strokedmti422

riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. if he had a cam, it was probably a stock 01. rx7's are NOT that fast. i should know. my friend builds the motors for them, ive raped numerous ones before. sure, you slap a single turbo on the car and yeah i can see 188mph.


so what you are basically telling me is that the rx7 is the best bang for the buck top speed car every created then right? cause you can buy one for 12k, and by your math, put less then 500 bucks into it and hit 180mph, if not higher. no matter how many links you show me, im not going to believe it. you can not hit that kind of speed with that little of power. unless youre driving the 13b powered go kart, you wont hit 188 with a measly 300rwhp.

oh i see, one idiot over there is claiming to have hit 180 stock, which is total bullshit. im sorry man, but your car will not hit 188, much less 180. it just wont. i tell you what, ill believe you when i see a video camera in YOUR car, all your mods on that video, a sign saying 'rx7's suck *****' and then a gps attatched to your dash. then i want the camera on the gps the whole time. you cant hit 188. not with just a bc and exhaust. ITS NOT POSSIBLE.

strokedmti422

if you are on street tires, and no mods other then the ls1 motor you will not hit 11's. infact, you would be lucky to hit 12.3 stock.

Payne

iTrader: (3)

I would say so.

I have a 93 RX7 shell that I picked up for 5k.

I will putting a LS1/t56 into her.

So all things done I will have ~15k into the project.

With a camed LS1 with a 100 shot, I should be into the 10s, With coilovers and sticky tires, I should be over 1 g lateral, and the 4 piston brakes are good for everything up to open tracking. The stock rear is good for 1.6-1.7 60ft repeatedly, and the areodynamics make it a great to speed machine. Not to mention a sexy *** car, at ~2800 lbs.

I should take mine out to El Mirage dry lake and try for 200 mph when I have all the bugs worked out

strokedmti422

its not though. i know all about the 7 swaps with ls1's. i was planning on doing one until i realized i could be 3x's as fast as cars with about 1/5 the price.

Colonel

You could certainly hit 11s with an internally stock engine in an RX7. There is no doubt about that.

F-bodys have hit mid 11s with internally stock LS1s...while weighing about 500 lbs more than an RX7. I ran 11.56 internally stock with an '00 at a raceweight of about 3350 and then did 11.82 at 3550 lbs in this '02 on drag radials, stock wheels, with 3.23 gears, and a 3500 stall. It's not hard to run 11s with 350 RWHP even at 3500 lbs. I would think that 11s with a stock LS1 wouldn't be much of a stretch of the imagination if you simply get it to launch hard. They only weigh about 2750 lbs without driver.

Payne

iTrader: (3)

You are right-

You could build a 9 sec car for $4k -

buy a 1986 RX7 shell (or datsun 510, 240z, etc) for $100 gut it down to 2200lbs, put in a 350/t350, a 9", and spray the crap out of it. You could probably run it up to 200 mph as well if that were your goal.

But you know, when I am done, I will have a CA SMOG LEGAL 11 second car, that I can easily drive to work every day, knock down 27+ mpg, that is actually safe above 150mph, not to mention a car that I could actually get laid in (kinda a ricer arguement, but important to me nonetheless)

What car can you build 3x as fast as a LS1/FD for $3000?

Bowtieman4life

iTrader: (1)

If I could fit in a 93-96 RX7, there would be one in my driveway. They are sweet looking rides and the handle on rails. When they first came out they outperformed the vette and the camaros. They would have won best bang for the buck in my magazines if the Camaro was not available stripped down with an LT1 for $15000 bucks. They pulled nearly a 1 g and they weighed less that 3000 pounds. I know its a rices but I love them. I can't wait to see what one of these can do with an LS1.

Finally, stop hating!!!! I hit 155 + in my old 98 Hrdtop A4 w/ 2.73 gears w/ only a lid. I dynoed 275 rwhp and I was at 4,000 rpms and pulling. Based on the final rpm of 4600 I should of hit 165+ with more to go. The only reason I stopped was because I was approaching an on ramp and I thought I saw a CHP car waiting at the top. If my stock car that weighs 500lbs more can run over 165, why can't his lighter and more powerful ride do it. Dude, relax and listen to the colonel. He seems to be a stand up guy and I don't see what he has to gain by claiming 180 mph. Later!

Oh, maybe a little Zoloft or some other anti anciety drug will help you relax.

PendragonZ

I'd love to have a 93-95 rx7 in my stable. Just can't afford it, and can't find one around here. They are very quick rides.

Sounds to me like strokedmti422 is just trying to justify spending so much money on his engine. God forbid someone pays less than you and has a quicker car.

TA TED

Agreed. Sounds a little like ***** envy.

99C5JA

Just to add a little to the top speed debate. A stock C5 will run 175mph right off the showroom floor with a rated 345-350hp (~300rwhp). I've seen an indicated 178mph in mine with a little left to go shortly after I bought it. Granted the C5's cd is very low, but I can't imagine the RX7's is much worse. Add to that its probably 100-200lbs lighter. So I can see an RX7 hitting 180+.

Colonel

The RX7 is roughly 450-500 lbs lighter than a stock C5 (~2725 compared to ~3250) and has an obviously smaller frontal area (less drag.) I have both sitting side by side in the garage so I can tell you this much...the C5 is a much larger car. Think of an RX7 as a Miata on steriods!

99C5JA

The few C5's I know of that have actually gotten weighed are under 3200lbs. The listed curb weight of the RX7 is 2800-2900 depending on what site you believe. That's still a 300+lbs difference. As far as drag coefficient goes a C5 coupe is rated at .29 and the RX-7 is .30-.31 depending on what web page you believe.

Colonel

I have a certified scale at my company. Maybe my memory is fuzzy (but I honestly don't think it was under 3200.) I'll check both cars again and let ya'll know if you're curious.

Drag coefficient is a measurement of the efficiency of the SHAPE. It doesn't tell you directly what the wind resistance would be. You have to take into consideration frontal area as well. In other words, you can have two objects with the same drag CEs but one being twice as large. The twice as large object with encounter twice the wind resistance. If you made the C5 and the RX7 the same size then you could directly compare the drag CEs. However, the RX7 is much smaller and therefore pushes less air despite the slightly higher drag CE.

NoOne

Mine weighed 2765, minus AC and the PS Pump. I plan on put the PS pump back on and it'll be close to an even 2800lbs, thats after the LS1 was in it.

Its also an R1, those were about 100lbs lighter than a Base and a even more so than a touring.

I think it'd be tough to find a better all around car than an LS1 RX7. There more money in than you expect though. The 4.11's really don't do too well in the car. On a road course I always wanted to be a gear down but could not be. Your only options are 3.90 or 4.11, so plan on spending some money getting the gearing down to a driveable level.

I am doing the Jimlab rear diff brace and going to a Cobra center section with some 3.55's or maybe even 3.27's.

Even with a bone stock LS1 the thing scoots pretty good, can't wait to see what an LS2 service block is going to go for.

99C5JA

Interesting about the frontal area vs. the drag coefficient. Did not know that. The C5 is definitely wider at 74in vs. the RX-7's 69in. Both cars are lited at 48in high. No idea what the width difference would do for wind resistance. But we are still proving the point that if a stock C5 with around 300rwhp can do 170+ then a 300+ pound lighter car that is 5 inches narrower with a very close cd can certainly do at least 170+ with 180+ being more than feasible.

Tiger2o69

iTrader: (16)

I think i have more informtaion on the rx7 than the guy who owns it now lol

Colonel

LOL! Doncha love LS1Tech.com?!?

Zero30

iTrader: (6)

i was sooo mad yesterday i saw a very nice blue rx-7 and he was testing me i wanted to catch him at a stop light i just got a 125 ZEX nos kit and wanted to run him but my son was in the car i didnt wanna risk it with him in there i was soo pissed i think i would have taken him though

PhoenixZ

I think the later model rx7's are some of the neatest looking cars on the street! I would love to own one, but mostly what I hear about them is issues with reliability. So how much truth is there to them not being reliable, or is that only referring to modified cars?

NoOne

With the rotary stock, if you get a good running one and do the reliability mods, basically fix the cooling issues that the engine had stock then I hear they can be pretty reliable to 80-90 thousand.

Rotaries without these improvements go almost like clockwork around 60K. If you check the RX7 formum hardly anyone there calls them reliable. They are pricey to fix and work on.

If your in the market make sure the vacuum hoses have been replaced, the stock ones crack, which isn't the end of the world until you see the maze under the hood.

Bushings in the suspension, especially the rear's start to wear around 60-80K, earlier in the R1's.

Either way, its still a great car. With the LS1 reliability goes up to almost bulletproof. My bushings are shot and will be replaced soon. The interior on 93's scratches and peels pretty bad. They fixed it in 94. You can swap to a 94 interior, not hard, only 6 individual pieces and probably a hour and a half job if you take your time. The downside is the price, parts are way exspensive, even used. I pulled mine apart, sanded them alll down and painted them with Krylon Fusion, then cleared them.

The pics on my Yahoo page show typical 93 interior condition, it also shows some before and after of parts I had painted. The good thing is though, the cars are cake to work on(minus the rotary), eveything is intuative and easy to get to without alot of effort. You can strip the interior in 20-25 minutes except for the carpet.

There is a current LS1 swapped RX7 for sale on Ebay. Guy wants a bit too much, I expect it to be worth 14K in its current condition. The paint sucks on the car, but black was not cleared and a good polishing job will do wonders. Mine was in terrible condition when I got it, hard water stains, swirls, looked like crap. 5 hours with polishing compound and its a new car. People think its only a few years old if that, pics also on the site.