Rayman93RX7

iTrader: (4)

I've been asking myself lately, why do I like my car? Besides the fact that it's rare and beautiful there is nothing else I can see that is so great. I've had my car for about 4 years now and it's the only car I've ever built up. And now I find myself at the point where every dollar I put into the car I'll never get back because what I have invested is more than the car is worth. We all know about the rotary it has no low end torque and loves to blow when the car is pushed hard. Seriously every time, since I've bought the car, that I step on the gas and hit boost I am listening for the engine to blow, not that the car is tuned wrong or driving on the ragged edge but just every time I put it to the floor I half expect it to blow, isn't that insane?? Do you guys feel that way too? Then there is the tuning no one is there to help you with it if you want to do it yourself or they want $100 an hour plus dyno fees to do it for you and then who knows if it's done right?? If the motor blows 5K miles later they will just say "well it's a rotary". Then just say somehow you have 5 people in your area who are "good rotary tuners" each one will have their own totally different way of setting up timing and then will each say the other has no idea what they are doing and they’re all wrong and "I've been tuning rotaries for 100years" and so on.... it's all so all over the place. Even on this forum you'll ask a question you'll get one answer then another guy will post up and say "he doesn't know what he's talking about you'll blow your motor if you do that you've got to do this..... " and they could each have 10,000 posts just cuz you have more posts doesn't really mean you know what you are talking about it just means you have more posts.

So why do we keep these cars? Couldn't we build up another car (like a Corvette) to be just as good for around the same money and when we want to upgrade it just open up the Summit catalog and order some parts and a plug+play ECU chip and that’s it we're done? No more ordering crap from Japan at a huge mark up, no more waiting a month to get parts or a year to get a back-ordered CF hood that costs insane amounts? My buddy works at a Chevy dealer and they had a 2003(C5) ZO6 there so I asked if he could get me a test drive. That car was a little slower than mine but it was so much more fun. Having 300ftlb of torque on tap from 1500RPM and up is so great and so much more usable on the street. My car would have to crank up to about 4500rpm before it sees any real torque and then it just spins tire to about 65mph, how fun is that unless you are pulling onto the highway? Not that the ZO6 didn't spin tires too but it was just so much more manageable and the response was instant no lag at all, that was the first time I've ever felt that and now I realize why people hate turbo lag so much. Also my car is getting where it's going to need some new bushings, motor mounts, new rubber seals here and there, wheel bearings, ect... just small things that I'll have to pay out the *** for to get from Mazda cuz they like to pretend that they never built this car and hardly have any parts available for it or in some cases don't even know what it is. So I'm strongly thinking of selling it, so now I have to find a buyer who won't care that it can't pass emissions and that it smells like a chainsaw just another struggle I'll have to face with the car.

So maybe some one who has built other cars and explain to me what is so great about 3rd gens and rotaries in general. Maybe I just don't appreciate the car because I’ve never built anything else and I don’t realize the costs involved with building up a V-8 or other piston motors.

Rxmfn7

iTrader: (4)

At the point where you stop having fun with your car, is the point where to need to look into other cars. Nothing wrong with that, but it just sounds like you need a change. Ive been playing with Rx-7s for over 7 years, and everytime I drive I still get alot of enjoyment and excitement from it. If you arent enjoying it anymore, there is no point in owning it.

As far as the Z06, it will be a more reliable and cheaper car to own/modify, with the returns in performance just as good, if not better than an FD. Ive driven an '03 Z06, and if I ever got rid of my FD, thats probably what Id get. I dont think it is quite as nimble and fun as an FD, and the styling doesnt do too much for me, but the performance is great.

NESpeed

How often do you meet up with other FD owners?

wutanec

There are faster cars than RX7s and there are cars that are nimbler and corners faster than RX7s. Why do we like these cars so much? well for me, It's respect. whenever you meet someone who knows a little bit about cars really respect you. Because they know that it's not a car that you just bring to dealership to fix stuff like ferraris or porsches. I dont know. For me, It's the respect that i get from the car that excite me the most.

XSTransAm

i like the car cause its the rarest car on the road, it handels beautifully, gets decent gas mileage while making 500hp, sounds like a jet, and looks better than most anything else.

It has its problems, and all car markets have their retard tuners trust me. Any low displacement high horsepower engine is prone to failure just as much as a rotary. And replacing things like bushings and rubber is going to be standard on any car as old as ours.

turbo lag is probably my biggest complaint, but life is give and take.

Mike

supraturbo1987

iTrader: (4)

It sounds like you love the car, but are concerned about dollars/reliability the most....i think you are a perfect candidate for an LS1 swap honestly. I owned my supraTT for 6 years...loved it till the day i sold it. However, being an 87 (although there was over 25k in to the car with the 1jz) I got tired of the 80's design and I wanted something different. I love the design of the rotary, and have always wanted an FD. My father-in-law has a loaded 04 RX-8, and has started to do some modding to that. After I sold the supra...I knew i had to have an FD....that way it is great time for me and my father-in-law to spend together modding them both....the best part....i have only had the car for just over a week...and he doesn't know I have it yet....he is going to absolutely freak

Trev

s-thetikz

iTrader: (1)

here, let me tell you about the FD from another perspective

sure, you can list its attributes, complain about its un-reliability, talk about how much **** costs.. etc.. in fact, if you look at this forum compared to any other, you'll see that a lot of this board is split between extreme newbies, and the hardcore enthusiasts. there seems to be a lot less middle. its because i think there are two types of FD owners. those that are diehard, and those that aren't.

im sure a lot of people on this forum know they will never sell their cars, and give it a special place in life. despite all the problems and the **** that one has to go through, this car has something unique and almost life-like about it. all i know is that i will try to always have my FD in life, even if it means i have to live in it and eat off my engine bay.

theres just something about it that transcends "good cars" and "bad cars" . its the experience of owning one, and living a "car" version of life through it.

damn, this ganja's really doing the typing.

poss

iTrader: (5)

I felt the exact same way you do about 6 months ago. I still have my car, but nearly every day I contemplate selling it...I just don't know if I can justify losing all the time and money I've put in it.

dubulup

show us pics of your car on a track or autoX event...if you can't, then you won't understand why most like these cars

lnbrown5981

^^^^^Hey poss I am @ Robins also!!! Was your car parked at the russell pkwy gate last week? I drove out the gate and saw it and was like wooo-hooo another rotary!!! Be on the look out for either a red (sleeper) 87 GXL that is in serious need of bodywork, or a Grey Rx-8 zipping about. That would be me!!!

Also, in response to the thread i think that what is so appealing to the rx-7 and rotaries in general. Is the simplicity of them. As far as reliablity goes, that all depends of the work done and who it was done by. If you do all the work on your car it is imperative that you be **** when doing that work. You will always be rewarded in the end. I have driven alot of faster cars, and the rx-7 (all generations) has always been my favorite because of it's uniquity, it's simplicity, and it's driver connection with the road. In conclusion as an Rx-7 owner you must essentially treat your car like a person. If you are good to it, it will be good to you.

...and Rayman93RX7, if you have lost your passion and your love for the car, like any relationship in life you must move on and search to rediscover that passion.

good luck

ZumSpeedRX-7

iTrader: (12)

do not tell Ray to put an LS1 in his FD. if you like the LS1 buy a Corvette or Camaro.

Im sorry you're stuck in this rut with your RX-7. i sometimes question why i put the amount of money into my car, but it is all out the window after i sit down, strap myself in and start it up. You dont get anything back, you dont win money for racing it. i dont win car shows, so there is no income from my car. i knew this when i started building it. im not builidng it to make money. dumb investment? yea, how many rx-7 owners actually make money on their car? or any car owner in general? ive owned my car for 3 and a half years and havent had the honor to build it myself. with me, unfortunatly, if something breaks i bring it to a shop. with you, you are your own shop. i can see how that would be frustrating. i know if i was going to have to fix it everytime i broke something, i wouldnt be so hard on it. whenever i feel like the rx-7 isnt as much fun, i take a ride in the RX-8. its like night and day. maybe thats what you need. ill bring the RX-8 next time we meet up. then youll love your RX-7.

you already know you arent going to get what you put into it. these cars do not seem to hold their value. people ask me what i would want for my car, and i say $36k and i get the strangest looks for it. im still taking a loss at $36k, but i am also not trying to sell it. if the RX-7 was like the Supra, it would hold it's value a lot more. Unfortunatly (and you are def. not this person) people buy the RX-7 and dont know what they are doing with it so they sell it for cheap money. its not hard to find a RX-7 for under $10k in good working condition.

anyway im getting sidetracked. i love the fact that when i get in my car in the morning i know im not gonna see another FD in my day. i love seeing them, but i love having one of the rarest japanese sports cars of today. maybe next to the NSX. imagine being a WRX or Evo owner going out everyday and seeing your exact car drive by you maybe 5 or 6 times a day with 1 exact match. even corvettes arent rare anymore. i see literally hundreds of C5s and C6s before i find 1 RX-7 (of any generation). the corvette has grown on me, but i think you are too young for one. i would just make your RX-7 reliable (as reliable as possible) and enjoi it. unfortunatly, as you know, reliability isnt cheap either. if you want a responsive car that you can still have fun with, look into the MKIV Supra. If you were to get rid of your RX-7, i think you would be happier in one. bullet proof motor, great response to mods, rare, japanese.

theres a racing event at Lime Rock on October 2nd with CART-CT. if you are still in a rut, im sure whipping around the track might rekindle something. either way good luck with whatever you do. Anthony wants me to come by and say hi sometime soon, so im gonna be in your area. ill have to give you and eric a call and we can meet up.

foamfan

Why?

Because we know a good thing when we see one. I got introduced to it on a ride & drive just prior to the Miami Grand Prix in 93 and fell in love with it. The car drove so well while being flogged that I thought they had racing tires and actually took a look to make sure they didn't. I had 2 young kids and I knew it didn't make any sense to get a 2 seater but I showed it to my wife and she said YES.

This car was probably the best interpretation of what a hard core sports car is from a Japanese manufacturer (of course there was the NSX but out of my price range). It was and still is beautiful, lightweight, handles extremely well and didn't really get eclipsed in Solo II competition until the ZO6 came out but is still competetive given a decent driver even now (got 3 SCCA regional championships with it plus a few more clubs). The car attended almost every conceivable motorsport event in the state of Florida and an occassional driver school/track event to Road Atlanta until 1999.

My car's engine finally gave out after more than 42k miles of AutoX's, driver schools and track events, so I'm not complaining. It has far exceeded any of my expectations, since if you do any motorsports you know that they tend to blow out on a more than frequent basis. I figured mine wouldn't last me more than 3 years because of the foolishness that I put it through but I was in for a surprise that took 13 years to unravel. The only mods that I have are a K&N and cat-back which I put on almost as soon as I got the car; figured that I'd do some serious mods once I blow it up..... which took an unexpectedly very, very long time.

The car was never a daily driver for me, it was a Solo II, drivers school and track car for all of it's life. There were a lot of people complaining of problems which were all legitimate like coked turbochargers, overheating, blown engines, cooked plastic and rubber parts and more.
Secret to longevity. Neuroses bordering on insanity in keeping an eye on the temperature gauge, coolant and oil levels. The car was idled for 15mins after running either on track or road with the hood open; the hood was only closed after everything cooled down. Pulling off the road in heavy traffic when temp levels threatened and even running the heater in the summertime traffic of Miami to keep things acceptable. This was a massive PITA so you could imagine how it was when it was street driven. In 13 years, the only problems were a battery in '95, busted serpentine belt in maybe '96, leaky thermostat housing in '00; and of course now the engine (which still has great compression but coolant leaks in).

Where I am now. The car's engine gave out on my way home after an all day track event on July 30. Coolant suddenly blew out of the crevices of the hood. The engine got so hot that the sensor on the filler melted and got blown out even if the engine was immediately shut down. The mods are going to come now to give it a little more Oooomph, that's why I finally am researching what I can safely do without compromising reliability in this forum; after all, my youngest who just turned 15 got promised the CAR

fdeeznutz

The track/autocross is what this car is all about.
I consider my FD a recreational vehicle. I drive it at the track and to some car gatherings/shows. After I get my car back together and running I plan on purchasing a supra to go HP crazy and still be able to daily drive it. I've always wanted a white 7 and Supra.

j9fd3s

iTrader: (3)

i bought my fd in about march of 2000 i think and i ended up selling it to a friend of mine from high school. my car is high mileage, but mostly original mechanically, engine, turbos, rear brakes. i bought it with 74k on it, its got 110now.

the key to reliability, and fun on the street with these cars is to leave em mostly stock. single turbo fd's are not as fun on the street, they get too serious. and you have to be paranoid with all the guages, and its probably loud and hard riding.

much more fun is a stock car with a dp, and suspension ala howard coleman, and they are for a fast car pretty reliable too.

you need to decide who it is you are trying to impress, yourself? or the honda kids?

my $2

oh and to answer the question we like em cause theres still nothing quite like it, either before or since.

JConn2299

Finally! An intelligent response.

The people who look at the 3rd Gen RX-7 in drag racing terms (and there are a lot of them) have a very limited vision. There is a lot more to this car than that.

It wasn't designed to be a drag racer. It was designed to be a total performance sportscar. As much work went into the chassis as the engine, if not more. The chassis and the rest of the car was designed from scratch. Many of the parts are exclusive to the RX-7 and are not shared with any other vehicle. (That's rare even for other performance cars which share many of the their parts.)

The engine, on the other hand, was built up from the existing 13B design.
You could make the case that relative to other performance cars the FD is better at handling than it is at accelerating. For me, it's the way the whole thing comes together when I drive it that I like.

1QWIK7

iTrader: (33)

I still enjoy my car, the little times i do drive it.

I guess thats why i dont daily drive mine. Cause the time when i actually do drive it, its like a new car again. A new feeling and then the continuation of complements, stares, thumbs up proceed.

I think that makes it all worth it in owning these cars. Some people have a limit to their patience, some dont. I do because i havent drove my car since february and seems like the more stuff i do to it, i drive it less and less.

Once its back on the road, no more mods for a while.

Red95FD

iTrader: (3)

I love the look of my 95, it handles great, and it feels fast. What else is there?

Rayman93RX7

iTrader: (4)

Foam Fan --- I am amazed that the car lasted that long without a problem. Every stock RX-7 I've ever seen or driven did not work right, even my first one which I bought from the service manager of a Mazda dealer had a terable boost pattern every time you nailed the gas it ran a different boost.

I have auto-Xed the car and gone to driving schools with it and I had alot of fun untill I had to cut my track time short cuz after 2 or 3 hard laps the car would begin to get over 110c even with the Koyo Rad. I never abuse the car but I do drive it hard now and then and I want somthing I don't have to stress about breaking so much cuz it take me a while to save up for replacement parts. I've though about selling mine and starting over with another stock one and just doing a few simple mods but stock FDs are just too slow for me, my car now has about 340rwhp and thats about as slow as I'd want it. Maybe I do just need something new. I've thought about the LS-1 swap but most of the people who buy these cars want the rotary or hate V-8s or anything domestic so it would be really hard to sell if I ever had to, plus the rotary is mostly what makes this car unique. I'm really thinking about trying a Corvette even though I know it's kind of an old man's car but they are comeing down in price for an early C5 so I could probly sell my car and find one. But thanks alot guys for all your feedback you all made good points the best one was the one about how these cars are not drag cars I strongly agree with that I hate the whole pointless import drag racing fad that is going on right now. (don't even get me started on front wheel drive drag racing!!!!)

please continue with more imput.........

tphan

Well...here is why I like my FD.

Friday I took the car to get an inspection and an alignment...the person that aligned the car put the front wheels onto the roller...I told him its a RWD...we both laugh. After passing inspection the FD got onto the lift for the alignment. I kid you not there were 7 peoples gathered around the car admiring it...one person even ask if this was Mazda new version of RX7...he was shocked when I told him it's a 1994.

If it was a C5 Z06...then its just another vette...everyone knows its a vette.

To sum up...FDs are toys, it wasn't meant for every day use, if we want a reliable vehicle then we should drive Honda, Toyota, Nissan...

tphan

Rayman93RX7 - go buy a C5 Z06...they are fast car. This was what I wanted before I got my FD.

If get a Vette make sure you get a gold watch, few necklaces, and at least 1 ring...just kiddin.

DREYKO

i have a second gen n/a rx-7 differnet car entirely but same principle.

i love my car to death and would never concider selling it or trading it even for an fd. being n/a its not too fast not too loud, but itll still spit the occasional fireball from time to time.
i love my car because of what it is. it is the embodiment of a true sports car, its loud hot uncomfortable, but fun as all hell.

we love there cars for that reason. there is nothing fake about them, everything has a purpose on this car. its not dolled up suger coated nothing. it is what it is.

if you need to rekindle your love for the car try this take a camera and spend 3-4 hours getting the best photos you can of it. it really works wonders. youll fall in love with it all over again. trust me.
(btw the turbo hood is on there because its aluminuim and im building a cai using it)

foamfan

Rayman,

I guess a little luck might be involved, but dont get me wrong; It is still hard to keep an eye on everything when running it hard. When doing track events, I run the heater all the way to maximum to help out the radiator. The brakes start fading after about 3 laps and if you are lucky maybe 5 and that's assuming the coolant temp has not forced you to temporarily just cruise on the track and not touch the brakes which is then followed by a quick bleeding (thank goodness for Speedbleeders) just before you go out on the next session.

I just purchased a Koyo N flow radiator for it and hope that that would cure some of the cooling problems that I had on the old engine. It is also time to accumulate some parts for some modest modifications (DP, MP,SMIC,PFC).

The C5 ZO6's are awesome cars from a performance point of view; great handling and incredible power but they're not my kind of car (too wide, too long, feels awkward); the C6......aaaah, that's a different story. It seems to me that they might have tried to emulate some of the coziness of the FD's coupled with great power and handling. I cant wait to drive the ZO6 version.

jones94

for me owning an 3 gen rx7 is all about being unique. i would hate owning a car that i see everyday, thats why rx7s stand out. yes, it takes a lot of time, patience, and money to keep the turbo rotarys running correctly, but the payback is tenfold. no other car i have ever drove or rode in feels like an rx7. power is delivered so smooth and multiplies as the rpms rise to the redline, and the car has the suspension system of very expensive, very exotic sports car. anyone with money can go out and buy a corvette or ferrari, and everyone knows that. thats why rx7 owners get so much respect. no matter what pulls up next to you on the highway or racetrack will respect you because they know rotaryheads are different and that the cars can be made blindingly fast with the right modifications. my advice for anyone who has gotten tired of keeping up with the most complicated engine on the road, is to drop a 3 rotor in. that way you still have a rotary, but a more reliable, more powerful one. pettit racing will even install one, if you dont want to do it yourself. i think once your rx7 is gone you will regret it, and then you will really understand why you loved the car, and why everyone on this forum loves them.

F0RSAKEN

Ill sum it up in one word: Passion.

WanKeL FD RX-7

iTrader: (7)

hey guys, that's a nice thread. Speaking for myself, my engine just blew 3 weeks ago. You know what, i wasn't pissed off, i wasn't sad... in my mind, my FD is a TOY. It's not my daily driver, it's just a toy, it's my week-end vehicule. You guys have to put in your heads that it's only a fun car... I really enjoy every second driving this car! I've been in rx7 world for at least 7-8 years now and the first car i ever drove was a FB. It's kind of a family thing, my dad has an fd, had an fb... I just cannot imagine my life without this satisfaction of driving it, people always telling me that my car is the nicest sports car.. I know its a lot of money, i know that these babies can't be as reliable as a corvette or a honda, but any car that is modded or tuned and that is making some good power can't be indestructible.

I think we guys are really lucky to own these cars, these are special cars.

Enjoy every second of it!

My 2 cents,

Max