#348 joins the fold

[rossm]

Hi all, I have just bought WR1 #348 from Alastair at the Performance Car Company in Portsmouth and am thoroughly enjoying learning all about these special motors! It is my first Subaru having come from a line of rwd cars (Chimaera, Cerbera, 350z, VX220T, RX7) but having had a little fella on New Years Eve I needed to swap the RX7 (track focussed, ~500bhp) with a more usable motor for the hum drum of normal life (impending nursery runs etc) as well as weekend fun and track days to sit alongside our Alfa 159 family wagon.

#348 has only travelled 29k miles and I am the second owner - it is in immaculate condition and I intend to keep it that way! The previous owner only did ~300 miles in the last 12 months and maybe 900 miles in 24 months... so it has not had a lot of use - I don't think I could leave it sitting in the garage that long without wanting to go for a run!

A mate of mine has a P1 (owned for ~9 years) and has invested a lot of money into it at Roger Clark Motorsport so I will most likely head up to see them for servicing and maybe upgrades at some point as well (P1 runs AP brakes all round and they are awesome - will have to see how I get on with the standard Brembos...).

Anyway hopefully I'll get along to a few meets or see other owners out and about - I live in St Albans!

Cheers
Ross

[hightower]

welcome dude

enjoy

[Bonovox]

welcome to the club

[Micktype WR1]

Welcome Ross.

You JUST missed our biggest get-together at Prodrive.

Get some pics up real soon !

[SteveS]

A warm welcome mate, congrtaulations on your purchase and even more on your "impending nursery runs"

Regards
Us all.

[WR 1mposter]

Welcome matey Get your name down for Bruntingthopre charity day in events !

[Gee Wr1]

Hi Ross welcome along

You'll need to stick up some pics of your FD, love the rotarys

[rossm]

Thanks all! Will put up some pics of both the WR1 and the FD when I get back home (currently stuck out in France with work). The Bruntingthorpe day sounds interesting.....

[Matty WR1]

There's worse places to be eh

Welcome chap, and looking forward to the pics

[Cozzy 481]

Welcome to the club ROSS

[rossm]

Finally managed to dig out some pictures of the FD...

At Cadwell:


And the engine build I had done as all RX7 owners will end up experiencing at some point!... Engine porting (normal plate in front, mine at rear):




Engine ready to go back in:



And in situ:



Never had it dyno'd but it was the fastest thing I've ever driven, easily leaving my old RS6 for dead!

And the replacement which I am really enjoying:

[Azyman]

Hi Mate and Welcome

[hightower]

my mate has a rx7 and he is on the rebuild no 2 but this time he is going for mental power. very fast cars

[Matty WR1]

Always loved the RX7, just go like stink!!!! They should have done more with the RX8.....

[John Mc]

my mate has a rx7 and he is on the rebuild no 2 but this time he is going for mental power. very fast cars

I dont get the logic in having loads of BHP if the engine is weak.

[hightower]

problem with rotary engines the points wear

[Gee Wr1]

Cheers for the FD pics Ross very nice

Loving the v mount set up Is that a street port or full on race port?
Always amazed at the power you can get from what is technically a 1.3l engine.

[rossm]

my mate has a rx7 and he is on the rebuild no 2 but this time he is going for mental power. very fast cars

I dont get the logic in having loads of BHP if the engine is weak.

It's a bit like a drug... Imagine the cost of getting a piston engine built for ~250bhp to run ~500bhp or more - £££££! The RX7 just needs larger inlet and exhaust ports, a single turbo and a monster fuelling setup (I ran 1680cc injectors). For the money, you get a good return and the first time you properly plant your foot to the floor and snake up the road gives the old brain matter something to process!

problem with rotary engines the points wear

Actually the problems with them relate to running lean and detonation. The more power you produce, the more likely you are to have detonation issues and blow the engine. Water injection is a must if you are tracking the car, here are a couple of pics of my rotors when I had overheating and detonation issues (no water injection) at Snetterton:




The indents in the top of the rotor were caused by detonation - it looked like someone had taken a sledgehammer to them! This caused the seals to be pinched and a reduction in compression - the engine still ran, just with less power.

Cheers for the FD pics Ross very nice

Loving the v mount set up Is that a street port or full on race port?
Always amazed at the power you can get from what is technically a 1.3l engine.

No problem. The ports were described as a large street port or extended port... Basically as large as you can go without bridge porting which is stupidly loud and very track unfriendly. The first time my engine builder ported 1 plate, he actually went through to the water jacket so very little margin for error.

Anyway, enough about the RX!