Anyone here winter drive an RX7? Rx-7's are like the holy grail of imports to me, but I can only afford one car (until past college), and I need something to drive daily, including winter. It seems like FB's and FC's are the only ones in my price range (5 grand to actually buy the car, if I sell my jeep and combine with cash I have). I'm not to worried about gas(jeeps a gas guzzler, and I'm not driving far). Reliability is my main concern.

Thanks in advance for any answers!

 

I daily drove my NA FC when I had it, and loved every minute of it. I'm considering buying another FC just to have as a winter beater / winter auto-X car, but my SO would kill me.

 

So theres hope! I'm getting rather excited.

 

Well,If you don't mind the Fact that the car gets mileage like that of a Big Rig,then ya..you can drive the Car is Winter..all that Spinnin and Gas shootin through it..You'd better be Graduating College SOON!..as the Gas bill will make you NEED a Good job!.I would honestly Like to say Go for it..Really,But If the car is Low to the Ground,and you are Cruisin on Snow..then you better have good Driving Skills,and WINTER Tires.I'd personally Stay with the Jeep..All the Money saved on Fuel,and Laundry Soap(crap your pants driving!),you can put it into Mods for your Summer FC!

 

I was just looking at gas mileage, both consumerguideauto.howstuffworks.com and fueleconomy.gov and they both rated my wrangler as less fuel efficient as the worst NA FC model I could find, though I had an idea.

My parents recently sold a beater 94 intrepid for a few hundred dollars, it ran fine just needed brakes, so it may not be out of my reach to purchase a cheap econobox (lots of old civics around town) for the winter while college/university is in an keep an fc for the summer. As it is I've got a year and a bit before college so I that would give me some time and money

My heads doing loopty loops right now

 

figure on averaging 18-22MPG depending on luck
any worse than that, it's not running properly
any better than that, you drive like a pansy.

 

The gas isn't that bad. I got way better gas mileage than my S-10 (4.3L V6).

With a good set of winter tires, an N/A FC is one of the best things on the road in the winter. You have great weight dist for traction, combined with overall low weight for stopping. With my FC I was driving around when when a good chunk of the city stayed home because they were all stuck! I could drive through snow up to the FTP lenses.

I personally prefer a RWD vehicle in the winter. It teaches you how to drive responsibly and properly on icy roads. I hate the was FWD handles, and things go wrong it is much harder to correct/recover. AWD is cheating, and scares me. A lot of people don't seem to understand that having more traction on the get go doesn't mean you have more traction to stop with.

And finally, driving the FC in the winter is FUN!

 

i know a guy personally that drives his 10.88 sec fd everyday. rain,snow,sleeth.

 

I've driven my 7 through 2 winters and daily drove it a lot in the past 5 or so years whenever I haven't been away at University. It was a stunning example though, very recent rebuild, over $7k in bills. I bought a great car and was rewarded by great reliability, if you don't buy a great car, don't expect great reliability. I've also been good to it and taken care of it. If you don't take care of it then it won't be reliable.

It's a little more trouble than something more normal, but for me it's worth it.

 

Go for it!

 

Dude buy a 12A SA/FB for daily driving, thats exactly what I'm thinkin.

 

Thanks for all the great replies guys. I'm gonna start looking into this a little more seriously.

 

I drove my first FB (83 gs) through the winter and enjoyed it. The engine was healthy, started in -20 no problem and the choke worked flawlessly. With winter tires it was very very stable and I enjoyed it a lot. Only complaint was the heater could have been better. My Saturn on the other hand heats up in just a few blocks, used half the gas, and FWD with Blizzaks is almost unbeatable.

 

Just get a NAFC

I can't imagine my FD being driven in snow though, that lip will get ripped off just exiting my driveway :P

 

my 2 cents on winter reliability... my FB starts in -25 to -30 everytime .. without being plugged in. im not sure how much more reliable u can get. My FC is a lil more picky due to hot start issues but it still gets me around 99 out of 100 times, which is good for a junkyard 7 id say.

 

If your main concern is winter driveability, go with an FB. Properly maintained, driven responsibly this will be as good as it gets fuel mileage wise. As well, the light weight will aid in winter. No matter which generation you choose be sure you have GOOD snow tires. When I had my FC for winter I ran brand new snow tires and had next to no issues. If you want something quicker than an FB, an S5 N/A with minor mods is not only pretty quick, but one of the funnest relatively easy to drive cars out there. If you happen to find a TII for less than $5000( I did), you'll probably want to keep it stock until winter is over. As for gas mileage, in the city I get 350-375km per tank in my TII, with intake/exhaust. If you can afford to buy an safc or comparable fuel tuning tool, you might manage a little better.

 

Buy an FC!

Archie! how'd you make your way in here? Get lost on the way to the lounge :P

 

winters are awsome and fd's in winter are better....

 

My FC has been my daily driver for the last 10 years, and I've been living on different parts of the prairies. In fact, its the only car I have ever owned period. An FC works in snow and ice no problem. Just slow down if the back end starts feeling squirrely. Wash it lots to get rid of any salt. Plug it in when you can. They do have the sub-zero starting system, but I doubt it works. I filled my sub-zero reservoir 9 years ago and it still looks to be at the same level now as it did then. The coldest I have driven it in was -37c. It didnt like it, but it went. (It was an emergency, I had to, beleive me.) Thats the best I can say. I've had no problems.

 

Personally, I think an FB would be more reliable for you than an FC, given the starting issues some seem to have. Just make sure you NEVER flood it, cause you probably won't get it unflooded easily in sub 0 temperatures, reguardless of which gen you pick. But IMO, the FB is the best for snow driving if you get an RX-7. As long as the carb is in good shape and the choke works fine, it won't give you any problems starting in cold weather.

 

I daily drive my FC all year round...loads of fun in the snow lol