>You've got it backwards. Mazda's rotaries, while IMHO
>terrific motors, are limited by materials to a short
>life of 100,000-120,000 miles of normal driving.
>(Obviously, a lot a highway mileage could make it
>live longer!) Most hard driven examples are very tired
>by 90,000 or so. Turbos are even worse, but still
>don't have the 20-30,000 mile life span of the initial 13B
>from the early 70's.
Au contrair.
My old 12a in my 85 Rx-7 GSL had 160k miles on it and ran like a dream. And
this was after I learned how to drive a stick in it, learned the joys of
downshifing from 5th to 3rd, hit a tree... =)
My mothers 88 10th Anniversary Turbo 13B has ~70k on it, and runs like a
champ.
What a fun car.
You may have been confusing the Mazda rotary with the "experimental" rotaries
from GM (?) that only lasted 20k miles.
>Anybody killing one of these engines by 100,000 miles
>of highway use is making a deliberate attempt to do so.
My girlfriends 91 Protege DX just hit the 100k mark, and I would have to say
that I would trust my B engine to outlast hers - hell, I'd even take my 160k
Mercury 3.8L 6 over hers...
BEN RUSET - ICQ # 10364973
The MGB Haven & MG Cars Webring
http://members.home.com/mgbhaven
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