Rotary AE86?

[Miguel - Newera]

Yeah, they are misunderstood. Those who think they blow up easily have either never owned one, or if they have - they bought a cheap duffer - that was on it's last legs anyways. People who say "Oh, rotaries - they're unreliable aren't they!" are just misinformed. Mazda's developed the Wankel engine for the last 35 years and they know what they're doing by now. The RX-7 is the car with the largest ratio of enthusiasts owners for number of cars built - Not a bad accolade. They're also great track / race cars...

I've had an FD3S which I've modified to around 420 bhp for 6 years and given it hell every time I drive it (Including track use) and it hasn't yet blown up (But it's maintained properly!).

We're also currently building a very special time attack RX-7 in the UK (4 years so far in the making, lol)!

Rotaries are great engines 'cos they don't have valves, pistons, conrods, etc. to replace if you want more power. Just make sure: they run cool, get plenty of fuel and never run lean or low on oil. Someone above mentioned they use oil in combustion - they do, but you must't put synthetic oils in (Unless expensive rotary specialist oils - only available in japan). as they won't burn properly. Just use normal cheap 10W40 - that's what Mazda & Mazdaspeed recommends... and change it regularly.

There are 13B converted (Turbo) AE86's in Japan. They make great drift cars...Some are often in the limelight winning competitive drift events! Hot Staff also make a kit to use the FC3S gearbox in the AE86, I think... A conversion like this won't be cheap - but will be a lot of fun.

See http://www.mazdarotaryclub.com & http://www.fduk.org to find out more on rotaries