Over 500hp LS1 RX-7 (FD)
#2
Lexus Fanatic
With the LS-1 torque, I'll bet you'll see some acceleration in that car. The 3Gen RX-7's body/chassis was very lightly built....TOO light, in some areas, where rough roads could bend some chassis/steering parts. However, the LS-1 engine is far heavier than the standard lightweight aluminum twin-turbo, twin-rotor the RX-7 came with, making it much more nose-heavy, so the handling/braking limits might not be as good on the skidpad.
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#10
Racer
iTrader: (3)
With the LS-1 torque, I'll bet you'll see some acceleration in that car. The 3Gen RX-7's body/chassis was very lightly built....TOO light, in some areas, where rough roads could bend some chassis/steering parts. However, the LS-1 engine is far heavier than the standard lightweight aluminum twin-turbo, twin-rotor the RX-7 came with, making it much more nose-heavy, so the handling/braking limits might not be as good on the skidpad.
The car actually handles and brakes virtually the same, if not better, while having a broader powerband to work with.
#13
Lexus Test Driver
I admire the incredible amount of work that has gone into that car, but i'm with mmarshall as far as the handling aspect goes. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but the Wankel is decently smaller than the LS1 and was closer to the firewall. Therefore even if the LS1 is close to the same weight, the car will be more nose-heavy.
#14
Racer
iTrader: (3)
I admire the incredible amount of work that has gone into that car, but i'm with mmarshall as far as the handling aspect goes. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but the Wankel is decently smaller than the LS1 and was closer to the firewall. Therefore even if the LS1 is close to the same weight, the car will be more nose-heavy.
While the aluminum LS does add a bit more weight, you're talking about a very small amount, and even then, the majority of the weight sits behind the front axle*. While weight isn't desirable, its also a matter of where you place it. The rotaries e-shaft sits higher, which also means the tranny sits higher in the stock car**. The LS' crankshaft and tranny both sit lower. Compensating for the remaining weight is trivial, when you consider a battery relocation easily shifts 40+ lbs from the upper front of the car. When you consider the weight difference in the swap is roughly 50lbs, it requires little relative effort to regain the 50/50 weight distribution (which isn't as important as made out to be). The cars handling remains excellent and many competition V8 RX-7s outperform their rotary counterparts, though thats due to a few other factors/bonuses, such as the difference in torque curve, gearing, and tires.
* http://www.rx7club.com/attachment.ph...1&d=1189361834
Up against the firewall
http://www.rx7club.com/attachment.ph...1&d=1180322876
**Tranny tunnel is huge...large enough to fit the Chevy T56.
http://i540.photobucket.com/albums/g...all/LS2001.jpg
http://i540.photobucket.com/albums/g...Bangkok016.jpg
Photos belong to their respective owners on rx7club and V8RX7forum.