I'm starting to mod my rx-7 with my HP goal set at about 350hp. A very important factor to me is reliablitity though, i want it to handle 350 and even be a daily driver if i wanted it to. What must be done to make her strong enough to live up to these expectations? I want to stay with 2mm apex seals.

 

20b.

 

haha good call.

surprised you didnt say V-8

 

Yea a 20B is a good point, not my cup of tea though. Want to keep things simple with this project. Ive dealt with putting engines where they dont belong before and im not about to do it to my baby.

 

He said he wanted to stay with 2mm apex seals...

 

350 HP should be fairly easy and reliable. That's not a whole lot of horsepower, but is just enough to have a fun car without breaking a whole bunch of $hit. Once you start getting above 400, then you need to start worrying about, differentials, power plant frames, axles, etc...
You could run 15 psi with good shape stock twins and a small healthy port with all the other bolt ons and that would put you right around 350 +/- 15 hp.

 

Yea thats exactly my thoughts. See with my last car i went power crazy and paid for it dearly. Now i just want something to have some fun with but at the same time keep it simple and reliable.

 

then dont buy an rx-7

 

LOL. He said 'reliable'.

 

See thats one reason i wanted to start this thread. to debunk the myth that 13Bs cant be reliable

 

Go for 400+ HP and if you do break a differential just swap it with one of these babies!!!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...o/MVC-003F.jpg

Just try and break one of those=)
you'll love it

 

Just like what theglassman said, 350 is a good point where you can be fast enough to make *** imprints in your seat while at the same time not worry about many things. Just go with bolt-ons, aftermarket ecu and raise ur boost to 14/15 and you'll be satisfied.

Jeremy

 

once u hit ur goal ur gonna want more, the quest for more power never stops. hahaha

 

water injection.

 

I wouldn't be overly concerned with the magic 350 number. Too many people get hung up on that to the point where it winds up being like freaking ***** envy or something.

Granted you didn't tell us what you already have done to your car, but if you do some basic mods - radiator, DP, Exhaust, intake, intercooler, larger secondary injectors, etc etc and you'll be in the low to mid 300s depending on what boost you run.

The key to reliability is going to be good tuning, proper mods, good maintenance and a smart driver. I'd say most of the problems with reliability are poorly done mods - people running a full open exhaust w/o a boost controller or an ECU, running too much boost etc. **** happens but the above items will help prevent them for a long time.

Check out the FAQs for some good info on mods and use the search button to research what other people have said about those mods and such.

Check out the mods that Goodfellas has done and also check out SleepR1.

 

Unfortunately, the existance of this forum is a testament to it's unreliability Across the board, if it's a turbocharged rotary, it's not the most reliable. Even second gens that are NAs are a lot more reliable than Turbo IIs for example. And if it's modified, reliability goes out the window. Sure, there are steps you can take such as the ones Alberto mentioned to make it as reliable as possible, but by a long shot, the FD simply does not qualify as being reliable in the real sense of the word.

 

There is no such thing as a bulletproof rotary engine, especially when modified for producing 60% more output than stock. Let's face it, the typical stock/nearly stock rarely lasts more than 100k miles, now add the stresses of 60% more output than stock and the result is you aren't going to run 100k+ miles.....

If you want an engine that can handle 350 rwhp for 100k+ miles, you need to be looking at a 20B or V8. Once you look at the conversion costs for those swaps, you'll be thinking that paying for an engine rebuild every 6-7 years (60k miles) isn't that bad.

 

I really don't think bulletproof and FD go hand in hand. If there was, then there would be ton's less posts in this area that start off with: "So I blew my motor today," or "I've had it with this POS," Or signatures that say "engines = 5, me = 0." Lots have tried, yet the most they could really squeeze out of an upgraded turbo rotary was at most 80k miles. In the realm of reliability, thats pathetic. In the realm of the turbo rotary, thats a miracle. . . .

 

haha, realm of the turbo rotary, good one, needed a good laugh

 

a-men to that...from what i've read on here, in magazines, on company's website, water injection is alot better than methanol injection. when i get my FD, my mods will go: PFC, AST, downpipe, Radiator, medium SMIC, water injection, hf cat, cb

 

na 20b

 

is the 13B twin turbo's unreliability due to its hp/liter? my friend and i were bored and we were comparing hp/liter of diff cars ie. say an 350hp/1.3liter rotary=269hp/liter. or say a 350hp/3liter supra=116hp/liter. i know that the rotarys and pistons are like oranges and apples, but still, isnt that just a lot more stress? sorry if this is stupid, im still learning.

 

BIO3M.. save your money for a new engine.. there is no such thing as bulletproof 3rd gens.. i thought I might had one.. but blew my engine.. Best is to be prepared for the worst.. I felt so much better knowing I had an extra engine ready to go when I was driving my 7.. and when I blew it.. I wasn't really pissed..

 

I ain't an expert, but from what I understand, the actual moving parts aren't really stressed too much in a rotary...and as such, rarely does a rotary engine fail as a result of actual mechanica failure (damage to a moving part). It's usually one of the 1001 seals the rotary has that makes it so fragile. You have front, rear, side, corner, apex, and coolant seals...and I'm sure a few more. So many seals to worry about. And those are the primary causes of failure. Plus, rotary engines don't handle heat very well. Excessive heat can cause preignition (right Kento? ) leading to detonation. Byebye apex seal

If you think about it, the fragility of the seals actually acts (or should act) as a protective measure to minimize actual damage to the engine parts. That's why you CAN (although you prob don't want to) reuse housings etc and just replace the blown seals. In a piston motor, lose your timing belt, and you'll prob take out the valves. There goes your motor (unless you have a non-interference motor, like the MR2's, but that's a diff story).

 

How about non-moving parts, like the stationary gears?

Seals rarely exit without damaging something else.