I like that pic 60% of the time they work everytime
Now I'm a huge rotary fan but I'm not going to pretend they are the best things since sliced bread. The LS1 swap imo, is actually not a bad idea- especially considering the backup and aftermarket gear readily available for them. (in the US anyway)
I actually hate the rotary capcity ratings. The rotary engine is the only engine rated on a part cycle rather than a full one. No other type of engine has its capacity measured on a part cycle....
Reliability comes down to knowledge- ****ing simple maintainance and good tuning. In my 10 years (almost 10 now) I've only had one engine fail- through high mileage and imo- not great maintainance. It was the engine that came in the car. I have a 12a n/a block running a s4 hiflow @ 19psi- going on 2 years now with huge ammount of abuse- track days mainly. It also has done over 60000 milessince I've owned it. I also have a 13b peripheral port-260rwhp n/a that has only ever been used in competition. I have owned this engine for 6 years and only now requires a freshen up- carbon seals don't last forever. Now I don't know of any piston motors that have had that sort of use and held up so well.
I have also built a 12a which is currently running in a mates car as a daily driver.
I also part own with a mate, an NSU Ro80. So its not all about performance.
Like I said earlier- I'm a huge fan of the rotary but I'm not going to blatantly tell people it is superior. It has it's place, as do piston engines and that is that.