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A List of Wankel Engine Cars

Wankel engines are quite rare in production vehicles, and they aren't only built by Mazda. This page will list some of the production and concept cars built with Wankel engines.

Production Cars With Wankel Engines



Mazda RX-7

Possibly the most well-known vehicle equipped with Felix Wankel's engine, the RX-7 was one of Mazda's most popular sports cars, but it wasn't their first Wankel-powered vehicle. This two-seater has been quite popular for tuning, and have been successful in racing (at least, where rotary engines are allowed).

Mazda RX-8

The RX-8 is Mazda's latest rotary-powered sports car, utilizing the same two-rotor Wankel engine found in the RX-7. In the video below, the stock 2-rotor has been replaced with a custom racing four-rotor Wankel engine.

4-Rotor RX-8

Concept Cars With Wankel Engines



Chevrolet Aerovette Concept Car

The rotary-powered Chevy Aero-Vette which never made it to production.

A prototype Chevrolet Corvette which never made it past the concept car stage, one version of this car featured a mid-mounted 4-rotor Wankel engine, which is said to have produced 420 horsepower. The version of the Aerovette with the rotary engine was first shown in 1973.

Chevrolet Vega

General Motors produced this two-rotor Wankel engine for the Vega, but never put it into production.

This car was mass-produced, but never with a Wankel engine. However, it was planned and tested by review companies such as Motor Trend, which noted the poor gas milage compared to the piston engine. This was nearly a death sentence for engines at the time, due to the spike in the price of gasoline. GM tried to redesign the engine to improve the fuel economy, but this caused reliability issues, and the entire multi-million dollar project was scrapped.

Audi A1 E-Tron Concept Car

This 2010 concept version of Audi's compact A1 was a hybrid with an electric motor which provided the initial power, and a small 20 horsepower Wankel engine used to recharge the batteries.

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