azmi951

A bit OT but my dad and I added another car to the stable. A 3rd gen (FD) turbo rx-7. One owner, one mechanic 5 spd turbo always garaged but needs another motor. I'm not a huge fan of the rotary but the FD is a beautiful car and this was too good of a deal. I should have it thursday.

I dont know if I want to put a new rotary in it or an LS2 swap. The LS2 is lighter and about 150k miles reliable.

This should be a new world for me, rotary?!?!?! it took the japanese to make a germans idea work...sort of.

MPD47

LS1. Dont even screw with the motor held together with black magic, hopes, dreams, and pixie dust. Especially if it's already toast. The swap is easy, we're just finishing one up.

Cory9584

I kinda like rotarys. They can be made to make lots of power and can spool a huge turbo for having such a small engine.

DanG

You'd enjoy the car much more with an LSx under the hood. I have 4 close buddies that have/had an FD and every one of them was constantly depressed that their motor was going to pop any minute, no matter how much they babied it. There's no reason to baby an LSx. EVER.

MPD47

They need huge turbos to make any amount of power because of how much overlap they run, that's what happens when you have no valves. Huge CFM + overlap = wasted power.

I have a friend putting down 450whp on his and anytime it hiccups or has a minor issue he freaks because he just built the engine and spent all his money and he's worried it's going to blow.

Jeremy Himsel

One of my all time favorite cars but not practical for my purposes. I've had a few rotaries over the years and if put together properly can make good power and last. You got to love a motor where you can count the moving parts on one hand.

porshhhh951

I have several close friends with them both heavily modded. I say don't bother with the rotary. Put in a LS motor and call it a day.

there is white one around here with a real clean ls6 install. Its got a cam some head's and some other goodies. Good for 500hp and since the damn thing don't weigh much thats a fast 500hp. It cranks and runs on pump gas everyday. Damn fine car's those fd's are...just a shame the motor is shiet.

jon has 40k in his and stephen has 50k in his. Yeah they are a money pit.

DDP

I want some pics. Those gen RX-7s are one of the finest styled cars.

billthe3

Stick in a 951 engine.

But in all seriousness, congrats on the buy! Them cars look awesome. I'd vote in keeping the rotary, simply because its different, but I'm not the one paying.

tedesco

test drove a very well maintained FD about 2 years ago. I wanted to buy a FD at this time. Car was an R-spec model and completley stock. I still think those models are probably the best looking sports cars ever build but about the car´s performance I was not very much impressed. The engine runs incredibly smooth and as such is the acceleration too. That is maybe why it misses the driving sensation. My 944 S2 or turbo feels a lot more rough and you clearly notice when the torque rises in the S2 or when the turbo kicks in. Nothing like that in the FD. Pulls like on a rubber band and maybe this smoothness made it feel "slow" and I did not buy it.

I think the problems with the rotaries are the apex seals in combination with a not ideal combustion chamber shape which is fixed by the principle by which those engines work. It is possible to change compression ratios by changing the rotors and you will hardly see any rod faliures on them but they remain sensitive to detonation/knock level. This is not helped by the motor housing being hot on one end and cold on the other with the rotor having to spin in it with the smallest possible clearance.

If you are running a japanese car why not installing a japanese engine too? There are examples of people fitted skyline and supra engines in it.

SoloRacer

Keep the rotary engine in the car but get it built correctly and properly maintained. There is nothing wrong with the rotary engine if it is maintained and built well. An LS1 conversion will cost you more than it's worth in my opinion. The same guys who say go LS1 on the FD would say to go LS1 on our 951's for pretty much the same reasons. I have had an RX7 for years and usually the reason the engine gets such a bad rap is because idiots modify them without knowing what they are doing or the cars are bought by the financially unstable and thus don't get the proper maintanence or they get someone who thinks they know a little something about the engine and everything gets messed up. I've seen it over and over again. Keep the rotary in the car and not only can you make really good power it can be made easier than on our 951's and your resale value won't be **** when you go to sell it.

MPD47

I've seen properly converted FD's go for $20k all day long. Not **** in my book.

SoloRacer

And I've seen converted FD's sit on the block for years with the owners wondering why no one is interested in the cars. All day long? Please....you make it sound like there are a lot of converted FD's out there and I know that there isn't. The ratio of converted to non converted cars has to be 1000:1 I don't believe you have seen more than a handful of converted FD's and out of those cars how many went for $20K? One? Two? Maybe. You will be lucky to get $15k for a converted car. Now factor in the cost of a proper conversion and yes the resale is ****. You have to find a special buyer for an LS1 converted FD. Just like you have to find a special buyer for an LS1 converted 951.

MPD47

I love how upset RX7 owners get about converted cars. It amuses me.




That one sold for mid $30k's


That one sold for $18k


For sale at $32k and has an offer pending.

Etc, etc, etc.

I know you hate swapped cars, but dont deny the resale value. You can say it destroys the soul of the car, blah blah blah (but having driven both and thinking the rotary has some charm, I can say I'd prefer the LSx car every day).

SoloRacer

So there are 4 cars out of how many? The point I am making is that LS1 swaps are not as common as you are making it out to be. Also notice that the cars you pictured have a ton more work done to them than just the engine. Just look at the bodies, rims and interiors. There is a ton more money in those cars than just the engine swap. Those cars would be like having a 951 with Motons, charlie arms, racing seats, GTR body kits, stand alone EMS and then saying that guys are getting $20K all day for a 951 with an LS1 swap. An FD with no modifications other than the engine isn't $20k all day. I have nothing against an LS1. What I don't like is the unknowledgeable calling the rotary engine **** and then those same people advising others to dump the engine to go with something else. The rotary engine itself is actually quite a marvel and in the hands of someone who knows what they are dealing with they are reliable too. Too often it gets a bad rap because of the reasons I mentioned before.