I was talking with one of our test techs about the rotary,
and he told me he actually worked on the Ford rotary
project.
(yeah I know, Ford is holding back the rotary)
Long time ago, it seems that the team did not have the
patience
or resources to solve the issues with seals. Now mind you,
this
is just what I'm being told. The flaming racoon
syndrome. He says
they gave up on the rotary, and left it to Mazda. The rest
is history.
C. Smith


Chuck in my note I forgot to note that we were told in late
80's by an
engineer at Ford it was the "gas crisis" of 1973
was what killed the
project.My understanding the same thing was true at GM
with the mid-engine
rotary Corvette.


Steve Beckham

Here is some stuff I have. Ford used a CW engine in a
Mustang for evaluation.
This is the actual motor.

Paul Lamar

Looks like the attachments or the link didn't make it.
C. Smith

Ops let's try again.

Paul Lamar


Paul,

Do you have the performance numbers for the CW rotary?

Mark (Texas)


OK here is some more stuff.

Paul Lamar


Interesting... they rated it at 185hp at 5000 rpm.I wonder why they didn't
rate it at something more appropriate, like 7000 rpm?What do they mean by
Equivalent Total Displacement - 240 cu in (3,992cc)?What was the actual
displacement?Did they play games with the displacement figures like Mazda
did?It says "Chamber volume - 60 cu in (989cc)"Is this per rotor?If
so, then I'm assuming it was actually 1978cc (989 x 2).

Mark (Texas)

989 cc is per rotor. So if they made claims like Mazda it would be 1.978 Liters.
Just under 2 liters. The 13B is not 1.3 liters despite what Mazda says.
Since the CW was a simple un tuned side 4 port it had high RPM breathing limitations
just like the early Mazda engines. Note the torque is rather modest despite
the large displacement.

The CW really is 240 cubic inches or 3.9 liters in the same way the Mazda 13B
is 160 cubic inches or 2.6 liters.  Curtis Wright never falsely advertised
the engine based on the displacement of just two chamber like Mazda did.
They were more honest about it. Perhaps they read Ansdal's book :)

You have to read http://www.rotaryeng.net/Ansdale-displacement.pdf

Paul Lamar