1) Mr. C's Short Throw Shifter Kit - This is a must, and can easily be your first modification. If you can find one used, get it! 'cause you'll pay half price and get the same thing as a new one. This kit replaces the stock shift lever and incorporates its own rubber seal that bolts to the tranny to help hold the lever in and keep oil in the tranny (where it belongs). New they're about $250.00. You can purchase it new from Pettit, or find one used via the internet, or any other RX-7 club source.

2) Vacuum Hose Tie-Off: In the RX-7 Engine there are about 76 vacuum/boost hoses. If any one of these pops off under your new boost load (or even the stock boost load) you will notice major performance decreases. Therefore, I chose to have Tripoint Engineering "tie-off" all the hoses. It was about a 5 hour job. Approximate cost $325.00. This could easily be your second modification, and I highly recommend it.

3) Boost Gauge and Air/Fuel Meter: The boost gauge is drilled directly into the manifold for exact pressure and vacuum readings. I had this gauge custom mounted in the car by a stereo shop fabricator. I chose this route instead of one of those cheesy column mounts, 'cause those column mounts look stupid. A boost gauge is a must for serious mods. The air/fuel meter is necessary to keep track of the - you guessed it - air/fuel ratio. If the car is running too lean at WOT (wide open throttle) under load, then you are asking for trouble. This gauge is mounted in my glove compartment and was installed by Tri-Point Engineering. Boost gauge is approx. $50 and the A/F meter is about $130.00 installed. Installation and custom mount not included for the boost gauge. This is a great third step in the modification process.

4) Clutch Job With Aluminum Flywheel: The aluminum flywheel is much lighter than the stock flywheel (about 6 lbs lighter) and us physicists know that this WONT add horsepower, just allow more horsepower to accelerate the car (and you) down the road. The acceleration will be faster due to less weight for the engine to spin. Also, I use the stock clutch disc (Mazda's is the best in my opinion), and a Street/Track pressure plate. Make sure when you get this done they replace the throw out bearing and pilot bearing. Approx. cost $1200.00 installation not included. Things to concider when purchasing a new flywheel: The heavier the flywheel, the smoother the idle, the easier the starting is from a stop, and the smoother the cruising and slight throttle changes are - but the slower the acceleration is. The lighter the flywheel is, the harder it is to get the car moving from a stop, the idle can also be somewhat rougher, but you will be able to accelerate faster (taken from the Mazdatrix catalog). My experience with the setup mentioned above is that the idle is a bit funky (i.e. it idles higher, and sometimes bounces a bit) but the car is a freekin' rocket! Also, the "stick" point on the clutch pedal is much closer to the floor now. This step can easily be skipped in the mod process, but sooner or later you'll need to replace the clutch parts, so you might as well use some good stuff.

5) Custom Exhaust: To much backpressure on a turbo-charged rotary engine is not a good thing, especially if you plan on upgrading the IC and boost controller. Also, the rotary engine generates a tremendous amount of heat and thus not many aftermarket exhausts are ideal for a rotary engine. I chose to remove the pre-cat and replace it with a stainless steel 3" mandrel bent frontpipe made by Tri-Point Engineering. Then remove the main Catalytic Converter and replace it with a 3" mandrel bent high-flow cat utilizing 3" flanges (passing emmissions is a good thing). Then I use the TRUST cat-back exhaust muffler system to finish it off (the one with the 5 1/4" tip). Approx. cost $2000.00 installed.

6) Akimoto Intercooler Upgrade - this intercooler is 200% (or 3 times) larger than the original stock intercooler. A larger intercooler increases horsepower by lowering the temperature of the intake air. This cooler air has two effects. One, the colder the air is, the more densely the air molecules are packed, the more that can fit in the same combustion chamber volume. Two, by lowering the temp. of combustion gasses the better off your engine is in terms of longevity. Also all of the intercooler and vacuum/pressure hoses were replaced with a much stronger and durable silicone type hose. (See the Yellow Hoses in the Pictures section. These are included with the IC upgrade from Akimoto). Notice the cool aluminum shield I made. It's the thing painted flat black bolted to the intercooler. This forces the air blown by the fans on the engine radiators to go through the intercooler radiator. Expect to pay around $1,200. Installation and my cool shield not included. The Akimoto IC is a side to side radiator, meaning that the inlet and outlet are on the sides of the radiator. Greddy, Pettit, Farrell, and MAZDATRIX (to name a few), offer a top-bottom setup, which will provide more room to the sides of the radiator. If I had to do it all over again, I'd probably concider Greddy or Pettit over Akimoto.

7) Pettit Racing Air Induction Kit - First off, this is necessary if you want to put in a larger intercooler. Otherwise the larger intercooler wont fit with the stock airbox in place. Pettit's air induction kit was the best in my book, since it still allows for the emissions system to stay intact and safe from overheating. Expect to pay around $500.00. Installation not included. Pettit's system still needs work in designing a better box (that's why I had to rig up one a bit - notice the aluminum back shield behind the filters, and the hood sealant along the top of the aluminum plates), supposidly Farrell has one, and I know Tripoint is developing an airbox that can be used with the Pettit system, and also has an airbox design of their own.

8) HKS EVC III: This unit controls the boost of the turbo's by electronically and "fuzzy logically" controlling a wastegate. The stock boost level is about 10.5 PSI and the boost level programmed into the EVC is 14.8 PSI or approximately 1 BAR. Any more boost than that in a stock rotary engine will most likely blow out your apex seals ("grenading"). It has been claimed by many rotor-heads that 17 PSI will do it. If you want more boost than 1 BAR, get your engine rebuilt with new seals by either Tripoint, MAZDATRIX, or Pettit Racing. Expect to pay $800.00 for the EVC. The new units have an altitude sensor to adjust boost to altitude. Installation not included, and be sure to have someone competent install it 'cause it is not something that should be installed carelessly! Improper intallation can be extremely costly in the long run. There are many subtilties in installing an EVC that must be taken into account, so if you get one please make sure that you are getting it installed by a professional, and not a self-proclaimed professional.

9) Many options are available when you get an engine rebuilt. This can be an expensive option ranging in the $5,000 area and up. Lightweight rotors and housings, 3mm apex seals, and metalic gaskets are only the beginning. Adding another rotor is about the exreme and can be 10's of thousands of dollars. If this is something that interests you I HIGHLY recommend discussing options and prices with a couple of performance shops, as well as contacting people who have already made the modifications you are considering.

10) Akimoto ECU computer upgrade: Put the above stuff in your car without reprogramming your ECU and you will be very disappointed. Actually, you can get away with items 1) through 4) without having to do this, but once you go to item 5) you basically have to do 5) through 8) for good results. Item 5) is basically the "limbo" state of serious mods. First off, with the better air flow you will be running lean. Lean = detonation = expensive repair. Second off, your car is programmed to shut off fuel at 7500 RPM, and also has a boost limiter set at stock boost levels. You MUST get this taken care of to enjoy the modifications of your car. Many companies offer computer upgrades. If you want to have it programmed and then leave it alone use Akimoto. Their programmer is excellent but usually in Japan. If you are a serious racer, and need to have access to the programming parameters at all times, use Peter Farrell's system. Pettit also does the computer upgrade and it is done similar to Akimoto's. Both Akimoto and Pettit's jobs are excellent if you never want to deal with the computer again. Pete's is great if you live close to his shop or are experienced with racing. Remember, if you mod out your car after doing the Akimoto ECU upgrade (cost about $800.00), you'll have to send your computer back to them to have it reprogrammed again. Pettit's ECU costs about $1200, but when you make a modification serious enough to require different programming, call Pettit, tell them what you have, and they'll send you an new chip for $50. Remove a trim panel, 4 screws in the ECU, pop out the old chip, and pop in the new. (Thanx Jeff Witzer for the Pettit info).

11) KONI suspension upgrade with Racing Beat springs: This will replace the stock suspension system. The KONI's are noted for being STIFF, but you can adjust everything from ride stiffness to spring height (The spring perches are moveable on the KONI'S and, therefore, you don't need new springs to lower the car). The RB springs, along with the proper perch setting, will lower the car about 3/4" to add a cleaner look to the car - purely for aesthetics. Approx. $1,000.00. Installation not included. My experience with this suspension upgrade is that of amazement! After hearing so many negative comments about the KONI's I was very weary about using them. Now that I have driven over 500 miles with this setup, I can say that the ride is phenominal! The car not only looks great, but the ride really is terrific, and handling is dead on. I recommend them. Only problem with the lowered look is that you have to go 1 mph over any little dip in the road or the air-dam will scrape on the ground.

12) Brembo Cross-Drilled Rotor Set: Ya gotta stop! Also I use stock pads in the rear, and HAWK pads in the front. Approximate cost with pads is $800.00. Installation not included. This mod can be avoided until you have totally warped the hell out of the stock rotors (which is extremely common for the stock rotors).

13) Magnecor Spark Plug Set: 10mm high performance plugs. Buy them in the MAZDATRIX catalog. $50. Not necessary, but oh well. By the way, replacing spark plugs on a third generation RX-7 is NOT a simple task! It requires some dismantling of the engine.

14) Clifford 800IQ Alarm with Proximity Sensor and remote headlight controls: Protect your investment. Approximate cost $800.00. Really not a mod, but I recommend it.

IN GENERAL:

My choice for where to go if you are planning to upgrade your RX-7 (any year!) is definitely, by far, Tripoint Engineering in Canoga Park, CA. Contact Mark Shuler at (818) 348-5385! They can also ship the parts you need directly to you if you can't make it to California.

For a list of all of the companies I have mentioned above and more, check out this vendor list.