From: morton@gaul.csd.uwo.ca (Brent Morton)
Subject: Re: AudiWatch Update (Tm) #8
Organization: Computer Science Dept., Univ. of Western Ontario, London, Canada
Date: Wed, 6 Jan 1993 21:06:02 GMT

In article <1993Jan6.061901.11735@sactoh0.sac.ca.us> mfolivo@sactoh0.sac.ca.us (Mark Newton-John) writes:
>In <C0CLoE.5xI@Interlan.com> powell@interlan.interlan.com (Glen D. Powell) writes:
>
>>THIS WEEK
>
>>...Toyota is said to be working on a narrow-angle V6 similar to the VR6
>>VW's installed in the Corrado and Passat.....  2.5 liters and 4-valve
>>heads with SOHC, HP unavailable.
>
>>Geee, the Japs are copying another company's successfull idea!, Ed.
>
>of cracker racist remark? What a jerk. If you think that Volkswagen
>AG is so good with their ideas, then why did they let the Wankel
>patents go public dmain??? Shit, those idiot Germans had it, and
>couldn't make the damn thing work. If anything, Mazda helped keep
>that company alive in the 1970's when they came up with such
>"successful ideas" like the....   411, the 412, VW-Porsche 914...

It really amuses me when someone is flamed by someone else who knows absolutely
nothing about the subject in question, not to mention is a hypocrite as well.

The Wankel rotary was invented by Felix Wankel (who became associated with NSU
during the development of the rotary engine) in the early '50's, and first ran
in 1957. The world's first rotary-engined car, the NSU Spider, was announced
at the September 1963 Frankfurt Auto Show, a month ahead of the Mazda Cosmo,
which was THE PRODUCT OF ANOTHER WANKEL LICENSE. Got that?

>Toyota has been making four valve engines for their Corollas for
>YEARS before Volkswagen decided to get a brain fart of their own
>and make a four valve. If German manufacturers are so "high-tech",
>then why do PEDESTRIAN Toyota Corollas have twin-cam, four-valve
>engines, and all you can get on a bloody Passat is some asthmatic 2
>liter with a single cam and two valves per cylinders?

Really broadcasting your ignorance, aren't you? Under the hood of my Passat it
says, in nice big easy-to-read letters, DOHC 16V.

>>6  NSU Ro 80      (ne Audi ? Ed.)
>
>Hardly. The styling of the Ro 80 carried on to the Audi 100 cars,
>but not that sorry excuse for an engine.

The rotary engine was an impressive performer on the autobahn, but tended to
stall in traffic jams, a state of affairs exacerbated by the employment of an
energy-absorbing torque converter and power-steering pump. It was at such times
that the vital ferrous alloy rotor apex seals suffered from excessive wear,
which accelerated the already high fuel and oil comsumption. The Wankel enine
came close to universal acceptance, particularly when General Motors began to
consider the system seriously, but it suffered from the post-1973 energy 
crisis. Its high fuel and oil consumption, coupled with a poor exhaust 
emission record, outweighed the undoubted manufacturing advantages and it
was discontinued in 1977.

As far as your ridiculous statement that Mazda pulled VW through the '70's,
consider, as examples, 1.1 million Audi 80s sold between '72 and '78, 828 000
of the original Audi 100s sold to 1976, and worldwide Beetle production at
2600 vehicles per day in 1974. Additionally, the Golf and Polo were introduced
in '74 and '75 respectively. The Porsche 924 of 1975 was an extremely
successful model. The 3 000 000th Golf was made in 1979.

Maybe you'd like to make sure you know what you're talking about next time...

-- Brent
morton@artifis.gaul.csd.uwo.ca
Xref: sparky rec.autos:31514 rec.autos.tech:17724