Starting a new build thread - Mostly stock to full track car.
03-04-14, 09:52 AM
#77
Long overdue update:
We finally tracked down what we think the problem was. When I got the AEM Series II ecu from tripoint the harness was pinned incorrectly. While we were never able to start the car we did send a stupid amount of juice through lines that weren't supposed to have it runt hrough them. At the time it had fried 3 of the 4 coils which Tri-Point was nice enough to replace however we didn't realize there was melted wiring in the body harness.
Anyway, we cut out 3 different areas of melted harness and replaced the wiring.
The motor is down for a rebuild as the warped seals need to be replaced obviously. While everything is ripped out I'm probably going to add in a flex fuel sensor, 2 addition 2000cc secondary injectors and some plumbing adjustments so we can run e85 as well.
I'm hoping the rebuild is done by the end of the month at the latest but the snow up here as been really hampering progress.
Once that is done we are going to do a proper breakin and then retune for e85. I'm in on Phil Sohn's mazdaspeed bumper groupbuy so I'm hoping that comes soonish (before DGRR X) so I can mount it and then we're dipping the FD some reasonably obnoxious color.
More to come soon. Spring is almost here and I'll be damned if I'm not getting some good track time in this year!
We finally tracked down what we think the problem was. When I got the AEM Series II ecu from tripoint the harness was pinned incorrectly. While we were never able to start the car we did send a stupid amount of juice through lines that weren't supposed to have it runt hrough them. At the time it had fried 3 of the 4 coils which Tri-Point was nice enough to replace however we didn't realize there was melted wiring in the body harness.
Anyway, we cut out 3 different areas of melted harness and replaced the wiring.
The motor is down for a rebuild as the warped seals need to be replaced obviously. While everything is ripped out I'm probably going to add in a flex fuel sensor, 2 addition 2000cc secondary injectors and some plumbing adjustments so we can run e85 as well.
I'm hoping the rebuild is done by the end of the month at the latest but the snow up here as been really hampering progress.
Once that is done we are going to do a proper breakin and then retune for e85. I'm in on Phil Sohn's mazdaspeed bumper groupbuy so I'm hoping that comes soonish (before DGRR X) so I can mount it and then we're dipping the FD some reasonably obnoxious color.
More to come soon. Spring is almost here and I'll be damned if I'm not getting some good track time in this year!
03-04-14, 11:50 PM
#79
Thanks dude... this thread isn't as exciting as the ones from folks doing all their own work but I definitely don't have the experience to do all this right so I'm doing the best I can.
I don't have dates/times yet but if anyone following this is interested in doing some club runs/hpdes etc hit me up. I'm trying to keep a running tally so we can get some group runs this year.
I don't have dates/times yet but if anyone following this is interested in doing some club runs/hpdes etc hit me up. I'm trying to keep a running tally so we can get some group runs this year.
04-24-14, 12:40 AM
#80
Update: picked up the car with rebuilt motor last week on Wednesday...
The plan was to put 500+ miles on the motor to break her in before tuning this past Saturday. Purred like a kitten the 50 some odd miles I put it on it driving her home. I was going to take her to work Thur/Fri and put a few hours each night into mileage. Unfortunately when I started her up Thursday morning and pulled out of the driveway she died and wouldn't start up again. Considering I always leave for work at the last minute I didn't have time to diagnose so I just pushed it to the curb and took the truck to work.
When I came home later that day I got on the phone with some folks and we tried to troubleshoot the problem. First the fuse for the ignition system was blown and we think the fuse at 25 should have been a 30 so we swapped it out. The problem after this was that without the ignition system working we flooded the crap out of the engine. So I pulled the top plugs attempted to clean it out with the fuel pump killed however it still wouldn't start. And just like that it was back on its way to the shop.
Considering the diagnosed problem that caused excessive temps leading to the rebuild was an issue in the ignition system we decided to have it towed back to the shop. We have replaced parts of the wiring in the system and it doesn't seem to have fixed anything so the suggestion I received is to swap out the current harness with one built for directfire (which I planned to do eventually anyway) and wire it directly to the ECU instead of the body harness.
As an aside I have to say this has been one depressing experience. When I started this process just about 2 years ago now I said "I want to turn this car into a track ready car I can tear up pavement with). This has yet to actually happen and I almost threw up a for sale ad when the ignition died as all I want at this point is 2 straight days of HPDEs and I can't even get the car tuned. After a day I calmed down and decided to replace the harness. I am cautiously looking forward to putting all these problems behind me.
Here is an update on where the car stands. I'll be damned if she isn't a monster on the track once we finally get the kinks out.
Engine: IRP Built
Stage 3 Aggressive Street Port
Oil and Coolant passages modified for better flow and surface area
Clearanced and Balanced rotating assembly
Xcessive Lower Intake Manifold - Ceramic Coated
Upper Intake - Ceramic Coated
RXParts.com 2mm
Stud Kit
Unused ports welded off
IRP Poly Motor Mounts
Idler pulley
DEI Firewrap for everything near the turbo
Banzai Oil Pan Brace
Fuel & Injection:
CJ Rail,
2x 1000 primary
4x 2000 secondary
Dual Bosch 044 pumps with CJ carrier
Flex Fuel Sensor with harness for E85
Sakebomb AEM Coil Kit setup for direct fire
Driveline:
Banzai Trans Cross member bracing
Kaaz LSD 1.5
Series 8 Transmission low mileage
ACT Extreme Clutch Kit
Force Induction:
Turbo Blanket
Precision 6466 CEA: T4 divided turbine housing 1.0 A/R, Ball Bearing center section and billet compressor wheel, oil and air cooled, anti-surge compressor cover.
Short runner manifold with Inconel heat shielding
3.5in downpipe heat wrapped in a DEI fire sleeve and dual 46mm Precision wastegates with ceramic coated dump tubes.
Stainless steel oil feed and return lines with heat shielding. This was originally an ASpec kit.
Intake/Exhaust:
Apexi N1 Exhaust
Rotary Extreme Track V-Mount kit w/ tial BOV. (First kit off the line with his more aggressive redesign)
Straight pipe from mani to catback
AEM Water/Meth Injection Kit (installed in the intake elbow)
AEM secondary water/meth injector kit (not yet installed, planning for a small pre-turbo nozzle)
Greddy Elbow (tapped for injection)
Suspension:
Tein Super Racing Suspension
Swift Springs 12k/10k
Tein EDFC Controller Kit (New in box)
Tein EDFC Motor kit (New in box)
New pillowballs, Superpro/Powerflex bushings
Wheels & Braking:
Sakebomb brake lines
Fikse 17" FM10 - Technipolish
Toyo R1R 275/40/17 rear - 255 fronts
Hawk HP+ Pads
Body:
Pettit Racing '99 Plateless Front Bumper w/ '99 Lip and alum mesh bonded on
Mazdaspeed R spec (new and uninstalled)
Origin Labs rear fender extensions (new and uninstalled)
Misc:
Sakebomb Garage HID light kit
AEM Series II ECU from TriPoint Engineering
Battery relocation to passenger storage bin
Sakebomb dual oil cooler kit (25 row) with nylon lines
Interior:
Momo Steering wheel with NRG gen 3 quick release hub
Stereo System removed
Seats recushioned and upholstered
The plan was to put 500+ miles on the motor to break her in before tuning this past Saturday. Purred like a kitten the 50 some odd miles I put it on it driving her home. I was going to take her to work Thur/Fri and put a few hours each night into mileage. Unfortunately when I started her up Thursday morning and pulled out of the driveway she died and wouldn't start up again. Considering I always leave for work at the last minute I didn't have time to diagnose so I just pushed it to the curb and took the truck to work.
When I came home later that day I got on the phone with some folks and we tried to troubleshoot the problem. First the fuse for the ignition system was blown and we think the fuse at 25 should have been a 30 so we swapped it out. The problem after this was that without the ignition system working we flooded the crap out of the engine. So I pulled the top plugs attempted to clean it out with the fuel pump killed however it still wouldn't start. And just like that it was back on its way to the shop.
Considering the diagnosed problem that caused excessive temps leading to the rebuild was an issue in the ignition system we decided to have it towed back to the shop. We have replaced parts of the wiring in the system and it doesn't seem to have fixed anything so the suggestion I received is to swap out the current harness with one built for directfire (which I planned to do eventually anyway) and wire it directly to the ECU instead of the body harness.
As an aside I have to say this has been one depressing experience. When I started this process just about 2 years ago now I said "I want to turn this car into a track ready car I can tear up pavement with). This has yet to actually happen and I almost threw up a for sale ad when the ignition died as all I want at this point is 2 straight days of HPDEs and I can't even get the car tuned. After a day I calmed down and decided to replace the harness. I am cautiously looking forward to putting all these problems behind me.
Here is an update on where the car stands. I'll be damned if she isn't a monster on the track once we finally get the kinks out.
Engine: IRP Built
Stage 3 Aggressive Street Port
Oil and Coolant passages modified for better flow and surface area
Clearanced and Balanced rotating assembly
Xcessive Lower Intake Manifold - Ceramic Coated
Upper Intake - Ceramic Coated
RXParts.com 2mm
Stud Kit
Unused ports welded off
IRP Poly Motor Mounts
Idler pulley
DEI Firewrap for everything near the turbo
Banzai Oil Pan Brace
Fuel & Injection:
CJ Rail,
2x 1000 primary
4x 2000 secondary
Dual Bosch 044 pumps with CJ carrier
Flex Fuel Sensor with harness for E85
Sakebomb AEM Coil Kit setup for direct fire
Driveline:
Banzai Trans Cross member bracing
Kaaz LSD 1.5
Series 8 Transmission low mileage
ACT Extreme Clutch Kit
Force Induction:
Turbo Blanket
Precision 6466 CEA: T4 divided turbine housing 1.0 A/R, Ball Bearing center section and billet compressor wheel, oil and air cooled, anti-surge compressor cover.
Short runner manifold with Inconel heat shielding
3.5in downpipe heat wrapped in a DEI fire sleeve and dual 46mm Precision wastegates with ceramic coated dump tubes.
Stainless steel oil feed and return lines with heat shielding. This was originally an ASpec kit.
Intake/Exhaust:
Apexi N1 Exhaust
Rotary Extreme Track V-Mount kit w/ tial BOV. (First kit off the line with his more aggressive redesign)
Straight pipe from mani to catback
AEM Water/Meth Injection Kit (installed in the intake elbow)
AEM secondary water/meth injector kit (not yet installed, planning for a small pre-turbo nozzle)
Greddy Elbow (tapped for injection)
Suspension:
Tein Super Racing Suspension
Swift Springs 12k/10k
Tein EDFC Controller Kit (New in box)
Tein EDFC Motor kit (New in box)
New pillowballs, Superpro/Powerflex bushings
Wheels & Braking:
Sakebomb brake lines
Fikse 17" FM10 - Technipolish
Toyo R1R 275/40/17 rear - 255 fronts
Hawk HP+ Pads
Body:
Pettit Racing '99 Plateless Front Bumper w/ '99 Lip and alum mesh bonded on
Mazdaspeed R spec (new and uninstalled)
Origin Labs rear fender extensions (new and uninstalled)
Misc:
Sakebomb Garage HID light kit
AEM Series II ECU from TriPoint Engineering
Battery relocation to passenger storage bin
Sakebomb dual oil cooler kit (25 row) with nylon lines
Interior:
Momo Steering wheel with NRG gen 3 quick release hub
Stereo System removed
Seats recushioned and upholstered
06-19-14, 09:59 PM
#85
Sorry to hear you've blow the engine. Maybe I'm presuming to much but you have a lot of mods on this car. These are the kinds of road blocks you're going to run into going this route. Might be easier with a closer to stock build. With all you've got going on you need a really good pro just to diagnose your problems and it's going to be a lot of down time and money to boot.
06-21-14, 02:03 PM
#87
I appreciate the support folks... Sorry I'm not as active as I should be with this thread but it just seems like every time I may a step forwards I take two back. Tune seemed to go just fine. Afrs were hovering right about 11.7, egts were good. We weren't even tuning for boost yet.
I just added the flex fuel system as well as two extra injectors to handle it and we were doing low gear low throttle passes to sort out the fuel map. I think we did about 6 or so but the last pull and had just finish cleaning up in 3rd. The pass it blew on we were in 4th at 50% throttle and never exceeded wastegate spring PSI which is 15.
I don't have the map right now or logs because I just left the car at the shop. The sad part is I didn't even flinch when he told me... my friend who was with me actually told me he was pretty sure he was madder than I was.
I just added the flex fuel system as well as two extra injectors to handle it and we were doing low gear low throttle passes to sort out the fuel map. I think we did about 6 or so but the last pull and had just finish cleaning up in 3rd. The pass it blew on we were in 4th at 50% throttle and never exceeded wastegate spring PSI which is 15.
I don't have the map right now or logs because I just left the car at the shop. The sad part is I didn't even flinch when he told me... my friend who was with me actually told me he was pretty sure he was madder than I was.
08-22-14, 08:54 PM
#91
I'm at a bit of a cross roads now. After 2+ years I'm stuck with yet another blown motor.
Do I go for rebuild number three? Do I dump the 13b and go with an LS3 instead? Dump the car and go with something completely different?
I'm feeling a bit burned at the moment. When I originally started the project I was promised start to finish service with tuning services. By the end of the project there was no tuning services, had to go with a third party and now I'm stuck with he said she said as far as who's to blame which was exactly what I wanted to avoid and why I went with someone who told me they could take care of everything for me. No one is stepping up to the plate unfortunately so now I'm stuck dealing with the aftermath, 2 years, over $60k down the tube and a really big paperweight.
If I go with a rebuild I definitely have to find a new shop that is actually capable of building and tuning and not just making promises and then abandoning me when the **** hits the fan.
If I go with an LS3 I have a near bulletproof setup with 525hp at the crank and a 50k mile warranty. Probably out another $5-6k to make it happen after selling off parts..
If i dump the car I'm going to try to find someone to buy the complete setup off me and deal with their own engine. Someone will save a ton in labor with all the work I've had done.
Ugh this is so depressing. I really thought I would have been to at least one track event by now.
Do I go for rebuild number three? Do I dump the 13b and go with an LS3 instead? Dump the car and go with something completely different?
I'm feeling a bit burned at the moment. When I originally started the project I was promised start to finish service with tuning services. By the end of the project there was no tuning services, had to go with a third party and now I'm stuck with he said she said as far as who's to blame which was exactly what I wanted to avoid and why I went with someone who told me they could take care of everything for me. No one is stepping up to the plate unfortunately so now I'm stuck dealing with the aftermath, 2 years, over $60k down the tube and a really big paperweight.
If I go with a rebuild I definitely have to find a new shop that is actually capable of building and tuning and not just making promises and then abandoning me when the **** hits the fan.
If I go with an LS3 I have a near bulletproof setup with 525hp at the crank and a 50k mile warranty. Probably out another $5-6k to make it happen after selling off parts..
If i dump the car I'm going to try to find someone to buy the complete setup off me and deal with their own engine. Someone will save a ton in labor with all the work I've had done.
Ugh this is so depressing. I really thought I would have been to at least one track event by now.
08-23-14, 12:18 AM
#92
Uleepera, i understand the frustration.
i have some questions for you:
1. why are you using an AEM?
2. why are you running 15 psi?
3. have you ever done a track day?
4. how much power do you think is necessary in an FD to be fast at a track?
5. is your plan for this car to ACTUALLY take it to a track?
here's what i would do if i were you:
1. rebuild your engine (or pay someone like IRP to rebuild it again)
2. change out your wastegates to run 10-11psi. you can turn it up later with your EMS.
3. remove the aux injection, your AEM, and your harness
4. buy a haltech ps1k
5. take your car to speed1, and pay brian to install the haltech and tune the haltech on the dyno. (you are in PA, right?) when tuners do a full flying lead (or a Ludwig harness install) and tune the car after their own install, things are much more likely to go correctly.
i have some questions for you:
1. why are you using an AEM?
2. why are you running 15 psi?
3. have you ever done a track day?
4. how much power do you think is necessary in an FD to be fast at a track?
5. is your plan for this car to ACTUALLY take it to a track?
here's what i would do if i were you:
1. rebuild your engine (or pay someone like IRP to rebuild it again)
2. change out your wastegates to run 10-11psi. you can turn it up later with your EMS.
3. remove the aux injection, your AEM, and your harness
4. buy a haltech ps1k
5. take your car to speed1, and pay brian to install the haltech and tune the haltech on the dyno. (you are in PA, right?) when tuners do a full flying lead (or a Ludwig harness install) and tune the car after their own install, things are much more likely to go correctly.
08-23-14, 08:42 AM
#93
1. It was recommended to me by one of the people who was originally tuning my car
2. wastegate spring is 15lbs
3. Yes, quite a while ago through. It was basically just laptime though
4. My target was low 400s
5. The original plan when I started this build was to turn it from a stock fd into a track ready fd. Heavy emphasis on reliability.
2. wastegate spring is 15lbs
3. Yes, quite a while ago through. It was basically just laptime though
4. My target was low 400s
5. The original plan when I started this build was to turn it from a stock fd into a track ready fd. Heavy emphasis on reliability.
08-23-14, 01:32 PM
#96
Just read the thread and sorry to hear all thats happened. Stick it out, if you give up on the rotary now, itll haunt you forever knowing you never accomplished (failed) building your dream rotary track car.
Its hard to take in the fact that your motor has blown 2 times in the light tuning process. Its takes a lot for the motor to just pop like that especially under such light load. Something is seriously wrong. I remember tuning my original motor myself back when it had also done 5 years of racing. I literally tried to squeeze every ounce of power out of what was left of the engine not caring if she was going to blow.. and she never did. And I am by no means an "experienced" tuner.
Jacob gave great advice. Start off tuning at just 12psi and build your way up. Start simple, then worry about AUX injections, E85 etc. Ditch the AMS, and buy either a Haltech or Adaptronic. They have proven to be the best ECU's for the FD now with decent support.
Its hard to take in the fact that your motor has blown 2 times in the light tuning process. Its takes a lot for the motor to just pop like that especially under such light load. Something is seriously wrong. I remember tuning my original motor myself back when it had also done 5 years of racing. I literally tried to squeeze every ounce of power out of what was left of the engine not caring if she was going to blow.. and she never did. And I am by no means an "experienced" tuner.
Jacob gave great advice. Start off tuning at just 12psi and build your way up. Start simple, then worry about AUX injections, E85 etc. Ditch the AMS, and buy either a Haltech or Adaptronic. They have proven to be the best ECU's for the FD now with decent support.
08-23-14, 03:12 PM
#97
I agree with Jacob. Have engine built and put back together and then take to Brian for tuning. If you don't trust anyone to build it now that you've had a bad experience, see if he'll build it. He probably be more comfortable tuning if he built it himself anyways.
08-23-14, 03:32 PM
#98
^^^ yes, exactly.
also, i want to emphasize using 10psi wastegate springs. you can have a "high boost" switch input on your EMS to run on the street when you need to measure dicks at a stop light with a corvette owner
and i say 10psi because if you want to make this a track car (and you're not a veteran track driver) 400+whp will be way too much to handle. the general recommendations from the FD track rats is to not go over 350whp:
1. these little cars are just too much to handle when you crank the power up above 350whp. please trust me that getting sideways at 90mph in 3rd gear is extremely scary. and you'll be able to keep up with 996 porsches and C5 z06s on the straights with 350whp.
2. more than 350whp stresses the driveline too much and will make the trans and diff overheat unless you install coolers with fluid pumps.
3. the over all heat (intake temps, coolant temps, EXHAUST TEMPS) go up substantially when you add 100hp to an engine that already pumps out more heat than most other engines.
also, i want to emphasize using 10psi wastegate springs. you can have a "high boost" switch input on your EMS to run on the street when you need to measure dicks at a stop light with a corvette owner
and i say 10psi because if you want to make this a track car (and you're not a veteran track driver) 400+whp will be way too much to handle. the general recommendations from the FD track rats is to not go over 350whp:
1. these little cars are just too much to handle when you crank the power up above 350whp. please trust me that getting sideways at 90mph in 3rd gear is extremely scary. and you'll be able to keep up with 996 porsches and C5 z06s on the straights with 350whp.
2. more than 350whp stresses the driveline too much and will make the trans and diff overheat unless you install coolers with fluid pumps.
3. the over all heat (intake temps, coolant temps, EXHAUST TEMPS) go up substantially when you add 100hp to an engine that already pumps out more heat than most other engines.
08-24-14, 10:12 AM
#99
Jeez, this is a frustrating thread to read. You're throwing money all over the place with no result, because you don't know what you're trying to do, because it doesn't seem like you have any track experience at all. You seem to have this vague idea of building a track car but no idea what that really means or what is important to do that. Have you even autocrossed?
You don't want a 400hp monster to start tracking with, for two big reasons:
1) As you've learned the hard way, it's one thing to have a bunch of financially interested people tell you it will be easy and sell you esoteric parts and service time, and it's another to actually make the thing run consistently. And that's just to make a dyno queen! Do you actually think this thing is ever going to hold up for 20min stints at the track in July and August? I'm fairly new to rotaries but this whole build thread forum is just black humor. Lots of folks dropping tens of $ks into cars to make big numbers but just end up with years in the shop and engines that blow before the break-in is even over. If your focus was reliability as you say, you'd take a proven and simple solution with parts that lots of other people use, and not have spent two years chasing 400hp.
2) If you have no car control experience you're just going to be puttering around with the rest of the noobs. Guys in Miatas with more experience will pass you. Even when you start to get a handle on how to drive a car fast, you're just going to be stunted by the ability to hammer down the straights; you're going to think you're a faster driver than you are.
Why are you even building this car like this? You think you'd be bored on track with a sorted 280hp FD? Ha. You could spend years just tweaking the suspension and getting faster and faster. Look around the track forum and it seems like most of the people who are regularly tracking are doing 8-12psi with cooling and reliability mods. Is there anyone who is REGULARLY tracking a 400+hp high-boost FD without being part of a high-dollar shop or team effort (i.e., a business effort)?
Put the car in a garage for a while, call one of the Spec Miata shops at NJMP and rent a spec miata for a bunch of track days. It's an expensive way to get on track but far cheaper than what you're doing, and if you've already vaporized $50k for 0 track hours, a broken car, and a cool parts list, I think you can swing it. Spend some time in a 120whp RACE car, get some seat time, and you will be able to think clearly about what you're trying to do. Promise that big HP numbers will be the last thing on your mind.
You don't want a 400hp monster to start tracking with, for two big reasons:
1) As you've learned the hard way, it's one thing to have a bunch of financially interested people tell you it will be easy and sell you esoteric parts and service time, and it's another to actually make the thing run consistently. And that's just to make a dyno queen! Do you actually think this thing is ever going to hold up for 20min stints at the track in July and August? I'm fairly new to rotaries but this whole build thread forum is just black humor. Lots of folks dropping tens of $ks into cars to make big numbers but just end up with years in the shop and engines that blow before the break-in is even over. If your focus was reliability as you say, you'd take a proven and simple solution with parts that lots of other people use, and not have spent two years chasing 400hp.
2) If you have no car control experience you're just going to be puttering around with the rest of the noobs. Guys in Miatas with more experience will pass you. Even when you start to get a handle on how to drive a car fast, you're just going to be stunted by the ability to hammer down the straights; you're going to think you're a faster driver than you are.
Why are you even building this car like this? You think you'd be bored on track with a sorted 280hp FD? Ha. You could spend years just tweaking the suspension and getting faster and faster. Look around the track forum and it seems like most of the people who are regularly tracking are doing 8-12psi with cooling and reliability mods. Is there anyone who is REGULARLY tracking a 400+hp high-boost FD without being part of a high-dollar shop or team effort (i.e., a business effort)?
Put the car in a garage for a while, call one of the Spec Miata shops at NJMP and rent a spec miata for a bunch of track days. It's an expensive way to get on track but far cheaper than what you're doing, and if you've already vaporized $50k for 0 track hours, a broken car, and a cool parts list, I think you can swing it. Spend some time in a 120whp RACE car, get some seat time, and you will be able to think clearly about what you're trying to do. Promise that big HP numbers will be the last thing on your mind.
09-27-14, 04:14 PM
#100
I don't think the AEM EMS is the source of the problems. I upgraded from the Power FC to the AEM about a year ago. I've been making over 500WHP on pump gas and tracking the car regularly. I find the AEM offers tons of controlability when compared to the PFC. Car drives smoothly on the street and delivers the power in a controlled manner with boost by gear and boost by TPS. I also use the AEM to efficiently control my staged fuel system and utilize its traction control feature. I will he heading to the strip to try out the launch control in a couple weeks, but really no complaints with the AEM this far. The data logging has saved the day on a couple occasions then I noticed a drop in fuel pressure because the stock lines could not keep up. The O2, fuel pressure, and pil pressure failsafes also offer a sense of security. The AEM S2 is very capable when setup correctly.
I agree with a lot of the recent posts in this thread. With 512WHP, I can barely keep the car in a straight line on the highway. I run low boost on track days and am tweaking in the boost by TPS for a more linear power delivery. Even at low boost (387WHP), I am faster than all but one car in the straights (550 WHP vette). I have flipped the switch for high boost once on the track when I got pissed off and really wanted to bitch slap godzilla with his computer controlled torque vectoring ***** bullshit. However, I actually get better lap times when I run low boost and can focus more on the line than trying to not die.
That being said, I really do think a LS swap would be the right thing for you. With a turbo rotary, there is a lot of maintenance and trouble shooting new issues. I've got pressure switches, booster pumps, 3 way solenoids, meth pumps, wastegates. That is all tons of extra **** that can fail and cause even bigger problems. Even after your final tune on the dyno, you are not safe. I am always fine tuning my fuel and boost map and reviewing data logs to make sure AFR's and EGTs are good. Making sure fuel pressure increases linear with boost, checking oil press, boost solenoid duty % output. I do believe that it is possible to have a high powered 13B, but you had better be on top of your ****. The LS swap will give you simplicity and not be so maintenance intensive. You can start out with a stock LS3, get used to that, then add a cam if your really want to get a bit more.
I agree with a lot of the recent posts in this thread. With 512WHP, I can barely keep the car in a straight line on the highway. I run low boost on track days and am tweaking in the boost by TPS for a more linear power delivery. Even at low boost (387WHP), I am faster than all but one car in the straights (550 WHP vette). I have flipped the switch for high boost once on the track when I got pissed off and really wanted to bitch slap godzilla with his computer controlled torque vectoring ***** bullshit. However, I actually get better lap times when I run low boost and can focus more on the line than trying to not die.
That being said, I really do think a LS swap would be the right thing for you. With a turbo rotary, there is a lot of maintenance and trouble shooting new issues. I've got pressure switches, booster pumps, 3 way solenoids, meth pumps, wastegates. That is all tons of extra **** that can fail and cause even bigger problems. Even after your final tune on the dyno, you are not safe. I am always fine tuning my fuel and boost map and reviewing data logs to make sure AFR's and EGTs are good. Making sure fuel pressure increases linear with boost, checking oil press, boost solenoid duty % output. I do believe that it is possible to have a high powered 13B, but you had better be on top of your ****. The LS swap will give you simplicity and not be so maintenance intensive. You can start out with a stock LS3, get used to that, then add a cam if your really want to get a bit more.