My RX-3 kicked royal butt back in the day. It was my first car and it was SO fast! I cannot believe this article today for I was wondering why I do not see many RX-8. THanks for the explanation.
Why did not the rotary motor take off better, certainly less parts to go bad?
The RX-2 had the type 12-A rotary motor. I think but not sure the RX-3 had the larger 13-B motor(or was that out of an RX-7?) My boyfriend at that time helped me convert the RX-2 motor from 12-A to 13-B would not be caught dead with a wrench today.
Boy I could beat all the crappy BMWs back then. Very upsetting for them!! LOL
Thanks for the memories. Yeah, if the Miata went Rotary would be SO exciting.
I also had an RX3 very fun to drive.
The reason rotary engines have not fared so well is efficiency. the rotor ports open too soon in the combustion cycle (similar to a 2-stroke) wasting energy. The partially burned mixture also increased pollution (remember the air pump that fed into the RX3 exhaust?).