hi guys!

16 year old here...looking into a possible fun/project car.

an 84 rx-7 gs with a rebuilt 12a and 5 speed for $2450.

its got no rust, fairly new paint, and some nice 5 spokes and the p/s from a GSLSE.

Do they run on regular? im new to the rx-7 scene. I know about rotaries, but just dont know the specifics like what kind of gas they run on, or what the gas mileage is going to be like. It would be my to and from daily driver, to school and back, and cruising around on weekends. I have free reign on my autoshop garage so im lucky.

If you guys could help me out and tell me about the gas issues, and if there are any real big problems with 1st gen's

Thanks
Will

 

if its n/a run 87 octane. octane is the burn rate of gasoline, rotaries need a quick explosion of gases, so by running 93 octane you would really be hurting your wallet because all the fuel isnt being burning. this does not apply when you turbo, you'll have to ask those guys.

 

well, first off ill say that rotarys burn tons of gas for the size of engine... I paid 2200 for my car (canadian dollars) it has minor rust but was in excellent condition with extra winter rims/tires. With a rotary you should just run straight 87 octane gas unless your running a turbo or some kind of boost. How many miles does this car have on it? How many miles on the rebuild, who did the rebuild? Did the previous owner keep good records of the history of the vehicle? Good luck... oh ya and if you can get pictures post them so we can get an even better idea of the car.. Thanks Dan

 

It's N/A, glad to hear about the low octane. Thats what I figured, I just wanted to make sure. Unfortunately I don't have all the info on the car yet.

Can any of you give me a rough estimate of what the milage is going to be?

18/24 maybe? thats what I'm hoping for.


I'd like to know this before I call the guy up.

thanks!

 

Anybody??

whats the gas mileage going to be like?

 

the mileage is gonna be sucky. on my gsl-se i get between 20-24 on normal driving,on my gsl i would get around 17 on average (as low as 12 when my foot would get heavy)

 

damn, because i was hopeful it would be more.

the specs i found online said in 84 the, the gs with the 12a got 18-24.


why is it so bad?

 

this is another ad i found for ANOTHER car...

http://adcache.collectorcartraderonl...3/76762993.htm

it says 27 mpg

is that totally wrong?

 

I have gotten 26+ MPG but that was strictly highway and not getting on it. When I get on it though its a whole 'nother story.

 

Lets put it this way, If its your first and only car, then I wouldn't suggest to buy it yet, unless you have another means of transportation. You'll enjoy it alot more when you get to drive it on nice days, rather have to lug through rain even snow. Know what I'm saying? If the MPG bothers you then its the wrong car, because you cant get around it without a good amount of money and time (prolly fuel injection would help). Hope this helped.

 

If you are looking for great gas milage you are looking at the wrong car. My Factory Mazda Tech told me only to use 93 - w/ factory carb mods - and that was before he street ported it. Fuel efficiency is NOT why you buy a 7.

 

any ideas on other cars?

ive looked around for all the cult cars.

rx7's, bmw 2002's, datsun 510s....


any other ideas on stuff i should look for thats similar?

 

IMHO, the similar cars such as Fiat X1/9, Triumph TR-7/TR-8, Porsche 911/924/944, or Datsun 280Z would probably not be any better choices. A Lotus or older 4-cyl Triumph, MG or Fiat might have better fuel economy, but those cars have their own issues. How much time do you want to spend restoring, tinkering, and working on a car vs. driving it?

 

in that one link you posted the guy might get 27 out of that car, but i know that i havent seen it in any of the ones ive owned(maybe on the highway). if your looking for something that gets good mileage go with a 88-91 civicas a daily driver, you can get one for less than 800 prolly and they get great milage

 

Besides the usual **** ( Hondas and Toyotas, American trash, etc. ) ...Considering German heritage and looks and gas mileage ( and your age and in the 5000-7500 range for really examples ), I would suggest:

1) 1997 BMW 318i ( same body as all 3 series, 4 cylinder ) with a five speed. You can get 25-35 mpg depending on you.

2) 1998 - 2000 Volkswagon Jetta TDI w/ 5 speed ( turbodiesel, 40-50 mpg, zippy and very long-legged. Great interior layout and night colors.

The only reason I even have a wankel is because it's German engineering at its finest.

Go ahead, guys. Flame away. I'll buy your asses.

 

Just to give you some idea my combo port 12A gets around 10 - 15 in the city but does better than 25 MPG on the highway but I flog it in the city and the port overlap kills the milege. And from my own observations if you run a rotary faster with more laod they seem to get better milege than if you drive it slower without extra load like A/C.
Here's a perfect example: in my old RX3 big street port 13b I went ot Conneticut for vacation one year and it was raining so hard the best speed I could drive was 50 - 55 and no A/C it got about 20MPG on the way up. On the way back I took the secinc route and was averaging 120MPH with the A/C on and got 26MPG. Go figure.