[TitaniumTT]

Here is what I would do........... honestly my route looking back was way too expensive. I went with the sequentials becuase it was a pipe-dream from when I was 18 that was fueled by a lot of people saying that it either wasn't worth it, or couldn't be done. Telling me it can't be done is like daring me to do it. About a month after I bought my FC a buddy worked at a dealership. He called me up and said he got an FD in that I had to drive. So I went down there under the guise of trading my FC in for the FD and we went for a test drive. I got out, semi-erect and proclaimed that one day, that engine, or those turbo's would be in my car. That's one of the reasons that I did what I did. The other being a bunch of people telling me that the sequentials can't be controled and the third being that I auto-x. Big power isn't really necessary for auto-x's but linear power is. The sequentials deliver that.

Obstacles to overcome when using the 13B-RE with the REW twins are
1) plumbing the oil and coolant lines
2) plumbing all the vac lines and more importantly memorizing them and knowing which line does what and for what purpose
3) building or using a vac and boost chamber
4) mounting all the solenoids or finding Rob Bailey and buying his (I GOT REALLY lucky)
5) intercooler piping - it all has to be custom and retardedly tight
6) exhuast, all custom
7) harness for the engine, the sequentials etc etc is pretty elaborate and needs to be custom
8) and then the normal shite that you need for any swap.

In my eyes, the only way that you're going to be able to control the sequentials properly if they're on the wrong engine is going to be with an ECU that can control and operate all of the solenoids individually. I say this becuase the RE is pretty different from the REW in a few respects. Intake plenum size, runner length, the EMAPs I'm sure are different as well as the pumping velocity/effiecency of the engine. This all means that the turbo's are going to react differently. The factory has the transition set ~4500. I can tell you mine will be substantially less. This all adds up to the stock ECU won't control them, and I HIGHLY doubt the PFC will either ( the PFC has it's own set of problems running on the RE but not the REW). That leaves, at least when I was doing the research, one option - Motec M820. Which when all is said and done will run you approx $8,000. It is far and away though, the best ECU that I have ever seen and I know alot of proffesionals agree with me as well.

That being said, there are a few people that have run the sequentials with the Haltech, however, in talking with them the transition is much less than desireable. One guy was running it at stock levels and he said flatout it's like a kick in the ass when the 2nd turbo comes online, pretty lame if you ask me. The other was running 15-16psi, dropping to 12ish and then hitting 16 psi again. My goal, and you can only do this with the Motec, is to control all the different solenoids individually and get a transition that is smoother than the factories. This is something that Dave @ KDR is really looking forward to playing around with as am I. The control that the Motec offers cannot be compared to anything. <- That's a period meaning this statement is done with

So, now you're looking at a choice..... $8000 for an ECU that is garunteed to work properly, change the turbo choice, or change the engine. When I was looking at turbo's trying to justify my choice for running the twins, it was pretty easy - 3 years ago. The single turbo's that were available then couldn't match the low end torque of the twins (I'm making 15psi by 2500rpm) but they could easily match the high end power goals that I had - 380. A GT32R will hit that max RWHP but when you lay the dyno graphs over each other, the twins make more HP and more tq down low. At least that was the case a few years ago. In talking with a few people recently, there are turbo's out now that can come a little closer. So, is your goal response, or power? Mine was, and still is response. If you can deal with power coming on a few thousand RPM later, I would really consider a single for the cost and simplicity advantage. If you want response, there really is no subsitute.

So we're back to a choice, change the turbo, change the engine, or spend a shitton of money on an ECU. If you really want to use the twins I would consider using the REW engine. People bitch and moan about the mounting problems associated with it but to me it's pretty easy - weld a crossbeam of steel to the subframe, drill some holes, weld in some round tube stock for the bolts and be done with it. Basically copy the FD's subframe mounting. It seemd simple to me yet people constantly build these ridiculously complicated mounts that run from the back of the engine up to the FC mounting location that loads the hell out of the mounts. Not to mention that by moving the mounting point of the engine back, you'll handeling will benefit from it as well. Not as much as moving the engine back to that point but where that load is on the chassis is moved farther back as well. To me, mounting an REW in an FC is something that is way simpler than people willl have you believe. Shit, you could even take the REW center iron to a machine shop and have it drilled and tapped, use the FC oil pan and complete stock mounting.

I mention doing all of that for a reason. You could, with minimal effort, and there are a few write ups on it, use a PFC in the FC. Banzai has done it before. Call up Ray Crowe or if you're as lucky as I am Mazda Motorsports and order a brand new REW engine harness. A friend of mine WAS selling one, I'm not sure if he still has it but that answer is a txt msg away. So, to me, the easiest and most effeicient and ACCURATE way to use the twind in an FC is to drop an REW into the car, buy a PFC and a new engine harness, splice everything together electrically and get it done for about 25% of the price that I paid. Thinking back, that would've probably been the better way to go but, whatever, things to think about when planning out a project. I spent over a year, literally, just jotting down ideas, things the overcome, reasons, problems, solutions, etc etc etc so that when I started my swap, I really didn't have any unanswered questions.

As for the rebuilds, yes, I will certainly take on a few but it's not going to be my main source of income. At most I'll have one on the table and one waiting just to keep me busy but not overwhelmed. So if you're interested, shoot me a PM and we'll work something out. I even have an engine cradle that I built that I can mount a longblock too, stuff in the back of my truck and drive around...... or ship easily.

Anywho, things to think about when doing swaps - whats the ultimate goal, and what's the price that I'm willing to pay. And I didn't even touch upon tuning! Motecs aren't really heavily supported by the local tuning shops. Motec themselves offeres support that is far and away better than Haltech, microtech, whatevertech