new rx-7 owner with a bunch of performace parts questions!
 

hello all, well i've come from a z06 to a 93 silver touring rx7 with 94k on the clock. it is bone stock and was owned by a 50 year old lawyer... the motor was rebuilt at 75k and the turbos rebuilt at 91k.

i am going to but some good money into this car but i have a lot of questions..

first, i would like to do a intercooler set up as i have found that these cars have cooling issues...i would like to due a FMIC. what is a good set up that include piping besides greddy...where can i find these? is it better to do a custom set up?

2nd, i'm looking to due an exhaust system. i wold like something that gives good performance and sounds great.... i like loud, as this is my weekend car.

3rd. i plan on doing all the maintance checks and fixing any problems or potential problems..

i am really looking for a website that i can purchase RX7 stuff from...thanks for pointing me in the right direction...

matt

oh yeah, i'm looking for any FMIC that works with stock turbos.....any help will be greatly appricated

gothamracing.com is a real good site. steve is very fair with his prices.

look at my sig so you can get an idea on parts.

loud exhuast is the apexi n1 which i have. 3in through-out with an open wastegate.

if you have someone that can pass the car with inspections i highly recomend taking out the rats nest, and all emissions, it helps a lot with trouble shooting.

well going from a z06 to a rx, you might want to look at a single turbo system, and a nice set of coilovers to compare. z06;s are very top notch cars, but with some money they can be easily compared

pm me if you have other questinos regaurding anythigng

take care

brandon

I would highly recommend being patient and not be in such a hurry to mod your car. Read the newb stickies at the top of this forum, and then use the search function to lead you to threads or links to sites dealing with your questions. Taking this route will help you avoid the pitfalls that envelope people who hastily start throwing parts and mods at their car before they even get to know it first. The FD is not like a V8 or other piston car that can handle major abuse and modding mistakes.

Especially going the single turbo route. That entails a lot more modifications, cost, and tuning knowledge than most people think. If your stock sequential turbo system is functioning normally, I see no reason to just rip it out of there just yet.

rx7store.net
srmotorsports.com
rotaryextreme.com
pettitracing.com
rx7.com

Lots more. Have fun.

You are concerned about cooling issues and you want to do a FMIC.... Are you familiar with turbocharged cars as to what intercoolers do?

FMICs lower the water temp right?

/sarcasim off/

if you are worried about cooling, hold off on the FMIC. Instead research radiators fluidyne, koyo, pwr etc. Also, you may want to look into getting a down pipe to rid yourself of that pesky pre-cat.
Not sure how much research you have done on the fd, but changing one thing on this car usually requires other mods--- otherwise KABOOM.
Also, a fully programmable ecu is a must when it comes to modding(ie power fc). Welcome to the fam.

Rotarys are quite simple, just add boost and fuel till you find its integrity level , now you are supposed to have fun doing it. RON im outer here!

:rolleyes: Right, they're "simple"-- that's why so many engines pop from guys "adding boost and fuel till you find its integrity level"...

"Have fun spending money with no running car" is more like it....

Listen to Kento, he's almost always right...:D

This car requires a serious knowledge base to modify (or even own) PROPERLY. I would second leaving the car alone for a few months and becoming more familiar with how the systems on the car work. Get a factory service manual (FSM).

Rotaries ARE extremely simple, however, the systems in place to make the engine actually work are not, especially with a close-to-stock sequential twin-turbo car.

Matt, as I'm sure you've gathered from the other posts by now, the FD is NOT the car you can just "wing it" with. Thank God for "The Big List" and the hundreds of brave souls who went through a ton of products, setups, and yes, a ton of motors learning what Mazda did not know. Because of them, I saved myself from a LOT of very costly mistakes, because the FAQ section (Newbie sticky) has a TON of info on what mods when, how etc. Order is VERY important in modding your FD. If you don't respect that, you won't have a lot of money for long ;)

Also, not to jump on you, but yea, you gotta familiarize yourself w/ my 2nd favorite website: www.howstuffworks.com (it's second only to this forum haha). Intercoolers and radiators serve very similar yet different and distinct functions. You're going to need to familiarize yourself w/ this stuff VERY well, as the rotary does not withstand heat very well.

Lastly, the most UNRELIABLE way to own an FD is to mod based on "I want a ..." Don't "want" a FMIC until you know WHY it's necessary (pros) and more importantly, it's cons. I'll tell you from now, if you're gonna push the car hard often for sustained periods, such as auto-x or road racing/courses, you will NOT want a FMIC. It'll contribute to heat soak. How? I'll leave that for you to figure out as you learn more about the difference between radiators and intercoolers. :)

Congrats on the purchase, search often (if you don't hear it from me, you'll hear it a LOT from others on this forum haha) read a lot, and ask - don't guess or assume, and you'll be fine!

~Ramy :)

EDIT: Hey Rynberg, I love the format of your sig haha :bigthumb:

well guys, i'm completely open too your extpertise.... i have never owned a turbo car... my z06 was putting down 427rwhp and 398lbs...w/0 my 150 shot...this is a whole new ball game... so if you say hold off on the mods, i'll do that.... i will research all reliability mods and perform them.... i appologize for my ignorance in the turbo field.....i will learn quickly i'm sure.. thanks

Good idea. Do the reliability mods to help make your FD as reliable as possible. You'll see it'll run you quite a bit of money to do too.

As for power, the RX7 has what's known as the "100 hp rule" It needs roughly 100hp less than other cars to beat 'em (since the FD is so light). So your 427rwhp will only require about 340rwhp w/ the FD, which is VERY possible on stock twins. The car won't have anywhere nearly as much torque as your Z06, so the butt dyno may be a bit disappointing at first, but I think you'll be pleasantly surprised w/ how hard the car will pull, how fast it will be, and how fast the turbos spool from down low. But then again, a Z06 has plenty of low end power too so...

The FAQ is here.
https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generation-specific-1993-2002-16/faq-3rd-gen-other-useful-links-68640/


I'd advise that you skip the links section and start at the mostly text part, with questions & answers. It starts with, "Welcome to the 3rd Generation section of the RX7club. "


re: 100HP rule;
I've always heard it discussed in power-to-weight ratios. For instance, an '02 Corvette Z06 weighs 3116 lbs, according to www.edmunds.com . With 427 hp, your power-to-weight ratio is (3116/427) = 7.3 lb / hp. Each unit of HP made by your engine has to pull around 7.3 pounds of the car's weight, assuming that your engine is at the proper RPM.

Your touring model RX-7 weighs 2826 lbs according to that site. To have the same power-to-weight ratio, you'll need (2826/7.3) = 387 hp. You can run the numbers for torque as well if you'd like. This is neglecting things like aerodynamics, gearing, and traction available due to your suspension & tire setup. Remember that the lighter car will have an advantage in terms of tire wear, braking and handling, if all other things are equal (suspension, aero, gearing, traction...).


-s-

You'll be on a good track if you take the reliability issues seriously and do some reading here and on the linked sites. This link under 'Advice' is a gem:
https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...threadid=27094

And if you're ever going by harrisburg in your 7, PM me since I'm right off the turnpike.

Dave

wow somebody that asked for advice and actually listened to it. also another good site is fd3s.net. alot of good info on there. maxcooper.com, also iluvmyrx7.com check these sites out, they have been very helpful to me