Rotary engines come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. They can be as large as this six-rotor unit powering a Mazda RX-4 drag car in New Zealand, or as small as this 2.4-cc single-rotor engine above.

Toyan, a company that makes working miniature engines, has made what is claimed to be the world’s smallest rotary engine. Despite its tiny stature, the 0.0024-liter engine can still howl. Purchased by ...

A Mazda RX-8 revving to 10,000 RPM is already special — but on the Nürburgring, it becomes unforgettable. The rotary engine screams relentlessly as the car flows through corners with perfect balance ...

In a world dominated by pistons, the rotary engine was something different for motorists. It was the vision of German engineer Felix Wankel, built on the belief that the up-and-down motion of pistons ...

The traditional piston engine has garnered the vast majority of attention and application in the internal combustion age, but there was another: the Wankel rotary engine. German engineer Felix Wankel ...

Thomas has spent two years working in the auto journalism industry, contributing to a UK-based newspaper and writing for Euronewsweek. A full-time writer and lifelong engineering enthusiast, he now ...

For better or worse, Mazda and the rotary engine are connected like vintage champagne and Gouda cheese. The rotary has since made a comeback in the Euro-only Mazda MX-30 Skyactiv R-EV, but it has ...