Keep it TII, port the 13B, and a bigger turbo set up, standalone, support mods = 400hp easy.

 

I gave him this "400 RWHP outline" list:

- Street port
- 800cc+ primary fuel injectors / 1,600cc secondary fuel injectors
- Aftermarket FPR
- Custom fuel rails and lines
- Bosch .044 fuel pump
- High flow exhaust system
- Standalone ECU
- Wideband AFR gauge
- Garrett GT35R turbo
- 45mm external wastegate
- Custom turbo manifold
- Boost gauge
- Aftermarket radiator
- GOOD spark plug wires
- Stainless braided oil cooler lines
- Quality pressure plate, clutch disc, and flywheel
- V-mount intercooler set-up
- Custom air box with ducting
- Complete TII drivetrain
- Wider wheels and tires
- Great suspension set-up
- All new bushings
- A GOOD TUNE

And get your engine dowel pinned!


And if you're on a tight budget:

- Street port
- 800cc+ primary fuel injectors / 1,600cc secondary fuel injectors
- Aftermarket FPR
- Bosch .044 fuel pump
- High flow exhaust system
- Standalone ECU
- BNR Stage 4 turbo
- Boost gauge
- Aftermarket radiator
- GOOD spark plug wires
- Front mount intercooler set-up (I advise you go V-mount, though)
- Intake
- Complete TII drivetrain
- A GOOD TUNE



There may be other necessary **** I am forgetting...

 

more reliable? i'm so sick of hearing that when doing comparisons of a 25 year old stock motor that someone slapped a turbo on and blew up.

get the **** out.

 

exactly,people talk like you can just plop an LS in place of the rotary,ive been working on mine for a couple of years now,bought the motor,then the trans. and thought im 90% done,but you dont factor in all the extra work needed,special mounts,wiring,and all the little parts that start adding up to much more money,im sure it will be a blast to drive but if i wouldve had a good rotary to start with then i would just enjoy the car like that until it gave out,on a side note my second car was a 80GSE with carbed 12A and it ran great with 200K+ miles on it..until i got rear ended and it was totaled

 

That's because they probably stripped the a/c and p/s along with other things during the swap. Comparing a fully dressed 13bt and ls1, the ls1 is heavier, by a good bit. Same with the trans (IIRC). If you want a lighter car just strip everything you were going to with the swap and be ahead of the game. Take all the money you were going to sink into the ls1 and have more power, reliably, as well

 

Get serious. Even a brand new rebuilt REW won't stand up against a newly rebuilt LSx. The cost of getting a 13B rebuilt is in line with a lsx.

 

ok let's get serious then.

buying the block as well? motor for motor they are about the same cost, LSx nudging it because it is higher horsepower stock due to larger displacement. piecing each engine together the LSx is actually going to cost more for the peripherals because you need modified exhaust, driveshaft, mounts and other fabrication work to make it fit.

serious again, he has both on hand so i did say the LSx was a better choice since it technically wouldn't cost much except for modifying the harness and ECU and picking up the mounts and doing some fab work.

horsepower for horsepower, throw a turbo or SC on a V8 and it will beat the rotary in power.

cost comparison you can go about the same distance until about 1000 wheel horsepower where the V8 has a higher ceiling. who needs that much power?

longevity wise, lets compare an engine from the same age and generation... the TPI Z28 SBC engine. it has a narrow power band and a little less than 300WHP, cast iron block, stamped steel rockers with hydraulic push rods, well eat itself apart much over 100k and 25 years of use, a bit less when pushed daily.

again, you're comparing a 15 year newer engine versus an old tired original 13BT with god knows how many miles and coolant seals about to give it up, how is that a fair argument in this reality of yours? lets take an LSx with 150k miles and let it sit in a field for 10 more years, toss it into a car and see what it does. that is a fair comparison.

making 500+WHP they are actually similar where the V8 takes the cake with torque. but do you really need unusable torque at that level in such a light vehicle? no, not really.

so lets take an REW, capable of 600-700WHP stock block, a little more similar in age. do a few minor upgrades, proper tuning, a little more maintenance and it's a perfectly reliable engine. ANY force inducted vehicle is only as reliable as you make it, that is why people go with LSx swaps because they gave up or did not take the car to the right person to be worked on.

do yourself a favor and stop reading the $30k build threads thinking that's what it really takes to build a simple rotary engine with a decent size turbo to have a fighting chance against a newer larger engine. some skilled people have done over 500 whp reliably with these engines, conversely some knuckleheads have blown up brand new engines thinking they knew what they were doing.

 

rotary>LS1

 

LS1, Cheaper and more reliable.

 

This is complete anecdotal evidence with lots of variables, but I'll give this story.

I ran my TurboII at an autocross alongside a V8 swapped RX-7. It had a Ford 5.0, coilovers, camber plates, and racing slicks. Lots of torque, grip, everything. My car is stock except eibach progressive springs and RE-01R tires. My car was consistently faster through the course. When I rode in the V8 RX-7, it seemed off balance. It was not composed.

In conclusion, the original engine configuration- with its low mass, low center of gravity, and low polar moment of inertia- has its merits. You can't just compare the overall weight of the motors and call them equal.

 

I've decided to use the rotary engine. I can stop thinkin about how cool it would be to smoke a V8 car with an engine with the displacement of my ford festiva. Im going to use the LS1 in my '63 Nova. Ive put my Nova on the back burner for now though. Ever since I read a book on performance rotaries I cant stop thinking about them. Working at a Salvage yard for the last 15 years I was losing some of my fascination with cars. My RX7 got me out of that rut! Ill post pics of my build. Oh and I will never send another Rotary car to the crusher!!!

 

nothing drives like a rotary! NOTHING.

these engines are so easy to assemble and disassemble its like legos for grown ups

 

Its fun getting reactions from other drivers in a V8 rx7, especially other rx7 owners cause I never know exactly how their gonna feel about it. Their pretty fun on the street too, thumping through traffic in 5th @ 1600.

 

I am very glad that you chose the rotary route. You obviously put some thought into this. Thanks for not giving up on one of the most intriguing engines and racing platforms available.

 

personal opinion still i guess. my engine has been through hell and back yet i still take it on 1k mile road trips.

no it's not sitting in the hatch either.. har har! i strap it into the child's seat in the passenger side appropriately.

 

Pistons are for quitters.

 

Stick with the 13bt

Everybody around me swaps an LS1 into everything

Its not unique anymore

 

The only swap the should ever be done to a rx7 is the 20b.
I came from the muscle car era having a 500+ Hp 73 formula.Small blocks are a joke and bigblocks are just to big for a 7.
At 380whp i would walk all over my fomula in my 7

 

I was dead set on an ls6 swap in my fd till I drove my buddies big single fd.

 

I dunno... id lsx swap a fc. But id leave an fd alone. Those cars were instant classics and twenty years from now, there gonna be hard as hell to find. And I don't want the one I do find powered by Chevy.

 

most of the people who say LSx have never gotten to drive a well built rotary or have ever owned one.

/end

 

I'd say LS1, but it's mostly personal preference. In my opinion the worst part about the swap is probably the wire harness so if that's not a problem for you i'd say go for the ls1. Another thing to think about is what you've had experience working with. If you've had experience with the rotary it wouldn't be a bad choice either.

 

My fd originally had a very well built 13b. had a little over 500 rwhp. but it did nothing but break. i have 2 ls1 240's with atleast 600 rwhp and they take extreme abuse.

It rele depends on your plans for the car. I'm using mine for drifting. as much as i love mad mikes 4 rotor, its too much money and maintanece. Therefore i use the trusty lsx. i chose the lq4 this time cuz i wanna get 650 rwhp on stock internals with just a turbo


if your using it for a track car, look into a standalone harness. the only wires in my whole car is the standalone harness. Fuel pump power ground and brake lights

 

I've been considering what to do with an fc rx7 if I get my hands on one, and I thought lsx would be unique/cheap/fun but I'm going back to my original love for the rotary. Especially because it's already an rx7, 13bt all the way. Put an ls1 in a miata or something if you want to do a swap imo.

lol and this is a great quote:

 

For the amount of factors that come in to play here, to me it's not worth the argument. As far as fact goes, swaps are generally never considered more reliable than a stock counterpart because of gremlins and because all swaps vary. In my personal opinion, I would purchase a car that already has the powerplant you want as opposed to pulling it from another car, it's easier haha.