I'm sure they had a bet whilst making that episode as to how many times they could say Wa nkel Can't say I was impressed by the finished car much.
On the one hand it is quite a clever design, mainly because it is not creating linear force and turning it into rotational force, like a conventional piston engine does. It creates rotational force from the beginning instead. However the main issues tend to be because of the way it is lubricated, the oil is burned along with the fuel, and there is the battle of longevity of the rotor tips due to the fact that the whole time the engine is running, they are scraping along the inside of the chamber. I think its a shame it wasn't possible to make them more reliable, less thirsty on oil, more economical and with greater longevity.
Look up Sterling Engine...now that's an amazing bit of kit. No use in cars, but I'll see if I can find the link to something called Slingshot, a water purifier Coca Cola are producing for the 3rd world. This thing is mega, amazing efficiency and filtration. I remember one of the developers was the guy behind the Segway.
