Side draft intake question
 

This has bugged me for a couple years so I just wanted to get it off my chest.
Why do very few people put their side draft intake to the side on rotaries?
I love the look of a sideways carburetor especially on older cars. There is just something about it that draws me to them.
Ever since owning the car I've wanted to put a sideways draft intake on my 12a but I've done a lot of research and people either have the mikuni, Weber, dellorto, ect sitting on top of the engine or have them pointing straight up.

I looked around at side draft intakes for rotaries and Atkins Rotary seems to have the best selection, but they only offer one actual side draft intake.
Link: http://atkinsrotary.com/store/produc...cat=663&page=1
Why is this a very unpopular intake for a rotary?

I found this in the archive but I found it a little confusing.
https://www.rx7club.com/1st-gen-archive-71/intake-sidedraft-vs-downdraft-143304/

I have a picture of the only sideways draft intake on a rotary I could find uploaded.

well after much research it is found that a longer intake runner helps with low end torque, thus the side draft mounted on top of the engine. the set up in your picture is great for drag racing or high rpm applications, but not practical for everyday street driving on a stock engine.

Just my .02 worth

I thought it was a packaging issue. With a single carb coming out the side, the runners have to be longer to get a straighter path to the ports, then the carb is right at the fender with very little room for air horns and a filter.

I hear the response with the direct side draft is much improved.

You should go read some tunig books and also look in the NA section of this site.
The longer runner length of the wrap arounds moves the torque curve down quite
a bit and enhances lower rpm drivability. It also limits top end but on a stock port
12A you'll never see it as an issue.

^+1

I agree, a car that makes tons of power high in the rpm range can feel like a real dog in the rpm range that you are in 90% of the time. NOT FUN!!

I have both intakes and much prefer the "lake city" style over the wrap around intake.

The lake city intake is way more responsive and snappy than the wrap around. I haven't dyno compaired the two but for all around driving I still prefer the lake city.

It's not just a wide open throttle intake like everyone claims it is.

I can only comment on the wrap around as that is all I have experience with. I have a 45 dcoe on a wraparound intake on my stock port 12a with racing beat header and it is amazing. The car is great around town and plenty quick for a stock port. The midrange is very strong with this setup. I do wish I could try the 2 styles side by side though.

What tuning books would you recommend for carburetors?


Thanks everyone for commenting.

I'd like to be pointed to some reading as well..

I am running a Mikuni PHH 44mm side-draft mounted on top of the engine with the long intake manifold.

It's only recently been installed and run very little. I need to tune it but all I have read says you run it, then pull the spark plug to check for lean or rich.

Go to the www.foxed.ca site and theres some weber manuals online there. Some of them cover
webers and weber clones (mikuni, dell, etc).

If you go to E-bay you can find a Mikuni manual cheap.

hi there. i just put this style manifold and carb on my 85. will post some pics after work