Wankel engine

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Wankel engine is a type of internal combustion engine with a rotary mechanism instead of pistons. It produces high torque but has low fuel efficiency, caused by difficulties sealing the rotor-cylinder interface. A small number of auto manufacturers have included the Wankel engine in their vehicles, and while pioneered by Jensen and Audi, it is now only available in one model of Mazda, the RX-8.

It is named after Felix Wankel, who worked on this design in the 1920s and then again after World War II, in the 1950s:

While still in his early 20s, he conceived of a rotary engine that he hoped would replace the more complicated and less efficient reciprocating piston engine. Wankel received the first patent for his engine design in 1929 .... [I]n 1957 finally produced the first prototype of the Wankel rotary engine that would find its way, after various refinements and licensing agreements, into automobiles, aircraft and motorcycles all over the world.[1]

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