Speaking of vans, I saw a van for sale over here a while ago. Can't remember if it was a Mitsubishi or Toyota. It was lowered, had nice mags, paint job and a 13B turbo! Insane.

 

One of the secrets to our speed is our flat torque and hp curve. ( if youre induction system is optimized.) While little boingers claim 160hp, they have a good high peak there, but they dont have much power anywhere else. They average hp is quite low compared to ours. If a rotary is pushing 130hp, if your induction system is set up right, you are near 130 hp throughout the rpm range. (at least nearer than a boinger is). Average hp is the key, not peak. Peak doesnt mean crap. Tell that to youre honda rice boy buddy.

 

LOL it is trivial to get a turbo caravan in the 14's or even 13's... a couple people have non-nitroused 12 second minivans... the secret is a bigger turbo and more fuel... no secret really. The stock 2.5; block can withstand insane amounts of boost - guys running 27-35psi on stock engines...

 

I disagree. Only a 6 port N/A with working actuators has a flat torque curve.

4 port engines (not turbos), especially 12A's are very peaky, and don't make much HP unless you wind out the RPM. The 4 ports, 12A have an almost straight peak rise HP curve.

Where's Peejay when you need him?

 

That mini-van ran a 12.65! Check it out here:
http://www.udnet.net/~pauls/89turbo.htm

Lots of good info gathered from this guy's DIY testing and tuning.

-Max

 

The power to weight ratio is crazy for this car. Have you seen the size of the rotary engine compared to the engine in a Honda? The rotary in my Rx-7 is less than half the size of a Honda's.

 

Weight-wise, an all-up 12A weighs about as much as a 302 Ford. The Honda engine is about half the weight.

A dead flat torque curve will result in a HP curve that keeps climbing. 100lb-ft at 2600rpm is about 50hp, 100lb-ft at about 5200 is about 100hp, 100lb-ft at about 7900 is about 150hp.

All rotaries have flat torque curves, the torque doesn't fall off as fast at the top end. The better the porting the flatter the curve. You don't need fancy variable port timing (6-port) to have a nice flat torque curve.

 

Peejay, please describe all-up.

 

How so?

 

Man what do you guys think of those CRX japan spec...like around 1992? man they come with over 140hp with the ZC 1.6 twin cam engine and weigh less than 2100lbs. They got that little hump in the hood FYI

I am having a lot of trouble keeping up with those cars (and stock ones BTW)...my car has everything done possible even weight reduction besides porting so far. I wouldn't cosider the first gen RX7 that fast anymore.

BTW those CRX i'm talking about are not US specs whatsoever the US versions are a POS.

 

I find my 93 integra GSR..weighs in around 2500lbs.. with 160hp from the factory.. and with the mods.. including the bad rings :] is prolly making around 180-185hp. Now my friends Streeported 13b..4 port.. with a derloto carb , Headders, No cats, and a RB Muffler. His cars is a 85 GS.. strange that it came with power windows..but no roof and no power steering. We are around the same weight and around the same HP rating. If we Race from a stop light.. He will put 2 car lengths on me out of the hole. But if we are rolling.. 3rd gear or higher. I'll walk him.. all the way to 140mph. My vtec switches over @ 5500rpms..all the way to the 8200 rpm red line. When Shifting from gear to gear.. the gearbox whichs is a special close ratio [YS1] only came on the 92-93 GSR model , put the shift point right there @ 5500 rpms. So.. how ever the argument goes..I think the that if you can't jump on a Civic in the launch.. then..then he'll spank you... unless your boosting.
note:that a GSR swap on a civic is common. And a 170hp + Mods.. might = 185-190hp in a 2400lbs car. And and they might be a slug out the hole.. but once they get going...

 

The debate over which is faster a Honda or an FB will always continue. As much as I like my stock 83 rex, my dad's 94 Accord VTEC will smoke it. Hands down, no contest. It all depends on the particular cars you are comparing. To say that all FB's are faster than all hondas (or vice versa) would be rediculously outrageous. Besides, I think too much emphasis is put on quarter mile times. I mean, it's important but if some riced out Honda can beat you, who cares? FB's look a hell of a lot sweeter and are just all around cooler cars. I got a question- why is a 12a so damn heavy? I mean 85rx7gs is right it's really tiny but I've read (from reliable sources) that it weighs like over 300 lbs. That's crazy, what the hell is it made of, lead? anyway that's my $.02 for now. Later

 

Three mostly solid iron end and center housings don't help the weight cause too much.

 

Good point. Is that accurate: 300 lbs? I read that a few places, but that's about the same as the 305 in my TA. Later

 

I really don't think it's that heavy. Two people can lift it (I've got mine out of the car, for those who didn't know). I had a friend pull it out with a 15hp diesel tractor, with the trans still on the engine.

 

Oh yeah, the rotary is a tad bit bigger than the Onan Twin Cylinder 20HP that I have in my Craftsman III! I love it!

 

290lb, 380 lb with a thermal reactor attached.

Yes, they really are that heavy.

I think the irons are about 40-50lb apiece, rotors are about 10lb apiece, E-shaft weighs... a lot I guess 10-20lb (it's basically solid steel with a few oil holes drilled through it), flywheel is a good 26-30lb, dunno how much rotor housings weigh but they ain't too light either... It all adds up!

BTW I can lug around an "empty" 12A (no internals, just side and rotor housings bolted together) but I needed 2 people to get it in and out of the hatch. Full-up 12A requires 2 people. At least. A friend and I threw out backs out trying to pick up the all-up '80 engine (includes thermal reactor, flywheel, and clutch) and when we took it out of his pickup, we just slid it off his truck onto a couple tires in my garage. And there it sat.

I'm no lightweight either... one of my favorite tricks is picking a corner of a car up until the tire is a couple inches off the ground. And holding it there.

 

WOW, the friggin thermal reactor weighs that much?!?!? That was news to me. Oh well, the lightness of the rest of the car makes up for the 12a's weight problem.

 

The thermal reactor is like 100 lbs itself. The later manifolds are a lot lighter. Still not light, but lighter than 100 lbs.

Size doesn't= weight. I could have a 4' square box made of Styrofoam, and a 1' square box made of lead. Obviously the smaller box will weigh more

 

Like I said no US spec! I'm not talking about Honda US spec. No heavy *** integra or accords...man guys do some research...the lightweight CRX with a 140hp ZC engine(COMES STOCK LIKE THAT) will smoke any FB or FC for that matter. It's a freaking quick car guys, and it handles...too bad you haven't seen it. Imagine the Integra engine in a lightweight CRX STOCK! power to weight ration is unbelievable, S2000 level.

Anyways I do like the RX7 better than the CRX (japan spec) but like they say you got to know your enemy.

 

That CRX has a better looking hood, with the raised center.

 

Hey mperformance, even an US integra GSR could kill a stock FB and FC, they're light and got some power. still like my 83 rex a lot better though.

 

check this out guyz. :] <--click

 

the rex..