I have put some time and whole lot more money into my 90 Vert to make it fast. It looks great, and I realize it will never be like Z28 fast, but I lost to a freaking Neon (R/T)! I have been bouncing around several ideas...

Buy:
S-AFC ~ $300
Lightented Flywheel - (steel or aluminum?) ~$400
Racing Beat Catback ~$500
Electric Fan - Really have no idea which - Black Magic? ~$200???

That will bring my investment in my Vert up to about $10K.

That's about all I can do and stay NA right? I have thought about the Camden S/C but I have e-mailed them twice after reading everything on their site to ask a few questions, and they never responded to me either time.

I'm in a predicament. I like the RX-7 for its uniqueness and most people think my car is about half as old as it is. But, if I sold my car now, I could probably get $6500 if i were patient. $6500 plus the above proposed mods could get me a used Z28 with 250+ hp AND TORQUE. I know everyone has a freaking Z28, and I wouldn't get one just for that reason, but I just don't know what to do. I'm working my a$$ off making great money and want to spend some of it, but just can't seem to make an intelligent, final decision on this.

Can anybody give me some insight?

Alan

 

Shops rarely return emails. Call them. And you picked the heaviest slowest rx7 made And dont spend 200$ on a e-fan. Go to a junkyard and find a fiero or a taurus and take that one.

 

first thing i thought when i saw the title to this post was "yes" theres no other way about it. yes you are wasteing your money on just about anything you do to make ANY car faster/better thing you have to do is offset that cost in enjoyment....or get a turbo 2 and the same oh well, as for the fan, go to a junkyard and pull an electric fan out of a ~95ish ford taurus

 

Sell the vert and buy a 1.6 miata with greddy turbo

Or buy a t11 but as a project or weekend car not daily driver. Sounds like you will spend alot on that as well.

 

hey von.. how is it that you have no primary ports? seems like you'd be reving at idle...? and how that godzillla ported coming along?

 

That car needs a TII motor and drivetrain.

 

IMO you are wasting your money. The convertible RX-7 was never intended to be fast or to have torque. It was designed to be a very nice, refined, convertible, and it was hugely successful in this respect. Many experts consider it one of the best convertibles ever made.

If you really want a fast car with a lot of torque, then either sell the car and buy an American sports car, or transplant a V-8 in your RX-7.
http://members.tripod.com/~grannys/rx7.html

Here is another option that, while expensive, is a good deal for what you get.
http://www.efini.net/rx7s4sale.htm

 

I realize I'll never have a torquey car. But would those mods at the top be a significant improvement?

 

Like aviator said, verts are heavy and are not gonna be super quick. If ya wanna keep the car and go fast, then do the turbo swap (probably cheaper and certainly easier than SC).

Or sell the vert and buy a turbo, or even an na. Dunno about down there, but convertibles are crazy expensive up here, you'd have $$ left over for mods.

 

I think the combination of a alum. flywheel and RB cat. back would definetly give you a more sporting experience and a little more power. I dont think you'd regret it.

 

Yes, they will give you a little more power, but you have to ask yourself what kind of power you will be satisfied with. If you want Z28 power and torque, and dont care too much about handling (not that they are that bad) just spend the $$ and get a Z28. You should have no problem finding a good condition LT1 Z28 for $7k. The V-8 swap is also a viable option, although will require alot of custom fabrication and time.

 

I totally agree, I wish someone would have pointed that out to me, then I could have been mucher farther with my car as a t2...

 

It depends on your definition of "significant". The RB catback will add about 5-7 hp, the electric fan maybe 1 hp. The lightweight flywheel will help with response, and the electric fan will also help with this but to a nearly insignificant amount. I don't know of anybody using an S-AFC on a an NA, but I don't think it will do much for you because the slow, stock ECU is still running the engine. A standalone EMS would work better because it allows you to remove the stock AFM, it bypasses the slow stock ECU, and it allows for fine tuning of both the ignition and fuel. The S-AFC only allows for coarse tuning of the fuel, and that's it.

I realize that there is more to performance than hp/weight ratio, but it is still a good measuring stick. Here is how your car compares to a Z28:

Stock S5 Convertible
160hp / 3140lbs = 1:19.6

S5 Convertible with catback and electric fan (Estimated)
168hp / 3137lbs = 1:18.7

Stock 1998 Z28
305hp / 3400lbs = 1:11.1

Equation for your RX-7 to equal the stock 98 Z28 (Assuming no weight reduction)
X / 3140 = 1:11.1
X = 1:11.1 * 3140
X = 0.09 * 3140
X = 283hp at the flywheel

The powerband of the rotary engine will usually give you better performance vs. a piston engine of the same peak horsepower, but you obviously need a turbo or a bigger engine if you want to play with the big boys.

 

Thanks for your input Evil Aviator.

Check out my sig if you would.

What do you think I have for hp with all the current mods plus the flywheel, e-fan, and catback?

Does anyone know anybody on the board who has actually purchased a Camden S/C and installed it?

Thanks guys,

Alan

 

Yeah i can understand how hard it is to let go of your car and all, but if you really want to be faster, and Torquier than i mean theres plenty of eaiser options out there. Do you know how fast you can get the older series Supras? Like the turbos? With a simple exuast upgrade you get like into low 13's I mean those cars have so much torque there relly fun too. Or if you like domestics and are on a buget and need some decent HP for the money, SHO's have crazy torque and respond incrediably well to exaust mods as well. I mean theres a lot of options out there. **** if i had the money and wanted to be faster id simply get an FD.
Good luck bro.

 

Oh, sorry I missed the streetport. In that case the S-AFC would be a little more valuable, as your engine is probably not running at optimum tuning right now. You really should get a header if your state's emissions will allow for it, and a full long primary single exhaust would be even better. It is difficult to estimate the hp, especially when a street port is involved because there are so many variables, including variables in the street port design. With all of those mods you would probably have about 200hp at the flywheel. For comparison, this Mazda Sports Racer is getting 230hp with a street port.
http://www.starmazda.com/

Links here:
http://www.geocities.com/boatseason/rx7.html

 

All the links on that page are for Nelson or Paxton S/C kits. The Camden is Roots and the others are Centrifugal, right?

 

I am in your same boat. I love my convertible. I had the choice between the T2 or the vert and I figured it's a lot easier to convert the convertible to a turbo than try and convert the T2 to a convertible. I am in the process of looking for a complete drive train for a reasonable price with little luck.

 

Yes. In fact, the Nelson uses a Paxton blower, but don't tell anybody.

See the Atkins link for the Camden.

BTW, Roots blowers are horribly inefficient. They look great and make cool noises, but if you want real performance, then the Lysholm or centrifugal types are better. A turbocharger is even better IMO, but to each his own.

 

You could always sell the vert and buy an NA S4 that had a v8 conversion done to it. These go for $3kish on ebay and would whoop some major R/T ***. And of course any american V8 has a thousand mods available at your nearest Summit catalog. So if you feel inclined to spend another $2k to go faster, there would be many, many ways to do it.

Of course, it wouldn't be quite an RX-7 then, more like a PX-7.