Long-life of a Rotary? Re-builds?

[ridgeracer]

Hi guys \'n\' girls, new here.
 
Just a quick\'un:
 
I read that the rotary only lasts for about 150k miles!? Is that true? With re-builds or not? Hope that\'s not true
 
Also, how much can one expect to spend on a rebuild? £500? £1000? (2-rotor)
 
Many thanks in advance.

[BlitzBoy]

Lots of RX8s do over 100K miles no problem, not seen any rx8s hit 150k yet due to the age and type of car it is, time will tell.

In regards to Turbo rotarys like the 3rd gen rx7s, due to the power they put out and heat generated you be lucky to hit 80-100k without a rebuild, mostly the water seals go due to age, but then after a rebuild they should be good for another 80k if kept in stock form and not modified for more power.

[Lacey]

My N/A\'s currently on a little over 93k and got no signs of needing work whatsoever to the engine, good even compression, and judging by it I;d say it\'s probably good for another 20 - 30k more.

Thing to remember with rebuilds is that it sounds like a bad word, but if your engine is properly looked after and maintained, you shouldn\'t NEED to replace all that much on the rebuild, mostly just seals if your engine is still nice and strong, clean and healthy.

\'Rebuild\' is a dreaded word with lots of assumed cost attached, but it doesn\'t need to be, if the engines healthy, lots of things that you\'d think you\'d need to replace have the possibility of being re-used because the wear on them might be minimal, or average if you\'re not so lucky.

Of course, if the engine isn\'t properly looked after, rebuilds can be very expensive. As Carl at Hayward Rotary said to me when I visited;

"I\'ve seen RX-8\'s on 120k that just need a service, and some on 20k that need a full rebuild."

It all depends on how much care you take with your engine, your setup, your power output, and the use it gets, and how hard it gets driven. If you thrash the nuts off it on a daily basis, don\'t expect a rebuild to necessarily be cheap. If you drive nicely, prepare for expense and you should be pleasantly surprised.

[ChrisDubbya]

If you thrash the nuts off it on a daily basis, don\'t expect a rebuild to necessarily be cheap. If you drive nicely, prepare for expense and you should be pleasantly surprised.

Agree with that but not to forget not taking a rotary to the redline on every journey is advised against and could be as bad as thrashing it

To answer ridgeracer it depends, as Blitzboy said the turbo versions don\'t last as long as NA, but the general feeling is that if a 3rd gen hasn\'t had a rebuild by 100,000km it\'s likely to need one very soon, certain modifications can be made to improve cooling which could extend the life of an engine and I would imagine the parts used in rebuilds now can be considered better quality and thus likely to last longer.

As far as cost, not all engine builders/builds are equal, if you want a properly balanced engine with tolerances better than standard and thus more likely to last longer then they can get expensive, I would estimated around the £3500 mark but alot of builders will do them for £1500.

This is all based on my knowledge of the 3rd gen rx7 93 - 2002 so if you could clarify im sure somewhere more knowledgable than I can help

Chris

[Nik da Greek]

Based on my own personal experience, I\'d estimate that a rotary engine lasts about 2,000 miles or three months, whichever comes first. A rebuild costs you everything you own. If I sound bitter about it, it\'s only cos I fduking well am

[ChrisDubbya]

Based on my own personal experience, I\'d estimate that a rotary engine lasts about 2,000 miles or three months, whichever comes first. A rebuild costs you everything you own. If I sound bitter about it, it\'s only cos I fduking well am

Time to change your tuner? :rollin

[Nik da Greek]

Time to change your tuner? :rollin

Yeah, I get that a lot

[Mir]

Based on my own personal experience, I\'d estimate that a rotary engine lasts about 2,000 miles or three months, whichever comes first. A rebuild costs you everything you own. If I sound bitter about it, it\'s only cos I fduking well am

Nik what\'s happening with your car? It\'s been off road for a while

Mir

[Beau23]

i heard from a few people "drive it till you kill it and get the most out of the pleasant driving expericance a roatry gives" if your gonna buy an rx and constantly worry about rebuilding it you may aswel sell it and buy something more practical?

[Aubec]

If you can\'t afford a rebuild you can\'t afford the car.

[Lacey]

If you can\'t afford a rebuild you can\'t afford the car.

I can\'t afford sod all, and mine\'s still running!

Kind of.... >_>

[B.Martin]

Based on my own personal experience, I\'d estimate that a rotary engine lasts about 2,000 miles or three months, whichever comes first. A rebuild costs you everything you own. If I sound bitter about it, it\'s only cos I fduking well am

The one. The only. Nik Da Greek!! :god

if your gonna buy an rx and constantly worry about rebuilding it you may aswel sell it and buy something more practical?

+1 to this one :Thumbs-up

Because we wouldn\'t want to go back to hot hatches would we??

[captainbizzaro]

Depends on your circumstances in my opinion-if you maintain it fastidiously so you know that it\'s got the best chance, and it has a good tune then don\'t let the paranoia get in the way of the whole point of these cars. I\'m lucky in that, like a few of us my 7 is just a toy so I don\'t depend on it and it gets driven accordingly ie, let it warm up, then spank it, then spank it a bit more and when it breaks fix it. And repeat. If your daily was for arguments sake, a Skyline with 100k on the clock I would be just as mindful about when it was about to implode as much as a rotang. Look after it, and it\'ll look after you, unless you\'re Nik of course. Then it\'ll explode regardless.

I\'m not sure if that made any sense but in essence, what I\'m trying to say is - with any car rotor or piston, if it\'s your daily when you are wringing it\'s neck just remember you\'ve got to get to work in it in the morning.

[ridgeracer]

Hey guys

A year late, but some mint replies. Cheers.

Been sorting a lot of :censored::censored::censored::censored: out. Been into one relationship and out the other end of it head first, if you get me. Hey ho...

The costs of rebuilds doesn\'t necessarily matter anymore - got some contacts

Once again, cheers for the replies, ima be on the forums a lot more frequently in the next  6 months as am looking to catch hold of an FB before Xmas (he wishes) with the new well-paying \'career\'.

Nik - Doesn\'t sound like you were having a lot of luck that day! Haha

[boosted]

Wow ... time warp jump?