Great handeling car?
 

I have been really checking out the 1'st gen rx-7's. I was also talking to a professional race driving instructor, and he reccomened to get one of these to learn on. He told me that he used to have one "back in the day" :)

He also told me that with a few suspension mods, it would handle great.

What do you guys think of his statements.

Yay or nay for 1st gen rx-7 for handeling

thanks for the input. :icon_tup:

a few? LOL, try new springs, shocks, if not already repaired. but all in all, hes right, great handling car.


YAY

The rx7's are an exceptionally well handling car. In 1984 when road and track did there testing of vehicles for performance characteristics the following was discovered. The 1st gen test vehicle was the Gsl-Se which has the better suspension then any of the other 1st gen models. The only vehicle in the testing that outdid the Se in the slalom course was the 84 Corvette and it was a marginal difference. With upgraded sway bars, shocks and springs the car is very road responsive in the corners.

pulled something like an .89 on the skidpad I think. Thats on the stock 195 series tires. Thats better that a lot of newer cars. And DAMN good back then.

A stock GSL (not SE) pulled 0.86G on the skid pad with puny little 185 serires tires. The main handling weekness in teh car is its tires. If you are running some nice Yokes on 15in rims you will be amsed on how well these cars handle.

Suposivly, upgraded spings, shocks, and sway bar bring the handling to par with a third gen Rx-7. Throw in some chamber plates, and the good rubbers, and I am sure it will out handle and gen 3. This is all talking about the GSL model, not the GSL-SE.

The cars are also very driver freindly, and are just plane fun.

Yeah, but what if the 3rd gen has a set of tires too?

I agree, though. 1st gens are light and fun, kinda like a hard-top Miata.

The 1st gen is a great handling car, sure, but it will NOT out handle a 3rd gen, even with R compounds.

stock a gen one obviously can't out handle a third gen. In adresment to the tire comment, the FD already has nice rims and tires. Stock the GSL has 13in rims, vs the 16 in rims on the FD (or is it 15). The FD also is running wider tires then 185s isin't it? It also runs better tire compounds then a FB does.

Natey said it good. Stock an FB is teh same as a Miata, but their is one slight difference. An FB is not so fidgety. On the con side FB's have a mediocure steering set up. The steering ply in an FB is fixable though lol.

I did not expect so many replies, you guys are very helpful. I am just doing some research on what to look for in these Rx-7's.

Since I am not an expert on rotary cars, what should I look for when buying one?

Also, which model/year is the best (from reading, it seems that the GSL is, but rx7doctor says the se has better suspension)

They all have the same suspension, the SE just has bigger brakes and 4x114.3 lug pattern.

Rust, and compression.


The two most important things to look for.

Great handleing, absolutely, but then mine is 'slightly' modded. :) Before the bigger tires, I knew where the slip angle were, now, well let's just say I haven't found out, it's a bit scary.

FD have another handling issue though, they only last 40,000 then need a rebuild, FB's last 400,000....(cheap shot)

I have replaced all my front tie rods, ball joints, used delrin idler arm bushings, Koni reds (ft) and Tokico Illuminas (rr) and Eibach springs, Used poly bushings on the tension rod and anti-sway bar. These are all basically stock replacement items and the car handles awesomely, give my car a run on a tight autocross track against a stock FD and I'll scare crap out of the twin turbo.

I still have stock rims and tires.......I'm going to 205/60/14 on LE rims next, then I'd probably have the edge on street tires.

Of course it can't match the power but anybody can stomp the right foot, handling takes a balanced car along with driver skills and experience.

Rx handles great, even stock. You will definately be pleased, and just wait till you have some better tires on there.

When buying look for rust and if you can compression on the motor. Other that that its the same as any other car, dents, struts, interior, that kind of stuff.

And you have already seen what kind of comunity there is for the car.

this is a great topic for me to post on....let me tell you a little about my car...it's an 81 GSL, stock springs, stock ride height, Mariah mode one wide body kit, 15x8.5 wheels with 225/45/15 meats, Koni Reds at all four corners, and a front end that DESPERATELY needs a rebuild (about 1.5" of freeplay in stering wheel). Now that being said I have this awesome Kenwood cd player/head unit that has a built in g-meter that has recorded my best lateral g's of 1.10....now knowing that it may not be perfectly accurate it's still impressive. I mean I've really gotta try hard to get the rear loose and even then it takes back up no problem. I LOVE THIS CAR!!!!!!

Before you spend a dime, try and dial out the factory positive camber settings. Getting a proper alignment does wonders for the dynamics of the car and helps eliminate the understeer-snap oversteer feeling that they have when aligned to factory specs. If everything is in proper shape and not bent, you should be able to get -1 deg of camber, which makes a huge difference. The next thing to try is to unbolt the rear sway bar, which helps alleviate the snap oversteer. What you'll have is a car that tends to mild understeer until the limit, then the rear will begin to step out in a fairly controllable fashion.

From there it's really up to you how nuts you want to go with the aftermarket parts. I've got the RB spring set, upgraded front anti-roll bar and Tokico 'Blues' on all four corners. The upgraded sway bar makes the biggest difference, but replacing the shocks/springs is a must on a car that is well past 20 years old. If you have the coin, get the Konis. The non-adjustable Tokicos work well enough, but the Konis are in an entirely different league. Next I'll be getting poly bushings for the tension rods and control arms and hopefully get a set of wider wheels so I can mount proper sized R compounds.

EDIT: and when you do your exhaust, get a Borla rear muffler. They sound amazing.

http://members.shaw.ca/deuteronomy/Borla.mp3

good handling car maybe not great but very much better than a lot of cars. i have pro kit springs and illuminas all the way around and my car is a very nuetral handleing car (well the way i drive it can easily get oversteer) and i have stock sway bars on it too. just those suspension mods n 15in wheels w/ 195/50/15 in the front and 205/50/15 in the back.