That old question, RX7 FD Vs RX8

[HaywardRotary]

RX8 is an amazing chassis for handling and RX7 is amazing car for drifting but requires a lot of skill to do it well as it has its vices but it usually has the quickest entry speed of any car.
With an RX7 fd engine in an RX8 you would be able to make a seriously competitive drift car too.
Turbo RX7 s actuallyc an be made to drift extremely well but multirotor naturally aspirated is the way I would go if I had the budget for the best ever drift car cos control would be really good.

[PurcyP]

Hey Hayward rotary, nice to have a big player in the rotary world such as yourself to chime in!

Yeah If money was no object and i could afford it, a naturally aspirated 3 or 4 rotor would be the ideal way to go.

Its a strange situation with these 2 cars, obviously no chassis from factory was designed for drifting thats a given, the RX7 however was always about grip, then again all sports cars are for grip, its a time attack favourite for a reason however. The RX8 i never really knew where it sat because the whole purpose of the car was not pure sports like the rx7 was but a more every day friendly sporty car.

Its a strange one, I guess really between these two and nothing else, It comes down to what car you personally prefer especially if you can afford to do 3 or 4 rotor swaps.

The only caveat is if you are a privateer such as myself, in terms of what is more viable then i feel a FD3S is the better route to go over a RX8 purely because as soon as you feel you need more power, you come at a bit of a loss with the RX8 because going the turbo route is difficult, engine swaps are RX7 money and then some.
At least with a RX7 you can tune, single turbo conversions and have the horse power youll ever need.

Ironically that route is basically what i am doing but a FD3S is on the cards for me regardless.

It will be interesting to see what its like skidding a RX8 in August, Ive already been in a FD3S and its very ...hmm how to explain it because the word ill use will make it seem like a negative but its not, anyway its very ..wooden, stiff, you dont feel disconnected from the rear as it comes round its always right there, the car turns as a whole if that makes sense.
where as in comparison to say a S Chassis, the rear comes round like a bendy bus at an airport.

terrible analogy lol but hopefully you get the gist.

Also drifting is also about looks, and you dont see many RX8\'s on the privateer field, ive seen 2 in Formula D and thats about it, the car doesnt carry that "oh my its a X" swag like the RX7 always has.
The lines and looks of the RX7 has always got me, just always takes my eye, if you park a bugatti veyron next to a FD3S, ill look inside the veyron for 20 seconds and that will be it, all eyes on the FD3S...Not sure why either, i guess its the same feeling others get for S Chassis, or RX8\'s ..they love them, i love the FD3S.

[HaywardRotary]

FD takes some serious skills but also is very rewarding when you can drift it well.
Practice practice practice and good suspension setup are required and around 500 plus hp to be comptetitive.
Pete Barber drifted and RX7 and came 2nd in European drift championship some years back with car we were involved in and built and tuned the engines.

[PurcyP]

I can imagine, I know I\'m already going to be giving myself a hard time trying in a rx8.  At least it will lay hopefully some solid foundations.

And yea I\'ve seen some the cars you have been involved In, quite an eye opener and very impressive

[re japi]

I dont know what kinds of tracks you are drifting. Our tracks here are quite "small" so cars has to react fast and has to change directions fast. So I would imagine that Fd would be better here as it is quite agressive car to drive. I think that Rx-8 would be better for faster tracks cause it has more neutral handling(I think).

[PurcyP]

my tracks are varied but mostly technical and small.

[samoht]

It will be interesting to see what its like skidding a RX8 in August, Ive already been in a FD3S and its very ...hmm how to explain it because the word ill use will make it seem like a negative but its not, anyway its very ..wooden, stiff, you dont feel disconnected from the rear as it comes round its always right there, the car turns as a whole if that makes sense.
where as in comparison to say a S Chassis, the rear comes round like a bendy bus at an airport.

Having moved from an SR20 S13 to an FD, I laughed at your analogy... \'a bendy bus at the airport\' is the best I\'ve heard it put.  Squeeze the power on out of Clearways gradually, bit more, uh oh there goes the back end, still going, right off the power, tail still going, opposite lock nearly onto the lock-stops and she comes back.

The FD is just so much easier to catch, as it moves all of a piece and proportionally, rather than letting go and making you a passenger.

[PurcyP]

Hahaha i am glad you could see where i was coming from then.