Hey guys,

I thought I would share this with ya. I found this article way back and always enjoyed going through it again once in a while. There are some really cool pics on there. Im sure many of you have seen it before...

http://www.motivemag.com/pub/feature...azda_RX7.shtml

 

They're wrong on the redline.

 

Good eye!

 

Is that a late model japanese spec motor in the pic? It seems a bit different then the US motors in a few details?

Cool pics for sure.

 

Awesome.

 

I believe that's a US engine. look at the y pipe.

look at the 99 y pipe

 

It could possibly be any engine from the pre-99 era.

 

Great read for a noob like myself, looking to buy my first Fd.

Question though, is it accurate that the 1st turbo comes on at 1800 rpms. That is pretty immediate! what about the cold crank at 3000 rpms?

On a side note I was pulling into my neighborhood and saw an FD yesterday and followed him home, but couldn't bring my self to stop at his house. Am a FD addict?

 

I think my favorite line might just be - "The car owned the driver, and the driver was bent to its will. "

 

So they are wrong on the redline and when the turbos kick in. The e brake handle must be from the lhd cars not made for the US. Where are the LHD cars besides the US and Canada?

I have not seen the e brake on the drivers side like that. That looks strange.

 

the jap fd's have the e-brake in same location as the us specs.

 

What they did was take a picture of a RHD car and reverse it. also, with the turbos, aren't they both the same size? or was i missing something in the last 4 years?

 

Completely wrong. Completely and utterly wrong.

Also, the author whines more about harsh ride than my grandmother on a pogo stick.

 

The article is incorrect in that there is one bigger turbo than the other. The Hitachi twin turbos are just that -- twins of the same size.

 

Awesome great read for someone new to the RX-7

 

Nice read, but according to the Yamaguchi book, they're also wrong on giving Tom Matano full credit for the styling as Wu-Haung Chin was responsible for it as well. The car's curves were highly inspired by the Jaguar E-type he owned at the time.

I also like the qoute, ' The car owned the driver, and the driver was bent to its will. '

 

Not so technical, but I really dig the interior picture...

 

its an early engine. coolant fill cap adaptor is plastic, as is the turbo outlet pipe. (n3a1-13-240?) its also silver, 94+ is black

can't tell if its us, or not can't see aws from the front

 

anyone notice the pic of the hydrogen 16x from the mazda 5 in there?

 

With all due respect who would in their right mind spent 50k on a "Mazda" in the early ninties, heck even today with all the accolades in quality and satisfaction Mazda has earned over the last decade they would be hard pressed to sell cars now at that price point.

Don't get me wrong I'm a dyed in the wool Mazda fan, but I just see can't how it would have worked. Maybe if Mazda would have come strong with the Anfini line and brought over the Cosmo and a proper Millenia they could have made a run at it with a prestige marque.

Honda couldn't do it, neither could Nissan or Toyota, that's in part why we saw the creation of step-up marques in the late 80s and 90s of Acura, Infiniti and Lexus. (that and for US the tax breaks the automakers gained from basing these operations in the US instead of overseas)

Seriously I think they probably would have sold about the same amount of FD's at a higher price point as they did at the lower one. You'd just be exchanging a few thousand well heeled buyers for a few thousand guys buying their "Poor mans Porsche".

They would have been well served to introduce a N/A FD (I know blasphemy right?) as well. It would have done well to boost production numbers for chassis and general development and given Mazda a break on all those failed/cooked engines that got replaced under warranty.

 

Not a bad read. I did have to go to a dictionary and look up the word "niggle" though. Never seen that word (to criticize, esp. constantly or repeatedly, in a peevish or petty way).

Anyways, I think companies do exactly as you all speak of for the very reasons you speak of. A lot of cars back then didn't sell well bc of the the price and configurations. I think thats why now a days you have 3 or more configurations at different price levels. It's a win-win. You get the car you want at the price you want to pay, and the dealer sells a car. Had they made more Drivetrain/Powertrain price options, sure they'd have sold more. Those NA's would have been entry level. Turbo'd would have been what they were, the 20b would have been a upper model, and, GASP, a limited edition TT 20b for your Top of the Line model.

I think it failed bc car business back then wasn't what it is today. Manufacturers usually put everything in their vehicle and said here it is. Name 1 Japanese sports car that is made in current production. BUT, hindsight is 20/20. Maybe my kids can go buy me a 24xTT RX-7 one day when they grow up and make Millions of dollars. I'd be happy as hell.

 

3 rotor RX-7 for sure. I'm with you there. That my friend would have been a horse of a different color. (different breed even)

I can't imagine though why with another 7-8 years of FDs under Mazda's watch they never did anything to really "jazz" up the FD. Sure there were the Recaro seats and the occasional pedal/steering upgrades and the overdue exterior improvements.. but they never came clean with a true alacantra or legit carbon fiber interior worthy of the track prowess the FD lay claim over.

I don't want to say they were lazy because they surely weren't (they did much to evolve to what they are today) but they did seem to find complacency with the FD, but then again they had a formula and stuck with it I guess we should be thankful for them catching a bit of lightning in a bottle in the first place.