motorists. It was the vision of German engineer Felix Wankel, built on the belief that the up-and-down motion of pistons ...

Everyone generally knows about piston and rotary engines, with many a flamewar having been waged over the pros and cons of each design. The “correct” answer is thus to combine both into a single ...

Mazda’s rotary engine has been officially reborn, but not quite in the way you might think. Yes, we saw a drop-dead gorgeous Iconic SP rotary-hybrid coupe concept unveiled at last October’s Japan ...

Good news, everyone! Mazda is not only reassembling a dedicated team of engineers for rotary engine development, as we’ve reported earlier, but today it also announced its intention to expedite ...

The Mazda MX-30 R-EV comes with a unique driving character thanks to its rotary engine as part of the powertrain system. It feels modern, smooth, and different from regular electric cars. Overall, the ...

The Mazda Vision X-Coupe concept was revealed at the Japan Mobility Show 2025. The four-door show car has a plug-in hybrid powertrain that integrates an electric motor and a two-rotor rotary engine.

When it comes to unconventional engine design, few exceed the Wankel rotary in terms of weirdness. Despite that, the same basic principles of internal combustion apply here: Fuel and air are mixed and ...

There have only been a handful of rotary engine-powered cars, and most of them start with "Mazda." While fascinating and not without their benefits, rotary engines are pretty inefficient, don't make a ...