Rotary AE86?

[IBMFD3S]

Apolan Wrote:Just conceptually, what do you think about an AE86 with rx-7 FC engine and trannsmision?

The engine is light and smaller so it sits further back and helps the weight balance, it has just the right calvary (150hp), the gearbox is wonderful to replace the dodgy T50, and power delivery is smooth, its NA, hight revving, it has just the right amount of torque for such a light car.. might even throw a pair of FC calipers to help with bbraking.. looking at it from every perspective, the FC hachiroku seems ideal! Okay so fuel economy suffers a bit, but hachi is lighter than an FC, so it might be preatty reasonable?

What do you think of such a hachi?

well, good idea to my opinion.

the engine is located lower in the car and further backwards.
the stock FC NA gearbox is strong but the gearbox in the 1st gen is stronger. and the gearbox of the 12A mounts to the 13B engine.
oh, gearbox of a FD fits also, i have a spare one, should i? and i have a spare 13B-REW. nah.

reliable: def yes! i had a 1986 FC NA with 180K miles (!) on the clock and beat the shit out of it on circuits.
same handling as with the old BMW 320i and 323i (i had one) where the engine was iron cast and the head alu: easy on when cold and hit it when warm. same with the rotary: easy when cold, no high revs and no boost to get 200k to 300k miles from a NA. no typos here.

one BIG but: funky engines regarding to heat. get the cooling of the water and oil on a high level when racing/drifting since a drifter has low airflow. that's why rotaries mostly get killed with burn-outs (and the 10k+ rpm during the burn-out). racing with a rotary should give no problems with a stock RX-7 radiator as i beat the crap out of it every time on the circuit.

and yes, bad for fuel consumption as they are thirsty engines. my ported FD does 310 km on 72 liter 98 ron with spirited driving
but said that, a Ferarri or Porche doesn't do 10km on 1 liter either when driven hard.

for daily driving: keep the 4AGE
for circuit use: def yes
for drifting: don't know if i would, rotaries like good cooling but as i remember, the FD was a D1 winner...

just my 2 eurocents.