menappi

thats why u build a kit yourself. junkyard turbo PWns. check out www.homemadeturbo.com u can build one for 500 if u shop around.

NKP82

A CRX + B16 engine is a quick N/A car, well worth the money, but I love my forced induction more. If you get that CRX for 800.00-1,000.00, that leave plenty for a decent Turbo Kit, which will allow you to make more power then a swapped in stock B16/B16A1 engine.

As for what to put in a Miata, drop a B20 3-rotor engine in that engine bay, and add some forced induction and you are ready to kick some serious ass. Or if the B20 is to hard to find, go with a B13 2-rotor engine, and do the same as above. And as for the 300ZX, the Z31/32 never came in the twin-turbo variety, only single-turbo. When the Z33 came around(which is the best looking of the 300ZX series IMO), that when you started to see that VG30DETT goodness.

augy

I've heard (though I'm sure Kai will correct me on this) that rotary engines are a bithc and a half to fix if something goes wrong, which is enough to steer me clear of rotary engines until I have the cash to throw into them.

shorty_boy

... in my honda tuning mag, they boosted an hf engine to 164hp (highest they got was ~214hp i think but it was not exactly safe so they left it at 6 psi = 164 hp). I wanted to do that...and i just might, once i get another engine on stand by, but they spent less than $300 but at the most it would cost about ~$500 ish so i say diy.

NKP82

->augy

Actually from a mechanical view point they are very easy to fix, as there are only really three moving parts in a rotory engine; the shaft, rotor, and the other components name leave me at the moment. The only real weak point in a rotory engine is the apex seals on the rotor, but if the turbo is tuned right(goes the same for normal engine), you'll not have anything to worry about.

Tankard

How exactly can you make your own turbo for 500 bucks? The aftermarket header on my car cost around 350 bucks alone. Is'nt the turbo connected to the header and then goes into the intake manifold? Also, is'nt there some fuel management system thing? I'll surely do it if it cost me less than a grand. Any turbo crx guys out there? In the meantime, i'm fixing to check out that homeadeturbo site posted above. Edit: But i just tried, and it would'nt let me register. It says it's closed to all new users or something like that.

Kai

You mean 20B and 13B respectively. If you can figure out a way to fit a 20B into a Miata, you'll already be out $10k plus the cost of the car... about $15k. The engines buy themselves for for $3k-ish, then the $1500 aftermarket fuel control system, $400 radiator, it adds up fast.
Not really. If something goes wrong inside the engine, you're out $600-some plus maybe a rotor and/or housing for a DIY rebuild kit or $1k+ for a pro to rebuild it, when you're done you have essentially a brand new engine. The goal is to not blow the engine in the first place, and for what it's worth, a stock Mazda Rotary is as strong (rev-wise) or stronger (boost-wise) then most stock Honda piston engines.
That's pretty much it, the eccentric shaft and the two rotors (along with a couple dozen springs and seals on the rotors.) Oh, and the flywheel and counterweight if you want to count those.Not so much a weak point as it is a high-wear part. For you piston folks, imagine a piston ring and ring land breaking up and getting ground around the cylinder... that's basically what happens when an apex seal blows, just between a rotor and housing instead of a piston and cylinder.

The people who break Honda con rods are the same types that blow apex seals. One bad ping can break either just as fast.

NKP82

Thanks for correcting me Kai, I should have caught that.

augy

Well, it seems I heard correctly. If something goes bad, you've gotta replace everything, where as a piston engine is a bit more easily atomizable as far as replacing parts is concerned.

Kai

You don't have to replace everything, it's just the smart thing to do. That's like replacing a single bearing in a piston engine, if you go through the effort to tear it down you might as well rebuild it all. You could get away with rebuilding only one rotor/housing, but it's just not smart.

On an interesting note, the rotary engine only blows one rotor at a time, usually when the engine "blows" it will still run fine on one rotor (about 70hp in the case of an N/A S4.)