Rotary Piranha

i'm thinking of bying a second-gen RX-7 Turbo II, but I'm not sure what reliability those caes have. Usually, Jap cars hold out really well, but then again there is the question of the abuse of the engine, since it's an RX-7 and Turbo and everything. Can someone who owns this type of RX-& tell me about the common problems that they came against.

Icemark

http://www.mazdatrix.com/
http://www.iluvmyrx7.com/2nd_gen_manuals.htm

http://2ndgenrx7.freeservers.com/page1.html
http://home.rmci.net/panther/tech.htm
http://www.fc3s.org/

Fatty_FC3S

Wait a minute, did you just use "reliability" and "Turbo rotary" in the same sentence? Seriously though, any turbo car has more problems than an NA car. My avitar is of my personal red T2, and although it looks pretty, its a pain to keep up. Make sure you have deep pockets and some patience, otherwise you may want to go NA. Now if the T2 is your second "fun" car (not daily driver), then you should go for it!

Graham

silverrotor

iTrader: (1)

I have to agree. Be prepared to pay and pay and pay.... These cars are a royal pain In the ***. Thats why Threads such as "How Much Money Have You Dumped In your Car" like to reappear every so often. However, when running In top form, these cars are like no other. I guess that Is why we put all this money and find our selves on these forums.

MtnRacer

My car runs in top form. Buy from a rotary enthusiast and you will be taking less risks. I've had absolutely ZERO troubles from it, save for age-related problems which are inescapable. Just budget the money to fix the car while you're shopping, and you will do just fine.

Steve

Rotary Piranha

K, last question. If I buy an NA and then stick an aftermarket turbo in it, I can still kiss reliability goodbye, right?

Icemark

There is not an aftermarket turbo kit for a NA. If you want a Turbo you need to buy a turbo car, or spend tons of time and money either custom building a Turbo kit or doing drive train swap.

and as a personal note:
Why does everyone think that there is a Turbo kit for a NA??? The RX-7 isn't a econo-box FWD Honda.

turboshjosh

everybody says that because there is a turbo kit for the na rx7. don't believe me? ask hks because they make it. just don't think your stock tranny will like it very much.

Rotary Piranha

I see, so if I want a turbo, I best go with a Turbo II model, which means crappy reliability. Another quick question. If I replace stock older stock engine parts with new aftermarket parts (not necessarily the ones increasing performance), is it actually possible to increase reliability that way, or will it still suck?

Icemark

The turbo kit from HKS is an upgrade kit for the T2.

Salguod

Ok, sorry I have to speak up now, shoot me down if you must, but I have to disagree with you a bit here.

I have used my 88 T2 as my daily driver for almost 4 years now. The car has 118k miles on the original engine, and still has perfect compression. The previous owner took good care of it, and I have kept up the tradition.

Since I have owned the car it has never left me stranded once(knock on wood). Not to say it hasn't acted up a few times. When I first bought it I didn't know how to get it started when it was heat soaked, so I had to wait for it to cool off a few times before I could get it re-started. But now that I understand the eccentricities of the car, I have no problems.

Do a little reading around here and you will see a lot of N/A owners that have tons of reliablity problems, so it is in no way isolated to the Turbo II models.

The Turbo IIs have received bad reputations (IMO) because of all the idiots who modify the crap out of them and then blow them to kingdom come. They typically buy an FCD and a boost controler, crank up the boost to 10+ psi, and then bitch about reliablity when they get a 18+ psi boost spike that takes out an apex seal. If you want better reliablity in a T2, KEEP IT STOCK!

If you buy any 2nd gen RX7 (Turbo or NA) you had better understand that with the years and miles now on these cars, it will be a "hobby" car. Meaning that unless the previous owner has already replaced everything on the car you are buying within the past couple of months, the possiblity exists that you soon will be (from paint to just about every power train part). This is the risk you take when buying any SPORTS car with 10+ years or 60k+ miles of service on it, with few exceptions.

If you are not willing or able to work on these cars yourself, then buy something else. The amount of maintainence and TLC that these cars do require (turbo or NA) will cost you a fortune in the long run if you are taking it to a mechanic. You will honestly be better off buying something else if you want low maintainence reliablity.

With that said, if you are willing to learn and do the work yourself, these cars are a TON of fun to drive and own. The engine is complex enough to be interesting to work on, without being impossible to work on. The acceleration on the T2s is impressive (not Corvette impressive, but impressive none the less). With a decent set of tires, these cars handle curves at speeds other cars can only dream of, and the braking ability of my T2 has saved my butt on multiple occasions.

I drive my car daily and hard. I spend on average about $100 a month just in parts for it (yes about $1200 a year). Any way I look at it though, its cheaper than making payments on a more expensive car that wouldn't thrill me as much as this one does.

Hope this helps,
Salguod

SureShot

Hey "Salguod" yeah - what you said..
Bill

Rotary Piranha

Thanks people,
Yeah, this is turning out to be quite a problem. There isn't much RX-7 in Canada in the first place, never mind TII's in good condition. Finding one would take a loong time, and I don't want to trek to USA for the cars. Anyone have an advice on a cheap (no more than 7000) car that can easily be used as a daily driver, and still pull Civics and Integras (I'm thinking of making that my life mission - killing every Civic and Integra)?

gsracer

I'm sure you could find a mkIII supra turbo for that price...as well as a first gen mr2 supercharged.

selanne8

amen brother salguod!

take good care of your car and your car will take good care of you.

john

carlrx791

I have to agree with you SALGOUD if you take car of your car and keep it as close as you can to the OEM specs, of course doing mods to gian HP but no getting crazy, you won't have any reliability issues. I drove a RX7, 1985 and then my sister used her 1986 with out normal car maintanence issues. Now I have a 1991 and I will have to replace parts but no because is a RX7, because is a 11 years old car. Also depending of how you drive your car, actually I find the RX7 take lots of use and abuse.