Hi, New RX7 owner, in Maryland
 

I was told by a guy named Eugene to come to this website. /boggle, hopfully it will help me out quite a bit!

Well, I just bought my first RX7, 1993 black touring edition, 56000 miles total and 5k on the new engine.
I fell in love with RX7's the first time I ever drove one 3 years back.
I've basically done everything from body work, re-wiring, to dropping a new engine in my Wrangler, yet RX7's are quite a bit more high-tech and need more maintainence I am told, which I am all for!
I did all the do's and donts etc for the car before I bought it, got the compression test, and had PF supercars take a look at it in Manassas Virginia, the car is in excellent condition.
I just have a couple of questions:

1). How well would you all rate PF supercars for engine work?
2) I know its a definite need to have a turbo timer, are there any you all reccomend?
3) Exactly what are the side affects/ long term affects if somone were to take out the catalytic converter and put in downpipes?
4) What kind of oil is best for the engine? a certain company? a certain viscoscity?
5) What kind of gas is best for the engine?

Thats about it, I've researched all of these questions, but I'd prefer to hear it from actual owners rather than from reading it from a book or some bigtime website. Thanks for your time guys. I hope to have this car totally tweaked out in a couple of months!

let me be the first one to tell you before you get flamed..do your search first and read all the threads here

Levy is right, most of your questions have been answered, re-answered, and overly answered. :)

Between the 3rd Gen & Goog Guy Bad Guy sections you should have no trouble finding opinions on PFS. Turbo Timer's are a waste of money if you let your turbos cool down before shutting down. Drive for a few minutes without hard boosting and you'll save a few hundred dollars. Everything else, is an easy search and has some dependance on your location.

Right they are.

Anyway....welcome to the forum. Don't forget to put your favorite rotary mechanic and/or Ray @ Malloy Mazda (for parts) on speed dial.;)

A few hundred dollars in reference to what, a turbo timer? I paid $90 for mine including the harness, brand new.

I suppose the prices could have changed since I last looked. ;)

I use castrol Gtx 20w-30. Downpipe is for reliabilty as it relives alot of heat off the engine. Most people run 3" all the way back.

Re: Hi, New RX7 owner, in Maryland
 

2) Turbo timers aren't mandatory. They make a nice "covenience" item if you're too impatient to sit in the car and letting it idle for 30 secs. - 1 minute to let the turbos cool off. And as "diablone" pointed out, you can also drive at low or no boost a few miles from your destination, however, not all of us are so soft-footed. :)
3) Actually, you'll be replacing the PRE-CAT w/ a downpipe, and this is done so as a reliability modification to lower turbo/engine temps.
4) Some people use synthetic, and some use regular. You can't go wrong either way, just change your oil religiously every 3 months/3K miles and you'll be fine. Personally, I use Castrol GTX 10W/30.
5) 91+ Octane

Wrapping the downpipe is also nice to have even less heat in the engine bay.

Re: Hi, New RX7 owner, in Maryland
 

I wouldn't call FDs high tech, more that they are complex. Has your car had the hose job done? If not, get some hoses (silicone or viton) and when you finish you'll appreciate just how many moving parts are in this car. Also, the choices made by Mazda engineers regarding components leaned heavily towards performance over service life. Bushings, door handles, solenoids, rubber hoses, etc wear out and can need replaced more than once in the lifetime of the car. Oil, fuel filter, etc must be done regularly and taken seriously.

As the others have said, there is plenty of info about PFS in the archives here. It doesn't seem that PFS isn't skilled, but they have had some very unsatisfied customers.

You can have the turbo timer I bought and never installed (only $50). If you think you'll be tempted to run the car hard and need to shut it off quickly, it will be a turbo-saver. Personally, I just drive it easy for the last 2-3min of driving. (It's not hard when you wait 5 min to punch it at the beginning of your drive too).

1) You won't pass emissions if no cats are present. You can replace the pre-cat with a downpipe and generally pass a sniffer, but once you replace your main cat for a midpipe there's no chance.
2) With a midpipe in place, the drop in backpressure causes stock boost control to fail. You need to plan a boost controller if you want to run midpipe. You may consider a high-flow cat with a downpipe - no boost spike problems like a midpipe, good chance of passing emissions, it doesn't stink like s**t, and it won't get you tickets for being stupidly loud.

Doesn't matter what type. Most of us use 10w-30 or 20w-50. Just keep it changed every 2k-3k. 20w-50 is good in MD.

91+ octane isn't 'best', it's downright necessary. Don't run the car on less than that, ever. Many engines have popped due to a bad tank of gas. I personally only trust major brand-name service stations like Sunoco (who have their 94 octane) since I figure less chance of the tanker filling the 93 tank with 87. (It happens - I know a driver who told me about how often he was told to do that).

This IS the bigtime website. Unfortunately, we don't have a good FAQ written, but searches are good.

Take your time with modding the car. If you mean installing reliability mods and doing maintenance, knock yourself out. That is money not wasted. For mods, it's more enjoyable if you work your way up steadily. What are your goals? Will you drift/drag/ or road course it? Will it be your daily driver?

1 888 533 3400 Contact Ray @ Malloy for any OEM RX7 parts you may need. www.gothamracing.com Contact Rich or Steve for any Aftermarket parts you may need and any question you may have.

P.S. Use the 'Search' feature on this website to see what other FD owners have used and delt with as far as service with different mechanics, aftermarket product performance and tech issues.. I would do ALL the reliablity mods first. ie: AST, Radiator, change Thermostat, plugs, plug wires, use non synthetic oil but some may disagree, fuel and oil filter possibly get a downpipe and mid pipe but only get a mid pipe if you plan on going with a aftermarket ECU such as an Apexi Power FC.

Re: Hi, New RX7 owner, in Maryland
 

Is he the asian guy with the silver FD?

welcome to the club, us north easterners have our own section, be sure to check it out :) see you at the md bbq. haha