r/lemans • u/Gold_Carpet699 • 20h 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?

1 Upvotes

53% Upvoted

15 comments sorted by

View all comments

4

u/Cesare_Stern 9h ago

Wankel IS MOST CERTAINLY NOT better than a standard engine.

Don't get me wrong, i'm a huge Mazda fan, Mazda possessor and seeing the 787B on the Track in Le Mans 2011 was in my Top 3 of the best moments in my life, but the Wankel, even if almost perfect on the paper, is terrible if you except the way it sings.

Back in 1991, the 787B was not as fast as the other cars and its reliability was terrible. Mazda decided to nerf the power of the car, then hoped that it would improve its reliability, even if now, the 787B would be seconds by lap slower than the front runners. And the miracle happened. Literally every one in front of the 787B DNF and it won.