Mazda also did a lot of metallurgical work on the apex seals. That was one
of the things that contributed to the high oil consumption. One quart per
thousand miles isn't acceptable in a brand-new engine. Also, the early
RX-7's didn't have much torque. They made plenty of power up high, but not
much down low. A friend of mine had one when they first came out, and I
could blow his doors off with my U20 because I had gobs of torque. They
were also known to be very throttle-sensitive when it came to fuel
consumption - hammer the throttle and you're in single digits on the gas
mileage. Most of these problems got solved over the years.
BTW, Steve, how about 800hp from a Datsun RB26 twin-turbo? Turbos can do
wonders, but I think it would be difficult to fit a 13B twin-turbo in a
roadster. Actually you can fit anything in anything if you are willing to
butcher it enough. Most radical thing I've seen is a twin-turbo Chrysler
hemi with nitrous in a motorcycle! But you ain't gettin' me on it!
Oh yeah, there was one other outrageous engine swap I saw a while back on
the Web - an Opel GT with a mid-engine Allison V-12 aircraft engine!
Street-licensed, too. Looked like something from a horror film.
Steve Harvey wrote:
> You tell'em Joshua:
> Try and get 700 hp out of a datsun engine! It won't happen. The reason
> 12A's and 13B's got such a bad rap is that the idiots that owned them
> didn't realize that the engine consumes oil at a rate of 1 quart per
> 3000 miles driven. This is the only way to lubricate the internal
> components. American drivers don't check the oil. They just gas and go
> which meant that their engines fried much quicker than if they had
> maintained them.
> Steve Harvey
> --
Gordon Glasgow
Renton, WA
http://www.gordon-glasgow.org
|