David S. Wallens
David S. Wallens Editorial Director
5/17/17 11:13 a.m.
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Things didn’t go so well during our Daytona outing with ChumpCar RVA Graphics: Less than 10 laps in, a coolant line ruptured, leading to an overheated engine.

The final diagnosis? That engine is toast. Yay, us.

We looked at our possible solutions. We could find another used engine, but the newest one out there is now 20 years old. Yes, …

Read the rest of the story

fidelity101
fidelity101 SuperDork
5/17/17 2:09 p.m.

All these engines keep blowing? time for a wankel swap!!!

David S. Wallens
David S. Wallens Editorial Director
5/17/17 2:12 p.m.
fidelity101 wrote: All these engines keep blowing? time for a wankel swap!!!

With a turbo!

fidelity101
fidelity101 SuperDork
5/17/17 2:18 p.m.

In reply to David S. Wallens:

lets just take this one step at a time...

accordionfolder
accordionfolder HalfDork
5/17/17 2:19 p.m.
David S. Wallens wrote:
fidelity101 wrote: All these engines keep blowing? time for a wankel swap!!!
With a turbo!

I'm no professional - but as far as I'm aware that's considered the industry standard for reliability. You should consider Twin turbos - this roughly doubles the reliability of any one car.

David S. Wallens
David S. Wallens Editorial Director
5/17/17 2:27 p.m.

Do I hear "quad turbos?"

Rodan
Rodan Reader
5/17/17 2:35 p.m.

1.8 NB2 VVT swap...

JeffHarbert
JeffHarbert GRM+ Memberand HalfDork
5/17/17 2:37 p.m.

Needs more MZR.

David S. Wallens
David S. Wallens Editorial Director
5/17/17 2:41 p.m.

Really, the plan is to get it back together. The car was fast (and reliable) at Lemons. Then we had some issues. If we can get back to our 193 horsepower at the wheels with fresh stuff and no leaks, then we should be golden. The major plan: run a ton of laps and have some fun.

True, though, MZR would be fun. Next time.

noddaz
noddaz GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
5/17/17 8:14 p.m.

Coulda had a V8... (Still could...)

Sagewind
Sagewind New Reader
5/17/17 10:45 p.m.

Rotary + turbo... awesome! What could possibly go wrong? Besides, I hear it's been done before.

wvumtnbkr
wvumtnbkr GRM+ Memberand UltraDork
5/18/17 12:50 p.m.

Rotaries are actually incredibly durable in this type of racing. We ran the same engine for several years with only minimal issues.

We even ran a turbo rotary for awhile and put it on the podium.

Jerry
Jerry UltraDork
5/18/17 12:54 p.m.

Sell this one...buy the one you promoted on Flyin'Miata...profit! Well, sorta.

JimMurphy
JimMurphy New Reader
6/6/17 2:16 p.m.

There is a water pressure loss warning device on the internet that is cheap insurance because a pressure drop happens well before the temperature goes up. HTH, Jim

aircooled
aircooled MegaDork
6/6/17 4:15 p.m.
David S. Wallens wrote: Do I hear "quad turbos?"

Well, that's just silly.

A 3 rotor and 3 turbos though...

Scargod
Scargod GRM+ Memberand New Reader
6/20/17 7:12 p.m.

And people complain about Subaru engines! Just like some of the knocks on Subie motors, a burst hose is no reflection on the engine.

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