Guys,
Interesting reading so far. I thought there would be some divergent thoughts on it in this with the number of engineers we have running about around here!!
Personally I still can't work out if this is a good idea or not. I'm NOT, unlike a lot of you guys, an engineer, so I can't comment on that side, but I did have some other thoughts:
1) I agree it probably won't have a high top end in a traditional engine usage. However, with fiddling, those strokes could be made very short indeed, which may make it useful for a racing engine or an engine where there is a need for a constant high RPM
2) I think it could be "componentised" ( is this a real word? ) easily. Adding an extra "layer" of this engine to a power train would, I think, be a lot easier than going down a "W engine" configuation or trying to take a design for a 4 cylinder and scaling it up to an 8 cylinder
3) It would seem that it is quite space efficient, so may have use in area's where space is at a premium, especially if you compare 2 "layers" of this engine to, for example, a flat 8. On the other hand, I would expect that this lay out is very difficult to cool easily with that big void in the middle-- will need a lot more oil than a traditional engine.
The reason I posted this is becuase it reminded me of my Grandad who spent 3 years of his life trying to get Wankel engines to work at the ford R+D shop. At the time ( late 50's I think ) the Wankel was considered an utterly stupid idea that would never actually see the light of day.
However, 40+ years later, it's the fastest growing engine type in light aeroplanes, it's won WRC's and the army has just started an £82 million programme to look at whether Wankels can be used for future engine requirements, such as in Motorbikes, small lorrys etc.
There was a comment that said "a 1.3 liter wankel is very thirsty". This is true, but only if you look at it as a 1.3 liter engine. A wankel is a 3-stroke, not a 4 stroke, so you get an additional 33% power for that 1 liter of fuel. It's comparing apples to oranges.
Anywho, please don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to convince anyone to buy this chaos patent, I'm british, and so I have a geneticly built in requirement to support the underdog in any conversation... :-\
Steve