ironbridge

iTrader: (3)

My gf's uncle has a Mazda RX-7 for sale.
Good price and mechanically sound, interior is spotless but the bodywork has seen better days and seriously need some TLC.

Took it out for the day last week and it's although it isn't as quick as the STI, it does shift in 1st and 2nd and is real fun to drive.

Main question is has anyone here ever owned one? What are they like to live with? I'm aware of the regular engine rebuilds and the oil consumption.

Is there anything I should know before taking the plunge?

Alan Jeffery

An interesting diversion, but ultimately flawed. Very brave of Mazda to stick with it, but I've only ever seen them as being a side show. I've converted two of them to V8!

WRX-murphy

I have heard the engines are not that strong...........?

murph

esp ltd

iTrader: (1)

Not true, the main weakness in an RX7 is the owner
I sell as many good RX7's as i can find and i've lost count of the people who simply buy these cars and just drive them not knowing how to look after them.
When we import then sell them we spend a good 30 minutes showing the owners how to care for them and what products they use. I agree they are not as strong / reliable / open to abuse as Subarus, Evos, Supras etc but when they've been well cared for i've had no more major issues than any other car i sell.
Do remember they are really expensive to run as they use lots of super (i get around 160 miles to a tank, £100) they should be serviced around 1500 miles, you need to keep an eye on the oil all the time and you'll need to keep an eye on the coolant level / temperature at all times.
The upside is that they are great fun to drive, extremely sexy looking cars and unlike the Scoobies you will rarely see one
Dave.

chrispy200+

iTrader: (2)

Used to love mine, bought with a blown engine and I changed it for a new one which was a bit of a mission. Parts can be really quite expensive for them and can be a bit of am **** to fault find if there is a problem in the nest of solenoids and vacuum hosing. I only sold mine as I started driving to Bristol and back from the south east and it would have cost a fortune in fuel. As a weekend car they are great and I'd happily have another

ironbridge

iTrader: (3)

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Servicing is no problem whatsoever, it costs 3 quid per hour here!! And the petrol is a quarter of the price back in the UK. Road tax is 16 quid per year and insurance is 200 fully comp.

The main idea is to keep it totally standard and use as a weekend car.

esp ltd

iTrader: (1)

Where do you live? Sounds like Heaven to me

chopperman

Beautiful looking car, i reckon converting to V8 is the way to go and probably cheaper in the long run. What V8 did you use ?

Maz

iTrader: (34)

As daft as it sounds it is a straight forward conversion to drop in an LS V8 in to the RX7. Not only is the V8 more economical it's also lighter than the rotor engine.
Oh and it's a relatively cheap conversion too.

bigsinky

couldn't carry petrol to them ffs. my mate had one, he called it "the Alcoholic"

CREWJ

My friend is a long time RX-7 owner and he loves it. I've helped him do some work/mods on it and it is a great car. I'd say it's faster than an STi since the weight balance is far superior and the same power but the power band is much wider with the two stage turbochargers.

He's a regular on the FD owners forum and they rarely find an engine go without some sort of user error. All you have to do is look after it and you'll be fine.

chopperman

Really?? that would make a very nice car Does it need a bell housing converter plate ?

Maz

iTrader: (34)

I think you can get away without depending on which transmission you use as some have enough bolts that line up. Converter does make things a lot easier.

Dazza9t9

iTrader: (2)

a friend of mine has a very very nice one. He knows them inside out, very expensive to run esp on fuel.

He could re-build the engine himself so saved the money that way.

He ended up putting a chevvy V8 in it, its now about 600bhp and stunning.

ironbridge

iTrader: (3)

Well, it comes back from the spray-shop/garage in 3 days!
It's had fresh paint job, new tyres all round, new exhaust, clutch and full service.
Will take it for a proper test and let my mechanic check it out first then make my decision.

ironbridge

iTrader: (3)

I live in Thailand.
Cars are crazy expensive but the labour is next to nothing.

KrisBuc

iTrader: (2)

get some pics up of the new toy !!
love rx's its on my list of cars to own before i snuf it

RS_Matt

If you own a tidy 'Han like RX-7' or looked after Honda NSX then you have something a bit more special than any Subaru or Evo in my opinion.

Anders_WR1

iTrader: (8)

I had a mate buy an RX8 (non-turbo) and three weeks later he sold it back to the dealer he bought it from - he couldn't justify the petrol costs. Ended up with a 330ci which he recons does better milleage and has much more torque.

Anders

RS_Matt

Is it a scoob sound thing? I was gonna walk away from mine until the dealer said start her up...

Han's RX-7 sounds mental.

tony de wonderful

An LS engine is heresy in a Jap car.

RX-7's are top cars, just the rotary has it's flaws.

Maybe stick a 2JZ or RB26 in it?

ironbridge

iTrader: (3)

2jz engine swap is very cheap and popular here. My gfs brother has a 3 and a 5 series BMW both with 2jz engines.

I wanna keep it standard if possible.
My gfs uncle is asking 550,000 baht for it (11 grand) - cheapest one I could find online was just under a million baht (20 grand) up to 1.7 million for one in really good nick with mods (35 grand)!!!!

ironbridge

iTrader: (3)

Will post some pictures when it comes back, hopefully sometime this week.
I didn't realize before, but I gotta wait a month for the registration papers to come through before I can take it out onto the public roads because it's a fresh import from Japan.