book review: "Street Rotary" by Mark Warner

[joff]

So a friend turned me on to this book recently, so I bought one from Amazon and read through it. All in all, I thought it was very well organized and definitely recommend it to anyone interested in rotary engines.

5715

http://www.amazon.com/Street-Rotary-HP1549-Horsepower-Reliability/dp/1557885494/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1245342512&sr=8-1

Anyone else had a chance to read this book? It was published just last month.

[vex]

How detailed is it? Anything in-depth?

[joff]

How detailed is it? Anything in-depth?

If you're talking anything like materials technology development applied to rotary sealing surfaces, no its not that deep. However, it does include some paragraphs about anti-reversion lips in exhaust ports, a full page discussing the thermal bypass pellet in the e-shaft, and lots of neat graphs on temperature distribution within the engine and rotor face.

Here's the sections:
*) Engine History & Identification
*) Rotary Engine Fundamentals
*) Component Selection & Modifications
*) Housings & Portings
*) Rotors, Seals, & Internals
*) Intake & Fuel Systems
*) Exhaust Systems
*) Engine Management & Ignition Systems
*) Oil & Lubrication Systems
*) Forced Induction
*) Nitrous, Water & Alcohol Injection

[vex]

I may borrow that book just for those parts you mentioned less the Thermo bypass pellet.

[Kane]

I have the book as well - it is good.

Def more of a read for the RX7 guys... but either way it was worth the 20 bucks fer sure.

[My5ABaby]

Anything by Jack Yamaguchi is an A++++ read. You're not a rotary owner if you don't have at least one of his books.

[mazdamaniac]

Anything by Jack Yamaguchi is an A++++ read. You're not a rotary owner if you don't have at least one of his books.

This book is by Mark Warner.

[My5ABaby]

This book is by Mark Warner.

I know, I can read. :) The book already had several positive reviews so I figured I'd throw out another author...

[joff]

Anything by Jack Yamaguchi is an A++++ read. You're not a rotary owner if you don't have at least one of his books.

Cool, I didn't know about this author.

Please tell more. Is this a technical book as well?

[mazdamaniac]

Cool, I didn't know about this author.

Please tell more. Is this a technical book as well?

Jack Yamaguchi wrote the RX-7 (http://www.amazon.com/RX-7-Mazda-rotary-engine-sports/dp/B000714IDC/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1245356638&sr=8-4) and RX-8 (http://www.amazon.com/RX-8-Jack-K-Yamaguchi/dp/4947659025/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1245356638&sr=8-1) "marketing" books as well a nice overview of the rotary engine (http://www.amazon.com/Rx-7-Mazda-Rotary-Engine-Sports/dp/0312694563/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1245356853&sr=1-3).

I think they are all out of print, though.

The Downing book is also pretty good (out of print).

I have several of these on my site.

[My5ABaby]

Cool, I didn't know about this author.

Please tell more. Is this a technical book as well?
I've only read the RX-7 one. If I recall correctly (been a while since I read it), the book describes some rotary history, the develop of the FC and a lot of technical information. It's a great read.

I would also suggest the RX-7 book by Brian Long. It's similar in many ways to the Yamaguchi book, but contains a lot of different info.

I wish I could be more specific but it's been a while since I've read either of them. However, I recall enough to still highly recommend them.

A couple other great books that are about rotaries in general:
Wankel Rotary Engine: A History by John B. Hege
The Wankel Engine: The Story of the Revolutionary Rotary Engine by Nicholas Faith.

[mazdamaniac]

Don't forget about the most important of them all:

"Rotary Engine" by Kenichi Yamamoto

It is the single most important book on the rotary engine, written by the man that brought them to Mazda and made them what they are today.

[prrex4ever]

I have the book as well - it is good.

Def more of a read for the RX7 guys... but either way it was worth the 20 bucks fer sure.Just got mine in the mail last week. Some really good info.:icon_tup:

[joff]

Don't forget about the most important of them all:

"Rotary Engine" by Kenichi Yamamoto


Yes, good book. Written in the style of a true engineer -- with facts, figures, and diagrams. Not many books written like that anymore. Style unfortunately has been lost on most internet forums.

I did find one a couple years ago though I highly recommend to anybody liking the style of the Yamamoto book:

"The Internal Combusion Engine in Theory and Practice"
"Volume 2: Combusion, Fuels, Materials, Design"
by Charles Fayette Taylor

http://www.amazon.com/Internal-Combustion-Engine-Theory-Practice/dp/0262700271/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1245378673&sr=8-2

Not rotary specific, but reading this book was personally better for my understanding of engines than anything else I've read online. First edition was 1968, but surprisingly not much has changed in the general concepts. Actually, there's only a couple paragraphs in that book about the rotary engine, of which I'll quote here, because its somewhat interesting.

"...Most engines of this category have been built, tested, and finally abandoned, often after the expenditure of vast sums of money."

"The most difficult problem in such engines is that of sealing the combustion chamber against leakage without excessive friction and wear. This problem is far more difficult than that with conventional piston rings, for the following reasons:"

1. "Line-contact" rather than surface contact is usually involved.
2. The surfaces to be sealed are discontinuous, with sharp corners.
3. The velocity of the seal is high during the high pressure portion of the cycle, in contrast to piston rings whose velocity is near zero at maximum cylinder pressure."

"...The wankel engine has been considered, but not yet adopted, by other car manufacturers, and also for some other applications. A few fairly large gas engines of this type have been put into service on an experimental basis. Although development of this type is still under way, the Wankel's future is still uncertain. It does not appear to be likely to become a serious competitor to conventional engines."

[mazdamaniac]

Yes, good book. Written in the style of a true engineer -- with facts, figures, and diagrams. Not many books written like that anymore.

There are plenty of books written this way today. All you have to do is peruse the SAE catalog!
Unfortunately, the general public - and car enthusiasts alike - aren't really all that interested in facts, figures and diagrams. Most just want magic.


Style unfortunately has been lost on most internet forums.

I doubt it ever really existed there and its a losing battle to try to create it now.
I'll keep trying.

[chickenwafer]

I thought it was a good book. The history was nice and learned a lot of things I didn't know. I wish it would covered RX-8 and Renesis info a bit more, but oh well

[glenrx7]

I guess I am extremely bias on this one. Ok, its not a kenichi style book but for most thats a brain burner of a book. I read it aleast twice a year and I think it has taken years off my life......

Mark is a great guy and a freakin talented writer. He did a great job on this book way more organized and indepth than I would expect when trying to reach a broad audience with such a thing like rotaries.

[Brent]

Just ordered it. Look forward to checking it out.

[MrsJoff]

I guess I am extremely bias on this one.

I'll bet you are biased! Seemed like half the photos in the book had the caption "Courtesy Arizona Rotary Rockets"

[glenrx7]

Hahah yeah...It is too bad that Mark had to use my nick name in the book thats my only issue with the book :P

[Brent]

haha... I just saw that on the thanks page in the front. Looks like a really nice book so far.

[MrsJoff]

Hahah yeah...It is too bad that Mark had to use my nick name in the book thats my only issue with the book :P

"The Angry Dwarf"

OOPS!! Did you not want anyone to know that? :rofl:

You are not that short Glenn. Well, maybe when you are standing next to Tom you look dwarfed. But then again, anyone standing next to Tom looks short.

[glenrx7]

uhhhh right under the bus

hahaha