RX 7????????????
Discussion
being brief I have had a lot of cars in my time, currently I have a cosworth powered seven and a bike,I have had 911's tvrs's etc scooby doos. I don't like massive running costs and can do almost anything myself, but interestingly the scooby and the 911 &^&^**&*& me off for different reasons. Now the 911 I did a lot of work to but cost a fortune for the parts so even doing it myself clutch 500 flywheel 300 exhaust 1000 100 for a bit of pipe you very soon get hoofed off with being ripped off. the scooby was only a short lived affair but going to change the spark plugs and you soon get the idea/ see what I mean. Now I respect my cars never thrash when cold ,keep the oil right etc change it regularly, but will an rx7 be a brave choice as a daily driver. or do I revert to a tvr which when I sold had 70k onit having bought at 50k with no problems I was commuting reping playing with other tivs as you do, it just handled it all Plus v8 parts are cheap not that i bought any.
I love the look of the rx7 and the idea of huge horses and low weight but if I buy one at 40 k-60k miles what can i expect to spend running it/
I love the look of the rx7 and the idea of huge horses and low weight but if I buy one at 40 k-60k miles what can i expect to spend running it/
It's possible to use one as a daily driver - I did for two years, that famed Jap reliability meant it was perfectly useable day-to-day. It is a little thirsty but no more so than some of the marques you've owned previously. Many will tell you the rotary engine will need a rebuild at around the 60-80,000 mile mark, depending on many variables (condition, what mods have been done and to what standard, regular servicing etc). Even then a typical rebuild for a standard rotary will only set you back £1500-£2500ish, depending on what needs doing.
I did the basic servicing myself (sparkies, oil, filters), but be warned it can be very fiddly - the plugs and leads are in a very awkward spot, and the fuel filter is on top of the rear diff and a PITA to change. I'm not sure how difficult the leads are to change on a Scooby but I would have thought it'd be at least as hard to change them on a rex.
But you put up with these little niggles because it cracks the sixty in under five, handles like a housefly and looks as stunning as it goes.
I did the basic servicing myself (sparkies, oil, filters), but be warned it can be very fiddly - the plugs and leads are in a very awkward spot, and the fuel filter is on top of the rear diff and a PITA to change. I'm not sure how difficult the leads are to change on a Scooby but I would have thought it'd be at least as hard to change them on a rex.
But you put up with these little niggles because it cracks the sixty in under five, handles like a housefly and looks as stunning as it goes.
out of interest what made you get rid of it?Thats usually the best review a person can give. despite what I said about the porky pig its the car I miss the most, it was the only sportscar that can really transform itself into a commuter blat mobile and take the family out, i just got fed up with the price of everything. Ref the scooby plugs they are right up against the bulk so I think you may have raise or lower the motor .(didn't investigate to much as I sold it) More PIA than anything else.
I'm running a Rx7 at the minute. I've owned it for nearly a year now and it's been great hasn't let me down once (Touch wood). I had a Scooby before that and I much prefer the Rx7. The Scooby was an excellent car as I had that for 3 years but I needed a change. The Rx7 handles so nicely and will keep pulling to silly speeds. Plus there not a common sight on the roads and a lot of people leave you alone and don't want to race all the time like when i had the scooby.
Don't think about it just get one. There are a lot of things to put people off buying one, like the engine rebuilds. But there not expensive really. If you going to get one don't buy a cheap one as it will destroy your ownership. The early ones are getting on a bit now mines over 11 years old, so if not looked after properly the bills can be very frequent. I went for one with a full rebuild which cost a cool £8500, but that was done under warranty so everything was refurbed/new on the engine.
I was looking into a cosworth power kit car before I got the Rx7 so could be interested in a bit of a PX. My car is completely standard and a UK car. If you want a modified one get one that has all ready been done as you'll get a much better deal than doing it all yourself. 400 bhp at the wheels is easily achievable with a single turbo.
Don't think about it just get one. There are a lot of things to put people off buying one, like the engine rebuilds. But there not expensive really. If you going to get one don't buy a cheap one as it will destroy your ownership. The early ones are getting on a bit now mines over 11 years old, so if not looked after properly the bills can be very frequent. I went for one with a full rebuild which cost a cool £8500, but that was done under warranty so everything was refurbed/new on the engine.
I was looking into a cosworth power kit car before I got the Rx7 so could be interested in a bit of a PX. My car is completely standard and a UK car. If you want a modified one get one that has all ready been done as you'll get a much better deal than doing it all yourself. 400 bhp at the wheels is easily achievable with a single turbo.
mine is a normally aspirated cosworth, but really set up for road use.
The thing with the cosworth motor and I digress is its very similar in character to a 90's gsxr bike, powerful and lusty, almost unburstable but always sounds like something could go bang at high rpm , mind you I thought an s2000 at full chat sounded like the inside of roadrollers gearbox.
So the stories are potentially worse than the reality with the rx7 ...I can live with that
The thing with the cosworth motor and I digress is its very similar in character to a 90's gsxr bike, powerful and lusty, almost unburstable but always sounds like something could go bang at high rpm , mind you I thought an s2000 at full chat sounded like the inside of roadrollers gearbox.
So the stories are potentially worse than the reality with the rx7 ...I can live with that
tvralfagtv6 said:
out of interest what made you get rid of it?Thats usually the best review a person can give.
Nothing to do with any dissatisfaction with the car - my girlfriend and I were looking for a house. The car I've missed the most was in fact my girlfriend's MX-5, which swayed my decision on the rx-7's replacement.
I got rid of my RX-7 about 9 months ago, and i really really regret not hanging onto it. I sold because i was buying a house, and i couldn't afford the running costs with a mega mortgage.
I then joined ecurie25 so i have access to supercars, but i still miss my Rex.
I would say go for it - they are stunning, amazing to drive, and almost all the horror stories you hear are unfounded.
I got 20mpg a lot of the time and that was with a short journey into work.
I then joined ecurie25 so i have access to supercars, but i still miss my Rex.
I would say go for it - they are stunning, amazing to drive, and almost all the horror stories you hear are unfounded.
I got 20mpg a lot of the time and that was with a short journey into work.
Beefmeister said:
I got rid of my RX-7 about 9 months ago, and i really really regret not hanging onto it. I sold because i was buying a house, and i couldn't afford the running costs with a mega mortgage.
I then joined ecurie25 so i have access to supercars, but i still miss my Rex.
I would say go for it - they are stunning, amazing to drive, and almost all the horror stories you hear are unfounded.
I got 20mpg a lot of the time and that was with a short journey into work.
I then joined ecurie25 so i have access to supercars, but i still miss my Rex.
I would say go for it - they are stunning, amazing to drive, and almost all the horror stories you hear are unfounded.
I got 20mpg a lot of the time and that was with a short journey into work.
I was discussing putting mine up on blocks for a year so I could focus my £s on other things. Then someone comes along selling a race-prepped bridge-ported motor... So much for that plan!
I wouldn't have anything else but I might go about modding it differently from day one...
iaint said:
I wouldn't have anything else but I might go about modding it differently from day one...
well do go on... having 'been-there-done-that' with yours.. what would you do when, if you did it all again from scratch?
Oh, and Beefmeister, compelling reading! (well at the least, persuasive reading!)
Pierscoe1 said:
iaint said:
I wouldn't have anything else but I might go about modding it differently from day one...
well do go on... having 'been-there-done-that' with yours.. what would you do when, if you did it all again from scratch?
Mainly it stems from changing priorities for the car and not having the cash up front - modding in stages is more expensive then doing it in one go.
I now want a car that's very track focussed. I'd ideally want one that's MSA compliant (cage and safety gear) AND road legal (or as near as possible).
I'd have imported one with specific modifications (single turbo and supporting ancillaries, decent aero-useful body mods). I'd have spend 20k rather than 10k on the iniital purchase but bought it a year or so later. I'd have gone over to Japan to discuss my requirements and actually view some cars before making a commitment.
I'd then have a car that's exactly what I want now BUT has cost me about the same or less!
Benefit of hindsight eh?
If I was looking at for an RX7, I would get in touch with Jurgen, he has and still is bringing in some quality stuff.
www.jm-imports.co.uk
www.jm-imports.co.uk
Turbo T said:
I did look into it in some depth. They are fairly easy/cheap to extract 450-500 bhp from. I would want it primarily as a track tool, so the unburstable NA power, with low end torque is pretty appealing TBH. I think it would run out more than 5k though for the conversion.
The fabrication/modding work would be similarly priced to the work to stuff a 3-rotor engine in. You're probably looking at 5k plus parts plus contingency/teething trouble.
maybe 8-10k total. For that you could have an easy 450-500rwhp, not laggy and massive cooling to keep everything sweet. Turbo doesn't have to equal flaky!
I can hear the sound of Japanese engineers turning in their graves at the thought of someone putting a big heavy V8 in a Rex.
In my opinion, one of the main USP's of the RX-7 is the light, powerful rotary engine, which is mounted low and far back due to its size, giving great weight distribution and handling.
if you were going to drag race (like a previous V8-engined Rex) it, i can understand it, but keep the 13B (or a 20B - yum) for track work...
In my opinion, one of the main USP's of the RX-7 is the light, powerful rotary engine, which is mounted low and far back due to its size, giving great weight distribution and handling.
if you were going to drag race (like a previous V8-engined Rex) it, i can understand it, but keep the 13B (or a 20B - yum) for track work...
They aren't as light as the Rotary Lump, but they aren't tons heavier. If you were to get 400-450 from a rotary remember to add the FMIC weight, pipework, turbo, maybe a few other things. You are probably right about the CoG of the engine, but the benefits of an LS1/2/6/7 to me, far outweigh the negatives in this application.
having seen plenty of pics of all sorts of engine swaps into FD's, it puzzles me that V6's don't seem very popular.. as to me it seems like it'd be the ideal engine.. c.o.g. of engine further back than V8 due to being naturally shorter, also lighter, still get a lovely 'V' soundtrack, and something like a 350Z engine with a whipple charger mounted between the banks would give you plenty of power too..
or even an impreza engine.. even lower and further back cog, and the 2.5 later version can obviously make plenty of really good grunt, as seen in the Litchfield Type25...
ah well.. if my numbers ever come up that'd be the sort of project I'd like to do!
or even an impreza engine.. even lower and further back cog, and the 2.5 later version can obviously make plenty of really good grunt, as seen in the Litchfield Type25...
ah well.. if my numbers ever come up that'd be the sort of project I'd like to do!
Pierscoe1 said:
having seen plenty of pics of all sorts of engine swaps into FD's, it puzzles me that V6's don't seem very popular.. as to me it seems like it'd be the ideal engine.. c.o.g. of engine further back than V8 due to being naturally shorter, also lighter, still get a lovely 'V' soundtrack, and something like a 350Z engine with a whipple charger mounted between the banks would give you plenty of power too..
or even an impreza engine.. even lower and further back cog, and the 2.5 later version can obviously make plenty of really good grunt, as seen in the Litchfield Type25...
ah well.. if my numbers ever come up that'd be the sort of project I'd like to do!
or even an impreza engine.. even lower and further back cog, and the 2.5 later version can obviously make plenty of really good grunt, as seen in the Litchfield Type25...
ah well.. if my numbers ever come up that'd be the sort of project I'd like to do!
Not sure if I see a huge benefit in going the V6 route. IIRC the 350Z reliability drops with a charger. The advantage of the V8 option is that if you're going to spend loads of money on a transplant, you want big power gains. £8K buys you a decent amount of reasonably reliable rotary power on a big single turbo, how much transplant are you going to get for that?
mave said:
if you're going to spend loads of money on a transplant, you want big power gains.
that's where I differ in opinion... for pure economy's sake, I can't see the point in a swap at all... plenty of FD's with the 13B and a big turbo make massive power.. more than you could reasonably need.. for me (and again, this is a fantasy project) it would be more of an engineering excercise to marry the best qualities of a 'V' engine, with the beautiful bodywork and fantastic handling of the FD... so massive power wouldn't be my end goal. The 350z lump was an example.. there's the 3.2 from the TT, modified Ford/Jag V6 as in the Noble, 3.2 NSX, SLK350, VectraVXR 2.8 etc etc
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