~terry
Fri, Nov 21, 1997 (22:58)
seed
Cool Car URLs.
Post 'em here!
~terry
Fri, Nov 21, 1997 (22:59)
#1
http://www.edmunds.com
Publishers of automobile buyer's guides for over 30 years.
~Cafe
Sat, Nov 22, 1997 (10:53)
#2
Edmunds is a terrific site.
How about http://www.kitcars.com , shows interesting links to interesting toys. I'll come up with a few more.
~Afor
Sat, Nov 29, 1997 (19:56)
#3
http://www.monito.com/wankel/
is the place to go if you want information on Wankel rotary engines.
~terry
Sat, Nov 29, 1997 (20:24)
#4
Were these written up on the Whole Earth catalog.
El Sam, care to give us an introductory lecture on
Wankel Engines?
~Afor
Sun, Nov 30, 1997 (10:56)
#5
*sigh* O.K.
The Wankel Rotary Engine (not to be confused with the Gnome or Le Rhone aero-engine designes used in WWI, I won't try to explain those) was developed by Felix Wankel and the engineers at NSU (Neckarsulm Knitting Machine Union, maker of bicycles, motorbikes and cars along with knitting machines). It uses the four-stroke principle (intake, compression, power and exhaust), but instead ou using cylinders, the engine has a chamber and rotor of shapes that I can't describe very well without a diagram. Suffice
it to say that the rotor is similar in cross-section to a completely symmetric triangle, but with rounded sides. This rotor is in eccentric orbit...
I am getting too technical here, aren't I? I'll let the site do the explaining! The main thing to remember is that the rotor is constantly moving, that a Wankel is more compact and has fewer moving parts than a piston engine, that inlet mixtures and exhaust gases are controlled by ports instead of valves, that the thermal efficiency of a Wankel is rather less than that of a modern piston engine (probably comparable to an old side-valve engine; oh, why did I mention side-valve engines?) and that only Maz
a makes them for cars these days and they don't export that car any more.