![]() ![]() The rotor seal problem was overcome by 1970 and a warning buzzer was incorporated to discourage over-revving of the Wankel engine. Surprisingly the Ro80 remained in production. NSU went bust, being taken over by Volkswagen, who merged it with Auto Union to form the Audi company. Many cars had several engine changes under warranty. As the seals wore, the engines became increasingly hard to start, or simply wouldn't. Over-revving of the seemingly unburstable engine contributed to this problem. Secondly the rotor seals failed very quickly, such that engines were sometimes useless before the car had done 10,000miles. Two major problems with the car soon became obvious. The maximum speed was a smooth 112mph and 0-60mph took 12.6 seconds. So impressive was the car that it won the 'Car of the Year' award for 1967. It featured power assisted steering, independent suspension all round, with Macpherson struts at the front and semi-trailing arms at the rear, and 4-wheel disc brakes, inboard at the front. The Ro80 was strikingly ahead of its time in styling terms with superb aerodynamics and had 115bhp driving through a three-speed synchromesh gearbox with an electronically operated clutch and torque convertor, being described as semi-automatic. It was virtually vibrationless and felt as if it would rev to infinity, which it wouldn't! NSU took the bold decision to invest the profits from their successful rear-engined small cars in an advanced medium-sized executive car built around a twin-rotor development of the Wankel engine. When running well the Wankel seemed like a dream of an engine. ![]() ![]() ![]() When the seals wore, the engine was almost impossible to start. The rotor tip seals had a very short service life. Thirdly, it had relatively few moving parts and need not be expensive to produce in volume. Secondly, it produced a generous power output in relation to its physical size and weight. Firstly, it ran very smoothly, like a turbine, such that the user must take great care not to exceed the maximum safe engine speed. The principal benefits of this design, as compared with a conventional piston engine were basically threefold. There is no question that it was an inspired and brilliant creation. Enthusiasts of the Wankel engine may find that description lacking, but they won't get a better one from me! Even when one views an animated schematic of the Wankel engine's operation, it is still hard to credit that it worked at all. It worked on the 4-stroke principle with total loss lubrication of the rotor. As the rotor cavorted, the sealed tips passed over inlet and exhaust ports and at various stages the air fuel mixture was compressed and ignited by twin sparking plugs. It employed a trapezoidal rotor which was flung around a roughly oval chamber by the combustion forces and dragged a toothed central shaft around with it by means of a toothed hole in the centre of the rotor. These were 4-cylinder models, still air-cooled, and the 1000TTS was successful in motorsport.ĭuring the 1960s NSU experimented with a 'rotary' engine designed by Dr. Longer versions of this body were employed for the NSU 1000 and its derivatives, culminating in the 1200C. This successful model led to the Prinz 4 of the early 60s with bodywork in a similar style to the Chevrolet Corvair. It was named Prinz and had 600cc and 20bhp. Having re-entered the cycle and motorcycle market after the war in 1946, NSU began production of a small car with a rear-mounted air-cooled twin-cylinder OHC engine in 1957. The factory prepared for it was sold to Fiat who assembled cars there under the name Neckar. Before WWII Ferdinand Porsche was commissioned to develop a small car, which looked remarkably similar to the later VW Beetle, but did not proceed beyond the prototype stage. The business progressed from knitting machines to bicycles and then to motorcycles. It is understood that NSU stands for Neckarsulm Strichtmachine Union which was a consortium of knitting machine manufacturers. NSU Motorenwerke AG was founded in Neckarsulm in 1873. ![]()
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