thatguy33

Ok, ive decided to buy a different car in the spring and im very interested in an RX-7. I've been doing some research, and ive found plenty of specs, but i need some information that only car owners can give me. I've looked up local for sale ads, and see 2nd gens average around $3K. Im mostly looking at '86's and '87's...

-I notice that most people on this board have their RX's as fun cars, but i can't afford 2 cars. In fact, I'll have to sell my current wheels to buy an RX. Also, ive noticed that these cars have unusuallu low mileage for 14 year old cars (40K-60K miles). Apparently they were summer toys as well. What I need to know, is can I reasonably expect it to be a year-round, daily driver? I'm not expecting it to go through blizzards, obviously; but I need to know if it can handle a little bit of snow or bad weather.

-I'd also greatly appreciate any miscellaneous info you could offer, that's not already on the FAQ's that are on this site. I've done some homework, in order to avoid pestering you guys with questions you hear over and over.

I'll try to ask more specific questions as they occur to me, but at the moment this is all i can really think of.

1987RX7guy

iTrader: (3)

It can handle a storm and some snow according ot others from the north. But parts are a bit more money than your average piston engine car.

13bpower

It could easily be a daily driver if you are really into keeping the car in tip top running shape, and not concerned with exterior wear on the car. Get some good all season tires and be careful in bad weather.

hypntyz7

I have had my **** out in bad weather, snow, ice, whatever before. They perform as good or better than all the other cars on the road, except 4wd/awd obviously. You have to know how to handle RWD though. They can get away from you in wet or slick weather, especially turbo models.

Some points of advice:

-there are good and bad examples of these cars, so how reliable it will be depends on teh car and owner(s).
-you will either love or hate the car. if it has been well maintained and you get a good example, you will love it. Otherwise, well, you'll call it the biggest pos you ever saw.
-miles on a rotary really arent the same as miles on a piston engine. Really low mile rotaries (<100k at this point in their life) are often ones that have been allowed to sit undriven for periods of time, which is bad for the engine.
-The best car you can find is one with 100-200k miles that is a 1 or 2 owner and was daily driven and decently maintained. The old-man-owned, garage-kept 25k mile rx7 is not your best bet, because as soon as you put it into daily service and start having fun with it, the engine will let loose.
-expect little electrical issues, but dont be really afraid. There are people who sell used parts like myself, as well as those who do guaranteed repair work on them. Nothing in the car other than the engine itself is really too expensive or hard to find.

Kai

I've driven through snow that even some people would be afraid to drive in with 4x4's. I just throw a bag of concrete or sand in the back for the weight, and a shovel to dig myself out. Once you get used to it, winter weather is no problem.

My current RX-7 has been my daily and only streetworthy car for over a year, I've put around 40k on it since I bought it. It is very do-able as a daily driver.

thatguy33

Thanks for all the info, guys! It's been very helpful and reassuring. I have another question...

-After reading the post about NA vs. turbo, and which is a better drifter (and sifting through all the bickering and flames ) a couple of remarks caught my interest. Phrases like "stable/predictable power band" came up quite a bit. Again, one of my biggest concerns is snow driving in a rear wheel drive car - i had my dad's S10 in the snow once, and even with bags of cement in the bed, forget it. I'm not familiar at all with driving a turbo, so i was hoping some of you could help clarify for me how the turbo behaves. Does it have a tendency to kick in hard at certain times? I'm sorry if this is addressed in an FAQ somewhere - if it is, i havent found it yet.

hypntyz7

IF you didnt like the s-10, you better leave a turbo model alone. Seeing as how a s-10 has all of 100-125hp, and a nonturbo 7 146-160, and a turbo 185-200, uhm, yeah, go nonturbo for your first time. IF you're serious about the snow thing, get a GXL, which will have limited slip rear (posi) that will help in the wet. A few of the other nonturbo models would have LSD (88 GTU, 89-90 GTU-s) but those are pretty rare and unlikely you'll find one to buy.

88IntegraLS

The non turbo RX-7 is a great car for everyday driving. I bought an 87 base model with 128k miles for $1200 . . with some cosmetic issues . . but trips to the junk yard took care of that.