Hey my name is Romnick, just joined the forum.

I'm purchasing a 1989 Rx7 FC, under the tutelage of some co-workers who are going to help me maintain my vehicle. But even though they'll help me, I wanna know what I'm getting myself into. Moreover, the rotary. I researched and I get a lot of mixed answers, pertaining to maintenance and overall cost of the vehicle.

What are the pros and cons of an Rx7?
Is there a lot of maintenance when it comes to these cars?
Are rotary engines hard to work on?
Do I really need to run high octane gas forever?
I'm not going to race or drift, but are these cars okay for a first car?

Thank you guys, feel free to PM me answers as well, because I'll more than likely ask more questions to follow up with the answers.

 

Regular maintenance such as brakes,belts,oil changes suspension checks,Tune-ups,etc will keep you on the road..it is basically like any other car.
HI test gas in an N/A is a waste of money so if you feel like handing out money I can toss you my Paypal!
Rotary engines are mechanically the easiest engine to work on as it has fewer parts than a piston engine.
You have the Forum available and at your fingertips with all the Answers that you need.These questions are asked frequently so it should not be a problem to get the info.
It just gets repetitive and we need to keep the section clean,with questions readily available but at the same time, not have Ten threads with the same subject.
so I will just leave it at that.Good luck.
Thanks.

 

you will eat through fuel , and oil well maybe not oil .. quicker then a honda . These cars are honestly made for Driving .

pros are a motor which has potential for good power and great handling on any of the rx7's generations ,

CONS : bad gas millage , upkeep with oil you must check your oil every week or bi weekly
because the car uses crankcase oil in order to lubricate the apex seals .
they arent the kind of car you can set and forget like a honda civic , or a corolla .

oil changes MUST be done on time . if you care about longevity .



the question is , Why do you want an rx7? and is it a turbo rx7 ? or a regular Non turbo one?

 

many of these questions can be answered by reading the 2nd gen FAQ thread.

 

Pro: The engine is unique.
Con: The engine is unique.

Con: People think that the entire car is so different than any other sports car that it takes some type of voodoo magic to keep it running.
Pro: Other than the engine, it is similar to most other sports cars of its era.

Back in 1989, no. Twenty-four years later, yes.

Compared to nuclear reactors or compared to Play-doh? Videos are available from Atkins Rotary, Mazdatrix, Pineapple Racing, and Rotary Aviation if you want to see what is involved, and at the top of the 2nd Gen section of this forum you will find a FAQ with links to free online factory service manuals.

Yes, if you have another car that requires high octane gas, and you plan on keeping it forever, then you will really need to run high octane gas forever. Fortunately, the RX-7 is rated for regular octane gas, so at least with the RX-7 you can save some money at the pump. In fact, I would recommend that you avoid buying whatever other car you are considering if it requires high octane gas.

Yes, they are inexpensive, easy to drive, fun sports cars that have a decent amount of trunk room. However, they are not so great on gas mileage when compared to more modern cars, and they are pretty old at this point in time so the reliability may suffer.

 

Buy a copy of the Haynes Repair Manual for your RX-7 (1986-1992 years). It's available on Amazon & Ebay. It includes the maintenance requirements and basic coverage on repairs.

Though you can find better specialized info here in the forums.

 

Some small pros and cons too

pro: there are no timing belt(s) to change, no valves to bend/break, no lifter tick, no camshafts to worry about.

con: gas mileage is not on par with piston engines but, most do not buy them cause of MPG anyway.


Pro: handling and braking are very good, even compared to today's cars... usually it is just a matter of putting on a little better pads to brake like today's cars such as street/track pads

Pro: parts are fairly cheap and working on them can be accomplished fairly easily so you save money on labor. ( I have never worked on a rotary but, have worked on other cars and am going to do a motor swap on my 85 12a and feel very confident about it too)



The oil thing is debatable... I have had good luck with just doing away with the oil metering pumps and just treating it like a 2 stroke so that crankcase oil consumption is not an issue and run 1 to 1 oil and gas...1 oz per gallon. Little rich but, I have an open exhaust so, no converter to clog up. If you take this route, it will not consume any oil but, you cannot forget to premix either.

not really any more cons...the turbo guys have the problem of more heat due to turbocharging but, it is also relative to how often they are on boost and how much boost they are running too.
the only other con is that you cannot 'bore' out an iron if it gets damaged to a certain point. You can bore a piston more easily than a rotary but, even cylinders have their limits as well.


The last drawback is, you cannot 'stroke' a rotary at this time. You can add rotors if you have the money but, it is hard to modify a rotary and maintain low end as easily as you can a piston engine. Many piston engines have the ability to accept different cranks that keep low end while giving good top end as well. When a rotary is ported, in nearly every instance, you will lose some bottom end to gain on top end. Proper gearing can alleviate this for the most part, though.

 

Really they are pretty decent cars, even for a first car. As long as you read up on them and keep up with the maintenance you should be okay. Most bad reviews on these cars are from haters or people that bought a lemon.

Like they said the gas mileage isn't the best but its not as bad as a v8 truck or anything like that would be. And running hi octane in these engines is a waste of time unless you're running massive boost. I agree with the premix option if you don't feel like keeping up with oil changes. There are a lot of right-ups on the omp removal on here.

As far as working on them goes, they're fairly simple. They look somewhat intimidating at first because of the vast amount of vacuum lines but there are diagrams available that help alot. I replaced all the intake gaskets on mine and did a few other things in there in about 4 hours. If you work on yours KEEP UP WITH YOUR BOLTS! And use plenty of penetrating oil on the questionable ones. Just make sure to fully research whatever it is you're working on before hand so you dont get stuck and without a ride to work/ school.

If youre buying one that hasn't been driven often or has sat for a while read this article Removing An RX-7 From Storage, Dealing With Improper Storage This guy knows his stuff and they're are a few articles worth reading on his page.

If you have any questions feel free to pm me or any of the guys on here!

 

They are great cars, but never overheat the engines.

 

Biggest pro there is; using the shift buzzer for gear changes.

Can't think of any cons.

 

Your biggest pro is also a small con, that dang buzzer gets annoying.

 

But that buzzer is also hooked up to Oil level sender.

 

The shift light is for gear changes. If the RPM redline buzzer activates it means you screwed up and forgot to shift.

 

I never said I was a good driver...

 

There's so many resources online covering engine rebuilds, tutorials, step by step instructions, and modifications. I'm pretty new to the RX7 and recently just finished up rebuilding my first rotary engine. Given the first time around was a handful and it can be overwhelming to dive into the engine bay, once you get the hang of it and learn about all the different systems and parts, its quite an interesting car to work on.

 

LOL, fair enough, in that case you are correct, the shift buzzer is for gear changes.

 

..???
shift buzzer means you are off work and the other guy that is beside you will continue to do your work for you to keep production quotas up!
Now you can go out and get drunk and laid..
I never really hear any buzzers in the car as Metallica drowns out just about everything.I only hear it after I get out of the car..
Woops,,that's ringing..in my ears..never mind.

 

I have ringing in my ears, but fortunately the voices in my head pretty much drown it out. Otherwise it would be kinda creepy.

 

You will get laid with this car. Nuff said

 

I must be doing something wrong then!

 

X2