NSU - The Long Lost German Innovator

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Guten Tag! :D

One of the parents of what is now the modern Audi company, NSU once had the distinction of being a major innovator in the world of motoring thanks to its ability to push forward huge technological leaps regardless of the price, its most distinct claim to fame being the provision of the famous Wankel rotary engine to the mass-market, and highly advanced cars like the NSU Ro80 that was driven by it.

Sadly, the NSU firm, like so many cutting edge innovators, was burdened with the inescapable problem of encountering undiscovered issues that inevitably cost a fortune in warranty claims, to which the NSU firm would behave like gentlemen in addressing, but in so doing would also bring about the end of the company's independence.

Chapters:

0:00 - Preamble
0:22 - Humble Beginnings
4:30 - Post-War Revival
8:13 - Enter Wankel
11:34 - Powerplant Problems
14:21 - Creating a Masterpiece
17:07 - Fall of the Mighty
22:04 - Conclusion

The views and opinions expressed in this video are my personal appraisal and are not the views and opinions of any of these individuals or bodies who have kindly supplied me with footage and images.

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Thanks again, everyone, and enjoy! :D

References:
- Motor Trend (and their respective sources)
- Drives Today (and their respective sources)
- Wikipedia (and its respective references)

[Nathansss]

The fact the RO 80 front end looks like the front of a Mercedes from 15-20 years later shows they were ahead of the times in style

[jonremmers]

When working as a staff writer with the Swedish classic car magazine ”Klassiker”, I had the chance to take a pristine Ro80 on a 1 500 km trip to the south of Sweden and back. That car could chew up kms like few other classics that I have driven. The driving experience is very different; the engine revs at first seem VERY high on motorway stretches. And you wonder if you are about to break something. But after a while you realize it is ment to be this way and the engine actually loves it. It takes some adjustment, but I remember questioning why not all cars had wankels after a few hours. I think that everybody who is questioning why those morons (mazda and nsu) invested so much in the concept with little return, should first drive a Ro80. Hard and fast, preferably on a longer journey. That is where the Ro80 proves its concept.
Love the Ro80! Love your channel! Keep up the good work!

[stewy]

It wasn’t of course the point of this excellent video but the fact that NSU were for a time post-war the World’s largest motorcycle manufacturer, largely supplying a hungry local market who couldn’t afford four wheels, is worthy of a video on its own especially in the context of the almost total disappearance of the German motorcycle industry in the 1960’s. Compare and contrast with the British motorcycle industry, whose disappearance is usually blamed on the Japanese and management complacency rather than socioeconomic changes in society when in truth all were significant factors 🇬🇧

[Sacto]

In many ways, the RO 80 was the predecessor what became the original Audi 100 model, a car that drastically changed the fortunes of Audi because it was so high popular as a "executive car."

[BruceBoschek]

We bought and owned one brand new in Signal Orange and loved it! We drove it 200k km until it rusted out (as did all cars of that era) and never had trouble with the engine. Ours had "Tiptronic and was easy and comfortable to drive and to ride in. Our dealer in Tübingen (near Stuttgart) said that many dealers did not service or repair them properly.

[GaryJohnWalker]

"NSU" continued to be Audi's stockmarket code until just a few years ago. Now incorporated into the single VW listing - sometime after the dieselgate debacle

[michaelburggraf]

Despite failing to meet expectations of some people the NSU/VW K70 was a wonderful vehicle for families and for long distance travel. A lot of room for passengers and luggage. Due to its large windows travelling through the Alps was really nice. However, it could get quite hot inside for the same reason.

Thank you for that excellent video!

[jeroquai]

I really think the RO80 is one of the most important and most influental car designs of all time. Low front, wide track, great proportions overall. And then this unusually high back for 1967. Today we know they all followed these wedge lines for sedans. Sooner or later.

[herseem]

That last comment there an important pearl of wisdom - "The unreliability so often present when working at the cutting edge". My engineer Dad's favourite engineering principle is 'rugged simplicity'.

[kuchenblechmafiagmbh]

Funfact: The design of the Prinz 4 (introduced in 1961) took inspiration from the Chevrolet Corvair and was also copied in the eastern bloc with the Saporoshez SAS-966[W] (introduced in 1966) and also the following SAS-968.
Audi's legendary slogan "Vorsprung durch Technik" - Advantage by technology (manifested by the quattro) was originally the slogan for the Ro 80.
The Ro 80's Alloy wheels were actually manufactured by Otto Fuchs and that is also the manufacturer of the famous Porsche "Fuchsfelgen" wheels.
Audi also had a wankel range extender for their A1 e-tron, they've built a small number (<50) of these for trials around 2010-2012 and they had a rather small battery (12 kWh) and a wankel range extender below the trunk floor, these never went into full production, it's almost more of a PHEV (but serial hybrid drivetrain as the wheels were always driven by the electric motor) than a BEV.

[simonhodgetts]

Thank you for an interesting and very informative film. I didn’t know the back story to NSU. The Ro80 remains one of my favourite cars - the design, for 1967 was revolutionary, and set the template for the modern Audi. The car’s details are quite beautiful- especially the aluminium trim around the front and rear screens, and the lovely front grille and light treatment. It’s a shame that the engines were so flawed - the Ro80 is in many ways as important to car evolution as the Citroen DS, and deserves more recognition.

[drstevenrey]

Wankel Rotary: Those apex seals can today be replaced by materials that were not available in the 70's. They work brilliantly for ever.

[andymoore]

In the early 70s my older brother was a motor dealer. He bought an RO 80 on a whim. Enjoyed the performance and over all drive for a while. Then had the engine replaced with a Ford V4 and sold it for a modest profit. I adored the look of that car then and still do!

[bobdobalina]

I've always loved these cars. As a child I had a red Dinky (or it may have been Corgi) model of one. There was someone in Westmount Road, Ektham, SE0 that had one parked on their drive for years. It never seemed to go anywhere, but maybe the Wankel engine had broken down.

[Damien-ux]

The NSU "Quickly" moped which despite its name was anything BUT quick lol😂😂😂😂

[jfv]

The RO80 was such a hyper modern car back when it was introduced. As a kid i loved it and i got a Corgo 1:43 model as a present.
The joint venture between Citroen and NSU is also interesting to explore: i think it was called BiRotor. Citroen made 2 wankel powered BiRotor cars, 1 coupe based on the Ami and a GS powered by a Wankel engine.
There were also motorbikes with Wankel engines. The vanVeen OCR1000, the Norton Commando, Hercules and a Suzuki RE. All very collectible bikes today. Norton even succesfully raced Wankel powered SuperBikes.

There was also a helicopter that used Wankel power.

As nice as the engine design is it has some design drawbacks that are hard to ignore: as was mentioned, the apex seals excessive wear. As a consequence the engine used more oil.
2nd: in relation to the volume of the combustion chamber it has more exposed chamber wall surface area. This makes it less thermodynamically efficient when compared to a compareable piston 4stroke engine of similar power output.
Added up and concluding: the wankel engine just wasn't good enough. It also didn't help that the world had to deal with the 1973 oil crisis. New car buyers wanted cars that had great gasmileage.
It was also the time when tighter emission standards were introduced.

[rapid]

18:45 There was NO 'Volkswagen's fortune' involved in K70 engineering process. NSU completed the K70's development before mortal marriage with VW. K70 was engineered with (K -> Kolben) piston engine since start. NSU printed prospects and built 23 null-serie cars for premiere on Geneva Motor Show (March 1969), cancelled last evening because of Wolfsburg's demand. VW - ready to merge with NSU - was too affraid of internal competition with 411.

[michaelhoffmann]

Oh my, the memories. I normally focus on your aviation videos, but this one caught my attention as our neighbours way back in the 70s had a Ro-80 and absolutely swore by it. They were evangelists, trying to get my dad to switch from BMW. 😆
Minor point: it's not ak-tie-en gesellschaft, but ak-tsee-en (Aktiengesellschaft, AG, publicly traded corporation)

[Infrared]

The Ro 80 looks amazing. Honestly when you started showing it in the video I was thinking it was a much more modern car. I would have guessed late 70's early 80's. Obviously once you see the interior and look closer that doesn't hold up.

[saltyroe]

My dad (now 99) often talked about the development by NSU of new automotive technology. The Wankel was theoretically superior but in fact not practical. My thought was that Wankel was best suited for a suicide drone.