Each Season DETO would like to shed light and pay homage to those that came before us, paving the way to innovation, foresight, and opening our minds to what is possible. Highlighting those that have broken records, made technological breakthroughs and set the bar for the rest of us. Without these free thinkers and determined individuals, the racing world would not be what it is today.
Felix Wankel, the German born pioneer of the first running prototype of the rotary engine,
revolutionized the racing world with his sample lightweight motor.
In 1919, at the age of 17, Wankel had a dream that he went to a concert in his own handmade car. He
later told friends that his car had a unique construction consisting of a half-turbine half-reciprocated
engine. Young Wankel was convinced that his dream was a premonition of the birth of a new type of engine.
Even though Wankel had no basic knowledge of internal combustion engine, he believed that an engine could
attain four strokes (intake, compression, combustion, and exhaust) while rotating instead of the standard
up and down motion. By changing the dynamics of the engine, the rotary engine converts rotary motion
directly into driving force resulting in an almost smooth operation.
In 1924, when Wankel was only 22, he created a laboratory devoted to the development of his
rotary engine. During WWII, with the support of the German government, he continued his research
and development of the motor, which was believed, could help move the German nation toward greatness.
Wankel developed seals and rotary valves for German aircrafts as well as navy torpedoes. Following
the war, the Allies imprisoned Wankel and his laboratory was closed. His work was confiscated
and he was prohibited from conducting further research.
After the war, Wankel established the Technical Institute of Engineering Study for further research and development of the rotary motor as well as a rotary compressor for commercial use thus sparking the interest of the NSU, a prominent motorcycle manufacturer. NSU, the winner of several World Grand Prix championships, partnered with Wankel for further development of the engine. The result of their development was a rotary compressor combined with the Wankel-type supercharger. In 1957, with this new creation, the NSU set a new world speed record in the 50cc class reaching a top speed of 192.5 km/h. His engine design was first licensed by Curtiss-Wright in New Jersey.
In 1957, the Wankel-NSU team completed the a prototype of the type DKM rotary engine, incorporating a cocoon-shaped rotor housing with a triangular rotor proving that the rotary engine was more than just a vision.
In 1959, the NSU formally introduced the Wankel rotary engine to the world creating quite a stir. Tsuneji Matsuda, Mazda’s president, realizing the engine’s enormous potential, subsequently developed a technical study group that discovered a “chatter mark” problem. The “chatter mark” phenomenon was the result of abnormal wear appearing as wavy traces that could be seen on the rotor housing causing the durability of the housing to deteriorate significantly. This was a crucial barrier to the full development of the engine. In 1961, Mazda produced its own prototype of the engine but could not escape the “chatter mark” problem.
n 1963, in order to launch the rotary engine commercially, Mazda formed it’s RE (Rotary Engine) Research Department. Under the careful watch of Kenichi Yamamoto, chief of the department, as well as his 47 engineers, painstakingly discovered that the wavy marks, fondly referred to as the “marks of the devil”. This engineering obstacle was eventually ironed out and was successfully used by Mazda in several generations of their RX- series of coupes and sedans including the R100 and most notably the RX-7 and RX-8.
All this and Wankel never even had a drivers license of his
own. Years later, he was granted an honorary Doctorate of Engineering. Wankel was also remembered for
being a champion of animal rights, which included the opposition to the use of animals in laboratory
testing. Felix Wankel’s legacy will live on through his revolutionary thinking and determination to
show us what is possible.