Excuse the newb-ness in advance. I spent some time reading and searching but I'd rather just ask and have some peace of mind.

I just picked up a 10AE with 83,000 miles on it. It is stock and appears all original. Based on some digging and phone calls made to places which serviced the vehicle, it has had at most 2000 miles put on it in the last seven years. It runs and drives fine and I'm very pleased with the car. I'm looking for some thoughts and wisdom.

I plan on doing a 60k type service to the vehicle (oil and filter, spark plugs, trans fluid, brake fluid, differential fluid, coolant, wires). Obviously the car hasn't seen a lot of action over the last several years much less its entire life. Is there anything I should do or be cautious about knowing that?

I'd like to get a little more zip out of the car. Not looking to go nuts mind you, but Racing Beat saying there is 50 to 60 ponies from their full exhaust sounds about right. My state is emissions exempt as long as OBD2 is not a part of the equation. My concern here is using a simple fuel cut eliminator versus something else. I'll spring for an rtek if thats a better option. I don't really plan on going bigger turbo, running fatter injectors and doing a lot of tuning. I'm really looking for something basic which provides a fair gain while being safe.

Any advice or thoughts are certainly welcomed and thanked for in advance. And of course, if I missed an obvious thread or two, feel free to smack me on the back of the head and let me know

 

I think the most someone has gotten with a stock turbo is like 270hp. So I guess that will give you an idea of your limits. I plan on sticking with the stock turbo as well as soon and as I can afford some different management see what I can do. Probably not 270, but definitely +60hp on top of stock seems reasonable to me too.

How's your compression?

 

It is good that you'll be doing some much needed maintenance on the car. A few things to add to the list... New air filter, fuel filter, maybe even replace the fuel sock on the fuel pump, and be sure to check the condition of the belts. Visually inspect the engine, transmission, and differential mounts.

You would definitely be pleased with the Racing Beat REV TII exhaust. I wouldn't mess with a cone filter, UNLESS you're going to box it in/off and properly duct it. Look into a complete bushing kit. It is a bit of work to install, but very reasonably priced. Healthy suspension goes a LONG way when it comes to performance. If you're feeling ambitious, port the wastegate on your turbo.

This is a great wastegate porting link. -> Aaron Cake's EXTREME S4 Wastgate Porting

You were talking about possibly going with an RTek. The stage 1.5 would work just fine for your set-up. There are some great benefits to this ECU upgrade.

RTek7 ECU Upgrade; Detailed Information

 

What happens if you put a cone filter on? I had temporarily put one on because of fitment issues with the box and terrible mounting of a crappy ebay radiator from the previous owner. It seems to be running just the same with the box filter..

 

A cone filter, without being boxed-in and ducted, will pull in hot air from the engine bay, radiator, etc...The stock air box works great. A cone filter has it's benefits... As long as it is boxed-in and ducted properly. Like the pics in the link below.

fast87t2's Custom Air Box


This is my air duct. I never got around to building an air box while I took these photos. It gives you an idea of a good duct spot, though.

dwb87's air duct

 

That sounds wildly optimistic to me.

Yeah, funny thing about that.
Next time someone rags on your "unboxed" cone filter ask 'em to prove the box makes a difference.
Don't accept butt dyno results or internet consensus, see what else they got.

 

ohh, thats what you meant. Yeah I saw your thread a while back. I was planning on doing something like that, but since the cone was only suppose to be temporary i tossed that idea away. But since then i decided not to keep my engine stock. Thanks for the links

 

If you do get 50 ponies from the RB exhaust, it will be due to boost creep, especially if you add the cone filter. Then you will hit fuel cut often which is very unrewarding. If you then add a FCD, then you get a busted apex seal.

Welcome to the Rotary.

Port your wategate and you won't get that 50 ponies. You will get faster spool.

Clean your grounds, verify your fuel pump voltages.

Good luck!

 

Love these builds (if you can call them that)

Perfect route for a 10AE in my opinion. Keeping it mainly stock so it's not just another heavily modified 7, but some go-fast bits here and there to keep it interesting. Good luck with it!

 

i built a car like what the OP is proposing, and it turned out to be a lot of fun.

i did an S4 turbo, RB exhaust, FCD. i used an FD fuel pump, as the FC's fuel system doesn't have enough margin.

i also used an S5 turbo, which has better response, and doesn't boost creep. although the Rx7 people have to be the only people in the world who buy a turbo car and turn the boost down!

i did do more fuel mods, but it didn't need it...

 

Compression seems fine. I haven't hooked up my tester (its an actual RE compression tester from mazda) but the car starts and idles perfectly, gets 22mpg and seems to accelerate fine. My experience with older rx7s would make me think the engine is probably healthy.

A question for the rtek crowd which I couldn't seem to have answered through searching; is it plug and play once you get the computer back? Is the base map on it set to provide fuel in the event of overboost from the list free flowing exhaust?

I saw someone reference using an s5 turbo, which requires the equivalent manifold, correct? You can't mix and match is my understanding.

Thanks for the advice folks

 

yes the Rtek is plug and play, the default map IS the factory map. this is nice because you just tweak what is already there (vs starting from nothing, like other ecu's), the downside is that the overboost fuel is the same as stock.

yes you need the S5 manifold and turbo. makes a big difference actually, and its pretty easy and cheap these days.

 

I don't believe it will add 59 HP... That is what they claim on their website, though. I wonder where those results are posted.

You would think a boxed cone filter with sufficient ducting would be far better than an unboxed cone filter. clokker, you're infamous for switching up intakes and filters... Have not noticed a difference?

If you use the Stage 1.5 for your set-up, it will be plug N' play. It has a built in FCD, will increase the primary injector duty cycle cap by ~5%, retard timng above ~9psi; ~1 degree per PSI, etc etc... This information is all on their website. Any other information you need answered, they will gladly answer over the phone.

You can use the S5 turbo and S5 turbo manifold on a S4 block. The S5 turbo manifold and wastegate is superior. (I run the S5 manifold + S5 turbo and ported both wastegates on my S4 13BT block. )

 

it was in the printed catalog for 25 years..... they had charts with the wastegate disconnected too.

however, the Rev II system is different from the earlier versions (there are about 7 different ones). the early systems are 80mm and the newer ones are 3", which is smaller. also the Y split on the new systems is not as good.

so maybe it adds 58hp instead of 59.....

 

https://www.rx7club.com/forum/showth...6#post10680566

read my thread, it is just what your looking for.

tii exhaust
ported wastegate
rtek pcm

pulls good, lots of pepp and a blast to drive

 

haha ^

7 different REV TII's throughout the years?? Wow. How much older are the 80mm systems?

Whatever it may add, I know I love this exhaust. For your set-up Captain KRM, this exhaust will definitely not fail to meet your needs.

 

at least, there a bunch of different muffler cans, and tips. the black painted ones are all 80mm.

 

I agree, that is what one would think.
In practice, no, I couldn't tell any difference at all.

This leads me to a few conclusions:
-My butt is numb and therefore not suitable as a measuring device.
-What happens between the throttle body and the AFM is more important than what's on the filter end.
-My car is weird/petulant and ignores my imprecations.

All three may be true and I'd love to be proven wrong about any of them, but it will take more than "you would think" to convince me.

 

thanks for the advice everyone. looks like i'll be going with the RB exhaust, an rtek and i'll see if i can track down an S5 turbo/manifold combination. i sell mazda performance parts for a living so i get a decent discount on the RB stuff, and i have a company that does performance rebuilds on the turbos for me, so i may explore that route as well.

 

Sounds like you've got a good plan and aren't doing what most other people do, which is throw parts on it until it pops.

RB exhaust
Rtek
S5 turbo

And I'd run an FD fuel pump or a Walbro, just for a little safety.

 

You would think a boxed cone filter with sufficient ducting would be far better than an unboxed cone filter. clokker, you're infamous for switching up intakes and filters... Have not noticed a difference?

I agree, that is what one would think.
In practice, no, I couldn't tell any difference at all.

The way I look at it is this.

If my turbo can draw 60lbs/min of air at full power, I believe that would be about 12 cubic feet a second.

A typical "cold air" air box holds less than 1 cubic foot.

After the first 10th of a second the turbo is drawing air from anywhere and everywhere it can.

If you have the box completely sealed from the engine bay with inlets then you incur the losses in efficiency from pumping losses, but do gain some efficiency back from lower intake charge. Just not enough to cover the pumping losses.

If you have any gaps in your air box the turbo draws air from the path of least resistance, your engine bay.

If cold air intakes were so great on a turbo car, why do we such gains by taking off the restrictive stock ducted air boxes and hanging a big filter off the turbo right behind the radiator?

I data logged a difference in 1psi of boost @2,000rpm (2psi to 3psi) just from going from a 3" tube with 3" inlet filter to my current 3" tube to 6" velocity stack and 6" inlet filter.

 

But to the original poster-

I would recommend keeping the stock air box to limit boost creep if you do go with the Racing Beat exhaust and Fuel Cut Defender.

I would also recommend a S5 turbo with ported wastegates and back cut back plate.