I'm interested in buying an FC but I'd like to do my research before jumping in. What should I expect as an owner when it comes to maintenance, reliability, tuning, upgrading, etc. I've read all the faqs on here but I want to get as much advice as I can so I'd post here.

I do have one specific question. Which FC version is recommended for a first time owner? Will I run into more trouble with a turbo than an NA?

Also, I apparently have to make 5 posts before I can post in the classifieds section...

-Sam

 

Any turbo car is likely to have more problems than its naturally aspirated cousin...let's see what the 2ndgen gurus have got to say...

Mario III

 

headaches.........buy a good condition fc, and dont mod ANYTHING until you read for a few weeks if you do buy one.

 

Normally an n/a is recommended for the first time owner of a sports car, a tad more reliable. If you have driven sports cars and fixed them up a bit then you can opt for the turbo as you will have a better idea of what your looking t.

Normal maintenance of a 20 year old car applies here, super duper extra special.

Tuning/Moding - There is still a good community out there both cheap crap and expensive nice, but some things are getting rarer and rarer.

 

Well, you should expect to have to put some money in it. Any of the second gen cars are at least seventeen years old now, so like any car of that age, they will require some maintenance. With that said, the second gen is a pretty reliable car. They tend to have some electrical issues, but those are well documented on this and other forums.
The N/A is probably a little less trouble than the turbo, but the second gen turbo is still a very reliable car.

 

i can't speak from experience as i too am on the hunt for my first rx7 (fc also) but from what i hear reliability is superior in the n/a models compared to the turbo models. but like i said, i don't know from experience so i'm not sure how much of a difference there is between the two as far reliability.

 

IMO: The best series is the FC that you find in excellent condition, low mileage, good compression on all faces of all rotors, etc. Get my drift? If you are lucky, it will be the newer S5 series. If not, an S4 is just fine. Go with NA so that reliability problems will be least likely to bite you. Learn all about the unique aspects of the car, learn to drive it effectively--maybe do a little HPDE--and eventually, you may want to go with a TII for a little more HP/torque.

 

beginers best bet especially if you want to soley work on it yourself would be an n/a s4.....everything is easy...sensors are simple and easy to locate...the omp is mechanical, 5/6 ports are mechanical.....its the easiest F/I rotor you could possibly have....because of that it makes diag, and repairs nice and easy

 

Thanks for the replies, this is exactly the kind of advice I needed. Am I right to expect to pay between $2000 and $3500 for a N/A FC?

 

in decent cinditions they tend to run around there.
the s5 (90,91) sometimes will be higher.

 

If you want to learn from my mistakes, just make sure that you don't buy your fc from someone who messed it up trying to modify it to be a drag car, even if you get it for $500.00

 

i agree with gixx. thats the same thing that happened to me (sort of) and after almost two years i am still fixing all his mistakes.

 

i've had multiple rx7's over the last 5 years and they always leave a huge smile on your face. light and agile and don't need a ton of hp to be very fast. they have a bad reputation because most people up the boost on an angine that runs at higher temps then a normal motor to begin with and it just gets hotter which can cause problems. hp is easy to build but u can't do it cheap and you need to really focus on cooling. you can order kits to replace all the vacume lines with silicone hoses fairly cheap and that is something that i would suggest. the biggest thing is to find a clean car with not much or anything done to it under the hood which can still be found but usually runs about 15K