![1967 NSU Spider engine](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/1967_NSU_Spider_engine.JPG)
The NSU Spider is an
automobile
A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with Wheel, wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, pe ...
which was produced by
NSU Motorenwerke AG
NSU Motorenwerke Aktiengesellschaft, AG, or NSU, was a German manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles and pedal cycles, founded in 1873. Acquired by Volkswagen Group in 1969, VW merged NSU with Auto Union, creating Audi NSU Auto Union AG, ultim ...
from 1963 to 1967.
The Spider was the first Western production car in the world to be powered by a
Wankel rotary engine.
The water-cooled single rotor engine and standard front disc brakes differentiated the car from other cars of similar type of the period. The body was designed by
Bertone Bertone is an Italian surname meaning "descendant of Roberto". Notable people with the surname include:
* Alicia Bertone, American academic, researcher, and veterinary surgeon
* Catherine Bertone (born 1972), Turkish-born female Italian marathon r ...
.
Body
First appearing in 1963,
the Spider featured a two-door cabriolet body based on that of the
NSU Sport Prinz coupé introduced in 1959. In addition to the folding roof, the Spider was distinguishable from the hard top car by a grill at the front. As with all NSU cars at the time, the engine was rear-mounted: in order to improve weight distribution, space was found for the Spider’s radiator and for its fuel tank ahead of the driver. The front luggage locker was, in consequence, small. There was a second luggage area in the rear of the car above the engine.
Rotary engine
The NSU Spider is the first series production car powered by a Wankel rotary engine. In the Spider, a KKM 502 single-rotor engine with a single spark plug was used; it displaces from a generating radius of 100 mm, a width of 67 mm, an eccentricity of 14 mm and an equidistant of 2 mm. Compression is 8.5, and the fuel required is petrol with an octane rating of 91 RON. The Spider's engine had "teething troubles", but is a compact, smoothly running engine with a decent power output. Rated power was initially at 5,500 rpm. In later models, rated power was at 6,000 rpm. Maximum torque output is at 3,500/min, equivalent to a BMEP of .
It was later found that the characteristics of critical materials selected and applied by NSU to build production rotary engines were inappropriate to the stresses they would bear, and rotary-engined cars earned a reputation for unreliability. Engines required frequent rebuilding to replace worn apex seals,and warranty costs associated with installation of the engine in
NSU’s second Wankel-engined model destroyed the financial viability of NSU, forcing a merger with
Audi
Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide.
Th ...
in 1969.
The rotary engine was installed above the rear axle, being compact, light and free revving in comparison with conventional piston engines of the time. By ignoring the manufacturer's recommendations it was possible to rev the engine briefly above 7,000 rpm in the lower gears and thereby to achieve a 0 – 100 km/h (0 – 62 mph) time of 14.5 seconds: other sources, presumably based on following the manufacturer's recommendations, give a time of 15.7 seconds.
Commercial
Large sales volumes were never envisaged for the car, and this was reflected in a relatively high retail price, USD$2,979.
["The Rotary Club", Don Sherman, '']Automobile Magazine
''Automobile'' was an American automobile magazine published by the Motor Trend Group. A group of former employees of ''Car and Driver'' led by David E. Davis founded ''Automobile'' in 1986 with support from Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, ...
'', February 2008, pp. 76–79 Between 1964 and 1967 2,375 were built. In 1967, the model was withdrawn and NSU's second rotary-engined production saloon was presented. The
Ro 80, totaled 37,398 units during its ten year production run.
In 1966, Al Auger of Richmond, California, became the first person to race a Wankel-powered production car in an officially sanctioned race. After only installing a mandatory roll-bar and racing tires on an NSU Spider, Auger raced in 1966 and 1967 in Sports Car Club of America sanctioned road races throughout California finishing second overall in the championship both years in Class H Modified. Because SCCA had no technical information about the Wankel engine it was placed in H Modified racing against lighter, more powerful, 850 cc highly modified pure race cars.
References
Notes
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External links
* http://www.wankel-spider.de
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nsu Spider
Spider
Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...
Sports cars
Rear-wheel-drive vehicles
Rear-engined vehicles
Cars powered by Wankel engines
Cars introduced in 1964