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The name Wankel engine comes from the surname of the dude who invented it, a genius German by the name of Felix Wankel.

Mazda's president in the 60s Tsuneji Matsuda, believed that Mazda had to develop a unique technology that would set it apart from other Japanese manufacturers and bring global attention to Mazda. To develop and commercialize the rotary engine Mazda set up a team of 47 young engineers led by Kanichi Yamamoto. Yamamoto compared the mission of the 47 engineers to that of the 47 Ronin, leaderless Samurai who demonstrated incredible perseverance, bravery and persistence in avenging the unjust death of their feudal lord.

But commercializing the rotary engine proved to be a lot tougher than avenging a feudal lord. Chatter mars, a.k.a. the devil's nail marks on the housings of the early rotary engines that occurred due to the apex seals vibrating at a resonance frequency, almost drove the 47 engineers mad. Finally, in 1963 a breakthrough was made, hollow apex seals changed the resonance frequency and an aluminum-carbon composite for their material made the engines more reliable. They finally became practical and fit for mass production. All thanks to the incredible persistence of the 47 Samurai of Mazda. Thanks to them, Mazda did something that other much larger and greater manufacturers couldn't. GM, Mercedes, Alfa Romeo, Toyota, Rolls Royce, Porsche, and all others quit the rotary soon after they came face to face with its problems.

Another big breakthrough for Mazda's rotary came with the 12A engines. They were available on many different cars, the FB RX-7, RX-3, Mazda Luce, Cosmo and many other models. They introduced a sheet metal insert process that greatly improved the reliability of the Mazda rotary. It made the housing so strong that Mazda could go back to using cast iron apex seals. It also introduced 6PI, a variable six port intake and was the first Mazda rotary to be fuel injected and turbo charged.

But the high-point of the Mazda rotary came with the engine code we all know and love. The 13B rotary engine. It was the highest volume rotary ever produced and stayed on the market for an incredible 39 years. The 13B-REW is the highest power output mass produced rotary engine. It's sequential twin turbo setup and two rotors managed to output 280 horsepower in the final version of the Mazda RX-7 FD. The 13b-msp engine found in the Mazda RX-8 abandoned turbos but retained a very high power output while also managing to have the best mpg and emissions when it comes to mass produced rotaries.

A 4 rotor racing version of the 13B, called the r26b found in the Mazda 787b won the 24 hours of Le Mans in 1991. It was the first Japanese car to ever win the Le Mans and the only ever to win with anything other than a piston engine.

Another notable Mazda rotary is the three rotor 20b engine, found in the Eunos Cosmo. It's pretty rare but it's the only mass produced three rotor engine. With twin turbos it manged to put out 300 horsepower.

13b engine specs: When it comes to the specs of the 13b engine, it's interesting to note that all major Mazda rotary engines share an identical geometry, 105 mm of rotor radius and 15 mm of eccentric shaft offset. The increase of displacement from 10a, to 12a, to 13b was done by making the rotors thicker. The 10a rotary engine has 60 mm thick rotors, the 12a has 70 mm thick rotors and the 13b has 80 mm thick rotors.

13b engine tuning: For the early carbureted 13b engines you can switch to weber carbs, get a performance oriented header and exhaust and see modest power gains. The more modern 13b-rew can make about 350 hp with stock turbos, but will require hybrid turbos to get 400-500 hp or a big single turbo to go above 500 hp. Porting is key for the 13b, and can really change the nature and power curve of the rotary engine. From the mild street port, to the more aggressive bridgeport and finally the outright insane peripheral port, you have plenty of choices when it comes to porting the 13b, each one suited to different power levels and applications.

A very special thank you to my Patron:
Daniel

Rap lyrics translation:
My name is 13b and inside me there's a dorito.
The sound that I make is very very nice
What I do to your wallet is horrible
But with me great power is possible
You're gonna need to buy a lot of gas for me
But you'll never find a more entertaining engine (it rhymes in Spanish)

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