21 replies to this topic

[MINI7]

Hey i watched a program on the Mazda RX8 and i never realised it was a 1.3 engine, The difference though is it produces 200+bhp so i think it would be awesome in a mini. Anyone know ewt about these engines ie would it fit into a mini. I have seacrhed the internet but cant find anything about dimensions.
Let me know what you think
Ian

[mini_sam]

there was a post about this somewere recently, someone is putting a rx8 engine in one. i will see if i can find it...

[Purple Tom]

You'd probably get one in a spaceframed Mini, but I find it extremely unlikely it will get anywhere near fitting in a normal Mini. Rotary *cough* wankel *cough* engines are a strange shape, and finding a gearbox to fit wouldn't be at all easy if you wanted to keep it front wheel drive.

In a spaceframe'd car, you could use RWD and the rotary engine easily. But then it wouldn't really be a Mini, and you'd be looking silly money or lots of development time!

[mini_sam]

Here!

[Ollie180]

hmm spaceframe mini :tongue:

[The Matt]

Are wankel engines really that good?

IMHO they have a high volume:surface area and historically they tend to run damn hot and be a tad unreliable and ineffecient.

I don't know about the later variants of the Wankel engines though?? P'raps there have been vast improvements!

by the way Ollie, nice spaceframe Mini! Is that one of yours then? lol

[Pooky]

Mini_sam's one is a RX7 engine isn't it?

It's currently my wallpaper :fear: :cool: :grin:

[The Matt]

Wonder what sort of turbine it uses? They tend to throw some pretty hot exhaust out of them Wankels at a higher pressure than you normally see on a regular motor.

I reckon that engine must need some serious cooling too.

Looks good though and definitely different. :grin:

[The Matt]

I've just done a google search on the Renesis Wankel engine used in the RX-8, I take it all back! The wankel has had a good sort out by the looks of it.

WANKELS



EDIT: Also worth noting is that these engines are not classed as a 1.3, they are generally rated at a higher capacity (something like a 2.6) for tax and emmissions bracketing (not sure about this country but certainly abroad)

Edited by mini mad me, 09 November 2005 - 06:47 PM.

[Karl]

The engine itself would fit, but the turbo pipework etc definately wouldn`t............................easily.

People harp on about bad reliability, no, they are more reliable than ANY normal piston engine, its just people don`t rebuild (replace rotor tips) when they are supposed to. Plus, complete engine rebuild, inc uprated tips etc will set you back around £500 in parts, and that will be a NEW engine! Engines are put together like a sandwich and aren`t that hard to do.
They would work amazingly in a mini, as they do prefer lighter loads.

Thing is, cost for doing it would completely outweigh the power increase. A VTEC with a turbo upgrade would be easier/cheaper in the long run.

[minimole]

they turbo well because generally they have a lower compression ratio, also worth noting is that you would get 1.3 fuel econmy due to the low compression as well but they are an awsome engine and you can rev the tits of em as well 9000rpm

[The Matt]

.......you would get 1.3 fuel econmy due to the low compression.......

But I have spoken to two RX-8 owners who reckon they regularly get less than 20 mpg from theirs! :saywhat: :erm:

Is this just them not driving properly??

[gsms]

I did a google search for wankels too, but got some very innapropriate results. Maybe I spelt it wrong..

[The Matt]

LMAO! @GSMS!

[MINI7]

VERY FUNNY