Mykl

The convertible's definitely win in the style category. I love mine to death, but there are times that I wish I had a coupe.

Oh, and you don't have to swap out the entire drivetrain. You could use n/a everything from the flywheel back, but the right way to do it is to swap the entire drivetrain.

RarestRX

Yo,


I just want to jump on the 'vert bandwagon here for a second, because I just recently got a chance to drive in one lately. It was awesome. Open air motoring in a ragtop has nothing to do with performance numbers, but the cliche of the wind blowing in your hair. Do a few mods, and you've got one of the sweetest ragtop sportscars out there.

Think about what else is out there. Mustang 'vert? Um, no. 944 'vert? Um, 3K for a waterpump replacement? No. VW Cabriolet? Are you ? *snicker* Miata? Um, too expensive. I was actually pondering if my next RX-7 will be a Turbo II or a 'vert. I think I'm gonna get a convertible. *grin* I wanna hear the song of 8000+rpms out of those dual exhaust pipes!!

KS
1989 GTUs "Sunroof? We don't need no steenkin' sunroof!"

PS: Yo Tony, painting the interior?!

Mykl

IMO, the RX-7 convertible is still one of the nicest looking convertible's on the road. However, I think the new Miata is pretty ******* sharp, but it looks more like a toy than an RX-7. I was able to do a side-by-side comparison with one, it was the same color and even had a "dual" exhaust.

The great thing about the RX-7 as far as convertibles are concerned is that it doesn't look like a rolling bathtub. That's why I hated convertibles for so long, they all looked ugly to me.

Shoot, until I had seen my car for sale I didn't even think RX-7 convertibles looked all that great. I had even passed the car several times before I stopped to look at it. I can still remember how awe-struck I was by it. Kinda like a love at first site thing I guess. A lot of it had to do with it being the cleanest FC I had ever layed my eyes on, in person of course.

As far as performance is concerned, yes the car has a bit of extra weight, but there's an advantage to that. The car is definitely less tossable, however, it's more stable. The car feels rock solid and firmly planted in the curves, even if the turning response isn't as good, you just have to adjust a hair.

This car also feels as rigid as any coupe I've driven. Actually, if feels less flexible than my GTU, as I stated before.

They also come with four piston calipers up front, and ventilated disks all around, so the car has plenty of stopping power.

As far as open air motoring is concerned, there's no sound like the one my Racing Beat mufflers put out at full throttle, at high RPM's, while driving through a tunnel. Simply beautiful.

You guys are making me want to keep my car and do a turbo drivetrain swap, dammit.

Tony Mulla

The convertible Rx7's sound very interesting indeed. However two factors come in to play with the convertible system.

1. I am in Canada at the University of Toronto, which means we get a lot of snow (not that I will be using my rx7 in the winter)

2. The Convertible car's seems to costs close to double the price and even triple the price (here) then the turbo II's or the Non Turbo Rx7s, a good example is this.. A 1991 Rx7 Gxl with 165 thousand Kilometers (approx 80 xxx miles) in good condition will cost me $5000 Canadian, however the Convertible 1989 same non turbo, will run me $10,000 obviously in much better condition. However I will be putting most of my money into the reconditioning of the car first.

Refinishing of the leather seats (custom leather) will run me approx 650/800 dollars, however it is incredible the work they do.

Refinishing of the interior equals both new carpet (hassle job) and the refinishing of ALL surfaces in the rx7 (interior) it involves I believe some finishing up touches with paint and what not (actually a lot) and a lot of detailing, when the job is complete you have an interior which looks new. I have seen it done on my friends VW Corrado it was just incredible, the cost of refinishing the interior / detailing would run me approx 300 / 400 dollars (Canadian of course) this concludes all my interior modifications for the time being, and it costs me approx 1000 dollars (im giving it a high price for a very good job to be done here)

I think a paint job would also be in order, the only problem with paint jobs is the high prices for a quality paint job, but it must be done, I was thinking of installing a body kit, but I figured the money could be used else ware on the car, instead of getting the body kit, I could put the money towards the rims/tires, which would save me money, possibly towards engine modifications.

Im not looking for a car that runs 12 second pass's here, more so a car that looks great, inside and out, but also has some speed to it, and handling, I figure my engine modifications would be minimal, I would want around the 230/250 hp with the Turbo II model "if I was to get the Turbo II" and if I get the non turbo, possibly a 180/200 hp car.... Sounds reasonable? Another big thing for me, would also be reliability, so the first thing that comes to my mind, and most others, is "Engine swap" I dont know but can you tell me if its possible getting a "NEW" complete engine/transsmission for the Turbo II or Non Turbos? Or do you have to go the JDM way? And if I do go the JDM way, can I also get the tranny done?

Tell me what you think

RarestRX

Yo,



Tony, get pics of your friends Corrado so we can see how cool it looks. *grin* We're protective of FC's getting riced out, so it better be tasteful. *grin*

Okay, so reliability is important to you?

Then NA is the only way to go, sorry turbo guys. It's the NA's trump card, and I'm gonna play it!! Normally aspirated rotaries are VERY reliable. Mazda won the 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986 and 1987 IMSA GTU championships with NA RX-7's. That's why they made a special homologation special, the GTUs. *grin* They also took first in the GTU class at the 24 Hours of Daytona with NA RX-7's in 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993. So yeah, NA rotaries are durable, and reliable. Oh, did I mention the overall winner at the 24 hours of Le Mans in 1991 was a NA 4 rotor powered 787B? *grin*

The rich racing history is one of the things I love about my GTUs, no one has come close to Mazda's string of victories in the GTU class. It is also something to be proud of for us NA guys.

I'm sure there are Turbo rotaries out there that have been trouble free to their owners, but they are far and few between. I've had Turbo II owners tell me they'd rather have a GTUs than their TII's.

Something to think about....

KS
1989 GTUs "Turbo? We don't need no steenkin' turbo!"

Mykl

Hey Tony, you're about spot on.

I love the seats in my convertible, they're perfect for me. The lower back support is excellent and they hold me in place well, but they need new skins.

Being in Canada, I'd rather have a coupe too, honestly.

Running the power numbers you'd like to achieve, a Turbo II will more likely than not be a very reliable machine, if you keep up with it and are **** about the care and maintenance.

I'll post more later, gotta go.

MaxRX7

LOL, no sunroof is ok, but topless is better ? :p

RarestRX

Yo,


Well YEAH, that's what I'm saying. For a coupe, you want maximum rigidity, lightest weight. Bye bye sunroof! But a 'Vert is cool, 'cause it's a whole different beast!

KS
1989 GTUs "99% Fat Free."

MaxRX7

yo,

I LOVE your quotes:

"99% Fat Free." haha

"no turbo, no problem"

and the all time best;
"your friend at 8000 RPM"

RarestRX

Yo,


Yay! I'm glad you like 'em. I just to keep my sig fresh, instead of the same 'ol same 'ol. I recycle some of the sayings, but I try and think of new ones. *grin*

Your friend at 8000rpm,


Kevin Sproul
1989 GTUs "NA all the WAAAAYYY!"

http://www.rx-7.org/events/SevenStoc...4-115.jpg.html

rx7_ragtop

Hmmmm... I don't USE my sig often, but it's always the same...

MaxRX7

yo, keep it up

and no Brad, I wasn't referring to you