Help me decide; Trade my 94 RX7 for NSX?

[EAC]

B-E-A-utiful NSX!

I know I'm bringing a thread back from the dead here, but I was curious how you're enjoying the transition EAC?

For financial reasons, I'm considering selling my NSX for something a bit less expensive (just eliminating some debt, doing the "do I really need it" dance), and stumbled across a 397 rwhp, single turbo, track prepped FD... Never have owned one, but looked at them prior to buying my old 300ZXTT and even looked at them again prior to buying my NSX. Always been a bit worried about reliability, but this particular one only has 2k miles on a fresh motor and seems to be built fairly well... IF I make the jump, just curious if there's anything you or Batman can add about what to expect, relability-wise (or lack there of). I want to reduce the amount of debt out there, but I don't want to temporarily bandaid a situation by technically reducing debt, but regaining it back in the form of "I had to spend $XXX to fix this, $XXX to fix that," etc.

Couldn't be happier.

It's so strange driving the NSX. When I come to a stop light, I don't have to worry about the car dying, surging idle, smoke out etc etc. The one and only + of the FD is the power.......... but how long will that last before the engine breaks?

I went through 13-15 engines in both of my FD's. No lie. That's even with a professional tune. Even with a great tune, the engine can break with a minor hickup.

Another odd thing, after I'm done driving the NSX, I can just get out of go about my business. I don't need to worry about fixing something, checking for leaks etc. etc. etc.

I could go on and on......

Rotaries are cool, real cool..... just not practical.

 

[Killer Penguin]

Couldn't be happier.

It's so strange driving the NSX. When I come to a stop light, I don't have to worry about the car dying, surging idle, smoke out etc etc. The one and only + of the FD is the power.......... but how long will that last before the engine breaks?

I went through 13-15 engines in both of my FD's. No lie. That's even with a professional tune. Even with a great tune, the engine can break with a minor hickup.

Another odd thing, after I'm done driving the NSX, I can just get out of go about my business. I don't need to worry about fixing something, checking for leaks etc. etc. etc.

I could go on and on......

Rotaries are cool, real cool..... just not practical.

I agree !
I had a 94 RX7, and got tired of it breaking, so I swapped to the LS1. It was much better for my taste, but ultimately sold it for a NSX. Very happy I did!

 

[EAC]

I had a 1st gen too... It was fun, to build atleast. I sold it before I could take it out to play.

 

[BATMANs]

B-E-A-utiful NSX!

I know I'm bringing a thread back from the dead here, but I was curious how you're enjoying the transition EAC?

For financial reasons, I'm considering selling my NSX for something a bit less expensive (just eliminating some debt, doing the "do I really need it" dance), and stumbled across a 397 rwhp, single turbo, track prepped FD... Never have owned one, but looked at them prior to buying my old 300ZXTT and even looked at them again prior to buying my NSX. Always been a bit worried about reliability, but this particular one only has 2k miles on a fresh motor and seems to be built fairly well... IF I make the jump, just curious if there's anything you or Batman can add about what to expect, relability-wise (or lack there of). I want to reduce the amount of debt out there, but I don't want to temporarily bandaid a situation by technically reducing debt, but regaining it back in the form of "I had to spend $XXX to fix this, $XXX to fix that," etc.

Find out all the mods, what seals they used (apex seals size and type), what A/F ratio under what full boost and I can give you a good idea if this is a grenade or not.

BTW, u can always upgrade to a hard top coupe like a 93/94 NSX.

 

[BATMANs]

Couldn't be happier.

It's so strange driving the NSX. When I come to a stop light, I don't have to worry about the car dying, surging idle, smoke out etc etc. The one and only + of the FD is the power.......... but how long will that last before the engine breaks?

I went through 13-15 engines in both of my FD's. No lie. That's even with a professional tune. Even with a great tune, the engine can break with a minor hickup.

Another odd thing, after I'm done driving the NSX, I can just get out of go about my business. I don't need to worry about fixing something, checking for leaks etc. etc. etc.

I could go on and on......

Rotaries are cool, real cool..... just not practical.

What AF ratios where you running and at what peak boost?

When I finally built the engine with those aviation seals, ceramic coated the rotor faces and ports (and pipes, turbos, exhaust) I had it tuned to 15psi on 91 octane and a 10.8:1 AF ratio and it was reliable. No issues for 50k miles before I sold it.

 

[RYU]

Can I please just say... HOLY SH*T!

the 1st gens are either smaller than i remember or that turbo is huge

 

[s14_tat]

How about a little of both? That is a large turbo, and the first gen RX7 are very small cars too.

 

[enigma]

Thanks for the input guys. I'm not exactly the most mechanically inclined individual either... Sounds like that may be an issue, ha! Don't get me wrong, I can do little stuff (changed my coilovers, exhaust installs, little maint items), and have tackled larger stuff (fuel injectors on a 300Z.. Ugh), but I don't know about diagnosing and tracking down little issues...

Batman, here is a link to the car. Let me know what you think.

I guess my biggest trouble is that I enjoy my NSX so much, I'm really struggling to find something (less expensive) to replace it with, which is why I'm having such a hard time moving forward with seriously selling it.

 

[BATMANs]

Thanks for the input guys. I'm not exactly the most mechanically inclined individual either... Sounds like that may be an issue, ha! Don't get me wrong, I can do little stuff (changed my coilovers, exhaust installs, little maint items), and have tackled larger stuff (fuel injectors on a 300Z.. Ugh), but I don't know about diagnosing and tracking down little issues...

Batman, here is a link to the car. Let me know what you think.

I guess my biggest trouble is that I enjoy my NSX so much, I'm really struggling to find something (less expensive) to replace it with, which is why I'm having such a hard time moving forward with seriously selling it.

Get an older NSX.

This RX7 looks like it has the right mods and the engine is built stronger (3mm thicker seals than the standard 2mm seals).

The tuner Steve kan is good. he is the one that did my FD and ran a richer tuner to be safe.

Just ask the guy what the AF ratios are.

there's really nothing you need to do to this car.

I will have to warn you that after driving that FD and going back to the NSX, you will need to save up $$$ for a SOS SC or turbo'd NSX at least since there will be a huge power to weight ratio delta. Right now the FD is about double the power of a stock NSX when you factor in the lighter weight of the FD.

Fit and finish, the NSX will win.

 

[RYU]

Thanks for the input guys. I'm not exactly the most mechanically inclined individual either... Sounds like that may be an issue, ha! Don't get me wrong, I can do little stuff (changed my coilovers, exhaust installs, little maint items), and have tackled larger stuff (fuel injectors on a 300Z.. Ugh), but I don't know about diagnosing and tracking down little issues...

Batman, here is a link to the car. Let me know what you think.

I guess my biggest trouble is that I enjoy my NSX so much, I'm really struggling to find something (less expensive) to replace it with, which is why I'm having such a hard time moving forward with seriously selling it.

If you want a FD, i'd say get one with a LS1. That motor is bullet proof (in stock form or with even just cams, exhaust) and if you get one in a FD it's probably already running a T56 trans. They are on Ebay occasionally for ~$15k.

It's hard to let go of the NSX. I know I can't but if you had to... LS1 is not a bad option in an FD.

EDIT: and i'm also a rotary guy!
SIDENOTE: It would be interesting to ponder where the rotary would be now if the rest of the automotive manufacturing community pumped in Billions into the rotary development the same way Billions were cumulatively pumped into piston engine development decades ago instead of Mazda being the one dog in this race.

 

[enigma]

Batman, I already have an "older NSX." My current car is a '92 with 81k on it.

The fact that the FD "needs nothing" was my general impression of the car as well. Seemed really well built. I'll ask him what A/F he's running, but I imagine since he primarily used it as a track car, it's going to be a conservative tune aimed more towards reliability, or at least one would hope that. My NSX made 261 rwhp before my Prospeed ECU, so it's sitting at a good 130+ rwhp deficit to the FD (and actually about a 80 rwhp deficit to my old 300ZX, but because of the weight, they weren't all THAT different in terms of overall speed). Outright power isn't that big of a deal to me (I'd probably turn the boost DOWN, actually, in an effort to strive for reliability), but it's a nice replacement for the overall experience provided by the NSX.

Ryu, I wouldn't be opposed to an FD with an LSX, but it seems that most of them are either the same price as my NSX or are needing a bit of work if they are less expensive.


Ahh, decisions.

 

[BATMANs]

Batman, I already have an "older NSX." My current car is a '92 with 81k on it.

The fact that the FD "needs nothing" was my general impression of the car as well. Seemed really well built. I'll ask him what A/F he's running, but I imagine since he primarily used it as a track car, it's going to be a conservative tune aimed more towards reliability, or at least one would hope that. My NSX made 261 rwhp before my Prospeed ECU, so it's sitting at a good 130+ rwhp deficit to the FD (and actually about a 80 rwhp deficit to my old 300ZX, but because of the weight, they weren't all THAT different in terms of overall speed). Outright power isn't that big of a deal to me (I'd probably turn the boost DOWN, actually, in an effort to strive for reliability), but it's a nice replacement for the overall experience provided by the NSX.

Ryu, I wouldn't be opposed to an FD with an LSX, but it seems that most of them are either the same price as my NSX or are needing a bit of work if they are less expensive.


Ahh, decisions.

Older like a '91 NSX with many more miles.

Once u go LSx FD u might loose interest in the NSX for a long time if performance for the dollar is key for you.

 

[enigma]

Just talked to the seller.

A/F is 11 - 11.5:1. Fairly conservative, like I thought. He also said he normally ran about 12 psi on track rather than the full 15; still made about 360 rwhp though. He said since he's owned it, it's had three different motors in it in 12 years--the stock one, one built by Petit Racing which exploded, and the one that's in it right now.

I just don't know. Rotaries don't seem to do too well with those who are not as mechanically inclined as others (read: me, lol).

 

[EAC]

Just talked to the seller.

A/F is 11 - 11.5:1. Fairly conservative, like I thought. He also said he normally ran about 12 psi on track rather than the full 15; still made about 360 rwhp though. He said since he's owned it, it's had three different motors in it in 12 years--the stock one, one built by Petit Racing which exploded, and the one that's in it right now.

I just don't know. Rotaries don't seem to do too well with those who are not as mechanically inclined as others (read: me, lol).

A/F is 11 - 11.5:1 is not conservative for a rotary !!!!!

That's what mine was tuned for on VP C16.

 

[BATMANs]

A/F is 11 - 11.5:1 is not conservative for a rotary !!!!!

That's what mine was tuned for on VP C16.

+1

 

[EAC]

^^^^ NSX by a bus length

 

[BATMANs]

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