I`m thinking of selling my 323 (protege) GTR in favor of a FD. I`ve been reading quite a few posts on the forum, but a few questions remains unanswered or a little "foggy"...
I`m staying twinturbo for a couple of years, but I`ll be pushing the stock turbos a little harder, and I`ll fit a new exhaust (all the way from the turbos, no cat), filter and intercooler. As far as I`ve heard, the stock ECU may lean out the fuel on such basic mods, as the fuel map doesn`t compensate for the extra amounts of air being pushed into the engine. As i`ll probably go single anyways, i`ll might as well put in a programmable computer from the beginning. I`m thinking of using an Autronic SM2 , has anyone tried this before?

How about the reliability on the engine, this seems to be an issue that divides people into two camps. Some say that the engine breaks down if you stare long enough at it, while some say that if you give it a lot of TLC and fresh oil, it`ll last forever.


Wo, what i`m really looking for is a few tips on what to expect if i buy a RX7, how i should treat it, and a few tips on extracting more power.


thanks in advance


Trond
Norway

 

first of all; what in the hell is a 23B engine?

As for how should you treat it, I suggest drive her hard but treat her nice. You gotta get in to the upper rpm's FD's seem to drive better after you do but you gotta let your engine cool down properly. To extracting more power out of any engine, get on a dyno with a wideband and don't try to butt tune it. Do all the relibility mods and have enuf for an extra engine and you'll be fine. if you do decide to up the boost, get the necessary fuel mods and ecu to support the upgrade. You gotta pay to play.

no one i know has used http://www.autronic.com/sm2ecu.html. stick with the new aem ecu or a power FC as these have great support

BTW: Is your 323 GT-R kinda like the mustang GT-R (http://www.indianguy.com/domestic.avi )? (sorry i could not help it hahahahahaha)

goodluck and please try using the searching button (its right there and cost little or nothing to use)

 

I ment 13b, don`t be so picky. I`m not a 14 year old newbie or something

As for the search button, i know how to use one of those, but i like to get all the answers gathered in one post. It`s not like I`m asking "what exhaust is best", "why is my bost creeping" or something. I needed answers for my intended mods, and i found it best to make a new posts. Of course, next time i`ll try searching a little more, i don`t want to flood you with questions asked 1000 times before. And, there were a lot more questions to come, but the batteries on my laptop ran out since i forgot to plug the charger into the wall... So i had to write the entire post all over.



The Autronic isn`t a big brand in the US, but they are often used in Australia/New Zealand and Europe. Their products are great, but the main reason for using this is that the guy that`s doing most of the engine work on my car knows how to use the autronic, but he`s never touched a rotary before.

Another question: Is it even worth considering driving a rx7 on snow? I`d rather spend my money on tuning instead of a car used only in the winter.



And don`t make fun of my car!!!!! It`l blow away all the fast RX7`s..... at least on snow!

 

Hi Trond,

First of all the second generation rx7 i.e turboII
had an ecu that was intelligent, meaning that if you added any performance parts the ecu could make changes as appropriate without car running lean. The fd3s is not able to do that the maps on the ecu are fixed. So if you change too much the ecu is not able to compensate for how much air/ fuel ratio entering the engine.
The 13b engine is not the most reliable in the world let's not beat around the bush. But any high performance car whether nissan skyline toyota supra etc that is upgraded in the wrong order you'll have problems.
for example, the nissan sunny gtir if you raise the boost on those at all you'll bow your oistin rings because the piston rings were only designed to handle stock boost levels, so many people get intercoolers etc etc and blow there engine it's nothing wrong with the nissan it's the people who mod it without much knowledge of the car.
With rx7's you'll get mileage depending on the octane rating of your fuel. Jap specs ecu are set for 100 octane fuel. you don't really want to use less than 98 octane, i.e shell optimax. If you buy an rx7 pre 96 they only have a 8 bit ecu and if you changed induction kit and rear silencer you might run a little lean than you want to. If you get a 96 onwards. They have a 16 bit ecu that handles the turbo etc a little different so you can make the above mods without running lean. If you wnat to make mods i.e induction downpipe catback intercooler etc. Your better off getting a ecu first of some kind of piggback chip to be able to adjust the fuel/air ratio.
With these mods you will be running higher boost say approx 1.5 to 2psi more. which is safe. Any car not just a rotary engined where you run more boost you take away some reliability. What you want is to run your car on ideally 15w 30 or 15w 40 mineral oil. Change it every 3000 miles, Get an aftermarket radiator that will make your car run cooler. Then again if your in Norway you should have much problem with running the car cool.
ha ha
The rotary engine is good for say 70,000 miles before you can expect a new water seals apex seals or side sela failure. So if you buy one get one with low mileage or one that has had a replacement engine. But if you buy I bet you that you'll never regret it.
You can run what mods you want as long as you take care of the ecu. First get a downpipe more power and gets rid of alot of unwanted hot exhuast gases from engine. Next get induction kit. Don't waste time with the open stuff that draws hot air from engine bay, get something like a m2 cold air induction kit. This helps the car to breathe easier, and you get s more instant response when you blip the throttle. Next get an ecu, I am not sur e that ecu sm2 will work for a rotary engine, but there are loads a out there. Personally I just bought a apexi power fc ecu. Get it remapped. Then you can safely continue with rear silencer intercooler etc.
Always check your oild every two weeks or so, The rotary engine injects oil onto the seals to help lubricate them and keep them cool. The harder you accelerate the more oil is injected. So you burn oil normally. On a piston engine it's not good to burn oil, on a rotary engine it's essential. Never let the oil go low. Regulary check the coolant levels never let it overheat. I could go on for ever that should do for now. But remember any car youy mod you kose some reliability.

Regards

Brian

 

Thanks for all your replies, keep`em coming