Mr BiG G

Heres the story i bought an 83 GSL paid the rest of the payment last ngiht and brought it down from T.O to Mississauga(an outskirt).....i paid a total of $950 canadian for the car.....it was in arizona and california all it's life except for the last 2 years....the body has almost no rust except for some cosmetic rust and it's got a pretty good interior(stock) the car has 158000 km on it and the rotary was rebuilt 50K ago.....the car needs new ball joints and outer tie rod ends whihc will cost me about $200 canadian for the parts.....my uncle "the mechanic/garage owner" had a whole bunch fo negative comments for me telling me how he doesn't like the rotary motor and that i should ahve gotten a crx or a civic SI ......im kinda upset bout the whole thing....wat do u guys think? do u think i got a good deal? i drove the car jus for a half hour this morning and im in luv with it although i can't quite get the hang of shifting ryte but i'll learn so thats alrite....any coments would be appreciated....thanx

wwilliam54

great cars they really are
the main reason i would never want a CRX is that they are WWD

RWD is soo much better, and alot more fun

ioTus

iTrader: (5)

in my opinion, the rx-7 is a feat of extraordinary engineering. Much more so than econo-box hondas.

excitingleopard

Yes. If you feel bad solely because of what your all-knowing uncle told you, don't. I think you paid a little too much, but nothing to lose sleep over. And for the love of the seven, don't get a CRX or civic, please.

Mr. ImportGuy

People say the rotary is a bad motor because they don't understand it. Many of them also have no experiance with the motor. Or they did not take proper care of the motor causing it to fail, just as any other motor would over time. Don't listen to your uncle, RX7s are great cars! And you won't regret buying one, good luck with it.

RacerX7fb

Anyone who STILL makes negative comments about the Rotary Engine simply does not understand them..its human nature. I STILL hear the same things passed down about it thats been around the 70s..even with the advent of the RX-8 and the RENESIS. But to those who know think differently.. us on this forum at the enthusiast level. The RX-7 is a remarkable car with an intriguing powerplant.. the more you get to know the more youll feel the same..its up to you though I say at that price you found yourself a very good deal.

iyaseven

leopard, he's talking canadian $$. how much is $950 canadian in u.s. bucks? about $650 u.s. thats a good deal for a RX7 with a 58k rebuild on the clock. as far as your unk, well lotsa folks are leery of stuff thats a bit different. rotary engine, vs piston, you know the drill. but other than the engine a lot of stuff on the maz is close to the same rig that henry built (ford that is) hey man enjoy your ride!

fatboy7

950 CDN is a steal !!! The build quality on RX-7's is better than the same year CRX's and Civics, and 12A enigines if well taken care of will last just about as long (200,000 mi).

I had a mechanic look at my first 7 when I bought it. He pretty much told me the same thing , ie rotaries suck, and they always break. Honestly, they aren't the easiest cars to own.... not many mechanics will touch them, they're scared by them. But if you've got the desire to do a lot of work on your own, they're a blast IMO.

excitingleopard

My bad 'bout the $$.

Sweet deal. Didn't think about that.

Rock on, dude.

White84SE

Your uncle was right... most people here will vehemently deny it, but the early Civic Si's and CRX Si's ('86 and '87) not only keep up with the 12A car in a straight line, they'll embarass them if you throw turns into the mix. Do the math... my '86 Si weighs right about 2050 as it sits and has roughly 100 horsepower... my '82 S, when it was running, was about 2300-ish and had maybe 110hp... oh, not to mention the Civic is a much better daily driver, got it cheaper than the 7 and will hold a higher resale than the 7, too.. the only thing the 7 has over the Civic is the styling.. sorry to burst everyone's bubbles... he he

--Danny

enigma32

What do you plan to use the car for?

Is it a daily driver? (which it'll do just fine as)
Or is it a sports car? (which it excels at!)

excitingleopard

Oh shaddap.

He needs to keep his car. Tell him, whiteboy!........



.......oh wait, I'm.........

excitingleopard

[high-jack]

P.S.

Where is Claysburg?

[/high-jack]

7addict

Kind of funny sounds a little like my first 7. I borrowed the money off my uncle (at 11%, 7000.00) and he made such a stink that when I got the car I didn't want it anymore. Why didn't you buy a Camaro or something? That thing is not worth 7000.00, parts are expensive, If you miss one payment I'm taking the keys and selling it.
All I have to say is if you maintain it well it's like every other car and a lot of fun to drive. Everybody in town new my car cause I babied it so much. When I sold it the kid was doing smoke shows and claimed it stollen 3 days later, it lasted me 3 years and him 3 days.

The_7

the 7 is an awesome car and i would buy another in a second if i had the money and opportunity and dont plan on getting rid of mine. well the 12A motor doesnt have power too brag about when you first get it (100hp), but rotary engines can show large gains with moderate upgrades and you also have to keep in mind that the motor puts out 100hp stock with just over 1 liter! i love the low stance of the 7 and plus it looks cool.....just overall a great car ......but i think they are mostly meant for people who like to work on cars because they require different care than a piston engine and its hard to find other people to work on them for you........i wouldnt let any mechanic touch my car anyway unless i reaaaly trusted him.

excitingleopard

Yeah I borrowed $2000 from my grandfather and have one week till it's paid off. My mom said he was talking about my car once and was like, "....whenever he trades it in." She said, "No, he's never selling it. He's never getting rid of it", etc. He couldn't understand why I won't ever get rid of my car.

That's the biggest mistake you can ever make besides wrecking it. Can't say I didn't warn you when your chidlren someday ask you why you would ever sell such a nice car.

BRealistic

You got a deal. that engine is just broken in enough to drive HARD. If it was rebuilt properly. I think the early 70's seal problems AND crappy rebuilds have given the rotary a bad rep on people not familiar with the rotary. Throw in an engine that won't take an overheated drive back home, or an oil loss driven bacj to the driveay, and people spread lies because they don't want to admit that they fried their own engine from pure stupidity.
Enjoy the car, keep it oiled(pre mix?) and cooled properly, and make your uncle eat his words.

RXTbone

Sorry - I have to jump into this.

Honda's blow! NEVER has a Si, Prelude, CRX EVER been considered a sports car. Honda lovers fall into three categorys: Penny pinching accountants without souls or taste, single computer nerds with pocket protectors and ricers. And back in the day when RX-7's were running Vettes, Porches, etc., Honda was getting it's crew to work daily so they could be resoundly ignored when they yell, "I got 30 miles to the gallon!" Please. Hell of a history.

I've owned 2 Hondas. Both blew head gaskets, complaining, "but you promised you wouldn't drive me too hard!'

Mechanics hate rotarys because they don't understand them. The Wankel is the most efficient power plant on the planet.

I've owned 4 RX-7's. You're part of a crew now Mr. Big G. Welcome aboard and be proud!

Rxmfn7

iTrader: (4)

Actually the rotary is one of the most inefficient automotive engines on the planet.... Which is still quite remarkable that it makes all the power that it does given its displacement.

RXTbone

Point taken: Efficiency in terms of power to displacement.

Mr BiG G

thanx a lot for all ur support guys....and no i wouldn't buy a honda even if i was in my sleep.....i luv the rotary i luv my car and u know wat screw my uncle he can make his stupid "electronic parts for these cars are expensive" and "very few people fix rotary engines" comments....rite now im lookin for a shop where i can jus go and do watever work i wanna do on my car....sumone who is kool enuff to lemme do that...so if sumone who lives around my place has a shop and wouldn't mind me using it once in a tiny while please pm me and lemme know cuz i wanna abandon my uncles shop ASAP....anyways im not gonna sell my rex im gonna make it the best first gen ever (or atleast try) and im gonna keep it forever....i was driving it around wit no plates tonite and some guy at dairy queen came out jus to take a look at it and he was amazed by the car and he said i was so lucky i had one....i was jus like wow i luv my car more now......funny thing was i punked my uncle off pretty bad today cuz he showed me this chrysler new yorker that he got for $500 CAD in good condition and he showed it to me and told me he would have gotten me sumtin like that and i jus said without a paint job gurls would prefer my car over that piece of american trash ahahhaha lol......plus i got my van which has a lotta space... if u noe whaa i mean...peace boyz and keep rotoring

White84SE

I don't really think anyone here said the Civic/CRX was a sports car.. I know I didn't. I just simply stated a handful of facts. Don't get me wrong, my 7 is a fun little car and I really enjoy driving it, but my Civic can do everything it does and better, in most cases. Believe me, I used to hate Hondas, and Civics, especially.. that was until I drove one. Hell, the damn thing currently has a burnt valve, has had it for three months and it STILL gets me thirty plus miles to a gallon. And as for the Rex being a superior sports car, I offer only one small bit of proof to my point. Look at the results from SCCA road racing, specifically the Improved Touring A class. See what wins most often. Again, I love my 7, I love my Civic, hell, I just love cars...

--Danny

fatboy7

White84SE is right in many ways..... The mid-to-late 80's CRX was a formidable opponent to many of the "sports cars" of the early 80's. It actually outperforms the 12A 7 in many areas due to its extreme lightness. But lightness has its costs as well. Like I said earlier,The RX-7 has better build quality. It was Mazda's flagship car, and was treated as such. The frame is exceptionally rigid, the suspension peices strong, the overall interior/exterior styling well thought out.

Honda at the time was just trying to buy its way into as many markets as it could, as cheaply as possible. The CRX is an econobox, and as such is very lightly built. The interior is poor, its aerodynamics too. But with only 2000 lbs, and a well bred 4-cyl, combined with fairly state of the art suspension, its able to perform very well.

But IMHO, I've never been in a honda that I consider fun to drive. They're quick, but lack gracefulness. At the limit, the early CRX's have painful amounts of body flex, and lack of responce that leaves me cold.

The 12A RX-7 was begining to become dated by the time the CRX came out. The 13B SE was more up to date, but mazda had already turned their attention to the 2nd Gen's production as early as '82, so they didn't do nearly as much as they could have to improve the existing model. This alowed honda to catch-up so to speak.

The truth is that The RX7 is a much more capable platform for higher horsepower, and better all around grip than CRX's even in a full race setup. The fact that their are many more full road race 7's still running the tracks than CRX's, and stock bodied drag monsters in the 8's in the 1/4 mi is a testiment to the potential of the 1st gen RX-7.

As far as the better car in stock form.... is more a matter of opinion, because both perform nearly the same by the numbers

JIMMY54

iTrader: (2)

What part of mississauga r u from?

My bro and I have a pair of rx7's at our shop in brampton. I'm driving the blue one in the pic, maybe we'll see eachother around.

Parts are actually cheap, don't sweat it. And usually the guys on here have extra parts that they'll let go for next to nothing.

check the canadian forum section.

JIMMY54

iTrader: (2)

p.s. that's the 410 north in the pic.