The question still stands. Maybe I should just google and find out how the LS1 FD is better in every way.
Yes, you should. I would specifically recommend V8rx7forum.com, as well as the Other Engine Conversions subforum on rx7club.com. You'll have to sort through a LOT of people like you who think it's "just wrong," "doesn't sound right," etc., or people who think the V8 weighs a ton more and offsets the weight balance. There are a few downsides to the swap, none of them being performance aspects. These are: build time/cost (though it's easy to find swapped ones already, in that case this is replaced with the downside of not knowing everything the swapper did and everything in the car that they've touched), having to deal with different repair manuals/dealerships, or resort to customizing when something goes wrong, and I honestly can't think of any more.
The fact of the matter is, the most apples-to-apples conversions (as stock as possible LS1 with AC, PS, and as few changes as possible to the FD, with no additional performance mods) leaves the car with an extra 22 lbs (give or take), and weight distribution barely closer to 50:50 than stock, but many people forget this is negligible, since (A)pretty much any car modding is going to change the weight distribution to a small degree such as this, with the biggest example being a front mount intercooler (50-80 lbs as far forward as possible = bad!) (B)burning through a few gallons of gas makes a more significant change than the LS swap, and (C)proper suspension setup and tuning can make a car with a 70:30 weight balance outperform a similar car with a 50:50.
Soprano 3 1 3
Im still not finding any of your points relevant. The fact still stands that its pretty silly to say an RX7 is better with an LS1 than a rotary. I dont consider the LS1 swap a bad thing, just wouldnt pick an LS1 for the driving im into. Lol nice attempt on the insult though. Just the way I see it.
You're not finding the points relevant because you're ignoring them. Like I've suggested, read about them. When I first heard about the swap, I immediately thought it was always the cheap rednecks' formula for fast to simply "drop a V8 in it," since this has been done to damn near every car on the planet as a cheap, easy path to straight line speed, especially since you can build a Chevy 350 from scratch without having to order anything (parts always in stock at local auto parts stores). This is also before I knew about the rotary (a god-awful engine in every way). After reading, I knew it was pretty much the perfect car, combining the best of America with the best of Japan.
It's not silly, it's PROVEN. With the swap's popularity, there are probably close to 150-200 LSx FDs out there, not to mention a lot more FCs and FBs, that have been doing the swap for longer. Find me one, ONE person that regrets the swap or prefers it with a rotary. Like I said, the numbers speak for themselves, and there's good reason the rotary's production is all but dead.
I don't know what kind of driving you're "into" (how much experience and seat time do you really have?) but I know a V8 seems to be a choice motor for F1 cars and drag cars alike, not to mention the countless different types of chassis they've been swapped into by all types of owners and drivers for all types of driving and motorsports. As a matter of fact, there are more and more RX-7 owners with track-only cars that are swapping for LS motors because they're tired of being in the pits on track day and being stuck in a garage rebuilding during a season. I think I already mentioned one guy saying he went through 3 motors before he went through 1 set of slicks.
With only a handful of exceptions, the only NA motor that ever goes into an FD is the NA 20B (3-rotor), for those wanting the 3-rotor crown and bragging rights, but not being able to afford boost. Really nothing great about this motor. It's very low on power without the turbos, just a little more reliable. If you want the TT 20B (like a lot of rotards aspire to), you're looking at equally poor reliability, with only added weight. Given that this is simply adding a big chunk of iron to the front of the stock motor, this DOES add significant weight, and DOES offset the weight balance (again, still nothing to really cry over). This is much worse than the LS1 swap in terms of numbers, but people still think that being a Mazda and a rotary makes it more acceptable and unoffensive.
If you ask me, drag racing an RX-7 at all is more sacreligious to its original design than swapping a foreign motor in.
I love the way the car is coming along Troux.
