Best Daily Driver Config
 

I'm getting close to the point where I should be closing on my new house and moving. I get to telecommute at least one day a week, but the downer is, when I do drive in - its a good drive (1.5 to 2hrs one way).

As much as it would be "SMART" to buy a little beater like an old school protege and rock out 35-40MPG, but I like the idea of getting another FB.

My question is this: I have the resources to build a 13B 4port w/ S5 NA internals using a Weber 48IDA setup right now, and it would be the cheapest/quickest solution - is that the route you would go, OR would you swap in a 13bt and go fuel injected?

I would not go past 8psi of boost and I feel that on a cruise I would probably get between 19 and 21mpg w/ the T2 setup, but obviously being EFI I could probably tune it out to be closer to 20 to 23mpg.

The weber system is probably going to start off around 20mpg but make less HP.

I'm just up in the air right now and wanted to get some opinions and see what the general idea would be? I also feel like the EFI would be a more reliable daily driver, just because its what I'm used to. The Weber carb would be my first adventure into the Weber system and I have "limited" background in the holley carb tuning on a 12A so I'm sure there would be a learning curve...

Why not just go with a stock 12A/Nikki equipped one? I can bang down ~21-22MPG and it has plenty enough "oomph" for the street (and autocross!).

i second the Nikki

EFI is always nicer than a carb for a daily driver. Especially if this would be your first experience with a Weber.

The car that I'm thinking of getting has a running 12A, but I'm not overly sure how long it will last or what the actual condition is. Being a DD, I'd like to have a fresh motor regardless and if I rebuild something, I prefer a 13B. I'll probably rock the nikki to sort out the rest of the car.. interior, tires, suspension, etcj and make sure all is up to snuff before committing it to DD status.


I agree with EFI for the ease being that I'm not a Weber guy. I had a 12A holley setup a few years back and could get it running pretty good, but always felt like I was tuning it or doing some kind of adjustment or another.... basically it was never "right" and got terrible MPG.

I really liked the GSL-SE I had, it by far gets the best MPG of any RX I've seen/owned.

I have a weber manifold, rb exhaust, etc all for a 4port 13B sitting in my garage, brand new. Thats another big plus in the 13B category. Another one being the torque increase and with S5 internals and some mild port/polish it would make great power for when I want to get into traffic :)

I guess only time will really tell. I've also thought about a turbo weber, lol... I'm always into learning new things and have the patience to toy around, so I'm sure I'll be happy either way. My biggest concern is if I got turbo, I'll ALWAYS want more.. but w/ an NA engine... i won't be as quick to up the power...


The harder part of this DD is going to make it comfortable w/out feeling "spongey". I need to research the right shocks and springs and seats and sound deadening, etc...

You could get an adaptor plate and use the EFi stuff without the turbo on the 4 port motor, I'd say this would kill the weber on fuel consumption and still make about as much power

the other thing to consider is the expensive of turbo cars. Things always find a way to break, leak or generally run like ass.

The quickest way to kill a rotary is to overheat it. 2nd would be to turbo it. Awesome power when things are perfect, but one glitch and you're done.

Perfect setup? Mine, only keep the Illuminas on the rear instead of the Bilsteins (a bit harsh after the first 1/2 hour or so). Set the shocks on 1 or 2 and you've got a comfy cruiser. Jack them up to 5 and you're ready to hit the track. :)


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When you say adapter plate - what are you referring to?

Down here in the land of Corcodile dundee you can get an adaptor plate that will allow you to bolt S4/5 intake on to older type 13b. It bolts to the block and the manifold bolts to the adaptor. Easiest way to go EFi on an Rx4/5 motor if you don't want to fork out for weber style throttle bodies :icon_tup:

I daily a 12a with a weber.. it has it hiccups here and there but it has run very strong since i put the carb on it... needs some fine tuning but im replacing it with a s5 6port soon..

EFi will eliminate any hiccups and use less gas/fuel. I'm going to be running the factory EFi with a simple pod filter on my daily 13b 6port. Also have Microtech which should improve things even more than a standard computer.

Webers are okay but they've had their day :driving:

But my hiccups are due to tune issues... dont have a wideband etc etc.. a bad tune on an efi car can cause just as many problems.

There was a quote that I read somewhere that went something like: "It's easier to get an engine running with a carb. But with EFI, it's easier to get it running right."

Don't get me wrong, I love Webers. IMO they're the best carb out there. But they're still carbs.

I should add an option 3 to this, ITB EFI, lol. I was going to do it on my FC project, but have since moved into another idea... which is why I have all the 13B 4 port parts, etc.

The ITBs will add a decent amount of $ to the project but would gain me significant power for MPG, lol...