hi, guys, wonder what you would choose if you only can pick one.

 

S5 TII

 

Just bought a S5 TurboII, thats what I needed the window switch for.

Incredibly mint, $8k.

 

why? GTUs is rare, collectible, but I know TII is fast when boost kicks in.

 

GTUs is sweet for what it is but i've had enough NA's
besides, i would/will add an aftermarket 4.30 ring and pinion to the TII rear end and have a little of both worlds.

 

i'd say go for the TII, that's what i'd do... but for now, it's all good... me and my little black gxl

 

Yo,


GTUs or TII? Hmm...I wonder which one I'll pick...

GTUs!!

*grin* Yeah, big surprise.

Fong, it depends on what you want to do with the car...and how much money you have to spend.

I chose the GTUs because I was a big fan of the Porsche 944S2 and I like the formula of "Everything the turbo has...without the turbo." Get all the good stuff, brakes, suspension, etc...without the complexity and cost of a turbo.

You definitely need to factor in cost into your equation. With a turbo, there is no limit on how much money you can spend on the vehicle. There are a few guys here that have spent 20-30K on their turbo FC's. The sky (and your wallet) is the limit. There will always be a bigger turbo, bigger injectors, better ECU out there. It's a slippery slope that usually leads to multiple blown motors.

I, for one, do not have a grand laying around for when I run lean and detonate a motor. If you were going to keep your TII /stock/, and do some reliability mods...then I'm sure you will have many years of trouble free motoring. The problem is...no one keeps their cars stock...that's why the word "Jspec" is in our vocabulary.

On the other hand, if you are on a budget and want to get all the handling, braking, and RWD goodness that the FC has to offer...without worrying about anything other than your driving skill...then the GTUs is a great choice. I've had mine for 20,000 miles of 8000rpm+ operation...with nary a hiccup. I just put oil and gas into it...and go.

The chassis is so competent that I don't feel the need to go crazy on the power dept. I've thrown some simple bolt-ons, but nothing major. Maybe one day I'll go with a huge ported motor, a true dual exhaust and a S-AFC...but until then I'm very happy with my car.

Other than cost, you need to look at what you want to do with it. If you want to drag race, stoplight race on the street, go to the illegals...the GTUs isn't the greatest choice. The TII would be better because it has this little thing called "torque". Oh, and the extra horsepower is nice too. *grin*

But if you want a lighter, better handling car...then the GTUs would be your choice. Autocross, track events, touge...all are its forte.

Again, it comes down to cost and use.

Okay, that's my speech for today. *grin*

Kevin
1989 GTUs "Rainy day at work..."

 

Thats true to an extent, but thats why you set a plan for the car in the first place. I'll be leaving my TurboII close enough to stock to keep it reliable without too many electronics, and leave my goal at 200rwhp, quiet and smog legal.

Who cares about costs anyway.

 

Yo,


Neo, that's a good goal to set...how long you keep it there...once that Boost Bug bites...we'll see. *grin*

Any pics of your new ride? What color? Front lip?

Kevin
1989 GTUs "Pics!"

 

The GTU-S should feel much more "connected" to the road and may caress you a bit more. You'll also enjoy the ULTRA-WIDE RPM band which equates to better streetability and fun with city & small town driving.

The TII has more raw power, better handling around the curves, and amenities, but throttle responce is not as wide/subtle as the GTU-S. You have to feather the throttle a bit more and adjust your driving style a bit to make it feel comfortable on the street.

Either way, you'll like either one.

Lastly - I should mention the convertible is one of the BEST CONVERTIBLES ever made. Many raving reviews of how fun the drop-top is being a sports car.

 

thanks for the speech, Kevin. I think u r true about many things. maybe just like spraintz said, change turbo rear end to 4.30 ratio. here we go, get a combination of both! however, it is still not one of those 1500 that mazda made. I just wonder how far we can go with n/a motor, in terms of modification. we can add a supercharger to n/a motor. ding, we go a "turbo" car too.

anyone else would like to vote?

 

I'll definately keep my goal, I have to have one car that passes smog. =)

Its black, I have a genuine FEED front lip. Maybe I'll post photos later, I want to get some rims first, but no one seems to be even reading my thread in the Suspension/Wheels forum.

Right now I'm just fixing every little thing, replacing all the cracked plastic and lots of new interior things here and there... typical FC problems.

 

My choice would be the T2, just because it still handles great and is almost 2 seconds quicker to 60 and the 1/4 mile. You will definantly notice this.


Either way, you really cant go wrong , both of these cars are great

 

Oh, here we go again . Basically being apart of team GTUs my self I am going to lean (non pop my motor lean) toward the N/A. Basically I agree with RarestRX and to add my GTUs has 173k miles and I am the third owner who has raced it. The first two owners only used it for a couple of events here and there. But I on the other hand have beat the s**t out of it both street and track/auto-x, and it took me to and from Sevenstock (approx 550miles one way) and back again (To Sevenstock and Back a N/A’s Tale ). And to answer you question about how high you can pump up the motor, as Mad Max put it, Speed is a bi-product of money, how fast do you want to go? (or something like that).

 

GTUs

 

Yo,



Well said.

Kevin
1989 GTUs "So /that's/ how quote works!"

 

I think that I would like the GTUs better, although I think that the S4 GTU and S4 Sport is better than any of the S5 cars. When I decided to thin out my RX-7 collection, the TII was the first to go. The TII was fast and all, but it handled like a pig compared to the non-turbo RX-7's, and simply was not as much fun.

If you are asking this question because you are interested in buying one of these cars for yourself, you should get whatever YOU like. Here are some general guidelines:

Drag racers and mad-quick shift yo drifters like the TII.

Road racers and autocrossers like the non-turbo, especially models without a sunroof.

In most cases, non-turbo cars get much louder with horsepower increases than do turbocharged cars. For example, a 300 hp turbocharged RX-7 is very streetable, while a 300 hp non-turbo RX-7 is entirely too loud. High-performance non-turbo engines also have a more difficult time passing emissions testing.

While rare, the GTUs cars only have "collector" value in the minds of their owners. Maybe some day they will be worth something, but not today. Don't pay extra for the "collector value" which does not exist. The same goes for the 10th Anniversary model.

Basic insurance coverage is usually exactly the same for all RX-7 coupes 1979-1992, regardless of the engine. Full coverage insurance is generally more expensive for more expensive models.

Spending $3,000 - 10,000 on a supercharger or turbocharger add-on to your non-turbo car is not very practical considering that a TII only sells for a few hundred dollars more, and comes with a stronger driveline.

 

uhh.. TII handled like a pig because your suspension was toast?

That's my feeling right now - with the vert handing like a champ (110K) and the TII needing new bushings (150K)

 

Running total;
GTUs 4 votes
TII 5 votes
Does not matter/undecided 2
C’mon N/A people speak up. Hehe jk

 

Convertible !!!

 

GTUs

This from a guy who traded his modded t2 for a stock GTUs.

 

Running total;
GTUs 5 votes
TII 5 votes
Does not matter/undecided: 2
Convertable: 1
Minus the convertable that is what I am talking about

 

GTUs. i have a TII and its a piece of **** but maybe thats an operator error

 

S5TII are the ****, its the poor mans 3rd gen. The parts alone are worth it. If money is no object get the GTU and make it bad *** but, lets face it rx7's are not muscle cars so who gives a **** about rare.

 

Yes, the TII suspension was toast, but the car still handled poorly when compared to an NA with toasted suspension. The extra weight was the main problem IMO. Also, I am much older than the average person on this forum, and have actually driven these cars back when they were new, so I do have a fairly good idea how they are supposed to drive when stock. Everything else being equal, the lighter NA is always going to handle better than the heavier TII, and that's just plain physics. Back when I was autocrossing in the stock category, it was not uncommon for a non-turbo RX-7 to turn in the fastest time of the day, beating out every other car at the event, turbocharged or not.

Just for some added trivia, my racing partner feels the same way about the TII, and sold his so he could concentrate on his NA cars. I ended up selling my TII to that buyer's cousin about a year later. It's a small world afterall.

BTW, other than the handling issue, I agree with everything else you wrote earlier. The convertible gets a bad rap when compared to the coupe's performance, but it is still one of the better convertible sportscars ever produced.

LOL, that does bring up a good point. The TII does require more maintenance, as well as better driving skills. Anything can be considered a POS if the owner does not have the time or money to maintain it properly, or if the owner has difficulty driving it.

Although my personal opinion favors the GTUs, others may prefer the TII or other RX-7, as they are all excellent cars (not that I'm biased, LOL).

I would love to reply my true feelings to that statement, but then I would have to ban myself.