Engine swap
 

hey my g/f n me bought an rx8 recently. it's her car/ she loves the body style and everything about the car, except the extensive care of the engine. we have been warned about the rotary engine, but we got it anyways. my question is are there any V engines around that will fit an rx8? i heard Ls1 will, but i don't think she will be needing that much horse. since she only likes the bodystyle for it;s head turning design. ohh... i was going to use the search button, but i didn't know what to look for. except engine swap. please help me out. list of engines would greatly be appreciated.

i was thinking about engines with enought power to pull the 8, less gas consumption. less oil consumption. less maintenance. like something a g35 would have.

what extensive care????? all you can really do is change the oil and plugs..

might read the service manual as a start...

and some help.



beers :beer:

damn swoope... everytime. you got some scripted setup that alerts you when a noob post has been made or what??

That's not a nice thing to say about your girlfriend :Eyecrazy:

Why does it have to be a V engine? Why not an in-line or flat?

Do you have any idea how much a swap will cost? You are looking into $14k at the least. It will have to be fully custom, and in the end, all those custom parts will cause you much more grief than the wankel ever will.

For the money you will spend on a "generic" engine swap, you can PAY A MECHANIC FOR 10 YEARS to do all bitch work for you. Plus, you're car will still be under warranty.

Or, you can sell your car and buy a Honda or a Scion :banghead:

Ahhh, torque envy would be the only reason I would think about engine swap. I'd like to have a 3 rotor myself. I just don't think I would want to swap the engine out. I think I'd just find another car first.

Yeah what swoope said.
Even if you change the engine your not going to just get in your car and drive it 365 days a year with out haveing to at one point or a nother look under the hood.
Unless you want to end up on the side of the road with a new car like all the other car owners that dont want to check there car every ___ miles for this and that.
Its just part of owning a car ;)

Let me get this straight—you're concerned about the "extensive care" of the rotary engine—that would be too much work for you—but locating a piston engine that would fit, removing the rotary engine, and then replacing it with the piston engine is… okay?? :rolleyes:

And a couple of your assumptions are wrong. Allow me to clear them up for you…
1. The rotary engine does NOT require "extensive care".
2. The rotary engine is not something one needs to be "warned about". Unless, of course, the idea of not having to change a timing belt at 60K miles frightens you. Or being able to smoothly rev up to 9K rpm without any sense of strain frightens you. Or enjoying the sublime feel & handling that comes from having a tiny engine located low and far back in a near mid-engine position frightens you. Then ok, yeah… you should be warned.

You and your GF should've got a Civic, hey its not too late, just sell ur 8 back out.

Have been warned ? Who "warned" you? if we warn you now to sell your car would you listen ?

whoever gave you the "warning" is nothing but a moron.

you can put anything you want in there.

..........

Get her a Civic. Trust me.

its your freaking car and you're asking what to look for cuz you have no idea?

Sell your car, you and your gf does not deserve a 8.

lol apperantly there are alot of flamings.....im not dissing the 8's..y r u guys offering me to get a civic? if she wanted one we would have had it! like i said she loves the body style of the 8's and everything about it! except the extensive care of the engine! my means of extensive care, putting quart of oil every 1000k. gas hog, radiator fluid refills. which i have read on here that they need to refill almost every 15k because it evaporates, flooding. always needing a new engine. have to let it sit for 5 mins before driving. lol and like i said the 8 is for HER not Me. which she does not know alot about, well neither do i. anyways the engine swap is for, just daily driving. not hp or racing. so please flamers, i appreciate the ideas, but go find something else to do.

and if i was dissing the 8's i would say something like.....everyone claims the rotory is well know for it's high rev or how it doesn't redline, yet when i was shopping around for one 6 out of 9 people i called including the one i own had, had their engine replaced. lol now u can flame...lol j/k
lol, no seriously i just want the list of engines that will fit. just incase mine blows up. instead of putting a new rotary, i will just go with a normal one.
thanks!

There is no "extensive care". You and your GF is paranoid. Get a civic.

End thread...

O, so i guess everything i read on here is a myth? flooding, oil every XK? blown engine? come'on and yes we r paranoid.lol...might take sometime to get use to it. no civic. we like the trim of the 8 thats why we got it! end of that. for everyone who tells me to get a different car, unless u can name one that looks just like an 8 feel free to comment!

Seriously - the things you listed should be checked on any vehicle you own EVER. MPG should have been considered b4 buying, not after. It takes a little more oil, but you should be checking that on a piston engine as well. The only renensis specific, "extensive care" issue would be flooding.

And why the hell would you do an engine swap as a preventative measure?? Just replace it IF you ever have problems.


The 8 will be fine. Keep the oil filled and just f8cking drive it.

I want to know where you get your 6 out of 9 have had their engine replaced, get them all online, we want to know about their experience.

or you can just stop making shit up.


So you're saying Rotary is not normal?

and you seriously think Engine swap is a *drop and play* job? Whenever you swap an engine you just have to replace most of the drivetrain.

Seriously speaking, rotary engine is not for you. You should've got a Civic or Neon. Perfect for underage teens.

hey thanks dmc27! yea ur right! im not too conserned about the car, except since it's my g/f i don't wan't her putting lots of money in with the repairs. my thought was if the engine fails on 8's idk if it would be worth putting a new rotary in instead of paying a little extra to just have an engine that everyone is familiar with. yea we were going to get a g35 coupe, but it was out of our price range. but anyways i just thought it was more easier to replace the rotary engine.
as for nycgps question. if u really wanna find out, call around. cause i have no way to prove it, nor will i bother, it makes no difference if u believe me or not.
and yes u r right rotary engine is not for me. "kinda obvious" thats why i wanted to drop a v engine in dumbass...lol

Ok first the word "normal" is very subjective. what is normal to you may not be to other people. And secondly motors are not like Legos. They don't just pop in and out. Take a look under the hood at look real hard at how far back and low the rotary sits. It would take a huge amount of custom work to fit an LS1 or something similar in the engine bay. You would have to push everything forward and fabricate custom mounts and probably run a standalone management. After you spent the 14k to do all this you would have a car that is without warranty and is never going to be as reliable as a normal RX-8. :icon_tdow

But to answer your question about possible piston engines, there are none.

well, i think my questioned is answered, thanks for all the help... i was just reading around and seen that rx7's can use ls1 engines. i didn't know if i can just swap the engines too on the 8's, without denting the pocket. thanks everyone! i was just worried, i got the thinking y 8's had so many blown engines and i got paranoid, i was also serious about the 6 out of 9 peeps, actually it was 5 out of nine, i exaggerated! it was just embarrassing the other night how i had to pop the hood on public to add oil! and peeps coming up to me asking if my car was ok! lol, thats what i meant by extensive care!

for what it's worth

i've had the car for 15k miles. in that time, ive added about half a quart every 2000-2500 miles or so to get me to an oil change that i get around 3k or 3250 miles. i dont let it sit for 5 minutes (i just dont rev it about 3500 until the needle actually gets past C), i've never had it flood, and i drive it in 75-95 degree heat everyday and havent had to have any fluids replaced.

point is, take it in for scheduled service and add some oil every 2k miles and don't drive it hard when it's cold. that's all. nothing extensive about it. just my 2 cents. best of luck with...whatever you're going to do with the car.

anyways, im off to exterior mods! on the 8! looking for the factory sportpackages bodykit! also red leather trim interior and side strakes. if anyone has em for sale let me know!

I'm surprised you didn't ask how to replace the bucket seats with a lawn chair.

why would i asked that?:icon_tdow FOR SUPER LAME COMMENT!

Doing an engine swap is a piece of cake compared to checking the oil every 2nd fillup on the Rotary.

Zzing. Seems like i do more maintenance on my mothers Infiniti QX4 (witht he same 3.5 VQ35DE as the G35 and 350z) than my Turbo II FC. That thing drinks oil and gas like theirs no tomorrow, it's a bitch to change the oil too, and all that is supposed to be normal for a VQ35...

Why a v engine?
The rotary is a lightweight, small, compact engine. If you are worried about fuel mileage, just throw a 4 cylinder in there. You would get the same characterisitics minus the horsepower.
You could supercharge/turbo the crap out of it, and might even get better gas mileage out of it.

I'm starting to wonder why Mazda just didn't put a turboed 2 litre in there now that I think about it. Sacrilegious I know.