(REFERENCE) Model Questions
 

I'm looking to buy a first gen.

What are the differences between an LE, S, GS, GSL, and a GSL-SE?

Also, what's the difference between the SA and FB (besides the model years)?

The FAQ has links to both of these questions, but the links are broken :'-(

Thanks for the help.

To put it simply:

S base bare bones model

GS next step up, power mirrors, power fuel door, maybe a sunroof

GSL Has 4 wheel disc brakes, lsd and sunroof. Power windows, may have leather seats/door panels. The only 12A that can have all options

GSL-SE Top of the line. 84-85 FI 13B May or may not have all the options. Will have 4 wheel disc brakes, lsd, 4X114.3 14" wheels, power windows, mirrors, fuel door, sunroof. Leather optional except in gray.

LE. Single year special edition with 14" wheels. Not sure about the other options.

SA 79-80 model. Ignition was different for both years. Slight difference in fender contour, side molding, bumper and tailights.

FB 81-85 All electronic ignition, different bumpers, side molding, tail lights, etc..

You can download the FSMs, car manual, etc. from the following link.

http://foxed.ca/foxed/index.php?page=rx7manual

to elaborate a little

there are two LE's

79 LE is a special black color, unique seat upolstery, based on the then top of the line GS trim level.

83 LE is also a GS, special greenish paint, 14" BBS type wheels, sunroof, red interior with slightly different upolstery again.

the 79-80 are like the 81-85's but different in just about every detail. they have steel 5mph bumpers, engine used a completely different thermal reactor emissions system, different tail lights, shifter is in a different place, etc etc. also some oddball early cars, which is kind of fun.

in 79-80 in the US there were only 2 models, S and GS. i'm not 100% sure of what came with the GS, things like rear sway bar, 4 spoke steering wheel, among other things

in 81 for the US market the GSL was added.

in 84 they added the GSL-SE, which had the 13b fuel injected engine, bigger brakes, they have everything except leather and power steering, which are the only options on the GSL-SE.

http://www.rotorhead.ca/articles/2003/04/23/1979-sa/

http://www.rotorhead.ca/articles/2003/04/23/1980-sa/

http://www.rotorhead.ca/articles/2003/04/23/1981-fb/

http://www.rotorhead.ca/articles/2003/04/23/1982-fb/

http://www.rotorhead.ca/articles/2003/04/23/1983-fb/

http://www.rotorhead.ca/articles/2003/04/23/1984-fb/

No significant changes in '85, as they were waiting for the all-new '86 model to come out.

well lock this thread up...everything was answered.

Yes, a lot of good info above. 1st Generations are 79-85 model yr. SA's are 79-80's cause their Vin's begin with SA22C. 79's had a dual points ignition.

S models are base models with 4 speeds, two spoke steering wheel and normally no body trim and steel wheels.

GS models added a 5 speed manual or automatic transmission, 4 spoke steering wheel, aluminium wheels, body trim, the sway bar, sunroof and seat materials options. There was also an "Limited" or LE car. This was a GS model car which had a Beat black color (never used on any other model) special two tone black/grey door pannels and seats, a special stereo system and alloy wheels and b pillar badging. Reportly 3000 LE's were produced, all for the north american market.

80's are basically the same body, can be visually identified by two square rubber pads on the bottom half or the rear bumber. Ignition was changed to electronic ign. Sunroof mechanism changed to a knob you turned. Again, there was a base S model and GS upgrade. They also introduced the LS or Leather Sport edition. These came in either white, gold or black exterior colors with a brown leather interior. 1000 ea of the white and black and 500 gold cars produced.

81-85's are FB's, again due to the VIN construction changing to JD1FB33 at the begining of the number. The body style slightly changed, incorporating softer, rounder bumpers, wider body moldings and different 4 spoke alloy wheels. My knowledge tapers off from here, but in 83 they had an 10th Anniversary Edition (A/E) car. I think this was the 10yr anniv of the Mazda Rotary Engine, and the car was a Renaissance Red color and cloth seats that had a red racing style stripe down the centers.
84 was the intro of the GSL SE. This had the more powerful 13B engine as well as other upgrades.

Great info here, but what about the savanah? I don't know much about them, or I'd add. But someone with more knowledge than me could add that to this and complete the info on models/option for the first gen.

"Savanna" was a sub-brand Mazda marketed the RX-7 under in Japan, like Efini for the 3rd gen (or like the NSX was sold as an Acura in North America, instead of a Honda).

I used to have Savanna RX-7 badges on my car. They looked awesome, and were spanking shiny-chrome new.

Thanks for the correction thunkrd. As far as Savannahs go, that sounds like a subject for our resident Alaskian nut. Oh Stu..........

GS Badging?
 

Ok, now I'm confused......All this time I thought I had an '83 S. But from what I see above it looks like I have a GS?
My car has a sunroof, 4 spoke "cross" alloy wheels, power mirrors, and a power fuel door. So does this mean it's a GS?
I bought the car from the original owner who only used it a summer car....said he was getting to "old" to drive it....lol. Anyway, he claimed to have done nothing except routine maintanience on the car.
Is there a way to identify what model car I have since it does not have the GS labels (did this year come with the GS labeling?). Perhaps it's in the VIN number?
Thanks
A Newb

what year car do you have? the only cars that actually got GS badges were the 84-85's.

on all the other years you have to look for power mirrors, interior lights etc etc

since its come up. the 81-85 cars OUTSIDE of north america still use the SA22C vin prefix. the US standardized an 18 digit vin for all car manufacturers in 81.

i am not sure about europe, they did switch to an 18 digit vin, but it is different (JMZ! or so).

Absolutely correct.

About Europe, like the rest of the world outside North America they use an 18 digit VIN as well now but it's slightly less stringent. The plant code, check digit, and model year codes aren't compulsory - though many use that for harmonization anyhow.

http://www.rotorhead.ca/articles/200...ded-explained/

the GS was actually available beginning in '79. Only 3 models were available then; the Sport (s), Grand Sport (GS), and LE (Limited Edition) - though as stated GSes might not have received rump badges marking them as such until '84... that I'm unsure of.

The Grand Sport (GS) package was $600 more, offered a lot of functional stuff: the 5-speed gearbox, 185/70-13 Bridgestones, the rear anti-roll bar, and a 4-spoke (instead of the base’s 2-spoke) padded steering wheel, as well as an electric hatch release, a day-night mirror, and miscellaneous trim bits including side molding not on the base model. Aluminum alloy wheels were not included in the GS package – the standard wheel was a 5″ wide styled steel rim painted an aluminum/gray color. The optional 5.5″-wide alloys added to the sticker price, and the intricate design added a lot of time to a car wash to get all the road dirt and brake pad dust from all the nooks and crannies. Other freestanding options were the automatic transmission, air conditioning, stereo cassette sound system, a rear spoiler, and California emissions.

Yes, I think j9fd3s has it right. Based on all the smaller add-ons you describe (power whizmos) you may indeed have a GS. There was no exterior badgeing noting that on the earlier cars. Just the MAZDA and Rotary Engine emblems on the rear.

do yo uhave power windows or rear disc brakes? if you answer is yes, then you have a GSL. the GS was available with a sunroof, power mirrors, and the optional aluminum wheels.

This was the perfect post Manntis. Thank you. One more question...Is there any model I should stay away from? My concern is that I get a 79 or 80, then I want to swap parts over (brakes, suspension, etc.), but they don't swap over. I plan to tear the car down to the frame as a ground up project car, so the amount of work that goes into swapping parts over is not a game changer, though my fabrication experience is none. Thanks again for all the posts.

Negative on the power windows (although i'd like to find a cheap LSD). thanks for clearing things up. Looks like I have a GS....I just got more than i paid for.

The only part that'll be a PITA to swap over is the transmission - the '79 & '80 tranny have their shifter in a different position and if you upgrade to newer, you'll want to swap in the matching dash console.

Our cars are basically Mazda parts-bin cars, so they mix & match with relative ease.

Good point! Thanks for reminding me of that, as I will definitely want to swap a 13b in whatever I end up getting.

That's what I've come to understand. My dad was telling me today that out of all the different types of LSD he's had in his RX7's ("open" [non-LSD?], normal, and full race), he likes the torsen LSD from the MX-5. As I'm sure you can imagine, many things swap over from chassis to chassis in the Honda world (which is where I'm coming from) as well.

cant go wrong with a GSL. 81 model preferably

Why is the 81 model preferable?

Couple of corrections, at least for the US market...'81 and up S model does have a 5 speed.:nod:

The Anniversary Edition in Renaissance Red was a 1980, celebrating 10 years of Rotary engined vehicles in North America.

I was doing PDI's on these back then and kept up with the model changes from year to year.:nod:

I'd say it's because the '81-82 GSL's had all the trimmings (LSD, 4-disk brakes) and the simpler air-to-oil cooler under the radiator. 83-85 12A engines had an oil cooler under the oil filter that also had a coolant line running through it. All those lines (and a couple of o-rings) aren't as easy to change out.

I stand corrected Willy, here are a couple pictures of an A/E (curtisoity of Mr. Stu) it clearly show the two rubber bumper pads only used in 1980. :blush:

What is a PDI?