For anyone who has ever had a 3rd Gen RX7

[Uncle Ben's White Rice]

Just wondering if anyone has had past/present experience w/ these Japanese beasts. Everyone has heard the rumors, but are they necessarily true? I think they are sweet-a** cars, but I am scared of them b/c I hear that they like to blow-up at any given time. Any comments/suggestions/opinions are welcome please, thanks!!!

[Arghman]

My good friend had one about a year ago before it got jacked in an accident. It was pretty unrefined and crazy...if you are looking for comfort in a car when you drive it, DO NOT get this car. It's like a raging unrefined monster. It's fast as hell and has the most amazing suspension and it looks real good too. His engine went out one time when he was going up a hill. It's not like it just explodes and kills you, more like it just slowly winds down to a stop. As long as the engine is being kept up to shape every 60 to 80,000 miles, you shouldn't have trouble. Another thing about them is that rebuilding the engines is really expensive, and my friend could only get about 13 mpg when he tried his abosolute hardest. But if you have money to throw around on a crazy assraping sports car and you have another daily driver, this is ur car.

[Arghman]

Alos, there are a lot of posts about rx7s if you check the search engine.

[Smaay]

the only bad thing about the RX-7 is the gas mileage...other than that...it is nothing but a screaming machine, just dont let it overheat

[Da Kine Guy]

Wankels are hella cool :D

[tagurit]

go to an RX-7 website/forum, you wil find more answers and facts there from people that actually own the cars. do a little research too!

[Uncle Ben's White Rice]

Thanks for all the comments, I know of all websites and I have been researching a few different cars now, but there is nothing like getting first hand info, it just ain't the same as reading about it on paper or hearing rumors, u know what I mean?

[MarkyMark]

I keep hearing about how super expensive they are to maintain...and tranny problems

[Backroads]

The 3rd gen are collectable enough to be well preserved when you find them. The second gen often are neglected rust buckets, with good drivetrain reliability but poor body integrety. What I'm getting at here is that is that if the 3rd get were not so collectable, they would all be run down crap by now, like the 1st and 2nd gen cars are. Mazda doens't build Toyotas, and a lot of the problems with RX-7's would be unnacceptable to a Celica owner. Problems with doors, windows, sunroofs, dents, rust, and minor elec. glitches are what make a 1988, formerly $27,000 Turbo only worth $1200 now. An early '90s VW owner would be delighted with the quality of an RX-7. The third gen was a better car, but not that different. It eliminated that really heavy hatch glass, and added a few hp's to the same 13B, at 255 as I recall. The 2nd gen could have 280 with an intake, chip, and exhaust, and only weighed 2800 lbs. Anyway, the Rx-7's are great cars and reliable enough, I just think a Celica owner would find them a bit cheap feeling and having a lot of little problems... always at least one at any given time. Last I knew a newly remanufactured 13B was only $1200, so I don't know why people say they are expensive to maintain or replace. The engines are only 80 cu inches and are tiny and light. This makes the Rx7 so different . In a way the car is a copy of the Porsche 944 Turbo. Porsche put the tranny in the back for 50/50 weight. Mazda put a tiny motor in front but completely aft of the forward axle, creating in effect a mid-engine car. This also created a 50.50 weight distribution but with far less polar inertia than the Porsche 944/924s designs. Mazda also fitted a nearly exact copy of the Porsche 928 "Weissach" rear axle. As for ride, they ride horribly with a lowered or stiffened suspention. The 3rd gen R1 rode hard for some people. Bad for L.A. freeways but actually once the going gets real rough on the backroads it didn't seem so bad... it is all independent and really does well on frost heaves and potholes. For the freeway don't get an R-1 suspention car. The 1st gen as I recall had a live axle. I rode in one and it was harsh. The second gen had a very,very nice ride/handing compromise in the Turbo and GTU models. They do get about 13mpg. I "think" mine "may" have been faster than a CHP. A different day once a cop did in fact put in writing that it WAS in fact AS FAST as a 1990's Vette, up to 130 mph. I'll always remember that ticket for 130... he wrote "side by side with red Vette". I framed it. The Vette driver came up and just said "man, that thing is fast!". In reality I had a minor air leak at the time... but I agree... that thing was way, way fast.

/////////////////////////////////////GTS///////////////////6sp////////////////

[snowcrash]

A major problem you will run into with the 3rd gen is when you try to do exhaust/intake mods. It has a twin sequential turbo setup that is a real pain in the but to tune. The car handles very well but you are limited in the size tires you can put under the car. Another issue is there is NO, i repeat NO room in the engine bay. But, hook up with Pettit and get a 3-rotor in there and you will kick some major tail.

Snow

[Uncle Ben's White Rice]

Thanks again guys!!!

[vodox]

remember to check the hoses... The 3rd gen hoses werent built for the heat, and in many of the cars, the hoses in the engine bay are cracked badly, leading to boost leak, and lots of other crappy little problems.. Its advised to change to good silicon hoses if ure car is pretty old....

Give the car lots of attention.... my friend sold his coz he was scared it was going to blow on him.... arent many ppl here in Ann Arbor MI that will work on rotaries... haha...

[SuperCelica[GTS]]

Ok, here is what I know
i have about 7 friends that jave 2nd and 2rd gen rx-7
as you know 3rd gen rx-7 are twin turboed.
and its a 1.3 rotary, not a cylindered engine.
these engines usually give up around 75-90. 000 miles
and if you over-boost it you can blow the engine any given time
my friend was driving his with 13 or 14 psi daily driver and he blew it racing a damn probe on the highway.
now he got his new engine, he has it set around 7 psi as daily driver.
you can do the single turbo conversion also, i seen a guy at nopi that told me he had it at 32 psi or something and ran 10 sec 1/4.

Rx-7 are phat and nice cars, also they are light as hell. but very high maintence. Rotary engines are just a bitch keep up with
in other hand, Supras are easier maintence and it also can be modded to be fast.

[ToyoGT]

Yeah, the FD is one hell of a car. Just take very good care of it, let the car run for a couple of minutes everytime you go to drive it. Like someone mentioned, the hoses should be replaced with newer aftermarket ones. My friend had one(he wrecked it, but he's getting a new one) and it was a beautiful car! If I had never seen a Supra Twin Turbo before the RX7 would've been my favorite car. As for modding it...make sure to do fuel before you bolt on an exhaust / intake / or even think about turning up the boost. Your apex seals will go up like a christmas tree :( Very nice car!!!