205 rotary

B

Bagel

Member
Fellow Frogger
Joined
May 1, 2003
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Melbourne
Well, I got your attention didn't I? Now, wouldn't this be the ultimate car? 205 handling with the scrumptious Renesis rotary engine from the rx8? What I'd like to know is if the engine can fit into the 205 engine bay and the mechanicals hooked up. As to how you'd solve the gearbox/bellhousing/diff problems I'm not sure, but for someone with dough 2_cents quite a fun project!? tongue There seem to be ppl kicking around this forum with rotary knowledge, so enlighten a poor French-loving pistonhead. BTW the new ones rev to 9 grand and have 240bhp on tap in the "hi power" version...

P.S. Funniest car sticker I think I've ever seen was on a rotary in Fast Fours or Hot 4's: "munch munch pistons for lunch" with a cute picture

P.P.S. If you need to ask "WHY?!" it's exam time; procrastination is a great tool for inventiveness.
 
ah yes...exam time ^_^;
I know it far to well...the same kind of procrastination/stress that made me trace out a picture of my 504 and add on a rice-style body kit roll_lau :confused:

p.s. I think that a rotary 205 would be awesome! Although i have no clue at all if it is possible or not...it might cost a bit tho! 2_cents whip
 
Rotaries are generally regarded as lighter than piston motors, not sure how heavy the 205 donk is though.

Is an RX-8 fwd? Even if it is (which I doubt), $$$ for the brand new motor...

What fwd rotors are out there? The Cosmo (Japanese 929-derived coupe with rotary motor) may be a good choice...

<small>[ 14 June 2003, 12:37 PM: Message edited by: Gus ]</small>
 
Nope, RX8 is rear wheel drive, hence I was interested to see if anybody had solutions to this. And yep, money money but it's mostly just a dream... for now.

Also, rotaries up until now tend to be heavy on the juice a_drink and only in the RX8 I think have they really got a competitive engine to the piston one.
 
Check out the 13B powered 504 that was for sale a while back (twice!). It was a 13B turbo converted to run on LPG.

Owner claimed 200 rwhp _and_ that $10 worth of gas would take you 200km.

I think the Cosmo was a FWD 13B, but I'm not half sure... Japanese half-cuts are probably cheap enough, though.
 
Hi Gus,

You're thinking of the RX5 Cosmo - the '85 one - I think they mean the 1990 20B Cosmo (triple rotors, sequential turbos and your own private oil tanker?). AFAIK all rotary Mazdas were RWD, but I could be wrong.

I have dreamed about making a car to scare Shane's CX Turbo out of an old CX and a front cut Cosmo - Citroen originally designed the CX to have a triple rotor wankel, but PSA got frightened by the fuel crisis in the early 70's.

I would just need a good supply of CX gearboxes to cope with the power!

Paul
 
Citroen made a twin rotor GS for a short time, but the NSU experience scared them off. They offered very good buyback deals to everybody that bought them, and scrapped the lot. Thankfully a few owners loved them too much. Now there is a car I would love to have!

As for rotary conversions, I think a Mini would be fun with a rotary up front driving the rear wheels. Engine bay sould be a tight squeeze though.

The first rotary car Mazda ever made was called a Cosmo, and I think it was rear engined. They were only for the Japanese market if I remember correctly.
 
Yep, saw the rotary 504, but the RX8 would have more power and wouldn't rely on the turbo, or an LPG system to keep the dollars on the car and not the petrol. They claim 30% more efficiency than the 13b due to side porting and the "Hi Power" version has 30% more intake area from ports as well. Seems rotaries are gaining more engine ancilliaries like the piston engine as well, with separate intake ports opening at higher revs (valves to control them etc.) but still a lot less moving parts than an equivalent piston donk.

i've never had a look under a 205 mallet how is the gearbox mounted? Would you get a mazda box and drive the front wheels or is there enough room in the transmission tunnel to rig up a rear wheel drive system (and room at the rear) or would it be a great excuse to go all wheel drive if you had the dough?
 
Bagel:
Would you get a mazda box and drive the front wheels or is there enough room in the transmission tunnel to rig up a rear wheel drive system (and room at the rear) or would it be a great excuse to go all wheel drive if you had the dough?
Click to expand...
Here's a Mazda rear-wheel drive with a rotary added. (In Perth, by Rotomotion - they are legends. The pic is evidently taken in the Fishermen's Wharf at Fremantle - the largest white shed in the distance is whence the Bond Corporation ran their '87 America's Cup Defence.)

<a href="http://www.fastlane.com.au/Custom_Shed/MX5_rotary.htm" target="_blank">Link: Rotary MX5</a>

Bagel, in brief you can do absolutely anything you like, if you have enough money. I sold a 1971 504 parts car to a bloke a few years ago, and he ran an exhaust shop here in Perth. I dropped in there a few months later to see if he had done what he claimed he was going to do when he bought the car - and he had! The external was completely stock, including the faded brown paint. But inside it was completely stripped, and he had fabricated a new tunnel, tubbed the back end, fitted a Ford 9" diff., and a Turbo 400 auto, and in the engine bay he was about to drop a 454 Elephant-block Chevy! He wanted a "sleeper" to take to Ravenswood to do outrageous quarter-mile times. I think he succeeded. :D

Regards,
John Lane.
 
Well at least it would be comfy whilst doing it as I'm sure we can all attest to.

BTW, MX-5's are already rear wheel drive, are they not?
 
There havent been to many fwd conversions of the rotary.. only one or two people have actually made it work.. the new rx-8 boasts of 30% more fuel efficency... at idle.. heheh prolly not for the rest of the rev range... plus the bad things about rotary's are the excessive maitenance.. if you stop driving them for a cuple of days its a royal pain in the arse to start again.. but i dunno, you could prolly fit a bridgeported 12a or what came out in the first ever Rotary, which was an R-100 would be a 10a.. small but more then enuff power for a 205
 
sorry my bad.. Mazda made one FWD rotay, with a 13A engine called a RX-78 Luce and the R-100 was the Cosmo 110 dead
 
The R100 was the 10A, as far as I remember... the Cosmo was a show car, wasn't it? Not an engine...

Originally posted by buzzedmi16
.....the new rx-8 boasts of 30% more fuel efficency... at idle.. heheh prolly not for the rest of the rev range.....
Click to expand...
Actually, it's at low revs and idle that the rotaries always had fuel efficiency problems. Keep in the working rev range and they aren't too bad.

Of course, you must realise that if you keep working them they are in a range where any engine uses plenty of fuel.

But it's true that people who drive them a bit harder get better fuel consumption than those who nurse them around.
 
Only factory FWD Mazda Rotary was the late 1960's Luce (codenamed RX87). Had a 13A motor that was larger than the 13B and never used in any other production Mazda.

Car's styling is obviously similar to piston powered Mazda 1500/1800 sedans and wagons of the same period. The sty;ing was done (I think) by Guigaro) and Alfa were going to use it for the Berlina sedans of the late 1960's but there were cash strapped at the time, so Mazda bought the design. :cool:

cheers! <a href="http://www.motormagazinesha.co.jp/medialog/car/zeppan/mazda_lucerotarycoupe/" target="_blank">Click here for a piccie :) </a>

How does one post an image from a file on one's PC directly onto a post?

<small>[ 17 June 2003, 01:37 PM: Message edited by: B E R E T ]</small>
 
B E R E T:

How does one post an image from a file on one's PC directly onto a post?
Click to expand...
One doesn't unless one wants one's privacy totally invaded. You have to upload it to somewhere (ie. a free website host - geocities, etc. and then link from there).

As for the pic, it looks lovely, but still no one has any ideas on how to convert FWD to RWD? Do you replace the drivetrain from the gearbox back or change the suspension setup to fit or what?

Cheers,

Chris
 
Bagel:
Originally posted by B E R E T:
[qb]
As for the pic, it looks lovely, but still no one has any ideas on how to convert FWD to RWD? Do you replace the drivetrain from the gearbox back or change the suspension setup to fit or what?

Cheers,

Chris
Click to expand...
Chris you might have to search a while but in the UK a bloke converted his 306 into RWD and into a bit of a rally machine, its quite comprehensive from what i remember too.
It was posted on a thread on this forum.
Cheers Xq
Click to expand...
 
To post pictures:

You usually have webspace from your ISP... upload the pic, then link to it as follows:

a>


You have to do this without the spaces, however. Check how it's done on any post that has a picture by clicking on the "quote" button.
 
This FWD Mazda was also known as the R130.
13A engine ( narrower rotors than the 13B), rubber in torsion suspension, IRS, rack and pinion steering, it was quite an advance on the 1500 on which it was based.
Of course it looked fantastic, the 1500s main claim to fame.
There is one on the road in Victoria.

Graham Wallis
 
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