I am going to go and test drive an 88 turbo next weekend and I was wondering where I could find an online guide or page to test driving these things. I have read as much as I can on this forum for over a year preparing for this car and now I need to make sure I pick the right car. Any links or tips that you can share with me?

 

by the way, it has S5 turbos so should it have more than 5 psi? or should it still run the same psi?

Speaking of psi I should probably list the specifics:

1988 with 150,000 miles
55k on rebuilt engine
70k on rebuilt transmission
89 tubos
hks midpipe and intake (doesn't specify anything other than that)
gutted cats

that's all I know about the car right now...

 

The factory built in boost controller causes the extra 2.5psi over a s4, not the turbo itself.

http://fc3s-pro.com/TECH/h2b.html <- read.

 

I don't own a turbo but I would check out as much of the mechanics of the engine (i.e Compression, how old the oil is, let it idle for a good twenty or thirty min to see if the temp rises, when you drive it red line a couple of times, etc.) look for rust on the body. Try to drive the car alone without the owner so you can push the car and see if you get any thing that is weird like if it need alignment or if it shakes at speed. I would check the interior for rips and such. How much are you going to pay for it if you buy it?

 

He wants 3700 but I think I could probably get it for 3200-3400. I doubt I'll be able to get a test drive by myself but I don't think you really need to push the car that hard to find out what's wrong with it (from what I read in that article) Still reading the page on that link. Lots of good info, thanks.

 

make sure you start it when it is cold. it should fire right up after a couple seconds. also after is it warmed up, shut the car off and try and start it again. if it has difficulty starting it can indicate low compression. check the cars oil. black/low oil tells a lot about how the car is taken care of. plus dirty oil is bad for rotories. check all the usual. suspension, brakes tires. you'll notice the 3800rpm hesitation if it has it but ive never felt it in any rx7 ive driven. make sure it passes emissions.

 

Very, Very, Very few cars with gutted cats will pass emissions. Any car that does, is running dangerously lean.

 

Read this: http://www.aaroncake.net/RX-7/tech1.htm

My personal experience is that you need to be able to run the car hard. Let the owner know you have to do it to make sure everything is 100%. (a lot of people are funny about their cars, even if they're about to sell them)

 

only idea i have is make sure you get the car good and warm, run it through the gears, make it work a little, then check if its puking coolent/bubbles out of the coolent overflow bottle........ if it is, thats a bad sign, in my car's case, i would overheat in aobut 20 min after about a month of driving the car

-Jacob

 

My suggestion would be to test drive a car that isn't sold.

Ben

 

haha, nice one ben..... yeah i posted about that car you want to test drive already, its now my brothers car