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Rotaries dont never win anything?dont ever finish a race?

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Old 02-25-03 | 12:24 AM
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Rotaries dont never win anything?dont ever finish a race?

Said the euro guys...

I’m thinking about buying a Rx-7...with a ton of reliability mods and ceramic parts to run scca to and beginner league race...

"Bad idea" said the guys with s4, m3 and c2...mcf1 (btw I have talked to those car owners and indeed they don’t like Japanese car in general)

I mean...sometimes I think they are right...I have never heard rx-7 win anything...I know its old but its only 2 years older then E36

What if I did engine swap with some LS6 ? or Atkins Street ported motor? Kd ported street 13b rew engine?

Am I really better off getting like a good old e36, or a sweet s2000, rear engine MR 2-S…then fighting to do what CANT BE DONE?
Old 02-25-03 | 03:46 AM
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Oh...this is great...no one has anything to say...
damn I better go look at corvettes...this is sad
Old 02-25-03 | 04:21 AM
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I have both..
S4 and an RX7
they compliment each other well.

These days, I dont drive both much...have an M3LTW to drive ard for a couple of weeks
Old 02-25-03 | 04:34 AM
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Originally posted by exinfinity
Oh...this is great...no one has anything to say...
damn I better go look at corvettes...this is sad
I think your post is sad. You never see Rx7's win anything? So then why even bother looking into one?

If you read this reply, why aren't you out looking at corvettes on the corvette forum?

Just my opinion.

Anthony
Old 02-25-03 | 04:39 AM
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Those guys you are talking to are ignorant. The Rotary is an outstanding engine....even in reliability concerns. You just have to understand that it is not a normal engine so you cant treat it like one. If that is a problem then Please dont drive one. I had an engine that was driven hard everyday of its life, Drag raced every weekend and from every street light I could find a race at.......competed in HKS events and the like.....It was side ported, built with FD Apex Seals and springs, new rotor housings and older 86-88 rotors. Bolted on a High Flow turbine......turbonetics H3 .... Stock injectors with a Nissan GT-R fuel pump and aftermarket regulator....full exhaust and so on It made 267 horsepower and the egt was about 940deg. cel. Later on I put in 720s in the Secondaries and it made 316 horsepower; with *** loads of tourque. It finally blew because I think something got dropped into the intake manifold. My current engine is a full normal 91 model. I have another HIgh Flow turbine, the same 720injectors with a Power FC running D-jetro No air cleaner full exhaust.....same GT-r Fuel pump and so on. This is my circuit/Drift car which is also my current daily driver. I have been driving it for just over a year on this motor and most of its life is on the race track. It still puts out 360 hp and two weeks ago I turned a 43second run at Tskuba 1000........... On the other hand I also own another RX-7 that has had two enignes in the last year......this is not a race car.......it is an automatic turbo with a air cleaner and muffler with a Fuel cut defencer on it...........I am pretty sure that high boost with the cheasy **** FCD is the reason it Knocks and blows engines........that and I run cheaper gas in it.

If you build it right it will last and it will rev to oblivion... I have many stories with my latest car.......It is not a problem for me to hop in it drive all the way to Ebisu circuit....300 miles away.... then Drift all night from 6 till 11pm then drive it all the way back......then Monday morning drive it to work. This happens at least once a month in the summer.....that is excluding the other races at Nikko, Okegawa and so on....Also I autocross the car the third Sunday of every month.

Rotaries are not strong when it comes to knocking because the Apex Seals are not shielded as the rings in a piston engine are...........so run good gas, change the oil every time you can afford it, and keep good spark plugs........it will never let you down. It is a high maintenance vehicle when compared to some other cars but the rewards are double when you do it right.
Old 02-25-03 | 05:25 AM
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You asked a very open-ended question and didn't provide much context. How would you answer this question:

Should I paint it blue? My friends with green and red ones said I shouldn't. I have never seen one painted blue. Would I be better off painting it orange or silver?

No one knows where you are coming from or what you want to achieve, so we can't really answer your question. We can't tell you to paint it blue or not. We don't know what the heck you are talking about!

Yes, Mazda has won tons of races with rotaries. Here is some more info:
http://www.monito.com/wankel/racing.html

The FD (93-95 RX-7) has been winning its SCCA AutoX class since its introduction, but has recently been unseated as class champion by the Z-06. But there are still a lot of people running them, and they still win. It will be hard to find an SCCA road racing class to race one in, but it doesn't sound like that is what you will be doing anyway. Lots of people use them as time trial cars, and they are great for that (fast, fun to drive).

If you really want to road race, you can run older RX-7s and tube frame RX-7s in some classes specfically created for them (yes, they are that popular): spec7, pro7, super7. Or you can run a formula-style car with a rotary in the Star Mazda series. Or you can run them in normal SCCA classes like ITB, ITS, and EP.

Give us some context and we might be able to help you decide if a rotary will be good for your intended purpose or not.

-Max
Old 02-25-03 | 09:03 AM
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If reliable race cars is what you want then Mazda and rotary powered race cars have a well proven record. RX7's have won numerous IMSA championships in GTO and GTU, have won the Daytona 24 hours and the Sebring 12 hours as well as the 24 hours of LeMans. RX7's and rotary powered race cars are raced regularly in the SCCA and dominate most classes they run in. anything from Formula Atlantic to ITB. BMW and others make great race cars also, but to eliminate mazda's just because of ignorance is well ignorant. do some light homework and you will find that Rx7's have been as successful as any european car in racing.
Old 02-25-03 | 09:42 AM
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Keep in mind the EURO guys banned it as soon as it won Le Mans. So if they haven't seen it win, it's not surprising. If by Euro guys you mean people in North America who drive Volkswagons, how many of them were old enough to watch racing when the RX-7 was hot here?
Old 02-25-03 | 08:48 PM
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SCCA does not have a class for turbo charged engines.

Prepared well, the FD Rx7 is engineered for road racing. There isn't a car at any drivers education event that will keep up with you (if you have the skills to go with the FD Rx7 that is).

Go buy an E36 BMW or Porsche 911. Both car marks have a great following, and you will be able to find spare parts just by begging.

As for me, I will continue to wax those guys with 3.2-L inline and 3.6-L flat sixes. I especially love the the look of disbelief when I "kill" a V8 powered sports car on track
Old 02-26-03 | 11:28 AM
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double post

Last edited by peejay; 02-26-03 at 11:31 AM.
Old 02-26-03 | 11:30 AM
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RX-7s were the winningest car in the IMSA GTU race series. Ten years straight. Then they moved to GTO and continued to kick butt. Race rotaries are simply FAR MORE RELIABLE than race piston engines. They made about the same power but they simply never broke.

In many classes, rotaries are banned outright because they're unbeatable. Perhaps this is why they "don't win anything"... you can't win if you can't enter.
Old 02-26-03 | 01:13 PM
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you'd think they could try and make a pistin engine better eh?
Old 02-26-03 | 05:13 PM
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rx7's dont win anything?? what about in SRX7? lol.... ok ok thats the exception. but seriously, theres some front running fc's in ITS, but still domiment are e36 bims, and fbs are winners in EP also. a friend of my dads rick jordan dominated in EP after he fixed his vibration problem.
Old 02-26-03 | 07:24 PM
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Keep in mind the EURO guys banned it as soon as it won Le Mans. So if they haven't seen it win, it's not surprising. If by Euro guys you mean people in North America who drive Volkswagons, how many of them were old enough to watch racing when the RX-7 was hot here?
Old 02-26-03 | 09:06 PM
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you should slap yourself for saying that. . . they win all the time and after winning they ban them. . .look here they are banned from Grand American road racing

http://www.grandamerican.com/competi...gulations.html

look under section 3-1.6
Old 02-28-03 | 09:34 AM
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SECTION 3 - ENGINE REGULATIONS

3-1 General Engine Eligibility

3-2 Pistons/Rods

3-3 Cylinder Heads

3-4 Crankshaft

3-5 Camshaft, Valve Lifter and Rocker Arms

3-6 Air Restrictor

ACK!
Old 02-28-03 | 01:09 PM
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Shortbus,

That's from the Rolex Sports Car series (Prototypes, GT cars, AGT, etc. Their Grand Am Cup cars (inbetween World Challenge and Showroom Stock), I didn't see any specific restrictions on rotaries.
Old 02-28-03 | 01:09 PM
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Node, welcome to road racing, the rules can put you to sleep
Old 02-28-03 | 11:33 PM
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And don't forget the wonderful "golden" rule... IIDSYCTYC'T. If it doesn't say you can, then you can't.
Old 03-01-03 | 11:10 PM
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That's from the Rolex Sports Car series (Prototypes, GT cars, AGT, etc. Their Grand Am Cup cars (inbetween World Challenge and Showroom Stock), I didn't see any specific restrictions on rotaries.
rule 3-1.6 Rotary Engines are not allowed(Rolex series only)

sounds pretty cut and dried. no rotary engines in the Daytona Prototypes(DP). might be able to run in grand am but not in the big pro series, Rolex. as in Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona.
Old 03-02-03 | 12:30 PM
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Sorry, what I meant was, yes, the Rolex guys can't use rotaries, but I looked at the Grand Am Cup rules and there weren't any restrictions there on using rotaries.

PaulC
not an english major
Old 03-02-03 | 03:46 PM
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HELL YEAH !!!!

Finally a thread with some felling !!!!
I havent had a piston car in 10 years!!!!
No need, when my rotarys get it done with style, on and off hte track. I totaly agree with Ranzo. I think exinfinity doest deserve a rx-7!!
lol
go to corvette
Old 03-04-03 | 03:31 PM
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Re: Rotaries dont never win anything?dont ever finish a race?

Originally posted by exinfinity
I have never heard rx-7 win anything...
Riche Walke won the 24 hour in his SCCA class several years in a row in his 1990 Rx7, what u talkin bout wyllis?
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