Totally agree with you, Frank. There's something really special about the sound a rotary makes and the way it delivers its power. For me this really came to light when I test drove AutoExe's RX8 demo car in Japan (about 4 years ago) at a private test day that Yokohama tire organized for some western journalists up at Fuji Speedway's handling track (sort of a glorified go-kart track that they also use for drifting, not the big GP course). At this same event I was driving all sorts of modified piston engine cars, from HKS's GR STI and Evo X to a modified MINI Cooper S and even a E90 M3 with that high revving V8. Coming from a racing background, I just loved the way the RX-8 felt in the corners and under braking, but was especially taken by the way the Renesis revved. I think they had the fuel cut set to 10k rpm, so I imagine the engine was quite modified but it was still normally aspirated so wasn't making a ton of power. But it was just so smooth and had a lightness to it (if that makes any sense -- the sensation was that the rotating mass was much lighter than a piston engine), it was really different and appealing to me. It was after that day at Fuji that I decided my next project car would be a RX-8 and here we are. My hope is that the engine build I've just completed will provide a similar feeling to the AutoExe car -- I've gone with lightweight everything, from rotors and flywheel to clutch and pulleys. If my calculations are correct almost 20 lbs of rotating mass has been eliminated during the build. If you can't tell, I'm really looking forward to getting this motor broken in and tuned so I can start to give it a proper beating!
