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Old 12-27-04, 08:50 PM
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Rotary Engines

How reliable are these engines? How much horse power do they come with stock? I was looking at a '91 rx-7 for 3,000 and was debating on whether or not to get it, what do you guys think?
Old 12-27-04, 08:51 PM
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AAAAAAAAAA HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

... light em up guys!!!
Old 12-27-04, 09:01 PM
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They are pretty reliable if taken care of and NOT MODDED. Keep in mind that they are pretty slow in stock form.

Sometimes, even stock motors just blow. Those of us who stay in this game for a few years and play around with mods eventually have a rotary blow on us. Rotaries blow, it's that simple, but a nice stock S5 NA for 3k would be worth it if the car was clean and taken care of.
Old 12-27-04, 09:11 PM
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I'll start the. Read the FAQ and sticky threads at the top of the list. They will answer the questions that you have. You will learn a great deal from them. IMHO $3000 is a bit high for a N/A S5 car, unless it is in immaculate condition.
Old 12-27-04, 09:23 PM
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i got my 90 gtu for 1660 in very great condtion
Old 12-27-04, 10:23 PM
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FAQ or use the search button on your toolbar
Old 12-27-04, 10:31 PM
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DONT FEED THE NOOBS

 
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no $hit what a redundant post.. i cant believe im saying this but .. SEARCH ..muhahaha
Old 12-27-04, 10:54 PM
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I paid 1790 for my second '86 base.. it had 104,000 miles on it... but only 6k on a fresh rebuild. It still has the phone-dials/salami cutter wheels, and all of the ugly black trim... but otherwise it is pretty immaculate. I think 3000 for a 91 is a bit high. maybe 2500.
Old 12-27-04, 11:59 PM
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Unhappy

88integraLS...what the hell are you talking about? The normal rotary engine only has three moving parts, a lot less to break compared to a piston counterpart. Anyways, read the FAQ and post more if you dare.
Old 12-28-04, 12:17 AM
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With an NA, I see no reason why anything should blow, even in modded form if it is taken care of. When I say taken care of I mean

1)You know your OMP is working
2)You change your oil regularily

Those are the big key ones really. WIth the TURBO car, modded, IMO it will have the same dangers as the piston engine. As long as the rotors are lubricated that saves alot of problems right there. Detonation with turbo cars is comon if you **** up, and the apex seal pops out of the groove and destroys the housing/turbo turbine.

Just regular car maintenance in your manual, if done once a month will save your engines life.
Old 12-28-04, 01:12 AM
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^exactly, don't go scaring away someone who doesn't know better!!! Tuning is the key.
Old 12-28-04, 02:19 AM
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Maybe those of us who have done some real work to rotaries know their true nature??? Fast cars break, slow stock FC NA's take a little longer to die but i'm telling the truth; sometimes on turbo cars it can be poor setup and on super modified cars running 2x the stock boost level poor tuning can cause detonation which will kill apex seals but that's not what I'm talking about.

It's not tuning that eats NA rotaries, it's carbon buildup that scrapes housings above the spark plug holes, and just carbon generally making a mess of apex seals. Not to forget the ever present condition of coolant O rings that take a dump whenever they feel like it, or the old oil control O ring failure......... How about how quickly a trip of the coolant temp needle to the top of the range will turn a rotary into the most potent fog machine you may ever see?????????

I'm not a rotary hater, but I've messed around with them deeply enough to know their faults as well as their virtues.
Old 12-28-04, 03:13 AM
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uh, they'r fine like normal cars,

just;

warm up
use highest possible fuel 98 or higher
rev it to 7000 occasionally
change the oil every 5000kms
make sure it doesn't overheat



modded or not it should be fine if you follow those steps
Old 12-28-04, 03:30 AM
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correction- if it is an UNMODDED N/A- use the cheap gas. Otherwise, as posted above, especially the overheat part. Overheat = rebuild, in most cases.
Old 12-28-04, 03:40 AM
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yeah sorry i only talk turbo 13bs
Old 12-28-04, 09:08 AM
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Originally Posted by bennettaru
use highest possible fuel 98 or higher
Negative.
Read your owners manual, use whatever they say.
Using higher grade fuels in an NA doesn't net you any power or safety. It nets you carbon deposits.
Using higher grade fuels in a Turbo motor nets you more room to boost.
Old 12-28-04, 09:24 AM
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uh, yeah we just corrected that back there


<----------
Old 12-28-04, 09:39 AM
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Yea N/A's can be reliable. Mine when I got her had 212,000 on the original engine. That was with regular oil changes and the abatement of some of the "rotary rules" Probbibly would have lasted longer if the rules had been followed. Oh and BTW the oil seals blew at 217,000. I swapped in a $700 90,000 mi long block and she is still flying around making new cars look REAL bad.
Old 12-28-04, 11:04 AM
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Originally Posted by bennettaru
use highest possible fuel 98 or higher
That would be radically incorrect.

For a Non turbo or non modified Turbo you would use the lowest octane you can find. 87 or 86 is the best, and will produce more power than using any high octane.

In fact, using too high of an octane rating in a rotary will often lead to carbon build up and damaged seals from crap breaking off the rotor faces.
Old 12-28-04, 11:34 AM
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oh yeah, and i don't think our cars are slow stock, what are you comparing it to? And with reliability as well, what are you comparing it to?
Old 12-28-04, 12:08 PM
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These threads always become newb postwhoring scenarios. But its funny how people just can't be realists.

Almost every single rotory owner that I know personally has had multiple engines in their vehicles, including myself. I could make a list, but its not worth it, but the cars range from 12A's to 13B-REW's . These guys aren't idiots, they are all (long time) rotorheads.

Yes, now and then a rotory will grow old gracefully, but not nearly as often as a piston engine. And THEY DO blow without warning, quite frequently.
Old 12-28-04, 12:25 PM
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whatever, they're just as reliable as piston engines in practically everyway. None of my friends nor me have switched the original engine. stop h8n.
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