Okay here goes.
I have had many, many sports cars. And until I bought my FD, they were all manuals. When I was younger, I was a rabid automatic tranny hater, I used to bash them all the time (Grandpa car, old lady car, etc.)
As I got older though, I started noticing how Porsche especially was leaning towards semi-automatic and even fully automatic trannys.
And about the fifth clutch I replaced I was thinking what a hassle it was.
And whenever I would be stopped on an incline or a hill and have to get started it was sort of a hassle. And constantly shifting in any sort of traffic is sort of a hassle.
When I was looking for FDs, I kept seeing many, many trashed ones. But I noticed that automatic cars were usually in MUCH better shape, overall. And as I did research, the automatic was a $800 option, which gives the car a higher loan value (not necessarily MARKET value).

In the end in comes down to reality. What are you going to use the car for? If you are a hardcore drag racer where every tenth of a second is critical, the auto is maybe not for you. I don't know how many people live/drive that way, an FD is not really meant for that anyhow. I learned LONG ago that there is always someone faster. If I want to be the quickest at stop light racing, hell I'd have a purpose built car for that.
Simply ask yourself WHY you are getting the car, what is the single most impressive thing.....most will say the styling, followed closely by the performance. The styling is timeless. The performance....well, it HAS been 6 to 8 years since the car was imported, and other companies have had those years to develope and improve newer models. In some cases an FD will lag behind other newer cars now, stock for stock.
Look thru a current issue of Road and Track or Car and Driver, see how many cars have equal or better 0-60 times, or quarter mile times.

If you are like me, you buy an FD for the overall car. You have a timeless classic that has very good straightline performance (even with an automatic) and exceptional handling.
Yes, the manual transmission gives you that total control of the entire environment of the car. The real question is how often that is going to be used, in the real world. If you race/autocross the car, the manual is the only way to go.

Just my two cents worth.....
:cool:

it sure is nice to hear from so many auto rx-7 owners out there. i appreciate all of you offering your knowledge and insight to the automatics and will look forward to learning more from all of you in the future.

thanks,
merry christmas to all of you!

bob f.

there is also a write up somewhere, either robinette or scudierani, on how to mod the shift selector so that you don't have to depress the button to shift. could be neat if you do use the hold function.

Well since I have to have a rebuild, I'm going to go with basically the same setup that Max Cooper has on his car. It will depend on what shape my stock turbos are in. If they are shot I'll probably run the exact same setup as Max the only difference being the fuel pump and fpr. If the turbos are fine (doubt it since I blew an apex seal) then I'll go non sequential, so I won't be putting down as much power.

The AT controller is slowly comming along. I'll probably have alot more luck when I pull my engine harness and put some nice connectors in so that I can easily test stuff. (it's a pita to get to the wires in the footwell)

There are basically 3 different ways that I've looked at controlling the AT.
First way is to pass the signals to the AT that it is expecting using some other device.
Second is to pass the signals using the stock ECU (I think this is the way rotary extreme is trying to do it)
Third is to scrap the AT ecu and make your own.(This is in theroy what level 10 does with their box)

I've been working on both 1 and 3, but I've found that 3 has much more promise for the application I'm looking for. I want more control of the AT, even if it means that I always have to shift it.

If the aem ecu does support the AT I might have to switch to that, any idea where I can find info on it? Does it have datalogging ?

Matt

bajaman,

IM not going to buy the RX-7 for drag racing or any big racing car like that but rather use it as a daily driver or almost daily. I want the car because simply i loveeeeeeee the looks and it has power to back it up. But i know there are always gunna be cars that go faster so that doesnt really bother me...but the majority of the cars will fall to the knees of the RX-7....hehe. But anyways i do like the thrilll of shifting now and then becuase i just feel like im racing in a way but on the other hand the auto is better for cruising around which will probably the other,oooo maybe 75 percent of what i use it for. Just so kids can just be like :eek: when i roll by

:cool: You have clutchs that go out on the 5speeds too.
To much HP and you have a hard time getting off the line.
Spinning the wheels too easy.

You can miss the shift on the auto too.
It is too easy the to shift it to second sometimes it will go to drive
if you are not real careful.

I like the Auto because you have more time to watch you gages.

speaking of the ecu, i suppose that installing various mods that affect the fuel/air ratio will require an aftermarket ecu (computer), that being the case i believe spigot mentioned that there are 3 methods he is looking at. spigot, if you are still out there, are you talking about using something similar to the pfs piggyback system or haltech? i have read in various past posts that some of these computers cannot be used on the automatic trans............still other systems tend to mess up the air conditioning. is there an existing system out there for sale that addresses these issues?

I use the pfs piggyback system on my Modified Auto.
I had Dave from KDR do all the set up so it would work right.
I should have about 300 rear wheel HP.
It goes real good now.
Don't what to spin the tires that much the Auto work good at is.

MATT,

http://www.aempower.com/ems.htm

http://www.rx7forum.com/showthread.p...&highlight=aem

try the above to check on the AEM. right now it is only available for the supra. there is a guy on this forum-black680hp or something that is involved with the project.

Matt, do you know if the sensors run to the pt/ecu and then the at/ecu or do some run to the at/ecu directly? I don't care about the ones that run from at/ecu to pt/ecu like ignition retard, etc. Why can't we run most sensor inputs directly to the at/ecu?

I didn't think Max Cooper has an automatic?
Viper JR has a haltec wired in parallel.

There are several sensors that run from the AT back to the Main ECU, those from what I have seen don't have any effect on the AT ECU. There are some sensors that are passed thru the main ECU, and it would be quite easy to T those sensors. The probelm is with the 4 or 5 signals that are generated in the Main ECU for the AT ecu. The most basic one being an atmospheric pressure(sp) sensor built into the stock ecu. There are a few others that are generated by the Main ECU that the AT ECU needs also.

No max doesn't have an AT but I should be making the same HP although I'll have a much higher drivetrain loss.

anything that retains the stock Main ECU will allow the AT to work as it is supposed to (possibly without the ignition retard).

Matt

I'm impressed that this thread hasn't been besieged by those that think auto FDs are second-rate.

The mod you mentioned is at the bottom of this page: http://www.scuderiaciriani.com/rx7/auto_trans_mod.html

Personally I wouldn't do it because I'm a bit worried that if you eliminate the need to press down the button, you can put yourself in reverse while moving.

perhaps our gear shifting bretheren have realized the error of their ways and will at some time soon..............allow us............the techno shifters...............be equal to them?
or perhaps they are ignoring us and hoping we just fade away?

update..."S" is good for around 130...did it today. I thought it was a gear limited thing since I used to redline (7000) in "S" at around 120. Hit 130 easy today with some room left.:D

auto fd
 

hello forum
my fd is an auto too. i don't race its just my weekend car. its vintage red with 18 inch rims and low profile tires. the car turns a lot of heads and i get alot of complements at traffic lights. the car is in mint condition. kids go wild over it . these cars are hot with auto or man trans. and after 10 plus years people are still going crazy over them. i went to the dealer to check out the rx8 and the sales people went wild over my fd i think it blows the rx8 away in looks. i think this car will be timeless so keep them in good shape and be lucky you have one of the best sports car made.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<Auto.

wow.I didnt know that so many of us owned auto fd's.I also own one and somehow felt kind of bad because it was an auto.You know.The whole youre not driving a mans car unless its a stick.But realistically the auto is much better suited for the driving that I do.My only complaint is the lack of low end torque that the rotary produces and with an auto tranny its even worse.I do love the speed in the upper gears though.I just wish modding the auto fd wasnt such a huge pain in the ass.
Very little aftermarket support as far as engine management goes.Thats about it really.As well as the drivetrain loss.Has anyone actually dynoed a healthy stock auto fd? If so what kind of horsepower was it putting down? Im curious because ive heard many different things.

Sounding Off,

Yep, I have experienced the oh its an automatic too. If you mention it on the forum, you are usually sent to a yahoo forum for auto people. Heh I'm a seven guy, I'm older and i like to shift less. The car is really all about how it looks. Its no dog, except for it is slower from a dead stop. I enjoy mine very much. Many people wish they were driving our cars, auto or otherwise. I still get the same looks on the road as any manual would. I'll be checking in every so often to support the automatic seven brothers of the world!

Terry7

so what kind of mods does everyone have on their sevens?
Heres mine.
Blitz intake
Blitz catback
Blitz 550 primary injectors
Blitz 850 secondary injectors
Blitz blm boost gauge 60mm
Greddy 2 piece throttle body elbow and intercooler pipe
Greddy triple tube strut bar
Air intake hard pipes
Polished uim and blitz hard pipes(did it myself)

Waiting to put on Tsudo downpipe once I get the greddy profec b spec 2 in order to safeguard the engine.

Whoa talk about back from the dead! 12/01 to 5/04. Even though I am faster than stock 5 sapeeds I am still thinking of swapping to a 5 speed tranny.

t66, pfc, greddy fmic, apexi n1, midpipe, e-o1 boost controller, built auto, and waiting on fuel stuff to complete. (its on its way)

94 Auto Montego Blue
Engine Rebuilt with RA seals and rebuild kit
PFS PMC (in the mail)
SS Downpipe
Silicon hoses
ss 3" catback
k&N drop in Filter
TII coil mod

less important mods
Autometer Sport comp boost and temp gauges( A-pillar)
Cwest replica body kit(installed as we speak)
Sony Stereo

apex rx6, apex GT FMIC, hks twinpower, 1300cc secondaries, street port, 3mm hurley seals, tial BOV, resonated midpipe, catback exhaust, apex avc-r, DIY wb02, apex PFC with datalogit, level 10 built tranny with TC.

hows that rx6 turbo kit as far as power and spool up? does it spool as quick as the stock twins?
Also have you been able to retain the hold feature with the apex power fc?
I forgot to mention that I also replaced all of my vacuum lines with silicone ones from hose techniques.Replaced the intercooler couplers with silicone ones from hose techniques.
OEM mods.
New solenoids.Yes every one of them broke on me.Talk about shitty luck.New ignition coils.New starter.8.5 mm magnacore spark plug wires.New uim to lim gasket.New uim to throttle body gasket.New throttle body to throttle elbow gasket/o ring.Blitz oil and radiator caps.

I would like to upgrade the intercooler,upgrade to an effini y pipe and perhaps a high flow catalitic converter next.

Vehicle Profile:
Black 1993 Base with following factory OEM options;
Automatic Four Speed Transmission / Leather Seats / Fog Lights / R1 Front Lip / R1 Rear Spoiler / S/S Door Sills / Front Mats / Rear Trunk Mat / Non-Bose Trunk Cover.

Mods; (Engine, Exhaust and Exterior)
17x8 Enkie RPO2-J Wheels / Yokohama 240/35/17 Tires / Koni "Yellow" Adjustable Shocks / Blitz SUS Intake System/ Modified Stock Air-Duct / Vented BOV / Polished Aluminum Intakes Pipe Kit / Polished JSpec 99 Y-Pipe / Greddy Polished IC Pipe Kit / Greddy Polished Compression Elbow / Polished UIM / Polished Front Strut Bar / Silicone Vacuum Hose / Pettit 3" S/S DP / MP w/ MagnaFlow 3" Hi-Flow Cat Converter / MagnaFlow S/S Preformance 3" Dual Tip Back Cat / Magnaflow S/S Dual 3.5" Exhasut Tips. Chassis Slammed 1.5 "

Mods; (Interior)
A-Pillar Dual Gauge Pod w/ Autometer Sport Comp Fuel Pressure Gauge and Boost Gauge / Center Speaker Dual Guage Pod w/ Autometer Sport Comp Voltmeter Gauge and Transmission Temp Gauge / Complete Wrap Around Cock Pit Carbon Fiber Dash Kit / Greddy Turbo Timer / 4-Point Sparco Safety Harness.

All Lenses and Emblems recently replaced with new OEM parts.

Recent Repairs: Rebuilt Twins / Pillow Ball Bushings

I probably forgot to mention a few things, but that pretty much sums it up.
-Jimmy

spool is a bit slower than stock. the avcr is great, I've been able to tweak it a bit to build boost faster. NO, the hold function is toast. I haven't dyno'd the car, but from what I've seen probably a little under 350 to the wheels. I run 15-18psi. Where are you located? I happen to have a greddy SMIC and bonez hiflow cat...