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 are compact, smooth, and powerful, so why don't more automakers use them? Well, it's complicated.

Matt Nelson is an automotive journalist with nearly a decade of experience in all things cars. He's spent years working at dealerships in sales, finance, and service. He's since traded in his pens and ...

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 ...

Kyle has written professionally across the motorsport and motoring world since graduating from Plymouth University in 2018, and has acted as the MotoGP editor for Motorsport Week and as a Features ...

It is quite ironic that internal combustion engines (ICEs) have remained basically the same for more than one hundred years. It is only now – when they are allegedly on the verge of disappearing – ...

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, ...

Mazda wants to remain a combustion leader, pairing its clean-burning Skyactiv-Z hybrid tech with six-cylinder power. The ...

The Wankel rotary engine offers one of the most unique sounds of any ICE. Most famously used in various legendary Mazdas like the RX-7 and the supposedly banned Le ...

While modern engines feature many tweaks and improvements on the original ideas, they usually aren't as interesting as the strange contraptions engineers experimented with in the early days. Take, for ...

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 ...

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, ...