Is anyone willing to donate an engine/trans to put the rotor/pistion question on test
 

Read my sig.

The way my car is set up now I can easily remove my engine combo and drop in a 12a set up, or if you have a cross member a 13b.

This is a put up or shut up deal. I will do all of the work/testing I just don't want to put my money into a rotary right now. My car will be the control and the engine combo will be the variable. What say you? I will hopfully have my truck up and running ('89 toyota doing a 5m' or 7m supra swap) by spring time and I'll even come pick it up if you not to far away or somewhere nice to visit anyway. Or if your local and want to help... we could see how that goes. I am very serious, there has not been any testing like this done that I know of and I just want everyone to have the facts.

Please email me if your interested cdsimmons@REMOVETHIScomcast.net

I'm not trying to be cocky or anything, I just think we all need this information.

... and if you reply to this offer, you will have 7 years of good luck. Just don't count on your donated engine ever being the same.

What would the criteria for comparison be ? Can 680RWHP donate his ? Would that extreme prove anything ? Hell no. Or what if somebody donated their stock 12A ? Hell no. What if somebody donated an engine with almost exactly your same horsepower and torque ? What would that prove ? :ret:

I think he would prove that someone would be stupid enough to give him a free motor an trans for the shell sitting outside his garage.

That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. You win, your 325hp is 10x as realible as any rotary 325hp. What's to prove?

I'm sorry, this will be primarily (sp) for handeling comparo. Sure I can stomp a stock 12a into the ground starting in 3rd gear now, and I'm sure that 680' would put a hole in my ass. This going to be a factual (measured) test as well as a subject test of handeling. And no do expect your 12a to be in top shape after the fact, as I will not expect my equipment will be no worse for the ware. I'm willing to do this at the expense of what I've already put into my car as well as what ever cost for testing is needed. You only have to provide an engine/trans.

hmmm... he strokes his chin whiskers while wondering if it would be worth the shipping and minimal cosmetic expense ( blast and paint ) to donate what appears to be a roadworthy 12A, but is actually a low compression junkyard dog that might crank in summer if you hold the choke just right ( or maybe not at all ).

Bets that would break him from sucking eggs.

Nah ! It's almost Christmas. Don't be on the naughty list.

Id give you my 195xxx mile GSL-SE motor with suprisngly almost perfect compression, but it has a broken tension rod so it uses some coolant and leaks some oil, and a good backup tranny and deliver it and help with the work over the summer, IF you give me the car when your done ;)

how about this, find more cars with ~100hp and tq... then compare them to the 1st generation rx7 ;)

thats all there is to it, any engine can be durable or can have 500hp, but so what... it's the combination of everything together.

and ease of modification

He's not comparing power, he has said that. He just is interested in which car would handle better, which has nothing to do with power. He is just asking a simple question so that he can attempt to answer the question of which one is better. If someone local has an extra motor, it might be worth it. I'm sure if you are local he would be more than willing to give it back when the test is complete. i would never even consider putting a V8 in my 7, but the information might be beneficial to someone, heaven forbid. If you have an extra motor and want to help him out tell him. Otherwise don't yell at him for trying to find out more facts. Sorry this was so long.

So no one want's this put to rest?

Sure, but you can't have my engine.

:nono:

Gawd, who cares?

Any RX-7 will handle well if it's set up properly.

That's exactly my point...

If you pay proper attention to the suspension you can have a lump of coal in there and it will handle well and be fun to drive. No takers so those with unfounded opinions please just let those who post about V8 swap alone.

Keep in mind I origianly had a well set up GSL-SE and was an absolute love affair between us. while I will admit my V8-7 dosen't handle "the same" it feels as much and even more fun to drive in the twistys. I can care less how fast I can go in a straight line (thus the reason I've never done the 1/4 mile) I just like to power out of corners with a set of balls.

i'll TRADE ya.... :p: no really sounds cool hopefully someone does it. Do you plan on doing like skid pad tests?

yes but a car with no pistons is priceless thats something that no other vehicle can compare with... its nuts the combination a light car like a 7 with a powerplant can make but its not original like a rotary... I love reactions.... "what do you mean your car has no pistons!?!?"

BS. Sorry. I simply don't believe a heavier front won't affect handling.
To be really sure of the difference, you'd need two cars, and one race driver. See what they'll do on track.
A V8 adds plenty of wheight, wether you like it or not.
Donating an engine is cool, why don't you guys donate a V8 to me? I'll put it on a scale, and put a 12A or 13B next to it.

Everything affects handling. I V8-7 will not handle "the same" as a 12a/13b powered 7, but there is nothing to say that it won't handle just as well.

While staying neutral in this comparison / test / re-re-engineering excercise I will state one fact. You can make a heavy nose car work VERY well with the correct spring and shock rates, and chassis setup. Even better than a perfectly balanced car with improper setup.

The RX7 in general, any iteration of it, is a pretty nimble car. Many of us have owned or driven a FD3S and have seen how easy they are to get stupid with on a tight course. They are nimble at speed but on a tight slow course they are not worth dog shat... UNTIL they get set up correctly... then they go like snot in December!

What I am saying is the well balanced 1st gen can be made better. If it happens to have an Allison aircraft engine when it is made better then so be it. It is the owners choice to do so. I really want to build a 13b single turbo FB with a full race suspension that can run track days all day long and possibly be driven back and forth to work on 75* days. The Magic 8-Ball said "You need to stop smoking that stuff" when I asked it so I will be clodding around local autocrosses in a clapped out supercharged V6 FB within the next 3 months. It will not suck in the handling department because I will not allow it. 500 lb front springs, 400lb rear, Konis, better stabilizer bars that are adjustable, chassis stiffening, unibody welding, extreme weight removal, Hoosier autocross tires, and light weight wheels all will add to the mix.

I think that a pair of identically suspended 200+ HP FBs (one rotary one piston engine) running a series of magazine type tests would be the only answer:
0-50
0-100
0-50-0
0-100-0
100' dry skidpad R/L
100' wet skidpad R/L
30 second autocross course
5 lap series at road course
45 mile drive through metropolitan area
Of course all tests would have to be done "blind" (actually deaf!) and a series of four runs given to both on all tests to give a mean average.

The variables from day to day are too great to try to test vehicles without doing them back to back to back to back to back...

The "I'll pull it out and completely rebuild the car to make the test work" scenario is flawed.

The only thing you would be testing is your ability to tune and drive the car. And that means you would be testing nothing about the motors.

Well, I think that every v8 owner has driven or at least ridden in a Rotary powered Rx7, so they have an idea of how it handles. I don't beleive every Rotary powered Rx7 owner has ridden in a v8 powered Rx7. So in reality, those who have not ridden in a v8 rx7 really have no clue about how it handles, now do they. It is all just conjecture. On paper, a v8 will be too heavy and make it not handle well.

Well on paper, bumble bees, helicopters and F4 Phantom fighter jets are not physically able to fly either.

I am not saying that you don't know your cars. I'm just saying go out and drive/ride in a v8 Rx7, so that you will have some actual experience to back up what you say. If you still don't like it, cool. But I bet that after a ride in a v8 Rx7 that has been run on a good twisty road, and waxed a couple of the local street racers you get out of it with a huge ear to ear grin....... or maybe not. Maybe you will just be trying to control the shaking in your knees. LOL.----> JK!
Honestly though, go out and ride in one. Wait, first go test drive a viper at the dodge dealer, and THEN go out and ride in one! :D
Later,
Bill

^^^ true, I drove an -SE for about a year before I did my swap.

As I was thinking more about it, it really would be that easy to swap the engines. I would need the clutch master cyl, exhaust and just allot of misc stuff that I tossed.

I just get tired of hearing some of the unfounded talk here about these bastard swaps. Maybe when I get another SA/FB I'll do testing on that to compare it to my V8.

I'll donate the trannie,

you can pick it up tomorrow, i'm at home all day

ya, I'll be right over

He's got to treat his shoes for termites first.

Is that where they put their fingers in the dikes ?

Borkum Riff, dude.