Leg/Head Room in 2nd Gen
 

Hi there everyone. I'm new hear, as you can tell, and I have a decent ammount of money saved up, which will be going to a 2nd Gen RX7!

I'm very excited and have been doing some research on them, but before I get any further into it, I need to know how much room these little rockets have.

I am a pretty tall guy. 6'3". I had some trouble fitting into my Integra, and I can hardly even fit into my friend's Miata in the passenger seat.

I really don't want to hear what I think I am going to hear from you guys (besides "Use the search tool!") about the interior being a little too cramped for me, but can someone perhaps compare it as being more towards a Miata in interior leg/head room, or more towards a larger sport compact car's size.

Any information is helpful.

Does the 3rd Gen have more/less room?

Thanks so much!

The interior of the car is relativly roomy compared to some sports cars. My dads friend has a viper which I can barely fit in and im only 6' tall. The only thing I can see that would be a problem is the car is kind of short so at 6'3 you arent looking at very much headroom. Perhaps someone of a similar size can say how well they fit?

I'm about 6'2 and have no trouble at all

well concerning the 2nd gens, i've noticed that the S5s seem to be a little more roomy. my S4 is pretty comfortable. me being a little smaller 5'7", i think its has decent room. my brother's S5 seems much more spacious compared to mine in that it doesn't seem to envelop you (as the driver). compared to an MR2 or Eclipse driver's compartment. see if you can find one of the S4 and S5 models and sit in it for yourself.

I'm 6'1" and have plenty of room even with a helmet. I have a 90 Miata also and can tell you there is MUCH more room in the RX-7 than the Miata has. Both fit me fine leg room wise, more in the RX-7 than the Miata but there is a considerable difference in the headroom.

Tip for buying. Check the for sale section on the boards and really do some research about RX-7's before buying on. You need to know what to look for. A guy may have a mint RX-7 that won't start and says it just needs seals. Well, probably need more than that your looking at 1500.00 minimum for a rebuild and thats you pulling the engine and putting back in.

You'd have better luck buying an RX-7 from an enthusiast. You'll have a better idea of what your getting than from some dealer who knows nothing about rotary engines.

Wow guys, awesome! Two replies in 5 mins!

Hey, that's very cool, at 6'2" no problem?

Ah, I may be getting one afterall. The same friend who has the Miata, he was originally looking at RX-7's but went the turbo-Miata route instead. Anyways, he had originally wanted an RX-7 because he got a ride in an FD. He claimed it was only slightly larger inside than the Miata.

Which is why I was concerned with the room in a FC.

Can anyone else confirm the legroom concerns. That's my main issue, headroom is secondary, but legroom is most important.

Thanks again!

Damn, 2 more replies while I posted! hehe.

Again, it seems confirmed that they do have more enough room for me. I will of course try one on for size in the near future, but thanks for the info!

Yes, I will most definatly continue with my research and will assuredly buy from within the forums. You are all a very knowledgable lot it seems!

FCs have the most interior room of all rx-7s. The 1st generations are alot smaller,, about miata-ish. The 3rd gens are only slightly larger. Im a pretty short guy ( about 5'8) and I can slide my seat back in my FC so far that I can barely reach the pedals, so Id think you should be fine.

Very nice, thanks man!

What were these "s5s" and S4s" that aka_rocket was referring to? I assume different models of FC... I'll read the faq more carefully now, but any insight?

FD is smaller than the FC, thats the one complaint from larger people. I don't have the seat all the way back and I like to sit so my leg is about fully extended with the clutch pedal on the floor. I'm 6'1" so you should be fine.

Yep..go read through the FAQ...all covered there ;)

S4 (series four) is 86-88
S5 (series five ) is 89-91

S3 is 84-85
S2 is 81-83
S1 is 79-80

Oh ok, nice... and please disregard my post about the S5 and S4. Just read the FAQs again :D


Looks like I'll be looking for a 88-91 then. After mucy more research of course ;)

I'm 6', and when I test drove it, I had trouble reaching the pedals because the owner had the seat so far back. Plenty of legroom.

My hair hits the ceiling often. I have tall hair though.

I'm 6'3" and I dont think the fit in my '90 t2 is as big as everyone else is saying. The leg room is OK with the seat all the way back, but to get head room clearance, I need to recline the seat so its touching the storage bins behind the seat. I'm going to ditch the bulky leather seats for some thinner racing ones, and that should hopfully free up some more space.

But dont think that you cant fit. You can. It's just a matter of how far back you need to tilt your seat so that your head doesn't hit the ceiling.

I'm 6'5" and I fit fine. Compared to a Miata? There's about 5x as much room, seriously, I don't know how an anerexic midget can fit in a miata. Anyway, they're about the same as 1G Talons/eclipses/Lasers

I'm about 6' and there is not much head room. Sunroof has to be open for the helmet to fit semi-comfortablly. If you don't mind being 4 feet away from the steering wheel, you can recline the seat and have more room, but i like having mine more upright. Hope this helps.

Pat

The sunroof has a lot to do with headroom. I'm 6", and in an FC with a sunroof my head is about 1/2" from the roof, and that's after reclining the seat some. In a no sunroof FC, I have an easy couple inches of room.

As for legroom, I don't believe in it. I keep my seat pretty far forward (about the same setting my 5'6" mom uses in here 626) to have quick and easy pedal motion.

On the plus side, that leaves plenty of storage room behind my seat (no storage bins)

I am 6' tall, and it feels nice and roomy, It's just annoying that my hair rubs on the ceiling when I turn my head...later:)

I'm 6'8, s5 turbo, pretty comfotable. I think it has to with the fact that I'm long and skinny. I have the storage bins removed to lean the seat back a tad further. head room? well that depends how bad I'm sloching. all in all it's decent fit, the 2nd gen has a decently long cockpit I think. people always ask me how I fit in that small car like that. as far as third gens. if I wanna drive bad enough then I make my self fit but it's co comfy at all. I just feel squished. both cars are not made for fat people. there pretty skinny cockpit areas. just my $.02's

6'5" here, I have a first gen and it fits me very well. Now my S5 turbo is about the same size, but the steering wheel is a bit smaller, and it makes a big difference.

I sat in a miata at a dealer once, becuase I *thought* I may be a future mazdaspeed miata driver. I seriously was not able to get behind the wheel. I had to hold myself up with one hand on the door, and the other on the back of the seat to jam my right leg on the side of the steering wheel, and even then my body was inches away from the steering wheel. Its not like I'm that fat either, I'm only about 165lbs

The sticky at the top of the 2nd gen section on standard features and options has the actual headroom and foot room of the cars.

Sorry to bring up this old topic again, but I went ahead and read through the sticky at the top of this page, and they say all the legroom is the same, but I'm just thinking that there has to be a difference in legroom between the 2+2 and the 2-seater 2nd Gen's. I could be wrong, but wouldn't you think one has more room than the other?

Thanks!


(Oh by the way, I haven't posted much more since I joined, but I've been researching much by reading posts on the board the past few weeks, and have found the site very informative! It's a wealth of information, and when time comes to buy the car this coming winter, I'll be sure to ask around here before I go out and risk buying from autotrader/newspapers!)

Oh yeah, I forgot. My helmet doesn't completely fit. It bumps against the inner left edge of the sunroof hole.

I just think of it as a brace for hard right turns. Or something.

I'm 6'3", or 6'4" depending on who's measuring me. I fit comfortably, and I have the sunroof in my S4 FC, with seats from the GXL. Sometimes my hair rubs, but that's about it.

I also got so drive an FD once, and I seemed to fit fine in it as well. You should be fine with whichever car you choose.

Very cool.

So we have established that from car to car, it doesn't matter; 2+2 or 2 seater, they have the same legroom?
(not so much concerned with headroom, so long as it's not like Shaq in a mini or something, I'm more concerned with leg room hehe.)

I'm not sickly skinny, neither overweight. I'm fit as a fiddle but a bit on the tall side, 6'3"-6'4". So the 2nd gen looks like the logical choice. thanks again all.