^^ heh heh

 

i say come to the dark side, if you havent heard they have cookies now

but seriously go with a v8. especially if the chassis you got has none of the turbo parts. itll nickle and dime the **** outta your pocket book. i ended up shelling out an extra ~500 bucks do to buying this here and that there. you need to buy the whole lot at once.

i wenthru 3 motors, that included the stock one and rebuilding my turbo one, before i decided it was time to go v8. although this had nothing to do with the engine not working right, but rather getting any help working all the kinks out with it wasnt running right. and when i first got the car i told myself id never do a v8 swap. and a year and a half later theres a sbc sitting on the engine stand

 

I got into the 7 scene intending to do a v8 swap, and have spent some time in gt500's (08's). And I'd say keep the rotary, it's a more challenging driving experience to pull through a corner without any torque!

Do what ever will make you happiest, one note is to watch for insurance, no idea how it works down south.

 

not sure how it works there either but from my knowledge it goes by the vin so it doesnt matter what engine you stick in it.

 

What if you can work on a rotary but decide you don't want to?
What can you do- and what would it cost- to bring a 13B N/A over 300 rwhp?

@novaboy...
Interfacing the stock gauges with the V-8 is actually a quite simple, well documented process.
Certainly no more complex than swapping S5 gauges into a S4 (or vice-versa).
Both the FC and the FD have mechanical speedos and most modern transmissions don't have provisions for them, so either an aftermarket "smart" speedo or something like an Integra speedo must be used.
Again, fairly easy to do and well covered on the darkside forum.

As for handling, well, that depends on what you're doing with the car.
In a street car with already decent suspension- say Tokicos or KYBs and some RB springs- you'll notice little to no difference in handling.
My swapped FD ended up ten pounds lighter than the rotary FD- haven't corner weighted it and have no doubt the balance has been somewhat altered but she handles just fine in normal conditions.

If you're tracking the car, you'd go through the same process- and spend the same money- no matter which engine was installed, so that's a wash.

@everyone else...
If you're considering a swap- to rotary turbo or V-8- you owe it to yourself to hunt down an example and cadge a ride (even better, a drive) and see what you think.

 

Having had a C5 Z06, I was bored with it in 6 months. I've had my FD over 2 years, and now have an FC because imo, a million times more fun, especially with the rotary. I understand people's want to go to a V8 but...
1. cost for cost, it's pretty much a wash, or the rotary will be cheaper, at least from my research
2. Like Novaboy009 said, I'd bet fully 90% of the blown rotaries are either built/tuned by retards, pushed far beyond their means, etc

 

How does this explain the great number of RX-8s whose motors needed replacement?

 

^ But FC's don't have renesis engines? Sooo WTF is your point?

 

jesus i can see this thread getting outta hand fast. all the kiddies that love to not be able to drive their cars are gunna start gettin mad about the fact of people wanting to do a v8 swap.

in fact it seems as soon as any single person on here even thinks about it all the nay sayers are right there.,

 

I'm not hating on it, like I said, I see the reason people want to do it. I'm just saying for me personally, I think it's pointless. Why buy a rotary car just to make it not rotary? There's plenty of engine-less 240sx, 240Z, 350Z, AE86, Camaros, Vettes, etc, etc to swap a V8 into.

 

My point is that the Renesis is what the 13B turned into with 20 years of development by the factory...and still they died in droves.

Looking back at my time on this forum I see an almost institutional response to new owners- or new potential owners- when they ask about their engines.
Any unit near 100k miles and the advice is always "Be prepared for a full rebuild".

Fact is, we implicitly acknowledge the relative fragility of our engines all the time here...it's only in discussions like this one where suddenly "rotary reliability" becomes a virtue attributed to the motor.

 

The only link that matters:

http://www.norotors.com/index.php/topic,1274.0.html

Use the link to gauge whether you want to dive into either swap.

You can junk an LS1 just as easily as you can junk a 13b, it all depends on how well you take care of the engine. I'm keeping my FC rotary, but will eventually pick up an FD roller to do blasphemous things with.

 

please be mature about this. and give facts and opinion. rotary is awesome but better is better. just because you don't like it don't mean its bad. to the op here is some basic FACTS. not crap out of my mouth.


engine #1
more power
more torque
parts are cheap
easy to find
most mechanics know how to fix it or repair it
better gas millage
can handle more abuse
looks cool
make for great sleepers

engine #2
different or unique
has higher rev
power to size ratio is better

engine #1
about 50 pounds heavier but loosing weight balances it and and it does not matter those 50 pounds don't make a big difference to all that power

people that are immature will say you took the soul out of the car. which is stupid cars don't have souls so that is not a good point just someones .02 cents

engine #2
expensive to make reliable
expensive to fix
expensive to maintain
most need to be rebuild
have problems
hard to find someone local to fix it if you don't know how
parts are rare and have to be shipped
has low torque
bad gas millage
smells
burns oil
bad for ozone (not that i care)


which engine would you pick?

 

you guys forgot about the 2jz swap....

 

I vote that you go 20b NA and be done with it.

At the end of the day it's your decision and nobody else's. Opinions are like a$$holes........

I believe that rotary engines have a bad reputation because people abuse and neglect them. Do that to any engine in any car and you'll get the same or similar results (blown piston, thrown rod, chipped or broken apex seal, etc.)

I had an 87 TII back in the mid 90's and I dogged the crap out of it, with no major failures. It did catch on fire because we couldn't afford to get it fixed (leaking injector or pulsation damper). I never blamed the car, I accepted full responsibility for the fire, the neglect, and now I am a proud owner of a 91 na that I've recently swapped to a jdm TII.

One last point......... You can get any engine in bad shape, so whatever you decide to go with pay a little extra and get the engine that is in better shape from the start. That alone will save you money, blood, sweat, and tears in the long run.

 

imagine having a badass 1970 camaro or other chevy car to fit that LS into.... Its a good engine, but i just dont think it holds its value in a rx7.
I just think you can find a car that would be more valued for the swap.

Any desire for suspension or handling mods to be added with it?

I say pass on the idea.

 

-1 to the v8 swap. I hate v8 swaps. If you wanted a v8, buy a car with a v8. If you cant work on a rotary, you cant work on a v8.

 

i've been driving around my buddies 5.9L dakota r/t for the last few days
if i decide to keep the rx7, it's getting a v8 probably.
torque = awesome.

 

Nothing beats the feeling you get from pwning some V8 powered machine with a 1.3L turbo engine......... lol

 

a 13b isn't that hard to make reliable. check the oil. don't rev the **** out of it till its warm. look at ur gauges. no doubt they can rev all day but the redline is still there for a reason. if u want some huge roots type supercharger people have put them on rotaries.

 

At stock horsepower levels, I totally agree.
My '91 is about to break 200k.

Now, lets compare apples to apples...
How's that 13B doing at the 300+ HP level...that's where a bone stock LS starts.
Would you be referring to the kits that cycle through the classifieds about every 9 months?

 

....."Cheap reliable power"....


Why would one own a 20 year old sports car when they want cheap and reliable and easy.


I give it another 20 years when the majority of the surviving rx-7's have been hacked into a "easy power" v8.

But I guess there's true enthusiasts, and those who just want more power. I agree with the above, why would you buy a car designed around a unique engine, when your just going to camaro-ize it.

-Just stating my opinion.

 

I didn't realize old cars were supposed to be expensive, high strung and difficult.

Please, don't let my car know this.

 

I daily drive my rotary vert. It's been dead nuts reliable and well taken care of. I have a '78 Nova that I use to bracket race. I've had about 6 engines in that car of varying power levels. Most of them used and abused. Shockingly, winging 30 year old stock shortblocks up to 6800 rpm and beating the crap out of junk parts tends to make engines break. Does that mean a small chevy is a bad motor? No, it just means that I was beating on junk, had a bad tune, and/or operator error (not enough valve spring, set main bearings too tight, etc).

I bought a GM performance parts crate engine. The car has been running for about 2 years now with that engine, bracket racing most Saturday's. It's new, not abused (5200 rpm shift point) and it works.

Whenever you modify things they become less reliable. Rotarys aren't bad motors from the factory. They're just typically old, abused and modified beyond their means. A solid LS will make the power without the headache/heartache but if a stock turbo 2 will do it for you, then leave it alone!