whats the cheapest and most effective hp gains you can do to a 12a???

 

Advice: SEARCH.

In short, porting is the cheapest real power gain. DLIFDIS ignition is another relative cheap choice.
Remove everything unnecessary. Power steering, air pump, emissions equipment, charcoal canister, and EVERYTHING ELSE that doens't do a vital process. Search.

Swap over to mechanical secondaries. Oh, and search.

There's lots more that you can find by. . . searching.

 

Welcome to the forum, and the Darkside. Please take some time and do a bit of reading on the basics. The FAQs are the best place to start.

What are your goals and useage for the car? More details wil help layout an upgrade plan. Keep in mind that the cheapest is not always the best Before starting performance upgrades, it's best to have the rest of the car in proper working order, i.e., brakes, suspension, steering, cooling and fuel systems.

For further reading, check out the links in my sig line.

 

Btw, gsterror, porting is not the cheapest upgrade, it is one of the most expensive since it requires a full teardown and rebuild. Porting will be of little benefit without the usual first upgades, i.e., exhaust, carb, intake and ignition. Porting is usually one of the last upgrades, unless the engine was toast to begin with.

If you are going to give advice to new members, at least try and be accurate about it. After reading some of your recent posts, a bit more reading on your part wouldn't hurt a bit. Also, when telling someone to search, once is more than sufficient and there are more diplomatic ways of suggesting it, as I just did with you.

 

Yeah, do a second gen ignition trick, remove emissions, and exhaust. The first two will be the cheapest. All three together render good gains of power. If you add carb to the mix then you can get a lot better gains, even if you go route of Sterling carb.

Power enhancements are plentiful, but most (if not all) require money. The FAQ's have a lot of great information in them at the top of the 1st gen section page.

 

Ignition upgrade (2nd gen direct fire, found in FAQ section) will be your cheapest "real" upgrade. Soon we should have a new edition of the transistor trick, which you could add on later for even better improvement. However, nothing you do will show incredible results until you handle the exhaust system and really let the motor breathe well. After that, Sterling carb!

 

I'm still to be proven any hp gain from ignition upgrade. But agreed on exhaust.

 

Neons will add 50hp! LOL j/k. Yeah start with exhaust. This is always one of the biggest gains (not the cheapest...but defiently one of the biggest when it comes to "bolt on mods")

 

make a fast *** rx-7 that is still street legal.......i live in sd so we dont got all the gay emissons laws! i got my 7 from my friend drozhenbane and we r ripping anything that dont need 2 b on there OFF!!

 

NICE rx-7 dude!

 

I will give you the direct answer you asked for. If you are only going to do one thing to your car, it has been common knowledge for more than 20 years that the single most effective horsepower gain is a good exhaust header. The one by Racing Beat is a known quantity, and is reasonably priced, so don't waste your time looking for other choices. Be advise that once you install a header, the noise level will be significantly increased, even with the stock muffler.

I agree with the scepticism someone stated about horsepower gains from ignition. If your car has the electronic distributor, there is no point in spending money on something more exotic for street use.

There are a few choices for intake systems, Holley, Dellorto, and various Weber setups. They all have their problems with driveability and poor fuel mileage unless they are PERFECTLY setup by someone who knows what to do. But you said cheap, so you might consider what I did: I adapted an old RX-4 carb, which has a higher rated flow than the 12a carb, has excellent driveability, warm or cold, and seems to get good gas mileage. What I don't know is how effective it is without some porting.

I only ported the secondary intakes on my 12a, and with the RB header and RX-4 carb, I got 130hp to the wheels, which is probably about 150-155 at the flywheel.

 

i got a sterling nekkei modified on its way...it should b here some time next week

 

haha u smartass,lol j/k i agree wish the exhaust being the biggest hp gain...xcept 4 the 13b sittin next 2 my 7! just gotta get it rebuilt 1st

 

thanks alot man! next question...i dont know if u know the answer 2 this 1 but...whats the drivability with a sterling nekkei modified?

 

my new sterling nekkei thats on the way does have mechanical secondaries

 

I would have to agree with trochoid on that point...it is important to get the basics function perfectly before you worry too much about performance upgrades...once you got everything sorted out then start with the motor...decide if you want to buy of rebuild your own...very easily you can swap in a 13btt, t2 tranny, and an 8.8 inch rear end...the only draw back to this is the same draw back to most other things...$$...I hope you love this car because its like a wife who sucks all your money outa ya...only I don't think you mind as much...definitly a blast to work on!!

 

Nikki please. N-i-k-k-i.

 

srry havent quite learned all the names....im new 2 the rotary world

 

What size exhaust would be a good match to the aftermarket header? Or if you just replace the header and leave the exhaust standard would you still notice good HP gains?

 

my friend droz said he wouldnt go over 2 1/4 max, far as swapping headers and leavin stock exhaust, personally i would think there would b a noticable hp gain cause reducing backpressure makes a fair amount of difference....but dont quote me on that

 

I'm surprised to see the doubt surrounding ignition upgrade gains. In my opinion, this is one of the top three areas where you will find the most hp gains (along with exhaust and carb).

 

Kentetsu, I agree with you, but I also disagree. This guy is asking for cheap upgrades, so I have to assume he is going to drive it on the street. I have friends who have worked on rotaries professionally since the early 1970s, and who have racing experience with them. I have consulted with the guys at RB years ago. They have all told me that the ignition upgrade is important if you are going to turn 10,000 rpm but that the stock electronic ignition is quite adequate for revs up to 8,000. With the limited mods discussed here, I doubt this engine would ever produce useful horsepower at more than 8,000.

With the mods I described for my 12a, I turned 9,000 on the dyno, but the torque dropped off dramatically. Peak horsepower was at 7,000, compared with 6,000 for a stock setup. I never rev it over 8,000 on the street - the optimum shift point is around 7500 in most gears.

I hope you never embarrass me at a stoplight!!!