I have a 89 gxl non turbo. My engine is at about 83000 miles. I really want to make this thing move, but i don't know if i should keep it non-turbo or replace it with a t2 engine. Another thing is my compression is really low. Sometimes while the car is stopped, it'll shut off. That's another thing i don't know what to do. I saw this A'PEXI SUPER AFC at rx7.com. I would like some advice on what i should do. I don't need it to be the fastest car but i'd like to it to be fast enough where i can have my fun.

Thanks!

 

Fast is subjective.

12's and 13's are fast too me, DigitalSolo doesn't settle for anything less then a 10.5. How much do you want to spend? How much work will you do? Is it a DD?

 

Fast, reliable, cheap...... Pick only two. Go for the basic exhaust and intake upgrades. See if it satisfies you. Then if your not happy you can go turbo. I would say stay N/A.

 

What is your compression down to?

The S-AFC can give you a tiny bit of power and tunability, but is really hard to notice on your own.

Advance your timing some, intake, exhaust flow.

I would say stay with NA too, get a rebuild if your numbers are that low and maybe get an aux street port. I go to a track and autocross, but most of the time don't feel like my car is slow as an NA or that i need all of the power of a turbo. If i really want to pass somebody I can throw it in 2nd/3rd and pull mad quickly.

Think about how much power you need... Is your car fast enough to safely drive in traffic? Is it fast enough to reach 75mph (hwy speed), is it quick enough to have some fun?

and now think about how much a turbo overdoes that (pushing up to 2x as much power). What happens to my driving record if I get caught doing > 140 on the streets? How much more gas is the turbo going to use if I use it like I want? Do I want that much oversteer? Am I going to be more or less conspicuous to cops? I need the extra acceleration to....

Food for though somewhat against the whole go fast loudly ideas.

 

fast reliable cheap is possible, you jsut need to strip the body down of a ton of crap, and probably do all the work yourself. course he never mentioned any of the 3 in the first place.
If you're compression's low, it'd make a bit more eccentive to swap convert to a T2, but that'd still cost quite a bit more than a normal rebuild. Could do a port if it doesn't already have one while the motor's out if you keep it N/A
Why would you be doing 140 on the streets, extra power's always welcomed, less you already have over 500. Cops aren't gonna care or know weather you have a turbo or not as long as you aren't zooming past them. Do a turbo if you really need to, it'll cost some money but you'll have a bit more power band to play with. However the N/A can pull some decent amount of power if you do some work, plus it's less to worry about.

 

Thank you guys, i really appreciate the advice. I think i gotta work on getting that compression up by reflashing or piggybacking or something.

 

wtf? how is a piggyback or a reflash going to help you get compression back? If you're losing compression in the motor, it seems like it's time for a rebuild! a piggyback fuel controller will modify the mixture, but do nothing for failing engine components! Stop looking for a cheap fix: do it right.

 

You need to do a compression check and give us actual psi ratings for both rotors.
If your compression is low it means your seals are failing and your motor is loosing power due too wear. The only fix for that is a rebuild.

A safc is generally used to lean out the fuel mixture overall for extra performance. If you have bad compression that is the last thing you want to do as it will be harder on the engine seals since richer fuel mixtures lubricate better.

 

Get a competent Rotory Mechanic to go over your car before you do anything. You should first see if the car is even running at 100% before trying to go to 150%. Hell your 5th and 6th port might be sezied up, killing what, 20-40hp? Fix that, toss a nice exhuast and intake and you'll see a big change. Another think, RX-7s are not exactly the know to be the fastest, their know for thier handeling and finess, maybe you should work on that. There is a reason why some cars with great 1/4 mile times get beat on actual lap times by slower cars.

 

Well i have a racing beat full exhaust, other than that it's stock. I was going to do the rebuild by a rotary tech. But i wanted to know if the rebuild was worth it or drop a t2 motor...Thanks for the help guys....