4 or 8 for Rx7

I'm curious... Why not just get a Mustang? It already has a V8 with a supporting auto and manual trans.

Were's the fun in that?

amg_rx7 wrote: I'm curious... Why not just get a Mustang? It already has a V8 with a supporting auto and manual trans.

I'll give you my reasons for building the 5.0 RX7. I already had Mustangs. Wanted something different. When I built my car in '93, the newest Mustang was still a Fox body. The RX7 looked better, was lighter, had better ergonomics, looked better, had a better chassis, had better suspension, better brakes, and did I mention, looked better? It was a great chassis in search of a strong engine.

My RX7 weighed 2720 lbs with the autopower roll cage, V8, and full interior. it was lighter and had better weight distribution than the Mustang or the stock TII (which weighed in at just over 2800 lbs). I had already been autocrossing it for a year in rotary form, and it was fast and pulled well over 1 G laterally on A008 RSII street tires. The V8 added power to the balance and agility of the car, without the reliability problems of a modded rotary. It was a car that was greater than the sum of it's parts. And it wasn't another Mustang or Camaro. OR Corvette. And it cost vastly less than making any of those cars its equal.

After doing abit more searching I have gone from thinking of a v8 to a gm 3800 v6...because i can get one for free.

A 3800 is only free if its got a good supercharger on top with fresh metal framed intake gaskets under it.

Kenny_McCormic wrote: A 3800 is only free if its got a good supercharger on top with fresh metal framed intake gaskets under it.

Why do you say that?

JacktheRiffer wrote:

Kenny_McCormic wrote: A 3800 is only free if its got a good supercharger on top with fresh metal framed intake gaskets under it.

Why do you say that?

Because a stock non supercharged 3800 is just a lump of cast iron. The effort involved installing it would be the same as for a v8 with less power as a result... And a 3800 with a bad supercharger is no longer "free".

I would take the motor form a s2000 add boost and go have fun with it in an RX7. Unforchinitly I think there is a engine rotation direction issue.

I completely understand the V8 swap thing but putting a rev happy 4 in a car like this can be a lot of fun to drive.

I have been having the same debate just using a 944s2 as the platform. I started a thread a while back about this and got some great suggestions for non V8 motors to use. (once people got over the idea that I did not want a V8)

Ohya re the RX7 TII the dif and the Trans are much better units than the NA cars. If you can start with a TII do it. If you can adapt the TII trans to your motor of choice this would be the rout I would go as it is a pretty stout trans. The NA trans and dif are weaker and would probably warrant swapping out if you end up with V8 HP and torque.

This could possibly save you some $$$$ by using the T2 trans and dif as well as the time and $$$ for the install and a new driveshaft. The only "issue" would be if the gearing would work.

Check out Granny's Speed Shop. Conversion kits for RX7s with a variety of engine choices. Save a lot of time and bloody knuckles.

dean1484 wrote: I would take the motor form a s2000 add boost and go have fun with it in an RX7. Unforchinitly I think there is a engine rotation direction issue. I completely understand the V8 swap thing but putting a rev happy 4 in a car like this can be a lot of fun to drive. I have been having the same debate just using a 944s2 as the platform. I started a thread a while back about this and got some great suggestions for non V8 motors to use. (once people got over the idea that I did not want a V8) Ohya re the RX7 TII the dif and the Trans are much better units than the NA cars. If you can start with a TII do it. If you can adapt the TII trans to your motor of choice this would be the rout I would go as it is a pretty stout trans. The NA trans and dif are weaker and would probably warrant swapping out if you end up with V8 HP and torque. This could possibly save you some $$$$ by using the T2 trans and dif as well as the time and $$$ for the install and a new driveshaft. The only "issue" would be if the gearing would work.

I have considered going this route with the f2t

Nissan VG-series v6 is a known-quantity swap as well.

What about a VQ?

The nissan v6s seem like quite abit of trouble even though they can make a bunch of power. Cant remember if i stated or not but i want the car to be streetable while still being very competitive.

Edit: what about the miata engine with a turbo?