Ice_Wolf

Well, I've been doing a little research lately and trying to decide which RX-7 would best suit my purposes. Obviously I want to in the end be turbo because that's basically the only way to get real power out of a rotary, but I'm wondering body, suspension, driveline, and interior wise what my best choice is going to be. Obviously to start with the Turbo II would seem to be the best bet since it comes with the much stronger turbo drivetrain and with the best brakes and suspension out of all the models. Now, you've also got the GXL with the luxury interior and AAS, but other than that it's inferior to the TII unless you like the flat wing and smaller rims. Pretty much the only other models worth discussing would be the GTU and GTUs since they had the TII suspension and brake packages IIRC, but didn't have the power windows and "power lock" mechanicsms. Basically they were the "track" trim levels of the RX-7. My only real question is this. I thought I remember reading something about one of the N/A differentials being better than the TII one, but I wasn't sure if it was just because of it's gearing or what. Other than that, I believe the TII was superior in every way - transmission, driveshaft, axles, engine, cooling system, etc. Anyone got anything to add to this?

spot_skater

Turbo II is superior in every way, except for weight, and the GTU-S' 4.3 rear end (which is NOT as strong as a TII rear).

I think you've already made your choice, bro. Go with the TII. Don't worry about wheels and suspension and **** like that, you're gonna wind up going aftermarket anyway...IMO. Suspension is probably shot by now, etc.

James

Sideways7

iTrader: (7)

The NA diff is definitely not superior to the TII diff. As spot_skater said, the only thing better is the extremely rare 4.3 diff. And even that isn't necessarily better. Sure it might slightly boost your acceleration, but it also hurts your gas mileage.

If you want it turbocharged, the ONLY way to go is to just get the turbo. Otherwise you will spend WAY more time and money just to come out with a pseudo-TII.

KhanArtisT

iTrader: (2)

FYI, S5 GXLs come with the TII suspension and 4 piston calipers stock. IMO if you're more into auto x-ing and road racing and want to spend less money get an N/A. If you're into a little of both get the TII. If its a weekend/race/fun car though by all means get the TII. I daily drive my GXL and beat the **** out of it on any twisty back roads I can find and it hasn't let me down so far. Its a blast but if I had a nice garage and a decent daily I wouldn't be able to stand the lack of power coming out of turns...TII FTW

anewconvert

iTrader: (1)

in an NA that statement would be correct, but with a turbo the 4.3:1 rear would probably hurt acceleration. The 4.3:1 wouldn't load up the engine as much, so boost would come on later and might not peak until near redline, if at all. With a stock turbo that might not be an issue, but with a larger turbo it would. In any case the 4.3 isnt a TII rear end and wouldnt hold up to a lot of power either way.


BC

Sideways7

iTrader: (7)

That couldn't be more wrong. ALL NA's come with an NA tranny. Period.
As for what andrew said, I dunno. The Infini model came with the 4.3 rear end and it seems to be desirable for drag racing types. I don't see it making enough difference to really do much to turbo spool times, but I dunno. Anyway, the only way to get it for a turbo diff is to get it from an Infini, which don't exactly exist over here.

adrock3217

Sir, you quoted someone that said "GXL's some with T2 suspension", and then talked about transmissions...


I think ya may want to revisit your post :-D


Oh and, as far as I know (I'm sure a rotary god will come tell me I'm wrong, but ohhh well), the only models which had the "heavy duty", as Mazda called it, suspension, are:

88 GTU
89-91 GTUs
87-91 Turbo

The sport model may have had it, but I'm not positive.

RB_eater

iTrader: (1)

Isn't the GTUs the sport model? Or were you indicating plural?

Icemark

Sorta Right...

The complete heavy duty suspension was found only on the

86-87 Sport
87-88 Turbo
88 GTU
88 Convertible

But parts of the heavy duty suspension also found on the

86-88 GXL
89-91 Turbo
89-91 convertible


The 89-90 GTUs used the same exact suspension as all the other 89-91 non turbo coupes. The GTUs only used the 89-91 Turbos wheels and brakes.

No, all S5 non turbo coupes including the 89-90 GXL had the same exact suspension.

Icemark

No. For GTU models, there was the 88 GTU, the 89-90 GTU and the 89-90 GTUs (note the small "S")

All three were different models, although the 88 GTU and the 89-90 GTUs were the most simular of the three and the Sport model of its year. The 89-90 GTU however was the strippy base model of it's years.

RB_eater

iTrader: (1)

Yeah I knew s5 GTU meant base and that the ''s'' meant sport model, my post was more of an ironic question (I misread his post). Seriously though, you seam to be and endless source of small details which is why I always find your post worth reading.

Ice_Wolf

Yea, I figured the only things that had the possibility of being better than the turbo parts were the 4.3 differential and the interior. The differential would only be useful for drag racing really since it's geared so high. Really the interior on the GXL isn't that much better, it's just more often than not it was leather and had the thicker carpet and extra sound deadening material. But also the turbo models had the differential steering wheel and shift ****, so it's really not that huge of a deal. And obviously about the weight factor - the turbos are going to weigh more because they have the extra turbo parts, a small price to pay for the extra power. Never knew anything about that "heavy duty" suspension before. At least now I know that the TII is superior in every way than the N/A. Thanks for the information guys.

KhanArtisT

iTrader: (2)

lay off that pipe..

sonorous7

If that's what you think, then please revisit this topic. As you pointed out, there's the weight factor, not to mention reliability and economy. There will be pros and cons to any model/trim. You have to figure out what your goal is and get what suits you.


Hold on there Chief! It's not just the turbo goodies that added on those extra pounds; many turbos also came fully loaded. While their extra power makes up for that extra weight in terms of acceleration, what does it do for deceleration or handling? If you're looking for a track car, find yourself an s4 base or sport with no sunroof, no a/c, no p/s, etc. and turbo that! Light AND fast! I think it was called the GT outside the U.S.

But again, it all depends on your goals. The TII is a great model and if you know you want to go turbo in the end, then it makes the most sense to get one. It's already set up for that. Whatever you do, have fun!

TehMonkay

iTrader: (-1)

The heavy duty suspension is just springs swaybars and shocks right? Or is there any other odd things that are different?

Ice_Wolf

Obviously yes, the turbo is going to weigh more because it also came with power windows, sunroof, A/C, P/S, etc. I want the sunroof, power windows, and locks though. Those are things that would be much harder to install than to just remove the A/C and P/S. Also, the turbo models had the option on S4's I believe to not have P/S anyways, and it's not like the A/C isn't hard to remove along with the P/S.

Reliability and economy won't be an issue for the fact that if I do get a turbo car, it's going to be a "weekend only" car for nice days. I've got an N/A 86 GXL now that I use for my daily car.

In my case, the turbo will suit me best since it has all of what I need, and only a few things that I don't want. I'm pretty sure that the little extra weight the turbo cars have won't affect the handling much since they have the upgraded suspension, not to mention all the RX-7's were designed to have the nearly perfect 50/50 weight distribution. Obviously deceleration is going to be different with the turbo compared to N/A, but also the acceleration from the turbo model is going to be much better, and it's that extra power that I want.

If I was going to build a "track" car, it would be a S4 with a turbo drivetrain and without all the goodies. But in the case of doing that, I'd be building a stripped Civic Hatch with a B18 in it rather than a RX-7.

The S4 turbo model, and namely the 87-88 years, is going to be what I'm looking for from the looks of it. I feel it will best suit my needs. Thanks for the help guys.

digitalightkenz

I am not trying to hate or anything, but dont Mazda Honda? and on the bottom of your signature it says: why need Pistons? and you want to build a B18?

sorry.

digitalightkenz

KhanArtisT

iTrader: (2)

Damn, could've sworn I read that somewhere. Learn something everyday

CarzArKoo1

go with your judgement, Still a FC, beside GTU or TII will give you the same look if you modify it. For me is more like handling =), speed it depends on they drive the FC.

inflatablepets

I suggest getting the nicest of whatever is available in youre area. It's getting harder to find nice clean S5TII's. I know because I've been looking for a couple years now. Nonetheless the N/A cars with mods are still a blast to drive. I figure my power is around that of a stock T-II and is a blast to drive.

Good luck and happy "rotoring"

Edit: Plus it's hard to find any RX-7's with only 50k miles, which is why I went with N/A.

CarzArKoo1

N/A boost would be down shift from 4th gear to 3rd gear and rev high. yeah!!! rotory can rev high anyway. Do it at your own risk.

Ice_Wolf

digitalightkenz, sad that your first post had to be a critical one. I do like rotary motors better than piston motors, but if I'm going to build a car without power windows and all that jazz, it's going to be a stripped Civic Hatch with a B18. Not only would it be very very light, but decently powerful with a B18 backing it, and not to mention a cheap go-fast car. Also, this would be for the front wheel drive dirt track races. Last time I checked, RX-7's were rear wheel drive. I like to have power options and a car that I can enjoy to my specifications. I don't want a "track" car.

Obviously yes, the cars are going to look basically the same if you modify them since they all used the same base body. Only thing different was the wings, front and rear bumpers, trim, taillights, mirrors, side skirts, and rims.

It's not that I don't like my GXL I have now and in fact I love it the way it is as my daily driver. It gets great gas mileage and runs very smoothly and has enough power that if I feel like running it hard down the highway it's just what I need and is a blast to drive. My reasoning for a TII would be the extra power for possible track use, not to mention I'd be a "fun" car only.

I agree, it is getting hard to find decent condition RX-7's, and the one I have now is rust free. If I am unable to find a good TII, I'll probably end up turbo swapping my GXL. Mine had 79k on it when I bought it and it's got close to 109k on it now and many many miles left in it. I'll probably end up running the 13B until it blows and figure out what to do with the car then. After that time I'll be out of school and have much more time and money to put into the car if I feel the need.