Rebel Of Epona
WTF is a Nerf Herder?¿?
huh lmao?
FAF's Car & Autosports Tread
- Thread starter Car Fox
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huh lmao?
Batty Krueger
DJ Nailbunny
Seasame Street duuuuude.
T
TheMetalVelocity
Guest
Judge Spear
Well-Known Member
Deo
The hatred of FAF personified
My '99 Taurus was a rescue from an abusive home, it was gonna get scrapped and I got it for free. I put on some new stuff: quick struts, fuel pump, flex fuel sensor module, alternate, brake lines, rotors, tires, battery, and a power door lock actuator for the driver's door. And I had to redo a lot of the wiring. They previous owners got a little creative with the wiring. There were all these extra wires coming off the battery and other wires coming out from the dash control panel connected a goddamn house light switch! And the reason for the four new quick straits and tires was that they had decided to try to haul bricks in the Taurus. Filled up the front seat, backseat, and trunk and it all snapped causing the car to sit forgotten on it's tires for a few years. Oh Shitmobile, oh Shitmobile, how I love to hate you.
Deo
The hatred of FAF personified
Whatever you get, please post pictures for me to molest with my eyes.
Nineteen-TwentySeven
Four Eyes; Zero Soul
Deos post reminds me, we actually just disposed of the third Ford in a row by donation because the transmission went out. We don't have a very good track record with them (it's actually more because we drive them into the ground).
Mk 1 or 2 Ford Escort? Because the Euro Escort wasn't a FWD piece of ass until 1980 like the one we had in Amurrika was since inception. Depends, how much money is allowed to this? (You said RX8 so I guess a lot? Unless they're cheaper over there than they are here.)
Mk 1 or 2 Ford Escort? Because the Euro Escort wasn't a FWD piece of ass until 1980 like the one we had in Amurrika was since inception. Depends, how much money is allowed to this? (You said RX8 so I guess a lot? Unless they're cheaper over there than they are here.)
Fernin
6150 rpm and spinning.
Not sure how common they are over there, but I'd suggest and SN95 of just about any year. Here at least you can get them pretty much for a song. On top of that if you throw 2-3k at them you can get 400whp and mountains of fun. The chassis isn't bad either if you want to invest in some of the suspension/bracing kits. They'll go alot faster for alot less than something like an RX8. Return better mileage too.
Coyote Club
El Gordito Burrito Bandito
The newer (2011/2012) Camry is actually kinda nice. I've driven the base model, and my only complaint is that the plastic interior is really easy to rub the color/paint off of.
Supposedly the 4 cylinder makes 178 HP (not sure if it's BHP or what), but I'm waiting for a Toyota car with the 4.6L or 5.7L engine from the Tundra. :v
Supposedly the 4 cylinder makes 178 HP (not sure if it's BHP or what), but I'm waiting for a Toyota car with the 4.6L or 5.7L engine from the Tundra. :v
Fernin
6150 rpm and spinning.
I don't think they look alike at all. But I may be slightly biased. In my opinion all they have in common is the ultra long hood to short rear deck ratio.
Viper: Rounded lines, muscular but still svelte. Very smooth, almost wind swept.
Corvette: Sharp lines angular lines, aggressive angles. Jagged, almost looks like it's been cut out of stone.
Batty Krueger
DJ Nailbunny
Ames
it smells like dust and moon light
Guh I fucking hate it when people have jank-ass wiring in their car. Alligator clips, solid conductor wiring, shitty butt crimps that are fucking hand-loose, splices that were just twisted wires covered with tape, soldering jobs that literally crumbled at the touch of a feather, I've seen it all. "Halp when I turn on my radio my idle jumps by 1k rpm?!?" "Why does turning on my turn signals make my car stall out?!?" "That burning electrical smell? Oh that's normal it happens all the time" "Oh noes my car burnt to a cinder on the side of the freeway what could have possibly caused this?!?!"
I suppose FSAE has cursed me in the regard that any wiring I do myself in my car has to be up to mil specs. Milspec PTFE wire, milspec splices, milspec connectors, milspec wire lacing, all double wrapped with milspec spiral and split-braid wrap and laced again on top of that. Shit's absolute overkill but virtually indestructible. I've heard stories of FSAE milspec harnesses surviving fucking engine fires without a hitch.
Haha no.
There's a reason they were commonly referred to as "invincible" and "bulletproof" on the track in the 80s. They can take an insane amount of continual abuse and keep on running, while being fisher-price-tier simple and cheap to rebuild.
Here's a nice informative writeup that, despite not being comprehensive at all from an engineering standpoint, is still a good read for those who are completely unfamiliar with rotaries.
Fernin
6150 rpm and spinning.
@JamesB: Then you have never seen a rotary truly, and utterly fail. Heat cracking of the rotor housing for one and the stationary gears loosing teeth for another are both about on par with thrown rods in degree of occurrence and severity of engine damage. And of course, the major weak point of rotaries being the apex seals which which if lost can cause horrific engine damage. So yes, in a rotary, if something fails, you loose pretty much the whole engine since one way or another the housing is almost sure to be damaged.
A rotary is no more invicnible or bulletproof than a Chevy 350 or Ford 427. Those later two also often producing more power per meter of fuel (as in amount, not distance, you wouldn't believe how often I have to specify that) consumed than any rotary. I like rotaries as much as the next gear head, they make a cool noise and are novel as an option beside piston engines, but it's annoying as hell how some fans of them act like they're the second coming of automotive jesus.
A rotary is no more invicnible or bulletproof than a Chevy 350 or Ford 427. Those later two also often producing more power per meter of fuel (as in amount, not distance, you wouldn't believe how often I have to specify that) consumed than any rotary. I like rotaries as much as the next gear head, they make a cool noise and are novel as an option beside piston engines, but it's annoying as hell how some fans of them act like they're the second coming of automotive jesus.
Ames
it smells like dust and moon light
Most cases of premature apex seal wear and housing cracking on road cars can be at least in part attributed to the relatively poorly designed cooling of the housings. The enormous temperature differentials present in such a small motor make it extremely sensitive to cooling issues. This is a commonly known fault that must be addressed on a race motor. However, damaged stationary gears are not something that should happen on a properly balanced and maintained motor. If everything's done right, the gears should only be seeing an axial load even under extreme conditions. Reliability-wise, rotaries have always fared poorly in road cars mostly due to the fact that they are so widely misunderstood and most have no idea how to tend to their unique needs properly. Under continual abuse in a racing environment, rotaries share some characteristics that give them a degree of reliability over traditional motors, such as higher detonation resistance and greater tolerance to over-revving. Also having fewer load-bearing parts, tolerances for the engine as a whole tend to remain within operating specifications longer. There are just so many more load-bearing surfaces in a reciprocating engine to wear down, and as a result, they require rebuilds extremely often to retain optimal reliability and performance.
If something does fail, you are highly unlikely to lose the whole engine just due to its extremely modular design. If you've got a cracked block on a reciprocating motor, you'd have to replace the whole block. But if you've got a cracked rotor housing, you would just need to replace that one housing. This modularity also means that even more spectacular failures are unlikely to make the whole motor unsalvageable.
A 350 or 427 windsor has the potential to be a fuckton more efficient, no doubt about it. But that is hardly the only characteristic that matters, especially in performance applications. What about power-to-weight? Even with an aluminum block and heads, a 350 is still going to weigh a good amount more than even a stock 13b, never mind one with titanium rotors. And given forced induction, both motors can make more power than you can use, especially in a lightweight race chassis. What about size? A 13b is TINY. I remember the first time I saw a formula mazda car up close, I had difficulty for a moment actually discerning the motor from the transmission. With a motor that small, you have a lot more control over where your car's CG is going to be. Close to 50/50 front/rear can be achieved no problem, and you can get your CG way lower than you're ever going to get with a huge honkin' small block. Being that small also helps immensely with packaging, which is a pretty big deal in a race car. What about power characteristics? 350s make power early but also top out early. Rotaries have almost a linear power curve from 0 to redline, which is arguably more ideal for performance applications.
I'm not trying to be a "rotary is love, rotary is life" hella-jay-dee-emm-bruh ricer faggot. I'm not saying the rotaries are the "god machine" of internal combustion engine designs. There's undoubtedly superior designs out there, albeit most have never seen the light of day. Rotaries just fascinate me due to their unique characteristics, wide availability, and also due to the fact that my friend's father has been racing them for almost 30 years.
Who pissed in your cornflakes this morning?
Jags
Shepherd of Fire
The main common issues with rotaries worry me more than a complete failure. Like the likelihood of flooding in the engine, the speed of which it burns oil (Especially on a track, that'll be horrific).
That said, even if the entire engine goes they sell for surprisingly little. I saw a rebuilt one for about £600.
That said, even if the entire engine goes they sell for surprisingly little. I saw a rebuilt one for about £600.
Fernin
6150 rpm and spinning.
@JamesB: You put more severity to my words than I intended I think. XD And while you have points, they're also at the level of splitting hairs as the same can be said for the reliability of a piston engine given proper maintenance and build.
As for the issue of weight, I think you'll be surprised. A fully dressed 13B weighs around 350lbs in the car. A fully dressed LSX weighs around... 350lbs in the car. XD Alot of people assume American V8's are heavy, and well, in the days of the cast iron block they were, but modern all aluminum engines even without titanium parts are often under 400lbs. Also, as for the physical size of an 350 vs a 13B... Well, I think this speaks for itself.
I tried to find a video showing an LS- engine in an RX-8 but all I could find were V8 cars making passes or drag runs, none showing the engine itself. However, this Miata, which is SMALLER than an RX8 proves my point none the less I think.
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As for the issue of weight, I think you'll be surprised. A fully dressed 13B weighs around 350lbs in the car. A fully dressed LSX weighs around... 350lbs in the car. XD Alot of people assume American V8's are heavy, and well, in the days of the cast iron block they were, but modern all aluminum engines even without titanium parts are often under 400lbs. Also, as for the physical size of an 350 vs a 13B... Well, I think this speaks for itself.
I tried to find a video showing an LS- engine in an RX-8 but all I could find were V8 cars making passes or drag runs, none showing the engine itself. However, this Miata, which is SMALLER than an RX8 proves my point none the less I think.
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