It can deliver same power as the conventional pistons engine but by the way it works it is completely different. To give you a clear picture on the functioning of the rotary engine we will compare with the conventional engine.

In the conventional engine the cylinder executes four different jobs: compression, intake, combustion and exhaust. The rotary engine does the same jobs but each task is executed in its own part of the housing. It would be like each cylinder is only dedicated on one of the aforementioned jobs and the piston is continually moving.

Don’t underestimate the rotary engines (Wankel) because one of the most powerful beasts like Mazda RX7 and Mazda RX-8 are moved by this power plant.

Like the conventional engines, the rotary engine uses the same pressure which is product of burned fuel and air. In the rotary engine this pressure is contained in a chamber which is formed by part of the housing and paired with one face of the triangular rotor. This triangular rotor is a replacement for cylinders.

The rotor follows a path which keeps the contact on the three peaks with the housing, producing three volumes of gas (separated). To see how all that looks like and actually is functioning watch the video bellow.