I am looking for a commuter vehicle that gets better gas mileage than my '94 F150. In the hopes that this would give me an excuse to get the Rx-7 I have wanted since high school, I began my research. It seems to me that I would not get much better gas mileage in the Rex (I figure I could maybe squeeze 20 mpg from one). Would synthetic fluids help at all? Do I need to find another excuse for getting one?

Mac

 

If you want to save on gas, the 7 is not your car.

 

umm..just buy one you will love it an wont care about gas milege lol

 

i sudjest buying a cheap better while youre in college and then buy the rx7 afterwards. you want gas mileage and reliability. shoot for hondas; civic, civic hatch, accord, del sol, etc. toyotas; camry, corolla, etc or heck even a geo metro. thats my .02

 

If you are looking for milage from a rx7 83 84 or 85 12a with a stock carb and a header with 5 speed trans. That should put you into the mid to high 20's for mpg and many more smiles per mile.

 

Synthetic fluids don't help. Some argue that they hurt the engine because of the oil injection.

The only way to get better gas mileage out of a 7 is leave it bone stock, and give it a proper tune-up. Then you might be able to coax close to original gas mileage out of her. They do better on highways too. My car did 500km/tank on my trip to NY, because it was all highway driving at 120km/h.

If you're looking for gas mileage, buy an Echo. They're great commuter cars. Though I don't know why you yanks seem allergic to those kinds of cars, I never see anything *small* when I'm in the states. Everything is a van, truck, SUV or big forkin' car.

Jon

 

As the owner of both a 95 F150 and and 84 gsl-se, i can tell you that you will most definately get better gas millage in the rex, even though it is a rotory. The truck's a 5-litre, and well, it's a freakin truck. Not exactly light. Plus, any excuse to buy a 7
Do it

 

Doesn't peejay get like 70 mpg in his car?

I get around 15mpg personally.

 

Definately not in college, Rex was my dream car when it was new. I remember first gen ads crowing about being the only sports car under $10,000.

I had remembered new cars getting mid to high 20's but I am not too sure how realistic this is now that they are 20+ years old. I don't really want a Honda, Toyota, etc. because they don't know which way a motor is supposed to fit in a car. I do ALOT of my own maintenance and I just have a hard time getting my meat hooks down around those sideways engines. I know that the Rex has some breathing room around the mill compared to some of those rollerskates out there and they are fairly straight foreward to work on. Plus, the seat fits my 6'5" frame a little better than the standard econobox.

My real delima is that the darn car is just so much FUN and I just have room for a commuter in the budget! For the price I can get an 83-85, I don't mind if it gets less than 30 mpg but I am looking for something I can reasonably expect to get at least 25. My truck gets 18 on a good day, on the highway, with a tailwind, without A/C running, etc., etc. I usually get 17.5 mpg around town and I still drive it because it is paid for and it is very easy to work on.

Is this just me trying to have my cake and eat it too?

Jon, I can't speak for all of the Yanks, but I use my truck a good bit on the weekends working on the house and yard. In the long run it is still cheaper hang on to it rather than renting one by the hour every other weekend.

 

25-30mpg easily.

If you are getting crap mileage, your tuning is waaay off and/or you drive in the city too much.

 

If you want it get it. No question it'll beat the F150 for milage. The fun factor will negate any milage woes.