bon3

I am looking to get an FC and was wondering how durable are these motors compare to others such as DSM or 1jze or sr20? I am clueless about these rotary engines and wanted some input.

Ex-Eg-Driver

iTrader: (1)

Rotary engines are much more durable than DSM's and SR20's and B18's and all that bull.

So yea buy one and get ready to own everything on the street.

RotaryRocket88

iTrader: (7)

As long as you take care of it (don't go overkill with boost if it's turbo) it'll be more durable than the typical 4 bangers people like to beat on. Feel free to redline it often.

Andrizzanizz

iTrader: (1)

first learn about the engine, then when you get it take car of the engine.
and dont beat the **** out of it.

DriftN7

badass thats and unique thats all Ive got to say. nothing compares

bon3

Thanks for the Advice. I am slowly trying to learn as much as I can about rotary engines. I love the body style of the RX7 compare to all others. Plus its a standard 2 seater which is a Plus. And bodykitt not needed to look good on the road.

Craiger

iTrader: (1)

As with any engine it all depends on how you treat it. If you treat it well it will last a long time. If you don't, it won't.

Rotary's have a reputation for being finickey compared to piston engines, which is mostly because people who know lot's about piston engines try to work on a rotary and can't figure it out. It is whole different can of worms. A rotary and a piston engine may expirence the same problem but the cause will be completly different.

Read read read about these engines, make the archives on this forum your best friend, and take every oppertunity to learn as much as possible from others in the RX7 community. This way you will enjoy your RX7 for years to come.

red_s5_fc3s

I was scared to get into the rx7 scene because of my lack of knowledge of the rotory engine. All I heard was how they lack torque and blow frequently. I had a 2002 protege 5 and I blew that motor. My FC, although had more little problems here and there, still runs strong and has over 250,000 original miles. The protege didn't even reach 100,000.

I think that piston engines and rotory engines each have their own pros and cons. As far as durability goes, rotories last a long time as long as you take care of it. I think piston engines require less maintainence and can easily be worked on at any shop, if you don't have your own experience with cars. With a rotory, you'd be more inclined to take it to a specialty shop and spend more money.

So yes, the 13b is a durable engine. It will take care of you, as long as you take care of it. Most of the little problems are just that, little problems that can easily be fixed with a little elbow grease. I actually recommend a novice learn on a rotory engine because of the simplicity of the design compared to piston engines. I don't recommend a rotory powered vehicle for anyone too lazy to keep up with maintainence, or who is going to buy a "project car", not knowing how much money might be needed to bring the car up to par before even modifying it.

So enough with my off topic rambling... rotories are good and will last as long as you take care of it. Just take into account that you are buying a used car and you have no idea how well any of the previous owners took care of it.

Another question to ask yourself is "What are you using your car for?" I think that is the more important question when it comes to durability of an engine.

bon3

I will likely be using this as a daily beater. I was looking at a 86 and was wondering is there any difference (complications) to these as compare to other years (up to 91) if I were to upgrade to the rotary turbo.

red_s5_fc3s

For a daily driver, NA is a bulletproof engine. You don't have as many worries as you would with a turbo nor will you have to buy 91 octane.

If you plan on doing a turbo swap, it's much cheaper and easier if you buy a Turbo II and go from there.

The pros of the S4s (86-88) are the diffs, they use a clutch type vs. the viscous type that S5s (89-91) use. The S5s have a more updated body style, but they are pretty much the same.

IMO the biggest difference in the S4 na and S5 na engines are the horsepower numbers and the 6 port systems. There are other differences that can be found in the FAQs.

If you do plan on getting the 86 and still plan to do a turbo swap, you would have less headaches finding a TII engine. Most of the ones I've seen for sale lately are S4s. Most of the S5 TII engines that have been poping up are JDM engines.

Whizbang

the TII was originally meant for 87 octane is 100% stock form

red_s5_fc3s

My bad, you're right 87 octane in stock form. I just figured most people with TIIs are running them slightly modified if not more.

bon3

What are the difference between the US & JDM version?

Whizbang

just about nothing.

red_s5_fc3s

Engine wise, nada... just minimal HP. Exterior wise, just a few things here and there, nothing important.

If you plan on using a JDM engine, you will need a USDM harness or modify your stock one. As stated before, it is much easier swaping S5 with S5 and S4 with S4.