A_Page06

Having been looking into a college car for around the $3-4,000 dollar price range lately and, generally, looking into the two seat sporty-type car, the Rx-7 caught my eye. Generally, they look like nice cars, but when any question of daily-driving them comes into play the results are...less than pleasing.

In short, I really like the idea of the rotary engine, but need to know that if I buy smart, change oil and oil filter and other routine maintenance regularly, and let the car warm up and cool down, I'll be ok. I hear too many horror stories of turboed Rx-7s loosing an apex seal and winding up with an engine swap.

Any words of wisdom or general experiences with Rx-7s on a daily-driver basis welcome. Also keep in mind I will be going to college, so any major maintenance can't be done more than yearly (summer).

...

Nihilanthic

N/A they're fairly reliable, just change the oil regularly, use good gas, watch the temp gauge and take care of the coolant system, and do a comp. test before buying.

Just bear in mind they suck down gas with the stock ecm (I assume youre thinking about getting a 2nd Gen) and youre probably going to have some odds and ends to fix up before its totally straight.

Sure, itll be fun and you can autocross it, but its not the most practical car. That said, Im a big fan of the 2nd gen as a platform for performance and modification, can be nice DDs, but dont expect to lug around a lot of... anything with them. RX7s can haul ***, but they cant really haul a whole lot else.

sillbeer

Buy a Honda. They where meant to be daily drivers with low maintenance.

-Destin

pyscho7

why would u get anything but a rotary? as far as the engine goes, excellent reliability, 19mpg isnt too bad, easy to maintain, and probably one of the only cars you can hold 8k and not have any problems and drive home for $3000-4000

A_Page06

Thanks for the suggestions. Any more? The more I read the more I become interested in rotary power, I just need a car that can get me from A to B on a generally reliable basis, maintaining it on a regular basis actually seems like something I want to do (planning to major in Mechanical Engineering).

fists of fury

mechanical engineering, nice. i'm in aerospace. anyways, i drive a 86 gxl and it runs pretty well. i just wish i had more time to take care of it. it takes me about 25 mins to get to school on freeways, and i go to school 3 times a week, and i haven't had any problems w/ it.

GtoRx7

iTrader: (5)

The N/a is a great daily driver, I have had 5 Fc daily drivers, best advise I can give is this- Change your oil every 3k (duh) pull the injectors and have them sent to RC engineering to be cleaned and balanced, plugs and wires, air filter, fuel filter. also do tie rods and ball joints, and they seem to run very well! People forget that a rotary unlike almost every other car will not need a timing belt changed...ever...or valve adjustments, or valve cover leaks, or valve seals to leak, or rings w/ blowby.. I could go on forever.

aznpoopy

n/a rx7 can be really reliable. however, there are alot of other things that can go wrong besides a blown apex seal. the newest FC is 15 years old... that's alot of miles + time for everything else to wear down.

suspension (bushings, balljoints, etc)
wiring (grounds, soldering, etc.)
drivetrain (u-joints, diff, tranny)
any and all rubber seals

the list goes on. you may not blow the engine for another 5 years, but definitely expect to spend time fixing other items on the car.

A_Page06

Well as it turns out, I won't be driving to school it looks like anyways, mostly for costs of parking that just aren't neccecary. I'm definitely considering an RX now more since it would just be a summer driver and I'd have more time to work on it. (Plus if it did break I could walk to work, hah...). I dunno, I have a lot of friends who always tell me they suck every time I even bring it up, but I like the uniqueness of the rotary engines and the demand for good car care.

Any opinions on what year/generation? I don't think I want to get into a turbo model even if it is just a summer driver.

fcdrifter13

Its a used car, expect used car problems. The only good reason these motors fail is justlike every other car. They dont not recieve PM(preventive maintance), are riden hard and put away wet, and just old. But most are in fair condition for there age. I had a S$ NA with around 200k on the ODO and it ran great, and was very reliable.

The more you look the better some will look over others dont buy the first thing you see.

SLOASFK

iTrader: (5)

pick two: Rotary, Reliable, Power

shm21284

how bout all three?
N/A rotaries have no issues whatsoever, and neither do turbos if you avoid knock at all costs. 3-4k will get you a lot (I could build a 200 WHP N/A 13b with a haltech e8, including the car, for 4k), and if you are planning a major in mechanical engineering, you will understand what an engineering feat it really is. Also, remember that there are 3 moving parts that makeup the engine, so internal work is nothing. No timing belts, valve adjustments, harmonic balancers, lifters, etc. Keep the oil changed, warm it up (it's cast iron and aluminum sandwiched, they warm up at different paces) before you run it hard (this is good for any engine), warm it up before you shut it down (this also is good for any engine), keep the oil changed, and do not allow the engine to overheat. N/A rotaries also posses an excellent trate: they are less likely to knock because of their oddly shaped combustion chamber. Because rotaries do not withstand knock especially well, this is a bonus.

The low maintenence costs of the engine, when following those basic guidelines, is nice, especially when you do all your own work on the car. It saves a lot of work.

GoodfellaFD3S

iTrader: (213)

I'll sell you my vert for $6k. Slow as a slug, but starts up every time. Looks great with the new paint job too