heinrich

I keep saying this and naysayers keep telling me the twin-turbo RX7 of late 90's is supposed to outrun a healthy S4, but .....

I was entering a <race track> at a slight incline, maybe 20 degrees. Got up to 80 or so ft/min and went to 4th, ready to cruise as usual, passing a little RX7 ahead, which took offense to being passed and promptly froggered ahead into the same lane ahead, now about 20 ft/min faster than he had been cruising. I allowed Godzilla to slow naturally to 70 ft/min and dropped to third, clutch-in. Dropped the hammer hard after I had lovingly engaged the drivetrain, and passed to the left, I heard him nail it too. I passed with relative ease, within about 50 yards I was ahead by a half car-length, but he was not letting go, so I let 3rd gear ride into that sweet zone where Spanish Bulls lose all control and can't help but stomp the toreador, at all cost. I engaged 4th (no shotgun shifts) and fully expected him to take that gap, but I bet his lungs were purple by then, and all of 4th was a walk in the park, basically continuing the good groundwork just laid by 3rd. By the time the Spanish bulls rolled around again .... I looked in the rear view mirror to see him dodging lanes to follow at least 6 or 8 car lenghts behind (no traffic ahead of him), so I popped a nose dive to normal cruise (80 ft/min) .... he came behind me later, but remained a contented follower. I wanted to thumb-up him, but he never did pass, despite my solid cruise attitude .....

Let it not be said that A TURBO rx7 can eat a healthy S4 5spd for dinner ... this was the so-manieth snack of the same flavour .... they all ....

TASTE LIKE CHICKEN.

Imo000

Great storry H! It's nice every now and then to be on the winning side.

The 3rd gen RX-7 come in a N/A form too, right?

ceedee

i love these race-track stories.
well my car will be race worthy one day, too

JEC_31

Good kill.

And a rare one too - there are very few stock unmodified examples left in the wild.

Ah, the sexy little FD. A shape like a supermodel, but higher maintenance. They should've come from the factory with a "Replace Engine" idiot light.

FD LS6 swap is still on my things-to-do-before-I-die list.


Imo000: nope. Only motor for the 3rd gen was the 13B-REW twin-turbo, the last NA motors were the 2nd gen North American market 1991 cars.

heinrich

1.3 litre RX7 twin-turbo is 0.09 hp/lb.
Godzilla is 0.1036 hp/lb

Imo000

JEC_31,

Yup, you are right! For some reason I thought that they, just like the last gen Supras, came with a N/A engine as a base.



This 1.3 figure is a little misleading, cause the Wankel engines operate as two strokes so therefore they have twice the output of a four stroke piston engine. Now if you look at it that way then (2.6L twin turbo) all of a sudden the stock 255hp figure becomes less impressive.

85fortheDrive

Gotta love that 3rd gear, man. If you can be close when you reach 4K in that gear, then it is indeed Ole time. I had a neighbor out in our 84 (which itself is no S4) and on the backroa... racetrack. When 3rd gear kicked in at 3000 rpm, the old boy earned another "Hooooly Shiiii-".

Having said that, I must advise you Heinrich to observe all posted speed limits...

heinrich

No worries mate .... we were barely crawling!!! 80ft/min is under one mph. I could have got out and washed my windshield. I would never ever ever dream of:

a) exceeding a posted speed limit or
b) road racing or
c) driving competitively on a public roadway.

No, mostly I have people passing me waving and pointing and giving me "you're number one" signs because I make sure I stay well below safe, prudent, posted speed limits on public roadways. This was on a race track anyway

JEC_31

Well, I am a recovered RX-7 addict. I retained the trivia after selling all my dead 7s.

There's been lots of debate over how to measure the displacement of a Wankel rotary. It's a geometrically tricky design (and a poor one for combustion with it's long thin combustion chamber) and it does indeed fire once per rotor revolution. However, that rotor spins the eccentric crankshaft where RPM is measured from 3 times for each one rotor revolution. So each RPM is only 1/3 of a combustion event, so some Wankel enthusiasts (we call them "rotards" on the V8 RX-7 forum) insist that the two-stroke comparison is invalid and their beloved wankels really are 1.3 liters (or 1.2 for the older 1979-1985 carb'd versions).

But the fact remains that these are lightweight fast cars capable of face-distorting lateral Gs. Spanking one is still an accomplishment!

heinrich

Thank you, I thought so

nhporsche87

H,

I assume since there is nothing in your sig about it, that your S4 is not twin screwed or turboed up? What about x pipe, etc?

Just want to get a measure comparison to what you have and what I have, I do have an Auto, but the same year, totally stock on my end at this time.

Imo000

H,


My comment was towards the missleading fact that the RX7TT is only 1.3L and not towards your win. It was, at a minimum, impressive to beat a car that is rated to be as fast of faster than an S4. Also now days a stock RX7 is a rarety, chances are good that he had some modifications (not enough to get you).


JEC_31,

I agree with what you are saying. It's nearly impossible to compare a Wenkel to a 4 stroke piston engine. Figured that comparing it to a two stroke is something that most people can relate to. It's like comparing a piston to a jet engine. Totally two different designs that have almost nothing in common and there is no real way to compare the two.

slownrusty

I was just over on the RX7 forums...there is a new thread titled "Snacked on a 928S4 Tonight"

Yasin

johnf95111

A few years before I got my GT I was looking at a RX7TT with lust. A friend just bought a new 91 twin turbo. I said, cool car, take me for a ride. I hopped and off we went. As he rowed enthusiastically through the gears I was expecting more of a snap. I was thoroughly disappointed. The next car I set my sites on was the 928.

I'm sure the handling is there, but the snap I was expecting wasn't.

Disillusioned,

heinrich

Duuude I was replying to Imo ..... Yasin lol .... Dan, Ott Crossover; RMB, and general excellent health.