This will take a while to sink in through my thick skull. To me, and this can and maybe should change, a series of reciprocating pistons arranged as spokes around the crankshaft centerline constitutes a radial engine. A rotary engine has a piston that goes around more than back-and-forth.

Question - how do we distinguish by name:

a) an engine with a fixed crankshaft and a series of radially oriented reciprocating pistons in an assembly that rotates about the crankshaft, and

b) an engine with a rotor or rotors which incorporate combustion surfaces and which rotate(s) about an eccentric?

Wiki suggests a) wins because of chronology - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotary_engine_(disambiguation)

Sixto
87 300D

By the way, at the Curtis Museum yesterday, I saw a motorcyle powered by a rotary engin/back wheel. Very cool. It was built in the early 20th century.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Thanks for posting that. I have only an engineering drawing of the DKM engine.

I am familiar with the Megola motor cycle which has the engine in the front wheel-

The one I saw had the engine in the rear wheel.

It's the William Clady model pictured on this page:

http://www.glennhcurtissmuseum.org/museum/collections/motorcycles.html

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

What about replacing the "head" gaskets, do you have to remove the engine?

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1979 Black on Black, 300CD (sold), 1990 Black 300SE, Silver 1989 Volvo 780, 1988 300CE (vanished by the hands of a girlfriend), 1992 300CE (Rescue).

Yes you have to remove the engine to get inside it; but of course there is no 'head gaskets' but there are "housing seals"...very long 'O-rings'.
The whole engine is held together with long bolts; putting it together is like stacking & building a tall cake on your kitchen table. Then putting the bolts in to hold it together.

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"Our Lady of Blessed Acceleration...
don't Fail Us Now"

I owned a '79 Mazda RX7 in the early 90's. What a joy to drive and so smooth!!! I don't think I ever got better than 18 mpg, but didn't care. Back then gas was still under a buck a gallon.

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Current:
2014 VW Tiguan SEL 4Motion 43,000 miles.

2016 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport (wife's).

Past:
2006 Jetta TDI 135,970 miles. Sold Nov. '13.
1995 E-320 Special Edition. 220,200 miles. Sold Sept. '07.
1987 190-E 16 valve. 153,000 miles. Sold Feb. '06.
1980 300-D 225,000 miles. Donated to the National Kidney Foundation.
1980 240-D manual, 297,500 miles. Totaled by inattentive driver.

40 years ago the 4 rotor wankel was supposed to be the next big thing from Mercedes. Then the oil crisis hit and they decided to invest in diesels instead.

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CENSORED due to not family friendly words

Considering the 560sl from the 80s does a 0-60 in 7-7.5 sec, 6.9 sec is pretty damn good for a 1970s wankel.

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CENSORED due to not family friendly words

The apex seals on the rotors live a hard life are usually the cause of engine failures. Once a seal breaks, the hard fragments get dragged around the housing by the following rotor tip. It gets very ugly very fast. Full rebuild required.

I've seen Wankel engines put in airplanes, but I wouldn't be very comfortable flying in one, just for the above reason.

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1985 380SE Blue/Blue - 230,000 miles
2012 Subaru Forester 5-speed
2005 Toyota Sienna
2004 Chrysler Sebring convertible
1999 Toyota Tacoma

When the C-111 was first shown at the Frankfurt show . . the story goes that a person when up to the Mercedes officials and handed them a blank check,