Rx-7 not able to drive in winter?
 

I want to purchase a 3rd gen rx7. I really don't care which year, just a 3rd gen. But whenever I check it out I keep hearing people say "well if you're going to get that car becareful, cause you can't drive it in the winter" something about the ring on the rotor can freeze up or something like that. I just heard that something in the engine makes it bad for the rx7 to run in the winter time. Some kind of ring or belt or something. No one is clearing this up for me and I'm dying to know if it's true or not. :wallbash: Can anyone give me some advice on this? I would really appreciate it. :bigthumb:

I have 93,000 miles on my 93 FD and I have been driving it in the winter until recently. It is on the third engine, and I have had the turbo rebuilt. I got 63, 000 miles on the 1st. 30,000 on the second and about 2,000 miles so far on the current engine. They do pretty good in the snow if you have the correct tires.

oh.... what?
never heard that.
my car likes it better when cool or cold weather.

and btw that what antifreeze is for.

and check the facs thead should clear up any thing you might ever dream of hearing.

I never take mine out in the crappy weather, not because I couldn't drive it safely if it had the correct tires, but because of the damage that road salt, etc., does to the body, wheels, undercarriage, etc.

You do have to be careful - big HP and rear-wheel drive can be a dangerous combo in slippery conditions.

I've had my FD for 15 years, and if I drove it in the salt all those years, it probably wouldn't be worth owning by now.

There is nothing inherently bad about driving a rotary in the winter, but most here probably have alternatives. Like DaveW, mine went into storage the first week of November and probably won't come out until Easter...or whenever I'm confident the salt and gravel are gone.
Stop listening to whoever gave you this information, read the FAQs and educate yourself.

LOL

and here i thought that I had heard it all after 20 years of hearing BS rumors spouted about the rotary

that's a good one. I'm still laughing. :)

very true...

when that shit dry's its going to look terrible.

There's no mechanical reason why the car cannot be driven during the winter.

There are sanity reasons why you probably shouldn't drive it. When my car is running, I do drive it during the winter on days where I know its not going snow or get any freezing rain (basically dry streets).

Where do these rumours come from? The 3rd generation RX-7 has more bs surrounding it than any car that I can think of.

Who are the people that told you this? Were they on weekend release?

They were haters...

+1 for Medford, Oregon: NO SALT!

Be sure you let the motor warm up completely before driving it. I personally don't drive mine in the winter, but my friend in his SR20DET swapped 240 does fine with studded tires. (Similiar comparison to an FD....kinda?) :)

doesnt snow in montgomery alabama.

I have a related question. Is it OK to run 20W50 year-round in northern OK? It will likely get into the teens for a handful of days.

i think those rumors came from people with aftermarket ECUs not being tuned for the colder denser air, thereby causing detonation and popping their motors. i'd say go for it as long as u are running the stock ECU or know how to tune it for cold weather.

I think you may have mis-read some things. To me, driving in 'winter' means driving in snow or ice. I will never do that in my FD, particularly because it's got summer tires. Even with winter tires I would strongly prefer not to.

Driving in cold is not a problem. So there is nothing wrong with driving in wintertime IMO if the road is clear and dry.

Dave

I wouldn't unless they stopped selling 10w-30 in Northern OK.

Its kind of like the rumor about apex seals. " Oh I heard the apex seals go!" Yeh when you detonate. Don't all engines break under detonation? Anyway my car is fine in the winter. It doesn't like snow, but what sports car like it? Unless you have a 4x4 like a ford mustang.

Yeah, someone is talking out of their ass there.. There is no reason a well running FD couldn't be used during the winter months. IMO though, its not a good idea to count on it during inclement weather. With shitty drivers, road salt, etc.. there are just too many ways to f-up your FD.

Keep it under wraps during the winter after you perform the 1st reliability mod: A daily driver. :)

Good luck :icon_tup: