Wrexseven

So ive got alot of friends who are into drifting. Im not intending to drift my RX7 when i get it but once in a while why not right?

So any how, they are telling me that the rotery motor is a great but that the drifting scene rebuilds the motors after every event. Claming its because the rotery dosent handle high boost well...

If this is true, then would a calmly driven daily RX-7 FD3 be fine or would it need to be re-built every 200xxx km for example?

I dont mind putting in the hours, but Im looking to buy something a little higher Kms to fit into my budget, and well if the motors typically need rebuilding every 200xxx km and i buy one with 150xxx km, Well, i may as well spend more and buy something thats already been rebuilt no?

Sorry im new to the RX-7s and im on here soley to do research and learn as much as i can over the next couple months so im well prepaired before i buy mine.

I know every bolt on my truck, i know every nut on my skyline, I now want to know every torque spec on the RX.. please get me started o-wise men.

Aaron Cake

iTrader: (1)

Your friends are falling for the typical rotary myths. Now, I don't know a thing about drifting, but I find it hard to believe that drifting is worse for an engine than, say, endurance racing where engines run multiple seasons.

As for high boost, why run high boost? You'll find that most rotary engines in the 400HP level (just picked that number as it seems everyone wants 400HP) are running around 15 PSI from a turbocharger that you would normally consider huge. This is because the rotary moves so much more air then an equivalent sized piston engine and has much more exhaust energy.

Every 200,000KM? That's quite a lot of mileage for any car made in the '90s anyway. You're not going to get 200,000K out of a 400HP 13B, but out of a stock engine, sure.

FDs are very unreliable in stock form and generally blow turbos before 100K and engines shortly after. All other RX-7s are highly reliable. So figure into the plot an engine rebuild, conversion to single turbo (or a set of well rebuilt twins converted to parallel or carefully rebuilt as sequential), upgraded radiator, upgraded intercooler, all the plastic/vacuum lines in the engine bay replaced, precat eliminated and a few other things. Standalone if you go single and want to make power. That should get you a reliable FD.

Wrexseven

Hey thanks alot thats helpfull... yeah i had hurd that the fd's are a little picky stock... But Im guessing theres thread after thread after thread about this sort of thing, im just not able to get into the other forms to post yet...

So a typical issue is shot turbos, vacumm lines, ext? Im much happier with single turbo setups. Just because I like a turbo, But hate the Pickyness of a sequential, and the lag of a parelle... Ide rather just run single turbo, and drive calmly.

Ive got a truck thats got way too much money invested into it, This is going to be my daily. I only drive casually a few blocks here and there once and while a few citys away... I have a company vehicle so driving to work is not a requirement of this car atall....

Sgtblue

iTrader: (16)

IMHO, NOTHING will be reliable if you drift or track a car regularly. You will be taking the drivetrain of a car that's nearly two decades old to > 90% of it's design potential... and leaving it there for extended periods. That's hard on any car and you will break things. Not a good choice if it's also going to be a DD.

And it's "Rotary".

evot23

iTrader: (17)

Sequential turbos aren't "picky" IMO. Actually, they allow for a pretty good idea of predictability.

Nonsequential turbos won't give you much of a lag if you know where your shift points are in the power band. Even from a dead stop, as long as you know where your rpm mark is, you'll have power when you want it.

Eddie

Mitchocalypse

iTrader: (2)

IMO 200 000 kms on a rotary SHOULD be easy to accomplish. However, look at it this way. The car is getting older, therefore cheaper, meaning more people are able to buy them and when you don't spend as much for something, you might not care for it as much. Point being, chances are pretty high that the car you buy will have been bagged to **** at some point. In this case, don't expect more than 120 000 km. Cause chances are if these people are bagging it, (ie not giving a **** about it) they will likely be falling behind on maintenance such as oil changes, coolant flush etc.. which are lethal to a rotary.

My point is that a well maintained rotary (boosted or not) is just as reliable as any other engine. However, falling behind on maintenance will really take it 's toll and unfortunately, with the price of these cars going down, that's where it's at. You can get a very well maintained one, but it will cost significantly more.

It sounds like you want to do a build anyways though and in that case, you would probably be tearing everything appart and doing it over from scratch how you would want it anyways. In this case, take good care of it, and it will take good care of you.

Wrexseven

thanks all... Im getting it imported stright from japan when i do purchase it. a full build i will not be doing. But maintenance and suddle mods yeah for sure. Also i wont be drifting it, it wont be a track vehicle, it will be my daily. I may kick it on a corner, or in a lot on the rare day. but its strictly going to be my pretty mobile...

Ps. I cant spell for my life. Sorry if it irritates you all. its just the way it is.