13b-REW Mods
 

Hi,
im from AUS and only new to this forum.
i own a Vk commodore for those who know what that is, i have heavily moded the engine myself. im really into the older holden motors, but from a very young age ive always loved the rotory. at the end of this year im going to be in the market for a 3rd gen Rx7 once i have completed my training in the airforce, i don't know too much about the rotory, so i thought i would "learn up" on it before i dive into modding the engine and so on. anyways....

im looking for around 400-450HP at the wheels, what sort of mods will i be looking at? approximatley how much would the mods cost? and is this power achievable from the standard twin turbos? or would going single turbo be the way yo go?
any input is much appreciated
cheers:)

Stock twin turbos top out at a comfortable 350rwhp. If you push them very hard, maybe 400rwhp. BNR stage 3 turbos are upgraded twins that can run sequentially, they make 400 more comfortably. For more than 400rwhp you're talking single turbo.

The primary issue with the 13b-rew is heat. In stock configuration, it roasts itself. Even with substantial cooling mods, there is so much heat being created in the combustion chamber and retained by the turbos that it's a challenge to maintain reliability. Rotaries cannot tolerate detonation when under boost at all, so as you can imagine tuning is critical.

Recently attention has turned to the electronically controlled AI systems which are cheap and hit the problem right at it's root cause - AI drops combustion chamber temps way down from where they would otherwise be even with a perfect tune. The electronic control and specially designed injection nozzles keep excellent driveability, and the water keeps the engine perfectly steam cleaned at all times. Engine bay temps go way down, which is huge for the reliability of the stock solenoids, wiring, and sensors. Knock readings get very low. Reliability can only go up.

By far the cheapest way to get a 350rwhp car is to buy it completed. This will cost you very little, and with the FD market being very soft you should be able to find some excellent deals. There are many for sale with bad engines, poor maintenance, or poor configuration - just make sure to play safe and skip those. Don't be afraid of cars with rebuilt engines, just find out who rebuilt it and do the standard tests on it.

If you're taking a perfectly stock car, do the labor yourself, and buy good used parts where it's sensible, you can probably push to 350rwhp for $5-8k. That's a fuel system, cooling mods, programmable ECU, boost controller, water injection, all new exhaust parts, intercooler and intake. Always leave room for maintenance money even on a perfectly maintained car. With a single turbo conversion and professional tuning your total will hit $10k. If an immaculate interior is important to you, shop for that as a major criteria since replacements are hard to find or extremely expensive direct from Mazda.