Celica Forums General Discussion Exterior in response to the locked thread (Re: What do you ballers think

Actually, I just wanted to post this because the thread was locked. Yes, after reading the posts, the guy was a bit of a jerk, but he did touch on something of interest when he suggested putting a mazda rotary in the celica. there could be some advantages to this, as well as some pitfalls, let me explain...

First off, we have to decide what kind of rotary would go into the celica, A typical RX7 Wankel Rotary engine? Perhaps not. Many mentioned the problem with seals going bad; this was due to the unorthodox choice of materials for the engine; a cast iron rotor housing with aluminum end caps, the seals would go because the two metals expand and contract differently under temperature variances. Creative tuners have found fixed for this issue, but they are limited.

How about a Rotax rotary (now commonly used to power everything from high performance go karts to flying cars) Maybe, but you'd need a realy nasty Rotax to push around a car, even one as light as the celica.

What about an older Mazda wankel Rotarty, one of the three-rotor variety? this could be a formidable engine, but it has the same shortcomings of the other early Wankel powerplants.

Lastly there's the latest mazda rotary, the Renisis. It is proving to be powerful, and a lot more reliable due to it's all aluminum construction, it also helps keep the weight down. I'd say that's the way to go if you choose this route.

Now, the major question... Why go rotary in the first place. Well there are many advantages.

1) the rotary is a small engine, what it lacks in cubic inches not only saves weight, but it will also fit easily into the engine bay on a celica. it will also sit further back in tthe engine bay, curing that "nose heavy" condition our cars suffer from, it will totally change the weight distrobution making it handle more like a mid-engine car.

2) Rotaries are easy to tune, a simple port job will work wonders for performance, and the fact that there's fewer moving parts could prove to be a godsend when servicing this motor.

3) lastly, there's goobs of aftermarket for the rotaries, this should be all the explaination one needs in this regard.

While there would be some hurdles, it would likely be easier than some of the other radical swaps others have proposed, such as the boxer four from the WRX, or even the 3sgte swap.

While I think I'll be keeping my 2ZZ rather than go this route personaly, it's still a viable candidate for those looking to do something radical to their celica. the major trick is finding an appropriate transmission to work with this motor, or doing a rwd conversion with an RX3/RX7/RX8 rearend. it's entirely doable, maybe a more probable swap than most others. Many pros and cons involved in this swap, but it's definitely doable, and I don't think anybody would laugh at a 250+ HP NA rotary powered Celica if it can be pulled off sucessfuly.

Just my thoughts on the subject... that's all.

Maybe an old porsche rotary?

Good post on the pro's and con's. I did not read the original post though, but you had valid points.

Possible... I didn't even know Porsche made a car with a rotary. I can't comment about that one because I don't know anything about that perticular engine. assuming it's not to monsterous, I suppose that would be another option to go with.

If you ever get the opportunity, look in the engine bay of a 2nd or 3rd gen RX7. note how much empty space there is in the engine bay. Clearance would not be an issue, especially if you go with a RWD setup.

I suppose you could also use a Quaife 6 speed sequential gearbox, they're small, will mate to just about any engine, and shift like a dream, but they're really expen$ive!!!

I had some of the same thoughts that I would have told that drunken fool. The rotary engine really isn't bad. A small engine like that might fit no problems or even better than thought. The seems thing is a bit of a rumor. I always thought a newer RX-7 engine, and I don't know the dates, is reliable unless it is pushed by a beefier turbo like putting out 500 or 600 HP. 2 of my friends had early and I mean early like 84? RX and reliability was a huge issue, those engines sucked. Now especially with the new RX-8 or later RX-7 the engine should be sound or almost as reliable. I would've offered that guy my car to experiment with if he was really serious and owned a shop that was serious about it and didn't f**k things up too bad. I agree with the said above. And that's my 533 cents.