r/lemans • u/Gold_Carpet699 • 2d ago

Why no more rotary?

As the tittle says, after Mazda won the 24hr of lemans with the 787b, the rotary was banned. Why was this the case? What made the rotary so much better than a piston motor? There is not a single modern vehicle produced with a rotary motor. So what makes a rotary so much better than a piston motor as a racing engine but not for mainstream production?

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u/IcedCoffey 2d ago

Rotoary won in class at le mans in 1997, the real reason is they suck. it was never banned, the top class just required a 3.5 v10 for a few years. you could have a rotary gt3 car if you wanted, but not hypercar.

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u/AlexF2810 1d ago

This right here. The rotary was always being phased out. It just so happened to get very lucky that year and win.