okay i have been thinking about this for a l il bit i have a 2004 blacked out rx8 with a lil under 89000 miles on it. Around 100,000 i want to rebuild it and put a turbo on or do a ls1 swap. now before you all do the there are many threads about this, i know, im just looking for what everyone thinks about it. now of course if i go with the turbo im still going to rebuild and turbo but im just tring to get everyones thoughts on this. so help a brother out and let me hear what you all have to say thanks jake

 

What do you plan to use the car for? Do you have the money to pay someone to do this? or can you fabricate, do electronics, etc?

 

Rebuild and Turbo, LS1 swap wouldn't do the chassis justice. Mazda built this car to have a rotory, they could have easily invested the money and developed a V8 for this if that's what they wanted. This is just my opinion though.

 

well what i want is a car that i can drive everyday but when some punk kid pulls up beside me i floor it and blow him off the road. also i might do some course racing with it but that would prolly only be about once a year

 

i have the money for the rebuild and turbo but i also have a freind that has a rx7 with a ls1 in it and wow i love that deep sound that it has

 

I would do a proper LS1 conversion over a Greddy turbo kit, but not over a top mount...

 

how about neither, because in the end most people don't have the money to do either one right and just make a cluster for themselves that wastes the money they did have.

 

So you want a daily that can street race? Buy a mustang, camaro, vette, etc, etc. You can pic them up for not much more than the swap you want to do.

Your rebuild and turbo or an LS swap will not be nearly as cheap as your rx7 buddy. by nearly i mean you'll spend at least 5k more than he did.

+1

 

well see thats the thing im not some punk kid living with mommy and daddy. i own my own tint shop so YES i have the money todo the turbo and rebuild and no i wouldnt do it myself i would take it to the shop here in town the deals with rotary engines all the time. trust me when i set out to have something do to a car or anything in that fact it is down right. but thank you for your input

 

who's calling you a punk kid?

good luck with whatever you decide to do

 

Then why are you concerned about our thoughts on it then? Which by the way, are in all those other threads you mentioned. Did you just want to rehash the same old tired BS arguments again for old times sake?

Yeah ....

 

Shoot for the LS1 build. Post progress pics n' money spent. If you pull this off n' post up enough details it could be valuable to the next person that talks about going down this path.

if you F up, at least we'll have another reference for the next person who talks about going down this path.


Win-win....


...for the community anyways

 

LS1

You will prolly have less maintenance on an LS1 compared to a turbo renny, less **** going on, and better for daily driving (plus better gas mileage). But the build/swap WILL be harder and more costly and need lots more time to complete. However, if you do have the money like u stated and the time and patience... go for it.

I understand why u may not want to go the mustang/vette/camaro route... An LS1 in such a light car = wowowowowow. If im not mistaken, swapping makes the car like 150lbs heavier... but there are always things you could do to even that out. And because the LS1 is somewhat compact, im pretty sure if done right you can get most of it mounted behind the front axle and then relocate the battery to the trunk in front of the rear axle to try and regain the 50/50 weight.

But this is all just me theorycrafting since ive never personally seen this swap done step by step with details.


Who doesnt want a sleeper?

EDIT: If you do go the LS1/T56 route then it would be much appreciated by this community if you took pics of the build process and documented a few things... especially tuning and getting the electronics in order. This kind of information would be invaluable.

 

He is no punk kid but talks about street racing. Yeah....................

 

WTF is this "be nice month"?
How come you guys are ***** foot'n around?
Rx-812 you're getting it sugar coated, these guys are normally death on people who ask things like this. What pisses them off the most is that there are threads on this topic. I can't believe you haven't been given the search lecture.
You've already gotten posts from guys who spent more on the learning curve then they did on the car.

My .02, get a car that already has pistons.