944 rotary conversion

[michael pagano]

Hi, im looking into getting a 944 soon and wondering if anybody has done a rotary conversion? I was thinking of swapping in a 3 rotor and was looking for some details on how invlolved it actually gets/if its doable. Thanks

[fiat22turbo]

A gentleman from down under built a 924 rally car with a rotary. It required major modifications to the crossmember to fit it among others. He's over on the 924board.org.

Personally, I'd not bother, just buy Mazda's copy of the 924/944 and get a 2nd-gen RX. The Rotary is a bit of a torqueless wonder (though they do sound good with a PP) and if the 2.5 is in good shape, run it until it dies. If you want more power, put a V8 in it.

924Board.org :: View topic - Project RX924 begins!

[rsoles27]

down around Oklahoma City there is a guy with a 924Rotory, but I havent seen him in a while.

[v2rocket_aka944]

pointless. the 944 has no guts as it is - no need to put something with an even worse torque curve in it.

they sound cool and go like hell, above 5000rpm...

[1982_928]

944's have no guts? Are you kidding me?

[ernie9944]

Originally Posted by 1982_928

944's have no guts? Are you kidding me?

He is not exactly kidding you,the 2.5 ltr 8v NA could have a little more HP & torque & it's a known fact.And I personally believe that the best way to achieve such a gain is going with something more natural to the 944,a 968 3.0 ltr 16v NA not a V8 or Rotary.Been done successfully to a number of 924S/944 NA & S2 without major problems.Don't forget that the torque plot for a 968 stock 3.0 ltr is very nearly flat from 1000 RPM to 6,500 RPM & it peak at 225 pound feet at 4,100 RPM.In fact as low as 1000 RPM the 968 motor produce 147 pds/feet of torque versus 117 for the 951 & it's not only HP that make a car fast from point A to B but also how the torque is deliver. ---924S
---snake1996/ 83-944
---S2 to S3

[FrenchToast]

Originally Posted by ernie9944

He is not exactly kidding you,the 2.5 ltr 8v NA could have a little more HP & torque & it's a known fact.

The 8V NA (albeit with some adequate funding) can be bumped up to about 275 hp/tq while still retaining normal aspiration. And no, that isn't a 'theory'.

That said, making a 968 vario-cam engine make that hp/tq is a easier and cheaper.

As for the rotary, I don't know much about them, other than that reliability isn't their strong point.

And some rotary trivia: NSU (better known now as Audi) is the first manufacturer to put them in a production car, not Mazda. The NSU Ro80.

[Dimi 944]

If I am to consider rotary....it has to be turbocharged as in the 3rd gen RX-7. Only then the torque and HP gain will be considerably better than the 2.5L. It will be even better than the 968 3.0L

[petrolhead611]

The obvious rotary motor to use,if you must, is the Renesis out of the RX8

[v2rocket_aka944]

Originally Posted by FrenchToast

The 8V NA (albeit with some adequate funding) can be bumped up to about 275 hp/tq while still retaining normal aspiration. And no, that isn't a 'theory'.

Details?

[ZR8ED]

Originally Posted by v2rocket_aka944

Details?

What kind of details? a whole bunch of $1000 bills, or a whole bunch more of $100 bills, Many thousands of $1 bills. Even more coins...

Compression, displacement, more VE. Easy peasy lemon squeazzy.

[ernie9944]

Originally Posted by v2rocket_aka944

Details?

+1

Originally Posted by ZR8ED

What kind of details? a whole bunch of $1000 bills, or a whole bunch more of $100 bills, Many thousands of $1 bills. Even more coins...

Compression, displacement, more VE. Easy peasy lemon squeazzy.

Yes, but will still like to have the details about squeezing an extra 125 hp out of a 2.5 8v NA since 95% of them are now over 23 yrs old (last one produce being the 89 with 165 hp)most of them will probably be producing 150 hp or less.Dino figures will also be nice to have.

[962porsche]

i have a **** load of 944's and a 968 6 speed coupe . two of the 944's i did v8 swaps into . one is a 350 SBC and the other is a LS7 motor . the LS7 swap required building a tube car at much cost .
the 350 LS1 swap was cheap to do and kind of ez . with a total spend of 5k . the 350 motor dinoed at 428 HP with tork at 387 . with a GVW of the car at just over 2200 lbs dry weight .
i built 99% of what i needed to do the swaps but you can buy kits .
my fealing is if you need to rebuild your 8V motor junk it and swap in a V8 .
it's cheaper to do that than rebuild a 944 motor .
the 8v motors are very low on hp and tork and scaling out the two motors fully dressed .
the V8 sbc motor is only 48 lbs more then the over weight 2.5 8V motor .
swap in a V8 thats what the 944 should have come with from porsche not the junk 2.5 motor .

[FrenchToast]

Originally Posted by ZR8ED

What kind of details? a whole bunch of $1000 bills, or a whole bunch more of $100 bills, Many thousands of $1 bills. Even more coins...

Compression, displacement, more VE. Easy peasy lemon squeazzy.

^^ What he said.

As for true dyno figures, I aint gots. Pretty sure the engine is mentioned briefly in the dark, unlit, un-frequented caverns of an RL post. I'll have to see if I can find it. If anyone REALLY wants details send a PM.

But yes, takes alot, including MoTeC and race gas, custom intake, exhaust yadda yadda yadda. Nothing 'bolt-on'. It requires a ground-up build.

Originally Posted by 962porsche

i have a **** load of 944's

Any '87+ rollers?

Back to discussing rotary engines. Should really make a new topic for the standard Porsche engine.