• Welcome to the new NAXJA Forum! If your password does not work, please use "Forgot your password?" link on the log-in page. Please feel free to reach out to [email protected] if we can provide any assistance.

2006 rx8 motor swap

T

transam89gta

NAXJA Forum User
Location
shreveport,LA
i have access to a rear wrecked rx8 with 12000 miles on it motor still cranks and runs great. would it be worth trying to swap it in to the xj?? or should i just let the insurance take it back? buyback is 1300.
thanks
 
no torque have you driven an rx8? it was my wifes car. answers.... easily modified, have blown motor in one xj, ITS ROTARY and i do love my 4.0 in my 94 xj and would not trade it, but the other xj is going to be a dd no lift
 
useless in an xj
 
Do it. I think it would be just unique enough that it would be cool.

That or take the motor and put it in a factory five. I've always wanted a rotary powered Cobra.
 
transam89gta said:
no torque have you driven an rx8? it was my wifes car. answers.... easily modified, have blown motor in one xj, ITS ROTARY and i do love my 4.0 in my 94 xj and would not trade it, but the other xj is going to be a dd no lift
Click to expand...

are you trying to tell me the RX8 is fast? :laugh2:
 
Rust Heap said:
238hp and 159lbft (2005 rx8 couldn't find 06) vs. 190hp and 225lbft? Easy choice for me.
Click to expand...

1.3L rotary engine...

2007 = 232hp @ 8500rpm and 159ft/lb @ 5500rpm


How often are you running 8500rpm's?

Again they have no torque.. HP isnt going to help you much anyway...

Are you going to run the RX8's tranny? might be interesting hooking it up to a transfer case?


Cherokee 4.0L
190hp @ 4700rpm and 220 ft/lb @ 4000 <---- little more realistic in a cherokee

I'd buy it back and sell it on Ebay.... or turn your XJ into a lowered drift car..
 
Last edited:
As cool as it might be, the XJ isn't the platform for a rotary motor.

Mazda RX cars are light... XJ's are not. You need alot more low end torque to move one of these flying bricks than an rotary can make.

Buy a miata, or an old toyota pickup, and drop it in there, you'd have a fun track vehicle.
 
I really want to say yes. But I can't :-(

Aside from the "holy shit, what the hell is that?" look you'll get from everyone once you pop the hood, I think driving it around will get old after a while. It would be too much of a drastic change in driving style for it to be worthwhile. That engine is designed for things that you aren't gonna use it for, in a vehicle it won't be in. Or, at least if you're trying to to do those things in a cherokee.....

It's too bad though. I love the Wankel engine. It's another of the oddball types that never really caught on like it should have. Like the Tesla. Or hell, the Inline four stroke, Shoulda been WAY more prevalent IMO.

Sorry man, I can't see that it would be a lasting relationship.

However if you could turn the I6 into a six stroke.....WooHee!

Edit: Screw the Miata. Come up north and get yourself a Samurai. Then scare the crap out of local Quad and dirt bike Hooligans. Sammy's aren't that much bigger.
 
i vote for buying an early 90's miata and throwing it in that....swap the bell housing on the transmission and just fab up a motor mount and it's a done deal....except for an ecu....which you would have to worry about in a jeep too.....a miata with a renesis that would be fun!!
 
IslanderOffRoad said:
As cool as it might be, the XJ isn't the platform for a rotary motor.

Mazda RX cars are light... XJ's are not. You need alot more low end torque to move one of these flying bricks than an rotary can make.

Buy a miata, or an old toyota pickup, and drop it in there, you'd have a fun track vehicle.
Click to expand...
XJ's aren't that heavy - besides, the mazda engine would only make it lighter :D
The XJ is even lighter then most cars today
 
CrankyYankee said:
I think you need to find a Miata to stuff that Wankel in.......talk about power to weight ratio...............:confused1
Click to expand...
much better choices to put in a miata, like an LS1 or turbo the 1.6 or 1.8
 
Save it for a small chassis - the rotary isn't really an engine suited for something like an XJ. You just have to spin it too damn fast to make power...

Having driven the three main production vehicles to use the Wankel (RX-7 coupe, Cosmo Sedan, and Rotary Pickup,) I do know what the Wankel can do - but at what price paradise? The typical operating conditions for an XJ just don't suit the rotary engine well (I don't think Mazda ever did release the Rotary pickup in 4WD, come to think on it.)

I've thought about sticking a Wankel in an old Beetle someday (Hell, I stuck a G/N 3.8L turbo in a 68 Bug some years ago...) but I'd not use one in anything that I'd do any sort of "technical" off-roading in. Now, maybe a dune-buggy or a sandrail...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

L
Manual to Auto transmission swap
Replies
9
Views
205
lvcanyoneer1
L
W
Newbie with an XJ
Replies
9
Views
205
Wander Motor
W
O
2000 XJ Failed Colorado Emissions high CO
2
Replies
27
Views
2K
Ken M
K
M
NP 231 input shaft
Replies
3
Views
2K
RCP Phx
R
J
Help needed with nightmare XJ ABS to Non-ABS swap...
Replies
0
Views
69
JBinNY
J
Back
Top