rick_tj

I've officially decided on getting an 86 GXL, NA. Its the cheapest one, and with only 60,000 km on a new motor, I can't go wrong. However, I need to know what the best bang for the buck upgrades are for it, in order. I've only ever modded a 4.0L Jeep TJ before, so this will be different for me. Do these things even have cylinder heads? I figured on a cone intake and tube, complete free flowing exhaust (headers all the way to tail pipe) although I don't know what dimensions to get stuff, or even which manufacturers to get it from! Help me!

NorCal90

use the search button and you will find many many threads on this topic. that said, exhaust upgrades are the best bang for the buck you can do to a rotary.

ddub

Weight reduction has to be the absolute best bang for the buck mod considering it doesn't cost anything

gingenhagen

Archive has a thread on upgrading n/as. Though I would say for the best bang for the buck you should get a T2 and mod that instead. N/As take a whole lot more money to produce the same power and have an upper bound of like 250, or something like that.

banzaitoyota

Best BANG for the $$$$ is proper maintenance! Get it running right before you start being the whizz-bang golly-gee whiz Tuner

Bukwild

yeah if you plan to mod a rx7 sell the NA and just spend another 1-2k on a turbo 2. Then mod that to your wallets content. Modding a NA is like a dog chasing its tail. All that work and thousands spend and you find out you have a whopping 30 more hp.

banzaitoyota

car to run my lowly NA?

ddub

I'm getting really ******* sick and tired of this mentality.

gerbraldy

http://travel.howstuffworks.com/rotary-engine4.htm

I suggest before you do anything to the car read up on how it works. Theres no pistons, no rings, no valves, no rockers, no lifters.

foild

thank you dDub

i enjoy modding my NA very much, everything in the car world costs money, maybe t2's are easier to slap on some bolt ons, and away you go, but building a fast NA seems way more rewarding.

--my two cents

P.S. to answer the original post's quesion i would do this.. and this is what i have done..

tune up (fuel filter, spark plugs, wires, etc etc)
weight reduction
intake
exhaust (header, straightpipes, good catback --- check racingbeat)
Apexi SAFC2 - get it tuned proffesionally - or get a wideband 02 sensor kit.
Porting (if you can afford it)
Nitrous --- i will be doing a 75 shot in the next few weeks here...


any questions feel free to pm me.

and guys.. can we please stop telling everyone who seems happy (and should be) about buying a NA rx7 that its a waste of time... i have had nothing but fun with my car.. i think it is total ignorance for people to say this..

at the end of the day.. they are both rotary's, which we all know are beautifull cars.

Wanked_FC

iTrader: (1)

opening up the exhaust an intake makes a big difference in rotarys.

88rxn/a

iTrader: (6)

or get a wideband 02 sensor kit.
???? whats this? never seen this before. what kinda change does this run ya. what does it do? what kinda gains do ya get????

unek87

i think building a n/a is just as fun as building a boosted motor i'd love to have a t2 in my engine bay but thats not going to happen til this one goes so til then i'm happy with what i got .. just as much as any other person should be . and to build a n/a is rewarding in its self a n/a will pull many things with just intake/exhaust work and a good tune-up,etc. my lil 2cents have fun

emac

no gains for a wideband, but it allows you to tune for better performance (i.e. SAFC). Kits can fun as little as $300

http://www.zeitronix.com/Products/zt2/zt2.htm

Falcoms

Thank you so very much dDuB. I really hate it when people think that all there is to do to a rotary is to put a bigger turbo on it to get more horsepower. As I like to think, It's what's on the inside that counts...

You want to start with preventative upgrades, such as an aluminum radiator, stainless steel oil cooler lines, electric radiator fan, custom ducting from front of car to the radiator and oil cooler, etc. Then you can start playing with performance mods...

Basically, the intake and exhaust are the more restrictive, as well as the more easily modified / replaced. Find a nice cat-back exhaust that you like and go with it (most people reccomend the Racing Beat system, but I say the GReddy Power Extreme is the way to go, sounds so much better and looks so much meaner). Intakes are basically the same any way you go. DO NOT GET THE HKS INTAKE-it is the more expensive and filters MUCH less than even the Ebay filters. The reccomended one is the Apexi intake because it filters the best and allows up to 2 more HP gain over the HKS system (whooptie doo!). Beyond that, headers, porting the throttle body and intake manifolds, as well as cleaning the injectors, and you have pretty much eaten up the bolt on mods. Beyond those, you have but a few options: Stand alone EMS on stock engine or port the engine to your hearts (and wallets) content (i.e. street, 1/2 bridge, full bridge, peri-port, hybrid peri, etc.). Do some research into these setups and find one that you think will fit your needs the best.

Node

iTrader: (1)

get rid of the cats
maybe header
lightweight flywheel
port/pollish intake manifolds and throttlebody
weight reduction is key!

spot_skater

search the archives for a thread about "beefing up an n/a" or something like that

here's what i did:
stiffer springs/shocks
wheels/tires
intake
exhaust

coming up: LSD in rear, stage II clutch (ACT street/strip), lightweight flywheel, and hopefulyl tII drivetrain so that one day i can do a turbo swap and not worry...

i think it's fun modding these cars, although the power output will never be that of a turbo car, it's still nice having a car that can give you, your passenger, and the two ricers on your sides a little kick in the ***

good luck with it

Evil Aviator

Don't get the car if it has an automatic transmission.

No. The closest thing to upgraded cylinder heads is to port the engine. Unfortunately, this is only worthwhile during a complete rebuild, but it only adds about $200 USD to the price of the rebuild.

You can make an intake on your own, but don't attempt to make your own exhaust. The rotary engine runs very hot, and is very loud. If you try to make the exhaust yourself, you will most likely screw it up... many times. It is much better to just buy a pre-made exhaust system.

Part of it is true, though. For those who want a turbocharged car, it is simply not worth converting an NA into a turbo when you can just buy a TII for only a few hundred more dollars than a similar NA car.

However, I agree that the false conception that an NA RX-7 has no performance value is completely ridiculous. I am still waiting for the turbocharged RX-7's to rack up HALF as many racing wins as the NA-powered RX-7's. Even after over a decade since the end of production, there are still more road racing classes for NA RX-7's than there are for turbocharged RX-7's. I think that pretty much sums up the performance debate.

I agree with everything you said except for portion above. I have used the HKS intake, and while I didn't like it as much as a K&N filter, it worked just fine. HKS has been marketing their foam air filters at least since the 1980's, and they would have been sued long ago if there were really any significant filtration problem with their products. The reason to avoid the Ebay filters is that they tend to collapse and/or tear, letting the engine ingest foreign matter, which is REALLY bad. The Apexi filter is over-rated because of an infomercial that is running around the internet in the guise of a technical article. However, reports from actual users of the Apexi filter would at least place it as one of the top filters on the market, even if the internet infomercial is misleading and flawed.

trent1059

Is it just my imagination or is it mostly the T2 guys that are here all the time with blown motors, turbo's leaking oil, detonation problems, smoking and various other problems. I am under the belief that a N/A motor is considerably more reliable and will last a long time if proper maintenance is preformed, to that end a few dollars spent to beef up a N/A that will last is much more cost efficient than building a T2 motor over and over again.
don't get me wrong a lot more horsepower is fun but there is a place for the "lowly" N/A and I happen to like to know that when I go for a drive my car will get me back home and the N/A community seems to always get back home to run again.

Just a few casual observations....T2 guys, flame away..........

bingoboy

howcome i keep modding my NA when the T2 is blown in the yard?

IaMtHeRuThLeSs1

Am i the only one who noticed that he asked if Rx-7s have cylinders?

rick_tj

Did I? I thought I only said something about cylinder heads?

trent1059

Do these things even have cylinder heads?



I noticed but let is slide , he is a newby.

88rxn/a

iTrader: (6)

Apexi SAFC2 - get it tuned proffesionally

arent these a bit pricey?? nevr really looked into them really. i live about 2 hours from erie(i know sucks to be me) so if i did decide on this i dont even know who to go too around here to have it tuned. what kinda gains can you achieve, do you gotta get bigger secondary injectors?

therotaryrocket

i know right, my 88 turbo II is pretty fun, and very fast but i enjoy n/a engine vehicles, i think it is mostly in the engine response or something, but don't get me wrong I enjoy the turbo power so i'm gonna mod mine up and if im happy with it then i'll keep it, if not im gonna sell it and get an n/a (probably 1st gen). i think a 1st gen with a turbo engine would be alot of fun, or a 3rd gen with the sequential twin-turbo setup. I probably shouldn't say that in the 2nd gen forum section, but i like all rx7's and i miss my fb.
oh yeah, forgot to mention...header and loud exhaust is alot of fun!!
light weight flywheel depends on your personal opinion, alot faster engine response but less rotational mass, it makes it easier to drive without the clutch.