Hey there. Recentely I have become obsessed with FR sports cars and the Rx-7 in particular. There is a 1990 RX-7 convertable automatic for sale for 7,900 with only 16,000 miles on it. I am considering buying it but I have a few questions. First off, I really care about power. I know its not turbocharged but I have accepted that, since its rare to find a car from 1990 with such low miles on it. However, does the 160 HP convertable model produce a good ammount of power? I am not a car expert but I know my current car is a very weak FF 120 HP car and am wondering if 40 HP is going to be very noticeable to me. What are some tips to boost its power , if I purchase the car? Finally, if there are any 1990 convertable owners reading this and would like to give their review of the car, I would apperciate it. The car is over 100 miles from my location so I am trying to get everyones opinion before I drive that far and end up being disappointed. Thanks in advance.

 

$7,900? Wow. A naturally aspirated vert.....is slow, so if you care about power, as you state, I'd find a vert with a blown motor for cheap....then do a swap with a turbo motor.

 

look here.......

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Mazda...spagenameZWDVW

Cheaper.

 

Well, I own an 89 vert, but it has a full s5 turbo conversion and all kinds of mods.

The bottom-line is the vert in stock form is the slowest of the rx-7 line you can get for that year. Coupes are around 2700 lbs where as the vert is just over 3000 lbs. You can see that with the same engine as an NA and more wieght, its going to be slower.

Of course, there are things you can do; exhaust, intake, tuning, etc. But you are not buying a race car... more of a gt. Mod for mod the lighter base or gxl models will still be faster. Honestly though, for that price you could get a sweet Turbo II and have money left over for mods. For the vert, you really really have to like the convertible aspect. If it's not a big deal for you I recommend a turbo II.

Personally, I love the vert though. Glass window in the rear, motorized top, its very nice. Obviously I love mine, but it has a full turbo conversion. For me, I wanted both, turbo II and vert, but it was not cheap. They don't make a vert FD .

 

I've had a '88 vert since new. I kept the car because I really like it, but I always thought that *someday* a turbo engine would be a great upgrade. Last March I found out that I was *right*.

Here is a link to the project along with the ups and downs. It's fun and still a work-in-process with refinements.

http://forum.teamfc3s.org/showthread...highlight=YUUS

 

jkimbro:Thank you for the ebay listing but one of the main selling points for the one I am looking at is the miles. 100,000 is alot, especially considering how I drive a good ammount of miles to and from my job. Also, about the turbo motor swap, I dont know that much about the inner workings of cars, so how much would it be to have a shop replace an engine? Probably too much right?

Flash: Thanks for the advice. I honestly dont even care about the convertable aspect. Like I said before, I am more about power than anything else. So you're saying it will be cheaper to shell out a little more money for the Turbo version rather than buying the vert model and upgrading the hell out of it? Sorry to make you repeat yourself but I dont want to misunderstand.

 

IF you're "all about power" then forget the nonturbo rotary, period. Fully modded for the street they can barely approach 200hp, and 25-30 of that will be lost in the FR drivetrain.

Might as well save up for a turbo II model, or buy a nonturbo car with the prior intent of doing a swap on it. IF you're looking at stuff in the 8 grand range you can buy a NICE turbo II for that. Most nonturbo cars are cleaner than most turbo cars. You can also get somewhat rough FD's for the price range you are looking.

Dont get a vert, they are the heaviest and slowest models, even when engine swapped.

 

By the way, mileage on these cars is not so much an issue. You're not buying a low mile, numbers matching old school hot rod here. The chassis are very well setup on these cars and 200k chassis miles is not a really big deal. The transmissions do tend to make noise when they get higher miles on them, but that is a simple fix with a low mile jspec trans for a few hundred bucks (you will likely be doing an engine swap on whatever car you buy anyway).

I'd definitely take a clean paint/body/interior car with 160k chassis miles for 2 grand and plan to do an engine swap and build it the way I want from scratch, than buy an all stock clean car with 50k chassis miles for 7 grand and still have to build it the way I want.

 

CBeiling look at my car in 2nd gen for sale or pm me. I have a brilliant black TII already built in your price range

 

Many people bring up that the car is slow... remember that slow is relative.

For example, the slowest RX-7 (the 90-91 automatic tranmisson convertible) was still faster than the 89-97 Miata, and the majority of the 4 cyl import and the 4 & 6 cyl domestic product until the mid-to late 90's.

In my 88 vert, when I blew the Jspec turbo motor, and dropped back in a tweaked non-turbo motor the car was considerably slower, but I was able to keep up with a FD (third gen RX-7) reasonably well on a recent mountain road rally. Now don't get me wrong; he way outpowered me on the uphill corners and I could not keep up with him there, but the majority of the rest of the run I was reasonably competetive and considerably faster than most of the other FC's, Turbo or not.

 

A Vert is just plain fun, especially in the twisties. I've done the same as Icemark in my NA '88 Vert on some simuliar drives. If as you say you want the power the last thing you want is an auto '90 vert no matter how low the mileage is. For that kind of money and what it will cost you to make it have power you could get a T2 and go crazy or a 3rd gen.

 

like icemark said slow is a relative term when talking about the vert.but there is so much more to them sure i love the t2's but the vert is pure sex.now that i see them less on the road i appreciate them more.that price is off the hook for any 2 gen unless it is a pristine t2 that has all the rite mods.**** i'm selling my vert listed on the classified section of this cool forum.for 6500 i'll fly you here and you can drive back to fla in style.i'm postive that the one you saw listed does not my have the nice mods and all the upgraded /replaced parts i have.trust me she wont dissapoint and btw my baby also has 16k on the engineand 12k on the auto tranny.

 

other peoples advice about the verts is pretty correct, plus the autoboxes for sevens are shitty and thats a rediculous price

just another tidbit: 40 hp is very noticable, i have a saab 900 s which puts down 140 hp a 133 lbsft torque (not bad) weighs a little less than the seven and ther is no comparison between that and a 185 hp of my 1987 tii

 

I disagree on the price. With that low milage i think its just about right. If the body and interior look good. The auto would suck, but then again its depends on how you drive.

Either way I don't think this is the car for the guy.

 

shitty convertables go for $8k here in the summer. That's not /that/ bad of a price, especially with only 16k miles.

 

Book on the car is 4-5 grand in great shape. There are times when rarity and demand of a vehicle like an rx7 drive market value above book value (a 10th ae, a series 5 turbo II, etc.) but this isn't one of those times.

2 years ago I got $7200 for my fully turbo II converted vert, with new paint, turbo II ground effects, rims, RB exhaust, full aftermarket gauge setup, JDM double din deck, components, mint black interior with recovered leather seats, etc.

 

It's not just HP that determines how quick you go. It's really HP per pound. That's why the convertable is so much slower than other RX-7s. How much does your FF weigh?

You lose a little power at the wheels in an automatic (even though there's the same power at the engine). Is your FF automatic?

Regardless 40HP should make a huge difference. I'd agree that power is relative. If you mean, "I've been driving a slow car and I really want something fast this time", then you'll be more than satisfied. If you mean, "120HP is just my DD. I drove my buddy's 2005 high end sports car and I want that", then you won't be satisfied.

$8k does seem a bit high, though.