Hey guys,
First I'd like to give a little introduction to myself. The name is Andrew and I have been driving around my 2000 Subaru Impreza RS. It has been turbocharged and is running 10psi from a T3 turbo. It should be close to 300 crank hp but we all know how accurate the butt dyno is . I've been a member of I-club.com (now nasioc.com after some brief drama between the owners of the site) since March of 00. I have always loved the RX-7 and I think I'm finally going to buy one.

I have found a red 93 RX7. The car has a rebuilt motor with only 2k miles on it. I talked to the owner a little bit and it doesn't sound like it has the reliability mods done to it. I've been looking at a couple cars and the "reliability mods" that I have seen listed were aluminum radiators and silicon hosing. I'm wondering if those are the only reliabilty mods.

I'm trying to read all the newbie info that I can but its beginning to get a little over whelming. I've been reading this page: http://www.rx7turboturbo.com/robrobinette/buyaused.htm
trying to see what I should expect and what to look at. Is there anything that wasnt mentioned in the above site that I should be looking for in an FD?

this is the listing:

I know that these engines can get rather picky when it comes to mods. I'm wondering if the mods listed above will cause any problems to a stock engine with stock ecu or if you see anything that sounds wierd. Are 255s too wide? Will it start rubbing? I'm wondering if I can bring the RX7 up to a mid/low 12 second car on the stock engine reliably. With all the bolt on parts, can this be achieved? Roughly how much hp does it take to get into the 12s?

This will be my first manual transmission car so I was just going to stay with doing some body mods (read: bring up to 99 spec) and reliability mods until I fully learn the car's behavior and how to properly drive a manual rwd car.


Thanks for any help and I hope to become a new FD owner
Andrew

 

It takes (roughly) 275 RWHP (~320 FWHP) to break a 13 second 1/4 mile.

12.25 will cost you about 325 RWHP (~375 FWHP).

 

Oh, and a good driver.

 

Buy her...treat her nicely....be sure to cool her down to the right temperature (r.mods)...check her boost patterns while test driving.....enquire about past records....especially the information where the owner got his rebuilt at. That way you can trace back to the man who fixed her.

Other than that...get ready to spin and lots of attention will come your way

Greetings!
Heavenscent

 

Go for it man. And good luck.

 

Is it auto or manual? Stay away from automatics. Make sure you get a compression and all around check at a rotary shop before you buy it. I'll give you more info later. Gotta go party now. Remember ask as many q's as possible. BUT, do a "Search" first. Everyone on this forum will get your your *** about it.

-HeX

 

Thanks for the info guys,
Hex: yes its a manual. i am DONE with automatics im glad i didnt get an automatic as my first car becuase I, personally, believe it would have been too much to learn at once, but a sports car like an RX7...and automatic would be blasphemy (no offense to AT owners...i love my AT subaru to death)

im still trying to sift through all the information and look for all the info i need to ask the owner about.

the 10psi on these cars, does it only come at WOT, if not then when should it hit 10. Also, I can't seem to find the compression that the car should be at.


dont worry about the "do a search," I come from i-club so I know all too well about doing searches and the wrath of board members when a stupid noob question is asked

 

Find out where he had the motor rebuilt and talk to that guy. Considering the fact taht the owner listed a new timing belt as part of his ad, his knowledge of the rotary is limited. (Rotary's dont have timing belts) Also, from everything else he listed, the only power mods he's done was possibly a downpipe if thats what he meant by new pre-cat (ask for clarification), and cat-back. With those 2, the stock ecu will suffice and you are good to go. Knowing that you've done your research before asking is rare and i welcome ya to the pits of eternal damnation. I'll hopefully be joining too soon good luck

 

Do a search for "Boost pattern", and check out this site if you haven't already; www.rx7turboturbo.com/robrobinette. If the owner doesn't seem to know much about the car, I would be weary. Get it checked out at all costs. I don't understand why this even matters since you're gonna be spending a grip on this car anways... I'm still learning as it is. Good luck.

-HeX

 

How much money do you got saved up so far and how much work can you do on a car yourself??? Also, how much is that FD going for?

 

the car is going for 16500. the only reason im looking at it is because it has a rebuilt engine. and i would like to do all maintenance stuff myself, unless it involves pulling the engine. i should have a couple k left over from my deal(my 00 RS plus my turbo kit and coilovers). and yes, this would be my daily driver. if i have any money left over i was going to buy a vented hood (to cool the engine a little bit more) and some r.mods.

ive seen a couple cars on here going for 12/13 but then i would have to rebuild those engines in 20-30k miles and it will cost more than what im thinking of paying now.

 

255's for the rear are just fine. I have 285's for the rear, mine don't rub at all. Also, when he said he just had a new pre-cat put on, make sure it is a precat, and if it is you need to put a downpipe on there. Does he have an AST (air separator tank) on it, that is a reliability mod needed to be done (replace it with an aluminum one) Can we get a couple pictures of this car and under the hood? Also ask how it was broken in on those 2000 miles. All I can think of right now...

 

New Timing Belt?

 

thanks for the reply


i will make sure to ask about the AST, the break-in, the pre-cat, and where he got it rebuilt. i posted in the west regional forum for a mechanic or someone who could check the car out with me and i found a Rotary place thats located in the bay area. so im guessing that woudl be wehre he had it rebuilt, but of course ill make sure.

im checking it out this weekend. im also checking on insurance to make sure that its not too steap (im 20 years old btw). im hoping that a 10 year old car with 80-100k on the chasis wont be too much... anyways, ill be sure to take a camera with me.


here is the advertised pic:

 

i have one for sale if u want! 1993 R1 40k red,black, 1 owner MINT records from 1993 original 100%stock www.4print.com/sherlock check it out !