View Poll Results: Should I:
Buy a N/A and give up the TII dream.



17
14.17%
Buy a N/A and plan on swapping to TII, despite the possible difficulties (I love working on cars, so this wouldn't be too bad...)



31
25.83%
Search long and hard for a decent TII (even if it needs some mechanical work)



72
60.00%
Voters: 120. You may not vote on this poll
What it all comes down to: N/A vs. T2 vs. N/A-T2 swap
Full Member
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 136
Likes: 0
From: Columbus, GA/ Phenix City AL
Sure it would be great if everyone that wanted a TII could find one for a reasonable price, but most of you are forgetting about young drivers on insurance with a turboed rotary.
You know what's funny...you guys should ask for an insurance quote for both vehicles.  I dunno if it's just me, but I went through two insurers for my FC and BOTH of them quoted me the same price for non-turbo or turbo...
-Ted
-Ted
If you cant afford $20 more a month, how the HELL are you gonna pay for a TII swap? 
You do know that the insurance company will drop your coverage and deny your claim if they find out the car is not reported as a turbo, right?

You do know that the insurance company will drop your coverage and deny your claim if they find out the car is not reported as a turbo, right?
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 10,630
Likes: 3
From: NY, MA, MI, OR, TX, and now LA or AZ!
Well, if you consider i bought the car with no engine (thus subtracting a lot off engine costs) and it came with a T2 tranny & ecu & knock sensor, then all the parts for it (other than engine, needed regardless) So far it's run me under that cost, including gauges. So, add that to the cost difference between an NA engine and the turbo engine I bought and it comes around $250 or so, so for me it runs around there.
Full Member
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 171
Likes: 0
From: Vancouver / Brandon
Originally posted by yayarx7
I would have to say that the benifits one would see from converting a NA to T2 would only be noticed at the race track. No not the drag strip, the road course. I have only heard of real hardcore racers worring about dash weights, sunroof weights and the like. They are constrained by the rules and running similar setups to everyone else, so they MUST find every ounce available to them. As well as every minute amount of horsepower available by the rules.
But for a street car? instead of working your butt off, trying to loose that 12lbs of sound deadner in your spare tire well, why don't you add a 5 or 6 horsepower mod? There are no rules and I know very, very few people with their cars so efficient and so tuned to the max that they need hundreds of dollars for the next 5 to 20 horses.
I would have to say that the benifits one would see from converting a NA to T2 would only be noticed at the race track. No not the drag strip, the road course. I have only heard of real hardcore racers worring about dash weights, sunroof weights and the like. They are constrained by the rules and running similar setups to everyone else, so they MUST find every ounce available to them. As well as every minute amount of horsepower available by the rules.
But for a street car? instead of working your butt off, trying to loose that 12lbs of sound deadner in your spare tire well, why don't you add a 5 or 6 horsepower mod? There are no rules and I know very, very few people with their cars so efficient and so tuned to the max that they need hundreds of dollars for the next 5 to 20 horses.
Thats absolutely the most rediculous thing ive heard... The reason people reduce weight, is because it doesnt cost you 1000 bucks to take stuff out of your car, where as it will often take that much to get good power. Saying people dont worry about weight at the dragstrip is proposterous. If not we'd all be driving mustangs, with 500+ horse power.. but we dont need to, becuase of the power to rate ratio. Line up with a motor bike, and we'll see who will win... Their engines are generally smaller then ours. I think that weight reduction is one of the best mod's you can make its free, and it makes a huge difference....
just my 0.02 cents
Another thing I get so sick of hearing is "100lbs only takes 1/10th off 1/4 mile, why bother w/ weight reduction." Guess what there is more to performance than 1/4 mile acceleration! The RX-7 is a very well rounded car and its good (for its time-now FWD economy cars are equal) acceleration is just one small facet. Some drivers are capable of exploiting the other areas of performance the RX-7 has to offer and when turning and braking weight plays a huge factor. Why does a race prepped 460 hp 2nd gen beat an equally prepped 900hp R34 Skyline on the Tsukuba circuit? I bet weight has a little to do w/ it. I think alot of TII owners get intoxicated by the power available and fixate on it to the detriment of the rest of the cars performance. Another reason to get an NA first- so you appreciate and learn the limits of the chassis and then TII conversion it so you can appreciate the added power as well.
Originally posted by RETed
You know what's funny...you guys should ask for an insurance quote for both vehicles.  I dunno if it's just me, but I went through two insurers for my FC and BOTH of them quoted me the same price for non-turbo or turbo...
You know what's funny...you guys should ask for an insurance quote for both vehicles.  I dunno if it's just me, but I went through two insurers for my FC and BOTH of them quoted me the same price for non-turbo or turbo...

BTW, I would also like to mention that I think that the NA-TII conversion is a bad idea, and the weight issue is silly.
Weight IS silly on a STREET CAR. My car is a STREET CAR that sees occasional track time. There are very few RACE CARS on this forum. RACE CARS are a single purpose, no compromise machine. So no PS, PW, or AC is neccessary.
Go ahead and drive around like a fool sweating your *** off and losing your hearing before you're thirty. You should spend your time learning to drive the ******* car better.
Go ahead and drive around like a fool sweating your *** off and losing your hearing before you're thirty. You should spend your time learning to drive the ******* car better.
want one?
YOU WANT A TII, I'LL GIVE YOU ONE FOR $1500, great body, chassis strong, and no rust, just a little on the sunroof. car has new paint, looks great, and new tires, TII rims look perfect. why would i give this beauty up u ask? Well, im leaving for the army in june, and i plan on getting a third gen, or maybe the rx8 afterwards. the problem is that the car has engine problems. i dont really have the time, or money to invest into it. i have a N/A as well, and that car sucks my money. if i wasnt leaving, i'd sell the n/a and buy a new motor for the TII. the car runs and drives, and i got the car to idle by itself, so with maybe a lil more tlc that i cant give it, it could work out for you. i drove the car from mass, and ran good on the highway. so u can drove her home. turbo works great too. sounds so good, too bad that i cant take care of her, i just want some one who will take good care of her. E-MAIL ME AT VWKID2K@YAHOO.COM
Originally posted by Felix Wankel
Weight IS silly on a STREET CAR. My car is a STREET CAR that sees occasional track time. There are very few RACE CARS on this forum. RACE CARS are a single purpose, no compromise machine. So no PS, PW, or AC is neccessary.
Go ahead and drive around like a fool sweating your *** off and losing your hearing before you're thirty. You should spend your time learning to drive the ******* car better.
Weight IS silly on a STREET CAR. My car is a STREET CAR that sees occasional track time. There are very few RACE CARS on this forum. RACE CARS are a single purpose, no compromise machine. So no PS, PW, or AC is neccessary.
Go ahead and drive around like a fool sweating your *** off and losing your hearing before you're thirty. You should spend your time learning to drive the ******* car better.
My point simply is that if you have a STREET car and have taken out all the excess weight that does NOT effect your comfort level (different for all of us). There are no rules keeping you from adding power to your car to get it faster.
Racers, and I do include dragracers constrained by the rules, DO need to worry about that minute amount of speed that can be eaked out of the car to get it to go faster within the rules.
I was simply refering to the non, or very limited, rules type drag racers that make up 99% percent of us here.
I stand by my point that 5 more horses would be better than removing the winshield, to give an exaggerated example.
BTW that bike probably has the same or more HP as your NA or my FB. AND if he gets in a minor traffic accident it could be disasterous. just as it could be if you removed your seat belts for weight savings.
my $.04
Originally posted by SonicRaT
Yeah, the insurance costs alone might make up the difference on the NA->Turbo, since it's still insured as a NA
Yeah, the insurance costs alone might make up the difference on the NA->Turbo, since it's still insured as a NA
ok! here you go! i baught my car from Vancouver that is half way accross the country from where I live it is a 1990 TII the turbo went RIGHT after i baught it! and the car is still worth it granted I paid a little too much for the car but hey! I now got a t04 turbo and am looking for about 350hp!
more if i dial up the boost!
more if i dial up the boost!
Originally posted by Felix Wankel
Not to mention blacklist your ***.
Not to mention blacklist your ***.
too late....i know they do not charge a difference between a TII and an n/a, maybe i should tell them, but what if they wanna check it out? and they pop my hood
Originally posted by Scott 89t2
you will NOT be able to buy an N/A and swap in a turbo engine for 4k. you can definatly find a TII for under 4k if you look. it just won't be in as nice shape as a newer or more $$ one.
you will NOT be able to buy an N/A and swap in a turbo engine for 4k. you can definatly find a TII for under 4k if you look. it just won't be in as nice shape as a newer or more $$ one.
You forgot the option. Buy a NA now and get a TII later.
If it's your first RX then get an NA or you will continually blame the car for breaking down and you'll be over whelmed with the stuff to fix.
An NA is a good starter to the RX stuff.
Now if you get a NA get a 88 GTU or S5 GTUs. That way you have all the turbo goodies but no turbo(brakes/suspension/LSD).
My 88 GTU blew it's engine and luckily I had enough money to get a rebuild. I figured if I was going to commit to a nbew engine it might as well be turbo!
Well so far I've dropped around 4-5k on the turbo swap alone but I am doing stuff right.
If you look at my sig below you can see what I've gotten for it so far. BTW in about 2 weeks hopefully my engine will be ready to drop in.
If it's your first RX then get an NA or you will continually blame the car for breaking down and you'll be over whelmed with the stuff to fix.
An NA is a good starter to the RX stuff.
Now if you get a NA get a 88 GTU or S5 GTUs. That way you have all the turbo goodies but no turbo(brakes/suspension/LSD).
My 88 GTU blew it's engine and luckily I had enough money to get a rebuild. I figured if I was going to commit to a nbew engine it might as well be turbo!
Well so far I've dropped around 4-5k on the turbo swap alone but I am doing stuff right.
If you look at my sig below you can see what I've gotten for it so far. BTW in about 2 weeks hopefully my engine will be ready to drop in.





