Don't get me wrong, I still love rotaries, but the weight argument holds little water

 

ok

 

I really like the idea of the kit however for the money at this point in time I couldnt do it....Definitely be interested in years to come though when I have the 10k or whatever it would take to spend on it

 

Exactly. What is the point of swapping in a piston engine? If I wanted to do that, I would have bought an FC and did the whole thing for under 20k. Once you do that swap, you dont have an rx anymore. the whole point of the rotary is that you can keep your weight distribution around 50/50 not only side to side and front to back but, the rotary is mounted lower to give you that handling like no other. You change that by putting in a piston engine, you just kill the whole soul of the car.

 

Maybe so, but what are the dimensions of an LS6? Its huge, and will sit a lot further ahead of the wheels, throwing balance more than what an additional rotor+ snails would. Weight is 1 factor, but where it's applied has a major effect as well. There is no disputing a rotary is the better fit for an RX-8.

 

I could totally fit a lawn mower motor lower and farther back. It must be the best.

 

Actually in the 8 you could get an LSX behind the front wheels. There some pictures floating around here someone of a car that did just that. Would the balance be off? Yes. Would it be thrown off with a 3-rotor 20B as well? Yes.

I still say this at the risk of people thinking I am pro-piston swapping on this car, which I am not. I honestly believe you should just go buy a Corvette if you want pushrod power. It's just tiring to hear the same old out-dated arguments when people believe LSX blocks are 800-lbs or something crazy.

LOL I could fit a 2-stroke 49cc in the transmission tunnel!

 

Thanks for the explanation Wafer. I think we high jacked the thread long enough. Back to the conversion discussion.

 

What I get from this statement is:
The 20B can reliably make a lot more power and is a better platform to work with than the Renessis if you want a lot of power.
Doing a forced induction setup on the Renessis costs roughly 8 - 10k.
Doing a built 20B swap into the RX8 would cost roughly 8 - 10k.

If this is true, why would anyone choose forced induction in the Renessis over the 20B swap?

 

Doing a 20b swap the "right" way, is going to be at least 15k if you do all the work(even with our kit)...engine rebuild, fuel system, turbo, exhaust, management...it adds up...and it will require a lot more work, fabrication and cutting still. the purpose is to make it considerably less than the 30k people have been paying until now... not everyone wants/can go 20b..if what you want is 400whp or less..going 20b is a great waste...a renesis can do that reliably...if you want 500 plus...a 20b is the easier route and will be more reliable. They are different.

Chris

 

Did everyone just skip over what I was saying? Putting a piston engine in, no matter how light, will change the car completely. Its not the 50/50 distribution, its not the side/side distribution, it is more the top the bottom and where the weight is centered. The rotary, even if heavy, still sits lower and this gives the car that change-direction-on-demand that makes the car unique in its ability to handle. Putting in a 20b would still maintain this balance that you can never get from a v8 or v6. I believe if a kit was made so that you could basically, replace the front end of the car over a weekend, the swap kit would be worth every penny as you would have many that would just drop their car by and have it done as they do with the pettit if they are not mechanically inclined. The others that are, will just do it in their garage or take it to one that has the adequate tools and do it that way. Doing it this way would be better but, as we all know, would put the cost for making the kit high as you would be building the front half of the car. Perhaps a core charge like option could be done. Just some thoughts and see what you all think. Many of us would love to have a 20b, turbo or not, put in our cars, the easier, the better.

 

$15k is a wet dream

 

You can turbo the Renesis reliably for under $6,000

Swapping a 20B into the RX-8 for anything UNDER $20k is a dream.

Even with a reasonably priced swap kit, you still need a standalone EMS, custom wiring for the standalone, a 20B long block with manifold, the engine will need to be rebuilt, a full return style fuel system, turbocharger and external wastegate and blow-off valve, custom manifold/downpipe, upgraded clutch OR a Tremec T-56 transmission plus the custom fab work to install it, plus labor for a shop to install of this, and custom tuning. Add it up

 

And you could swap in a LS1/T-56 for under 8K. hrmmmmmmm think I'll go LS1

 

if you dont have the ecu handled you cant afford the swap..

does not matter what engine you put in it..

hey, but i dont know dick..

beers

 

We all prefer to know Jane any way ....

for anyone who does these types of swaps it's not about the money, if you're happy with a turbo Renesis then fine, but I wouldn't be.

.

 

I would like to see that (for the price point you mentioned)

 

Not hard, buy a wrecked camaro, firebird, or transam, pull the engine tranny, and sell the rest of the car off.

If you don't buy a donor car for parts, you can buy an engine/tranny combo for around $2500-$3000.


Then its just custom work after that. You can do it for under what I said, you just have to be willin to work for it and do alot of work yourself.

 

^ yup....

I guess this 20b route could work out considering I always thought this swap would cost atleast $40,000 to do lol (for someone else to do all the work).

 

Will everyone just **** off with the goddamn ls1,2,7,x engine swap? Most of us don't give a ****! The thread is for 2 0 B conversion. No more god damn details on weight, size and pistons, etc and etc, blah blah blah. I suggest if you don't have anything pertaining to the 2 0 B conversion, then stop typing. BTW Chris, make a subframe, new engine mounts, and the steering shaft extension using a stock rx7 transmission(first) and you'll see how many people will start buying it.

 

This discussion isn't about doing custom fabrication yourself. That negates a whole swap kit, doesn't it? A swap like that at a shop would set you back

Even if you could custom fab yourself, you still need a standalone EMS, completely new return style fuel system, custom headers/exhaust (you could make them I guess) and more. It would be tight making it under $10K

But I think this thread has gotten off-track enough...

 

A stock RX-8 tranny has been proven to handle a 20b longer than a stock FD tranny. I can get more info pertaining this but it was proven through several fd and rx-8 trannies.

Chris

 

only crazy people have 3 rotors....

 

crazy people have all the fun too

 

i agree