With gas prices rising, I am looking for a commuter car that gets better gas mileage than my full size pickup, has lower operating cost and is fun to drive. I would really like to get an RX-7. I have seen some claims that people get 25+ MPG with a gen1. Can this claim be true? If so, which model/engine would they be driving? If not, what is a realistic expectation for fuel economy and total operating cost?

 

20ish-25ish, dependant on how heavy your foot is... Maybe less...

It's a sports car, you trade milage for fun in this field.

 

I average around 20 but thats combined rural and highway (mostly rural) but on all highway trips I can get 24-25, but like pele said, depends on how heavy your foot is.

 

I'm in full aggreement with 82transam...with my 85 GSL, easily 21-22mpg, but I have gotten as high as 25.

 

I deliver pizza and I drive insanely fast, I average 20 mpg and thats all stop and go traffic. If I am on a highway, its about 28-30 if I am running at 60-65. and 23-25 at 80.

 

I average about 12-17 mpg....but I also have a lead foot. The most I have ever gotten out of my 85 gs or my old 85 gsl-se was 23. If you want economical, get something else. If you want a different, fun, sporty, 2 seater rex...get one.

 

I get 10-12. I would not recomend this for a daily driver, i would get a cool little corolla gts or something that is still a neat little car, but a 4 banger. very dependable and good mileage.

CJG

 

My gas milage went way up when I installed my racingbeat exhaust back in the day.

I think I got about 25+ most of the time.

plus it takes 87 oct.

 

Mine doesn't run yet, but my friend used to get good mileage. Don't know exactly, but we would only have to fill up every other week or so, and it was his daily High School driver.

Okay, it was more like every week and a couple of days, but still better than my pickup or my old GTO.

 

Do a search for gas mpg, or something, there was a thread where about 10 people or so that all had under 20 and there were about 5-7 of us in the 9-15 range.

CJG

 

20 MPG is realistic, but with a 20 year old car, unless it's been completely worked over is going to give you plenty to do in your spare time if you want to restore it and keep it in good running order. There are not very many 7's in tip top shape, ready to go and that won't need some TLC. Honestly, they are certainly not as economical as a little Honda or Toyota that are hard to tear up under the worse conditions, but they are tough. My 85 is a daily driver, but I also have a 02' Silverado if I need it for a backup. If this is going to be your only means of transpartation, I wouldn't recommend it. They are a hoot to drive and fun to work on. If you want to pay the $ to get one that has been completely gone through or with very low miles, you would be OK. Hope it works out for you, 7's are a lot of fun!!

 

Do what I do... Leave it sitting in the driveway for weeks on end. It's really cheap on gas that way :p

 

Ya if you want something with maximum reliability then these probably aren't for you. But they are as fun to drive as a good many cars and for the price can't be beat for that aspect. You'll trade mileage because you probably can't expect to get much better than 20-23 for realistic driving, and they also require a fair bit TLC.

One vehicle that's worth considering [flame suit on!] are the Turbo Sprints/Fireflies and the Suzuki Swifts. The drivetrain on those will never die (though the seat will break and the door will fall off eventually ) and they have decent power, and you can be guaranteed 35-40 mpg even in the city. There's a pretty healthy online community for modding those vehicles too, so it's easy to get sway bars and a few mods to help make them more enjoyable too. They'll give you maximum reliability and fuel economy, are cheap to purchase, and aren't as bad to drive as you'd think. As a comparison, my bro's Turbo Sprint had my stock '84 GSL (12 A) beat by just a hair in every fair drag race we ran.

But having said that I'd never want to drive a sprint instead of an RX - the RX's are awesome to drive.

 

Definately wouldn't trade my X for much.

But, also, another good, economical car is the Mitsubishi Lancer (NOT, I repeat, NOT the Evo!).

Sorta quick for a FWD econobox, too. And more stylish than some Civic IMO.

If you're into older cars, there's always the good ol' Toyota Corolla GTS, or even the 80s Celicas.

If you're into the American thing (which, I'm sure, you're not, or you wouldn't be here. OKay, that sounded wrong. I'm trying to say you probably aren't biased toward US cars ) then there's the good ol' Ford Escort GT. Good economy, and fast as hell (I'm talkin' the late eighties model here.)

That's my econobox choices in a nutshell

 

When i bought my RX-7, i bought it because of it's Uniqueness, Fun driving, and engineering marvel.

I have other cars for economy and everyday driving. But driving an RX-7 is excitement!

 

Same here, there just isn't anything else to compare it with, it truly is unique. My '83 with an '82 engine, no emmisisons stuff, direct fire setup, '84 carb, all a/c stuff removed (except for thing under dash) gets 23-25mpg on the highway and the great thing, as someone already mentioned, is it runs best on 87 octane!
I used mine to commute 80 miles a day for two weeks and finally just decided to fix the brakes on the Neon I have instead as the Neon gets 32+ mpg on the hwy and in Detroit traffic, I'd rather not have my 7 scraped up if you know what I mean

 

Thanks for the info. I am definately looking for a second car (I'm from the South, I can't live without my truck). A commuter car was going to be my excuse to get the 7 and 20 is definately better than 16. I like the idea of something that will give me a chance to bend some wrenches. I have another six months before I go home to think about it, but I will definately keep looking in to get more info and entertainment.