I'm looking to pick up a 87 Turbo RX-7 and I was wondering what are the benefits and downfalls of the car. I've been able to find the car for $1,500 and thats a nice price. Can anyone tell me about some of the problems they've experience with the car in the past. Plus, how does it handle?

 

1,500? is it almost dead or something?
Good... more power than N/A, highly mod-able.
Bad... engines usually dont last as long as thier N/A counterparts.
As for the FC platform, it handles well, and I like it... its all personal judgement though. I have both a N/A auto, and a turbo 5spd... love em both for different reasons.

 

Hey, congrats on the car. They are a ton of fun expecially when already running. Got mine for $500 but had to drop in a jspec engine before I got to drive it.

Before everybody flames you I will remind you for them that you can check the FAQs at the top of the page for a lot of the answers.

As for your questions, I havent really had any problems out of mine besides fixing previous owners problems. I have found out that vaccum leakes are extremly bad as on leak can cause the thing to run horrible.

Also just making sure compression is there and the turbo is in good shape.

Mike

 

It's almost 20 years old.
Parts will break.
Lots of stupid stuff break and will need to be replaced.
If the engine hasn't been rebuilt or replaced, expect to do it SOON.
It eats a lot of gas, compared to a lot of the multi-valve piston engines available now.
Mazda paint sux.


-Ted

 

Yeah, well I plan to replace everything. I'm going to rebuild the car from ground up. I was just wondering about how good the car was.

 

Theyre great cars, you just need to read up on the forum on here and you can basically learn everything you need to know... sometimes you learn the hard way but live and learn.

For 1,500 there arent many turbo rx7s u will find for that price that run or are even in decent condition, you could always try to get him to take less than 1500 unless thats the least he'll take.

How many miles are on it ? If it has close to 150,000 reted is right it will expect a rebuild soon those engines dont usually last much longer than that since they are turbo and lose compression faster.

As long as the car is in good shape body wise i would defintely get it, its a steal for the price if its good shape. Anything that is bad about this car can be modified to be better so long as u have the money to do it and the time to do it.

edit - check under the hood to see how clean that looks, im sure u already did but that really shows alot about how the car was taken care of

 

wow, an S4T2 for that cheap, be careful of the problems it might have, but if its running okay then it is one helluva good deal. the second gen rx7 is a superb chassis and the interior isnt too dated in a T2 although some base models had a aged and boring interior.

The 5-lug models have incredible brakes using huge 4 piston aluminum calipers in front over vented rotors and even the stock rear rotors are vented. Brake cooling vents are present thru all stock front bumpers plus Mazdaspeed makes backing plates with a ducting flange to run ducting right to the front spindles. The chassis is well supported by many companies for suspensions and bushings yet only a few key bushings are needed to stiffen up the car, unlike Honda where you really should replace over a dozen bushings.

The rear axles / halfshafts are removable without draining the diff fluid and without even removing any suspension bolts. The 1987-1988 TurboII model possessed a clutch style LSD unit and that is easily rebuilt and has been proven strong enough to run 9-second 1/4-mile times and all TurboII models have beefier axles than nonturbos. This highly sought after setup is actually not hard to source used and is a simple swap for any model as long as you get the matching axles and run the correct rear flange on the driveshaft .

With stock fenders you can fit up to 235 wide in front and a 265 wide tire out back. Fender flares are readily available for not much money and provide enough clearance to run 255 in front and 285 out back. Widebody kits are available for the chassis that allow the use of 295 wide up front and 315 out back, replicas of these kits are under $700 shipped. Even on 235 fronts and 265 rears the FC is a well-balanced machine with more than enough of grip for its weight. Even the wheel bearings are said to be somewhat oversized for the car and are capable of sustaining a lot of use in roadracing or dragracing.

The RX7 has an engine bay design that lends itself to motor swaps from almost any manufacturer of front engine rear wheel drive platforms. The engine bay is shaped like one huge rectangle which maximizes the space available for the motor of choice, unlike some engine bays that have rounded corners and not much space for any motor larger then the original. The steering rack is forward of the wheels, just behind the radiator and the subframe that the motor sits on is mounted as far forward allowing the motor to sit low and rearward, close to the firewall. These features allow many different engines to fit without any modification to the RX7 steering or subframe pieces. Unlike most fwd cars and some rwd cars where the steering rack is close to the firewall and the subframe would prevent a larger transmission from being swapped in, the RX7 is a perfect candidate for such a hybrid.

the aftermarket support for the FC is excellent, the options for modifying your rx7 are ridiculous... from huge turbos to superlightweight mods to motor swaps using nissan sr20det's, honda f20c's and chevy ls1's... the choices are many, thanks to the huge engine compartment in the 2nd gen rx7.

man, I need to do some work if I'm here at my job!

 

wow that was like the best reply to help someone ive ever seen. you rock. i clicked the link in your sig too and i actually have that web site saved in my bookmarks from long ago. just letting you know ahaha.

 

Pretty much what's been said.

They're old. Expect to replace a lot of things. Hoses, bushings, motor (possibly), suspension, etc.

Once you've taken care of the stuff that most owners neglect, they're a blast to drive, they handle wonderfully, and they're reasonably easy to work on.

Downsides: They're addictive like crack. I don't think terribly many people here own just 1 RX-7. They also have a wonderful ability to drain any sort of bank balance you have, especially the turbo models - there's *always* "just one more part" you can swap on to get a little bit more power out of them.

-=Russ=-

 

WOW! Thanks for all the information on the car. As of right now I'm looking to wide body the car for sure. I'm really into the drift scene right now so most likely the car will have a lot of drift components on it. Right now I do drift my Subaru so the RX-7 is going to be a whole new car to learn on. I really appreciate all the comments from everyone.

 

Not to scare you away from our wonderful car, but if you want to drift the FC, please read this first:

http://www.fc3spro.com/TECH/DRIFT/dori.html

 

Please read the FAQ for FC sticky thread before posting.

The FAQ for FC (https://www.rx7club.com/forum/showthread.php?t=181219) sticky thread found at the top of the 2nd gen section has many of the commonly asked questions (such as the one that this thread was started with) and their answers.

Thread closed, question covered in the FAQ for FC