I know im going get some different opinions on this but i blew my engine about a month ago and have decided to put in an sr20 det. The guys over at 786 Motoring in houston, tx will be doing the swap. Nothing against rotory but after doing some looking around i found a lot of people had the same problem as me. I will have pics up asap motor and trans will be pulled this week then the fun stuff starts. let me know what you think.

 

There's another guy who did the same thing with you, let me find his thread.

 

Found it: https://www.rx8club.com/non-rotary-swaps-196/sr20-det-136119/

 

Have they done this before? This is being done already. Have fun.

 

yeah i read a little about the other guy doing this but from what little i know about the nissan engine he is doing a red top and im doing a black top.

as far as them doing this yes and no they specialize in the nissan motors but they have not put one in an rx8 yet.

 

good luck!

 

If you know so little about the SR20 as to only be able to distinguish between redtop and blacktop (probably not realizing there are multiple versions of the SR20 called the blacktop), why are you putting it in your car?

What made you decide on the SR20 is basically what I'm asking. Not to be an *******, but it sounds like you saw some drift video and decided that it was a good idea.

I'm not saying the SR20 is a bad engine, I had one in my S14 before the 8. I'm just saying it doesn't seem worth it, especially the price you are going to pay for a shop to do it. Your money though, not mine so good luck with it.

 

Now that turbos are becomming so easy to do and get good hp with on the renesis this idea seems like a backward step to me

 

I am not that familiar with this particular nissan motor but as for why not the renesis is because it blew at only 40k miles and im not going to spend that kind of money for the exact same thing to happen i have heard of plenty of ppl who have gone through more than one or two motors. after discussing the 2jz, 13b rew, and the sr20 we agreed on the sr20 cuz of price and reliability. Later upgrades should prove to make some good hp.

 

sounds good.

but imo i just feel like piston engines dont belong in rx cars...
it feels like car blasphemy..

but anyways gl with your project. takes lots of pictures and make videos a lot of us. me included would like to see this.

 

expect your car to be out of commission for a while with this swap. You'll spend a lot of money and time to get this done. Most engines last past 40k. The only high risk years are 04 and 05 honestly. You'll probably spend more on this swap than for 2 engine replacements probably. I would honestly think about this a bit longer and do more research. You would honestly save time and money by turbo charging the 8, even if the engine does go bad. Replacing the engine would be quicker, cheaper and easier IF it goes bad.

What are your final goals for the car with the new engine? Did you have a certain horsepower number you were looking for? Certain power band? You could easily get a quick spooling turbo kit for the 8 for $7k and have it running within a week (once the parts are in) and have 350 hp. If you read the other page, it sounds like he's invested quite a bit of money and months of effort and still has not been able to complete the project. Just know what you're getting in to.

 

In AZ an sr20det can't pass emissions. You should check that out in your state.

 

thanks for all your comments and advice. i am going over the final plans later today and everythig that has been brought up in this thread will be talk about. i will keep everyone updated.

 

Is there a reason you can't get a re-manufactured engine under the 8 year 100k warranty?

At least start with that option, it is FREE. Then you have a working car and a good engine. If you are still unsatisfied and want to do an engine swap for whatever reason, you have a nice new Renesis you can sell to offset some of the costs of the swap you want to do.

Maybe I'm just frugal, but FREE is way better than 10-15k for an engine swap that may or may not retain all the same functions of your stock car.

Just something to think about, good luck either way.

 

I am a firm believer in that if you take care of your motor, it will last a long time. Do all the scheduled maintenance on time, and since this is a rotary, make sure you pay attention to all the special precautions. Something is wrong with they way an engine is taken care of if it only lasts 40k miles. The engineers at Mazda didn't design the engine to last only 40k miles, they designed it to last a lot longer, if it is taken care of.

I see the same thing in the 300ZX world, the VG motor in the 300ZX can be reliable, if taken care of. I have had a Z for over 5 years and every time I see a thread about someone's motor blowing up pre-maturely, it is because they abused it. I have been to multiple track days and multiple seasons of auto-x with my Z and there is 165k miles on the engine, and it is still going strong.

 

I don't know....
I would worry about the extra weight and placement because the balance would be all out of whack.

If it were me [not that you asked for my 2 cents anyway] I'd go with another rotary engine or just a different type of car all together if I had doubts about a replacement rotary lasting longer than 40k.

Do what you have to....

 

Having been part of Nissan forums for approaching 6 years now, I can tell you that in the end you are going to just be throwing money away. Sure, an SR20 isn't a bad motor for a 200SX/S13/S14, but as it was mentioned here, you have no clue about the motor (not trying to be rude, just trying to point it out...) and its will destroy the cars weight distribution.

For example; are you going for an SR20DET or SR20VE+T? are you getting an SR20 from a GTi-R, S13/14, U11/12, W10/11? Are you getting an SR20DE then having a turbo tossed in as well or are you going for an actual SR20DET? Are you going to make the mistake of getting the top mount intercooler version?

If you have your mind set of a Nissan engine, why don't you think about a VQ30 or VQ35, it is a good platform, and if throwing off the weight distribution and handling of the 8 isn't an issue for you, this will put down some decent power (more than an SR20DET) without a turbo, even more if you don't leave it N/A.

Good luck.

 

Mazda will not replace my motor because i dont have all of my oil change recipts which to me is total bs but i cant wait anylonger i need my car back running. From what i can tell this motor is lighter than the factory motor but not enough to make a huge difference.

 

^find a new dealer, that is bs. And tell them you do your own oil changes. I dont see wasting money that is not needed. You will throw off the balance of the 8 and it will never feel the same again. That dealer was just trying to get out of having to do an engine replacement, its a timely and expensive job for them in return they dont get an good amount of money to do the work from Mazda. IE they cant over charge Mazda as they would to a normal person. I say go to the good guy section of this forum and find a good mazda dealer around you. Their far and inbetween but a free engine is much better than wasteing money away.

This is my opinion but do as you will. If you feel the sr20 is the way to go then by all means, but never expect the 8 to drive like it used to.

 

might as well put the 20B in it...that's what i'd do....I never was impressed with the sr20....now the RB26 is a different story

 

I think it's a cool swap but if I were going for pistons in an 8 I'd prefer a n/a ls1..

 

Any reason why? My friend was doing a swap to his rx-7 and he picked the sr20 over the ls. I hear those 2 and a 2jz are popular swaps for it, but swapping is way beyond my level so I might be hearing some internet forum bs .

 

+1 There are too many threads on this site where RX8 owners go through this exact BS with some dealers. Find another dealer and Call that 800 Mazda number and tell them your situation. If you are still under your warranty 8yr/100k, get the free motor. If you still want the other motor, wait until you get the new one and sell the reman 13B.

 

DD Reliability, power, torque, reliability, sound, gas mileage.

 

sr20 is a good motor i have one in my s13 but never would i put one in my 8 the 8 is supposed to be a 13b it is designed for it please dont do this swap if you dont have to