Re: [GMCnet] Scuderi Split Cycle Engine [message #166500 is a reply to message #166415] |
Mon, 16 April 2012 12:16 |
Bob de Kruyff
Messages: 4260 Registered: January 2004 Location: Chandler, AZ
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""GM paid a reported $50 million for the US auto production rights, but never marketed one. Suzuki built some biles with one, but had seal problems.
Supposedly, they were very hard to clean up, though this may have changed. Surely some of our Detroit types have more information on them.
""
There's quite a story behind GM's effort. It was going to debut in the Monza (Vega based) and was tooled by Hydramatic. Ed Cole was the sponser and pretty well everone else hated it. The day Ed retired, people were dispatched across the organization to fetch and scrap every engine and component they could find. A few miscellaneous parts such as rotors were hidden in desk drawers as momentos. The Monza was already in prototype form and had to quickly be retooled to accept regular powertrains. The center tunnel was very high in order to accept the central output of the Wankel. Also, the round motif was extended throught the vehicle styling to emphasize the Wankel. Things light headlights were converted to rectangular shapes. I would guess that GM probably spent over a billion on that effort--and yes, it was also going to go into the midengine aluminum Vette. Fitting the V-8 into the Monza proved disastrous due to lack of testing and the tight engine compartment.
Bob de Kruyff
78 Eleganza
Chandler, AZ
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