Rotary Nostalgia

"ImmoralMinority" (araimondo) 10/19/2016 at 19:31 • Filed to: None

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The best driving car I’ve ever owned was a red 2005 RX-8 GT. The thing had every option you could get. I walked into the dealer hoping my budget could get me in to a stripped down basic model - as long as it was a manual.

The car was ridiculously cheap because although it had a clean title, it was a repo recovery. It had everything - even the metal rotary accents and navig ation. 1200 miles on it when I bought it. $28000 out the door. The biggest purchase of my life at that point other than my house and one that was hard to justify. I have a patient wife with this car shit.

Holt shit, I loved that car. I drove it daily for 7 years, all over California to the tune of 140,000 miles. That thing handled like no car I have ever driven. I haven’t driven a Porsche or a Ferrari, but in a canyon I can’t imagine anything short of a motorcycle doing better.

But I live in a hot climate and the Wankel betrayed me. I loved it so much I spent $4000 to replace the engine the first time the seals failed. The second time, it had to go. But God damn if that was not a hell of a car. I understand rotary addicts.

bob and john > ImmoralMinority 10/19/2016 at 19:38

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best of both worlds: get a wankle and drop it in the sun chaser

Berang > ImmoralMinority 10/19/2016 at 19:43

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How many miles did you get on the first engine?

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > bob and john 10/19/2016 at 19:54

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Or put a 1UZ in an RX-8. Toyota reliability, RX-8 dynamics.

bob and john > Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies 10/19/2016 at 19:56

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some how, I think the 1UZ is just EVER so slightly heavier then the rotary

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > bob and john 10/19/2016 at 20:02

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It weighs about the same as an LS, and that is of course the preferred swap. This way you get a better sound and only slightly more NVH.

bob and john > Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies 10/19/2016 at 20:05

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some how I doubt a LS is 300lbs ready to fire.

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > bob and john 10/19/2016 at 20:26

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It isn’t, it’s about 400lbs. Which isn’t enough to completely mess it up.

bob and john > Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies 10/19/2016 at 20:28

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400lbs, with alternator, water pump, airbox, fluids, and everything?

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > bob and john 10/19/2016 at 20:33

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400-425.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > ImmoralMinority 10/19/2016 at 21:55

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I’ve always thought that the 2.3 Turbo MZR engine would be the shit in an RX8. Might even be bolt on. Imagine 280 HP with torque in that chassis.

notsomethingstructural > ImmoralMinority 10/19/2016 at 23:42

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Didn’t know you were a rotary guy. Just got mine in July. By some miracle found one that was documented for 90k miles including a replaced engine with compression testing about 70% of the way to “standard” instead of “low”. It’s fucking fantastic. I’m not in it for the rotary specifically, I’m in it because it’s a phenomenal fucking car.

the_zuki_driver > ImmoralMinority 10/20/2016 at 01:57

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These things are DIRT cheap where I live and soooo tempting, I so desire to have a wankle in my life for some period of time

sn4cktimes > the_zuki_driver 10/20/2016 at 05:38

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Sometimes you just got wankle.

KeedyT > Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies 10/20/2016 at 09:37

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Old Miata musings lended that a fully dressed manual LS was closer to 500lbs. In my experience I can feel the difference in a light, sporting car when an average human is in the back seat, I would think that permanently having a 200lb weight over the front wheels would ruin the hell out of one of these.

I only had one for a year but I have to agree, it was a sublime little sewing machine and I thought hard about getting another just a couple months ago!