Have you done anything to your RX-7 to make it better on fuel economy?
 

Wanted to ask all FD RX-7 owners.

Have you done anything to your FD RX-7 to make it better on fuel economy?

With gas prices almost reaching $3.00 a gallon. It is almost not realistic to use the RX-7 as a daily driver.

So, to pose my question again: Have you done anything to your FD RX-7 to make it better on fuel economy?

What can I do to make the 1993 FD RX-7 better on fuel economy?

Inflate your tires to 40 psi, weight reduction, get a tune up, lose that ginormous wing. It's not rocket science.

buy another dd, not to mention that keeps the miles off of it.

LOL. I was gonna say something to the tune of don't drive it.

Goodfellas right though. Listen to him. :icon_tup:

Spend $900 on a pfc, (and another $400 for a tune) to get 10% better gas mileage. If you don't drive the FD much, the fuel savings will pay off the pfc in 20 years.

Get some Volk TE37 wheels, that's gonna help!!!

lol

^+1

The drag from the wing will cause you to use more gas

Get a new o2 sensor.

http://rx7.com/store/rx7/fdengine_maintenance.html

Rich isn't joking about the wing either. Yours must add a ton of drag.

Don't use the RX7 as a daily driver.

Plan your needs for the week and try and pick everything up in one shot. Ie groceries, movies etc. If you don't have to drive out of the way for something every day you'll save gas, time and money.

Don't speed up just to hit the brakes in city traffic.

Also most places have a website you can check showing the lowest advertised gas prices in your area. Use the cheapest place that isn't too far out of the way. And fill your tank with as much as you need for the week, or until you'll be in the area again anyway. More then that and your carrying extra weight you don't need to be.

Buy gasoline during coolest time of day - early morning or late evening is best. During these times gasoline is densest. Keep in mind - gas pumps measure volumes of gasoline, not densities of fuel concentration. You are charged according to "volume of measurement".

Keep windows closed when traveling at highway speeds. Open windows cause air drag, reducing your mileage by 10%.

Avoid rough roads whenever possible, because dirt or gravel rob you of up to 30% of your gas mileage. And suck for your car.

clean air filters... diminished air flow increases gas waste

Air conditioners can reduce fuel economy by 10% to 20%. Heater fan, pumping stereo systems, power windows and seats increase engine load; the more load on your engine, the less miles per gallon

Standalone. And not a PowerFC.

moped. good on gas! lol

Ls1 :naughty:(puts on flame suit)

*New plugs
*AI
*Clean injectors or at least some good fuel system cleaner
*make sure your exhaust system/cat is in good shape and flows well
*Stay out of boost when possible/practical...I know it sounds "obvious" but I watch how some drive and amazed when they gripe about mileage.

A good tune is the most critcal, then stay off the gas pedal. The secondaries do not come on until 3700rpm. The bad part about puttering around trying to save fuel is that you cause so much carbon build up in the engine that it will lead to early engine failure.

Nobody buys a rotary for its fuel economy, pick up a Honda and get 30+ MPG

Another reason the AI might help.

Most people set up their AI to come on in positive pressure, constantly puttering around in vacuum under 3700 rpm will never allow the AI system to be activated.

Honestly this is not how an RX7 was intended to be driven.

Going a bit off-topic, but I doubt you'd need constant AI to more than off-set any carbon build-up from "puttering". For those with just a pressure switch set at even 5 or 6 psi, it would be plenty overtime IMO.

And I actually realize some semblance of fuel economy once I start driving the FD in warm weather. My old 4X4 winter-beater makes it seem like a Honda. :)

Whatever..... No one ever said "constant" AI, but who really cares?

You are never going to get 30+ MPG out of a rotary, doesn't matter how you drive it. If fuel economy is a concern then this not the correct vehicle choice.

Yes to both of these guys

Haltech and tune :icon_tup:

Never saw anyone " constantly puttering around" either. AI would help the OP and avoid your carbon issue on a streeted car being driven like an adult. Some suggest it keeps the plugs cleaner too.
Don't recall anyone saying they were looking for 30 mpg either. Just better mileage. But I agree, the FD isn't a Prius.

Biggest change you can make is to your head. Change your driving style, plan your trips. Your mileage will get a little better and you will use less gas driving fewer miles on smarter trips.

It goes without saying however that, if you are going to drive your seven like this you may as well get another car for a DD.

I've cut my fuel consumption by 75%. I parked it.

Shell V-Power fuel.
The V-Power (93-octane) alone is worth about 5-10% better gas mileage compared to Sunoco 94. I went from 16-17 mpg to 18-19 mpg in combined local and freeway driving with the gas switch. I also had similar % mileage increase results on a long (5000+ miles) vacation trip with my wife's Audi A4 (2wd) comparing V-Power to other various 93-octane fuels.

Dude you bought the wrong car if you're looking for fuel economy.

I removed my a/c motor and radiator, installed a main underdrive pulley, a lightweight flywheel and replaced the 40-lbs cat with a 10-lb Magnaflow. << I have to be smog legal, cops in SF and Daly City think they have nothing better to do than pull over imports. (Sorry, I've had very bad experiences with them. No I'm not sorry.)

These all made my the car faster, and helped me get a 1% increase in economy.

Gas costs what it costs, save money elsewhere.

I kept my 3.70 diff gear from when my car was AT. May swap to 4.10 in the future though

damn davew you sponsered by Shell or something.

jk i love shell and have noticed a little bit of a difference in fill up intervals

3.90 ;)

correction: 3.90 gear thanx

I park it and drive an economical car. The same goes for our towing pickup truck - it's parked unless we need it.

Don't I wish... :lol:

Dave

This.

My average MPG has been around 22-24 using shell v-power. I do alot of highway driving now but i believe the gas help as well. Or maybe my car is in top running condition, idk.

I pulled my secondary injectors out and jb welded the rail closed. Can't get bad gas mileage when you can use your gas

:nod:

Add all the bolt ons, leave the stock center cat and set the boost at 10 psi. The base map is fine for this and you'll get 12 to 14 mpg of spirited driving 18 to 20 mpg on the hwy.

I'd stick w/ the base map unless you know someone who's a super good tuner. Meaning tons of rotary tuning experience like PFS, Bonzai etc....

It's not intended if you don't know the proper proceedure. That's how I drove mine. You have to be sure to do the water steam cleaning twice a year to maintain the carbon build-up. My maintenace was change the plugs and fuel filter once a yr or every 12k. I did the water treatment every 6 months. In 108,000 original miles, my engine never flooded or had hard starting issues. One time I even tried to intentionally flood the engine while it sat up for 2 months in winter. I did a series of cold quick starts in 30+ degree weather and it fired up every single time. I also got 25+ mpg on the highway.

Mods:
modified stock air box with k&n filter
down pipe

BOP made my car run way smoother and my tank gives me a good extra 30-40 miles since I deleted those shit... but I guess some part were not working properly...

Sounds like me. I drive the FD for fun, and a Ford Focus for most stuff. I tow my racecar (see avatar) with a '74 Chevy Van that gets 7-8 mpg towing the 22' enclosed trailer. :( That makes the FD seem like an economy car...

Dave

Havent driven it in 4/5 months...Great gas savings & less gray hair

I noticed a slight improvement in mileage when I added a downpipe. The other thing that wasn't mentioned yet is driving style. Go easy on the brakes. Try and coast to a stop when approaching a red light. This will give it more time to turn green, and if you do have to stop, you'll spend less time sitting there at idle, which burns more gas than when you are engine braking. In traffic, don't tailgate. If you keep some cushion you'll be less likely to constantly have to slow down and speed up.

Good for you. I have numerous customers with single turbo, street ported engines, 850/1680 injectors getting 24-25 mpg on the highway. This is of course is due to having the car tuned properly. Obviously going into boost drops the fuel economy drastically.

The RX7 is a high performance sports car and like all sports cars it drinks fuel. You get on the trottle, open the turbos up and the fuel economy drops, but the fun level goes up. Trying to squeeze every MPG out of it does not make it very fun to drive. Doing it once on a long trip is one this, but trying to be consious of only pressing the gas pedal 1/3 to avoid boost, is far too much like breaking in the engine. It is not fun to drive at all. A Prius will beat you off the light and still get better fuel economy.

You may as well remove the turbos all together and run the car N/A, then you could at least go higher in the RPM's, where the power exists.

HYDROGEN!!!! These are the best engines for it!
Now I havent built one for this vehicle yet, but I have built one for my 98, 4.6 ltr. Ford Expedition; as well as other units for other people. About 5 or 6 others. in fact. Its my side business that Im about to scale up for residential use. I went from an average of 18mpg highway to about 27/29mpg highway. I don't really count city cause I live pretty close to the highway and i find it not as important as the highway mileage but overall it rocks! 57% increase on my Ford. Holla if your interested!!!!

Another vote for a tunable ECU and get rid of that wing.

Yup. I average 24 mpg on the highway my single turbo with 550's and 1300's. But as soon as I floor it---> :rofl:

My FD helps the economy $$$$$$ :)

As a matter of fact i wrote a letter to BP telling the i had the answerer for their oil spill. Hook up the gulf of Mexico to my fuel rails.

guys you are complaining for 3$ per gallon...what should i say looking at the 7$ per gallon that gas is costing here in italy?

free tankers from the US anyone? :D

Bunch of babies! Gas is much higher here in Canada.

I do wish the car was better on gas because then I could spend more on go fast goodies.

PS the oem wing is sexy leave it on.

I picked up 5+ mpg after I sent my fuel injectors away to RCEng to get cleaned/serviced back in 2004 when I was still using my FD as a daily drive.

PFC and tune is best way to get better fuel economy.

I agree with Double J damn expensive up here, and really we are talking about the RX 7 here. Not the best example of fuel economy, if I can get over 300km a tank city driving I am grinning ear to ear LOL Drive the car and have fun with it for a few months then park it and drive something good on fuel.
If I need to go on a long trip I take the TDI Jetta, damn thing makes my 7 look like it has a 4 inch hole in the bottom of the fuel tank.

I would say pretty much what everyone else is saying,
Clean air filter, fuel filter, regular maintenance stuff
Get the injectors cleaned
O2 Sensor
DP ect ect

Honestly drive the car and have fun with it, if fuel economy is what you want you might need to look at a different car

Mike

In vac/cruise conditions, I tuned my PFC to run 16-17 air-fuel ratio. Ever since I did that I have been able to get about 24-25 mpg.... IF I totally baby it, and my motor is running hot (which for me is mid 80's *C water temp on the street). Have only taken measurements 3 times "babying" it. When it's colder outside, during the winter, I use more fuel. I typically drive my car very hard after warmed up, in boost every chance I get when there is no traffic, it's too much fun... and it drops to 15-20 mpg. These cars are not meant to putt around... as has been mentioned.

Only drive the car on the freeway on long trips...
Do not autocross it...
Do not drag race it...
Do not stomp on the gas pedal just to hear the killer exhaust you added...
Do not drive fast...
Keep it stock...well maybe a downpipe...

Oh wait - what fun is that? Why did you get this car?
What the h#!! ... enjoy it and be glad you're not paying European gas prices!

:)