Jaeger_NL

I know this has been asked thousands of times but an RX7 FD is my dream car, i found a decent deal for one near me but everyone keeps telling me its a terrible first car, i know that it would be extremely difficult but i want to learn. I dont know too much but I at least know about pre mixing your oil, but i dont fully understand why i need to. What else do i absolutely need to know before getting this car?

WJM ROTARIES

Welcome to forum

Maxwedge

iTrader: (1)

You only need to premix if you (or previous owner) removed/disabled the OMP (oil metering pump). If it is still intact the motor will oil itself.

Jaeger_NL

so if OMP is not not removed, then you shouldnt premix? or do you just not have to? Also why would the OMP be removed, is that a common thing people like to do?

Maxwedge

iTrader: (1)

Pre-mixing is a somewhat controversial issue. Some people like to add a little just to "be sure". But when your car left the factory it was designed to not need any pre-mixing by the driver. Mazda put an OMP on every rotary engine that ever left the factory, and that OMP adds the proper amount of oil to the intake stream to lubricate the combustion chambers. No pre-mix is needed on a stock, properly functioning engine.
Sometimes people remove it / block it off so they can add their own preferred 2-stroke oil to the gas, instead of letting the engine burn "used" motor oil from the oil pan. It is widely debated if this has any actual benefit over just letting the engine work as Mazda engineered it to.
Bottom line - If your engine still has the factory OMP and it is functioning ( most are) then there is no need to pre-mix in the gas..

Jaeger_NL

Ah okay, so whats the main reason everyone says rx7s are terrible first cars?

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

Well, they require more frequent maintenance than most newer cars, gas mileage is not a strong suit, and the car must be treated with respect. You break the car, its going to be expensive. And if you don't know how to handle the car, it can get away from you and you could get hurt or hurt someone else. They are incredible cars but they must be driven with respect and you need time behind the wheel to learn the car. You also should have the tools and some knowledge on how to fix and maintain the car. Otherwise, the car could cost you quite a bit to maintain.The car would make an excellent second car but not a primary car for someone's first car.

Maxwedge

iTrader: (1)

When I was young all my first cars were 10 yo, 100k cars. They were affordable and all the parts were still available from the dealer, Napa or the junk yards.
RX7's are all 30 to 43 years old now. Most junk yards have crushed anything that old, and new parts availability is getting spotty, depending on what year you're looking for. I have a first gen ('85) and while Mazda still sells fenders, you can't find rebuilt brake calipers anywhere. I had to search for used ones from a junkyard (online) and then have them rebuilt. That's fine if it's a project car that lives in the garage, but sucks if it's your daily.
My son will be driving soon and we'll help him get an affordable, 70-100k car. It'll be new enough to be dependable with great parts availability, but used enough to be affordable for a young man. A rare antique car with hard-to-get parts would not be a good idea.

suzukisteve

iTrader: (4)

Maxwedge and the other contributors to this thread were spot on.

Just by your posts, I am going to make the assumption that you just got your driver's license and are still pretty young. Nine years ago I wanted an FD as my first car too ( I am about to turn 25). My grandfather talked my dad out of it saying they were too unreliable, so I got an eight year old Mustang instead. The Mustang was a great first car. It was cool and reliable, I did a few tasteful mods with the suspension and exhaust. While I owned that car and I never really envied the FD. I wanted one, one day but was happy with the Mustang I had. Fast forward a couple years and with life I was able to afford an FD as a second car. I love it, but it is not a reliable car, parts are super hard to find and you have to figure out how to work on everything yourself or make friends with someone who knows how. For the past two years my car has been unreliable. Only now after replacing the engine and transmission do I feel like it is, "reliable." It will spend weeks on jack stands and you will spend your weekends working on it. He's a few tips

• FD's will always be around, they will get more expensive but they will always be around. When I was getting my license you could pick up one for $14k. When I bought mine they were $24k. I felt like I missed the boat and was paying too much. Now people want $30k for rough ones. They will get more expensive and hard to find but its not like they are being crushed. I do not know many cars from this era that people still obsess over.
• Make friends with people who own Rx-7s in your town. We are always working on our cars and can use a hand. Learning from someone who has worked on these cars for a couple years will give you more knowledge than what is taught in schools. I met guys in my last town who had owned Rx-7 longer than I have been driving and they taught me more about cars and 7s than I had ever learned. I also had a friend from work, who in a prior life was a non rotary mechanic. He taught me how to build my first engine and I learned a ton from that.
• Get a reliable first car you will be proud of. Mustangs and Miatas are always safe bets. I daily a civic and sometimes I enjoy driving it more than my FD. If you have the means, get a small engine, like a motorcycle or jet ski you can tinker with. Before I started working on cars I worked on motorcycles. They are much cheaper to work and easier.
• If you are feeling really ambitious get an Rx-8. They are starting to get old and fall into the same camp as Rx-7s as parts are getting hard to find, but they are a car you can daily and they are still cheap. I had one before I got my Rx-7 and I loved it. I still kick myself for selling it. They handle like a dream and you can fit stuff in the trunk and back seats. If you get a rough one though, plan to have alternative transportation.

Sorry for the long rant. I just had three cups of coffee.

Akagis_white_comet

iTrader: (4)

A FD would be a bad choice for a first car due to the complicated vacuum system which controls the twin turbos. Quite often, turbo or vacuum-related issues are the poster child for the "OMG RX7s are bad cars", especially factoring in heat. Beyond that, the argument seems to comes from someone's father's brother's nephew's cousin's former roommate in the 70s who refused to read. Bottom line is that success with a rotary reflects more on the owner than other cars do. And with a FD, there's a lot less room for error.

On the plus side, an FC can be a great starting point. Both myself and Aaron Cake started out with Series 4 (86-88) NA ones, which are considerable simpler than a FD so the learning curve is a lot easier to work with. It makes for a more rewarding ownership experience, which keeps you interested. Also, the important concepts that you'll learn from having a FC lend themselves to every other car too. Things like making ground repairs correctly (thank you Aaron Cake!) may sound trivial, but I applied that lesson to my 1997 Ford Expedition in 2016 and all of its grounds have been trouble-free ever since. Circuits that were iffy or failing before, such as its power locks, suddenly worked correctly and reliably again. All because of having an FC.

Plus, FCs are usually a LOT cheaper than FDs too, so more money for fun stuff or an engine rebuild if needed.

diabolical1

iTrader: (3)

welcome to the board.

i think another factor as to why this car may not be a good idea is have you found out why the car is such a "decent deal" and (presumably) still available? is it complete and functional?

honestly, i'm not sure any car that is comparable to the FD (in age and niche) would necessarily make a good first car for someone that has not spent time in the trenches. there will be budgets involved if there are any major repairs to make, and if you can't do the work yourself (or know someone that can do it for you at significantly less than shop prices), then your budget will need to grow accordingly.

^ this! agreed many, many times over.

Gehmabandon

To piggyback off of suzukisteve's last point, getting an Rx-8 is definitely your best bet if you want to enter the world of rotaries and have just 1 car. They are very cheap for first cars, as they are low in the depreciation curve. They come with lots of safety equipment that many older cars lack. But really you should do a lot of research into rotaries and how they work/ how to work on them, because as they get increasingly rarer, shops will start to turn you away. Parts will get expensive if they aren't already.

If you want my opinion, don't get a rotary as your first and only car. Get something cheap and reliable to start with, and work on one of these cars on the side. I have a mazdaspeed3 that is my daily and the car I use to wrench on occasionally, but I have an fb rx7 I got for cheap that I really wrench on and research about constantly. There is always something new to learn and I ask questions in the forums since I'm no expert, but at least I don't have to rely on it to get places.

Jaeger_NL

I have dumb question, when you say “research about” do you mean just searching up on google? Where can I go to learn as much as I can about maintaining a rotary without actually having one yet? Like is there a YouTuber? Or a website?

diabolical1

iTrader: (3)

you are there.

many people complain about the search function on the board, so you can try Google if the search function fails you (you usually get directed here anyway ). however, i'm confident that whatever it is you would like to know about maintenance on an Rx-7 (or rotary engine) can be found here.

Maxwedge

iTrader: (1)

Diabolical1 is 110% correct. You can buy books on Mazda and rotary history, but to get the straight poop on living with an RX7... you are on the best source in the world. Hands Down. Sure, take some opinions with a grain of salt,... but everyone here lives with an RX7 day-in day-out. Many of those guys on you-pube are just casual rx fans. WE, here in the hallowed halls of RX7club.com, live sleep race, and ****, in the driver's seats of our cars.

Any google search will usually direct you to a thread here on RX7club.com. Ask away. We have the answers..... and I personally love to learn new stuff, incase I was previously missinformed.

Ask away my new friend.
Max

RX7_Renesis

iTrader: (1)

A few things to consider when purchasing your first car:

• your current level of driving skills
• your dependence on a vehicle as a daily driver (work, school etc.)
• your current level of knowledge for basic auto mechanics and maintenance

I would strongly recommend a relative new (reliable) car with a manual transmission and rear wheel drive. Maybe something like a Miata, Subaru BRZ, Toyota 86, Nissan 350Z etc. This is a great way to help improve (mature) your driving skills and avoid getting yourself into too much trouble.

With the money you save from buying an FD .. maybe consider buying some tools and a used rotary engine. There's no better way to learn the ins and outs of a rotary engine other than doing a rebuild.

After a couple of years driving and wrenching, if you're still obsessed with rotary engines (like most of us) .. then you will have a freshly built rotary engine ready for when you are ready to purchase your dream car.

MrBoogyMan

Hi, I just joined this forum and wasn't sure if I could join in on the conversation since I have some questions or if I have to make a new thread so I thought I'd write this.
I'm in a similar boat to Jeager with finding a nice looking FD for cheap and I know the issues with rotaries but I do want the car so my questions are mostly if I were to get it is it a viable option in the winter? And with the -40 degree celsius that can happen in Canada are there any major problems that can happen from driving it in the winter?

RX7_Renesis

iTrader: (1)

If you are passionate about getting an FD (or any other RX7) .. please do not drive it in the winter. The road salt will destroy the value of your investment.

Aside from that .. no reason you can't drive an RX7 during the winter with a little common sense. Invest in a good set of winter tires and preferably winter wheels. Make sure your engine is nicely warmed up before you rev the engine past 4,000 rpm. If you are dealing with -40˚C or -40˚F (which is the same temperature) .. maybe consider installing some sort of silicone heating pad on the bottom of your oil pan.