FC3Slideways

Hello all, Im new here and in the market for a 7.
Ive looked and priced out different rx7's and came to the conclussion that it would be a lot easier, and cheapier to find a 2nd gen NA.

Is there a lot of after market support for these car?
What are the differences in the models, and how did they change through the model years.
any other help would be appreciated

87turbo2

check the sticky up top
https://www.rx7club.com/forum/showth...threadid=51932
86-88 na has 145hp ( sorry not exacts ), square taillights, different nose, and lots of different interior pieces
89-91 na has 160hp, round taillights, mazda embossed on the nose ( as opposed to sticker ), redlines higher, and for the most part has a nicer interior ( imo)
also just check through our gallery, lots of cool pics of fc's

KNONFS

iTrader: (14)

What exactly are your expectations?

MasonX

Your best bet would be to find a 89-91 model as they have the higher compression engines and high quality interior parts. The GTU models are the lightweight fast models. The GLX models are the luxury models. They both have the engine, the only difference performance wise is weight. I have a GLX with no regrets. The extra features are much more important to me than reduced weight. The GLX has power windows, power sunroof, power steering, air conditioning, AAS (auto adjusting suspension, basically useless), rear window wiper, 5 lug hubs, disc brakes all around with 4 piston calipers up front. I'm not very familiar with the GTU models so you'll have to hit the other guys up for info on them.

I don't know if you are aware of this or not but rx-7's have rotary engines. These engines are very small, relatively lightweight, and very potent. The problem with these engines is that they're quite expensive to replace. On a lighter not though, the factory engine will last for about 200k miles if properly taken care of and not driven too hard.

They're awesome cars if you're lookin for something different, and something that'll beat them honduh boys

FC3Slideways

Thanks for the replys
Im looking for high 13's. low 14's
I have 3 Friends who drive 2nd gen 7's(2 NA, and a TII)
One of them knows how to work with rotary motors pretty well and is helping me out in finding me one.

any more comments or suggestion would be appreciated

Icemark

Actually that is not true. It is much better for a rotary to be driven hard than grandma'd around.

Driving hard clears out the potentially damaging carbon build up. A rotary loves to rev and should be driven that way.

So your statement should read "...the factory NA engine will last for about 200k miles if properly taken care of and driven hard."

Maintenence is a key to the rotary motor. Although you won't have mundane things like adjusting valves or replacing timing belts, you will need to regularly change the oil (every 3k to 5k miles).

Coolent should be changed every year.

Filters like fuel and air (if you keep an OEM air cleaner), belts, transmission fluid, rear end lube and brake/clutch fluid should be changed at the most every 30k miles or two years.

Every 60k miles the gas tank and fuel injectors should be cleaned.

With good maintenence like this many NA RX-7s have gone past 200k miles with out any major problems.

NZConvertible

You will not get this out of an NA without spending a lot of money, and you'll end up with a car that's noisy, thirsty, not very pleasant to cruise in and quite possibly illegal. If you want this sort of performance, a Turbo would make life much easier.

FC3Slideways

Did any of the NA cars come with LSD stock?

87turbo2

yes...I mean even my 83 GSL does...and masonx, GXL GXL GXL GXL...go look at the car...
go to www.fc3s.com scroll to 2nd gen click there, it'll have pics; videos; info; sound; links
very cool site, lots of info, and the links are great...
also www.teamfc3s.org is really good
now ,on to my 9th 7

87turbo2

BTW....GXL's DO NOT have 4-pistons all around, the sport model did ( 87 ) and the GTUs as did the TII

Icemark

The 86-88 GXL came with a LSD stock
The 88 GTU
The 89-90 GTUs
and all the Turbo II models.

Those also all came with the 4 piston front brakes and slightly larger rear brakes as did the 86-87 sport/GS and convertible.

But LSD was an option on the 86-87 Sport/GS and 91 Coupe.

But a new clutch type LSD can be found for as little as $300 on-line and used ones from Miata's also fit.

DCmina

Did the S5 GXL come with LSD?

ponykiller

GLX?!!??!!??!

Do we mean GXL?

Ryde _Or_Die

I coulda sworn all GXLs had the bigger brakes and the 5 lugs.

Felix Wankel

Do some research. They do. All of them.

Also no FC have 4 psiton rear calipers. They all have single pistons. The only difference in 4- and 5-lug rear brakes is the vented rear rotors on the 5 lug cars.

Xentrix

Yes as far as I know the series V (89-91) GXL's had the 4 pistons (mine did when I put my slotted Brembo's on). I don't know about the series 4 gxl's AND I don't think any FC had 4 pistons in the back. Just a single.

vaughnc

FC3Slideways,

Hey welcome to the forum.

Yep lots of aftermarket for these cars. I believe the US has 4-5 REALLY good manufacturers that make performance accessories, and a few bodykits, etc...

Worldwide there are a TON of bodykits, aftermarket accessories, toy cars, coffeytable books, knowlegable people & shops, etc..

Here's some info & pics from a previous post you might like

-- vaughnc


Best thing about the rx-7s is the car is 100% designed as a TRUE sports car - not a "sports coupe" or "sports sendan."

The Turbo II is a SUPERCAR and is the tuners DREAM CAR. Mazda designed the car with 450HP in mind but detuned to 200/180 ft-lbs torque. What that means is you can GO NUTS designing a porsche killer for little $$$.

The rotary engine is PERFECT for a sports car. Mazda designed the rx-7 to take 130% advantage of it. That means you get lightweight HIGH OUTPUT performance, UNLIMITED REVING (there's nothing to break), small engine means sweet aerodynamics = low drag. Handlign is the BEST part of the rotary experience. The chassis has rear steer like some porsches, so you can kick some serious butt around the corners. The car handles & drives so well - it inspires you to push the car beyond what you think it's capable of

Best of all, the rx-7s have an international following from tuners, manufacturers, and enthusiest. That means you have a wide selection of performance upgrades, accessories, bodykits, coffeytable books, toy models, and knowlegable people.

a few pictures:

vaughnc

Icemark

No. On the series 4 GXL. The only series 5 cars with the LSD standard was the GTUs and the T2.

But all GXL models regardless of year came with the larger 4 piston brakes in the front and larger single piston brakes in the rear

FC3Slideways

thanks for the help..

So far im looking for a 89-90 GTU it fits what im looking for...good handeling...and have the ability to beat the honduh boys

Icemark

If you are looking for a strippy car like the 89-90 GTU then get a 86-87 sport or 89-90 GTUs (note the small "s"), they are the light weight performance/race versions of the NA RX-7 models and very close to the same 0-60 numbers (and only a half second slower than the T2 models in their respective generations.).

FC3Slideways

How hard are the GTUs to find?

Snrub

iTrader: (1)

I'm no expert, but I have a bit of a problem with this sort of logic. Clearly reving it high is good because it clears out the carbon. However, let's be realistic do you need to drive it hard all the time? Reving it harder increases wear. It would seem more logical that if you drove it easy and then say every two weeks you redlined it a bit, that would be the optimum stratagy.

Bottom line is RX-7s rock and people should buy them.

seveninphilly

iTrader: (7)

Great pics

great advise

One question what rims are these, I know they are stock Mazda are they millennia rims?

Icemark

No, that is not correct. Your reasoning would be correct for a piston engine, but not for a rotary.

If the engine is grandma’d (say you keep it under 3500-4000 RPM) you will develop build up in the motor. You’re not using engine for what it was designed for. Even in break in on a brand new RX-7, Mazda does not recommend this ***** footing and suggests that you use the full RPM range.


So maybe you say no, I want my engine to last for ever. I am not going to rev it up. I am gonna only drive hard every now and then. It will last forever then, right?

So then you kick it up a couple of times on the weekend, maybe getting up to 7000 RPM a couple of times and one of these times a large chunk pf left over burnt oil, ash, and dirt (commonly known as carbon) falls off and into the edge of the rotor. The Apex seal which is designed to float at the edge suddenly doesn't float and jams into position. That jamming is also often caused by ash build up from poor quality gas and oils that doesn't get pushed out at lower RPM.

So now we have an apex seal for what ever reason is no longer moving/floating. If you’re lucky it gets stuck in its lowest position and you just loose compression. ATF treatment will often help this.

But if it is in its high position, the apex seal shears off. This pretty much wastes the motor, as pieces of apex seal fly through the combustion chamber and exhaust and Turbo (if applicable).

When Mazda (well actually Kenichi Yamamoto and his team) were developing/fixing the rotary motor, there was a real concern on the apex seals ripping up the housings, so the material used is not the same type as used in a piston ring. Thats why they used two soft compounds for the first seals. Compounds like a composite of carbon and aluminum. Not high tensil steel like in piston rings. Kenichi knew the motor had to be able to rev to 7000 RPM consistently and designed it to do that.

Grandma’n a rotary will lead to the motor needing work much sooner than revving every day to redline.