Not a RX7 owner yet - have been close once before but boss said I had to have 4 doors so currently have 300bhp Impreza which I chuffed with but always wanted an RX7 now there\'s another chance I may be able to join your ranks.
Question is really about using a 3rd gen car everyday. They are getting on a bit, but I\'d be looking probably to get one that has had work done to it, ie single turbo, cooling upgrades etc... (Plenty for me to research there I know) Then put a bit of my own thought on top of that.
So what do people actually get on mpg?
People who don\'t know say frightening engine, but is 80000miles on good rebuild the norm or exception?
I know and I\'m happy to change oil 3 or 4 times a year if need be.
What miles per year do people do reliably?
Other thoughts are TVR Cerbera / Maserati Ghibli - these are twice the price to buy and I can\'t see RX7 running costs being much more - if at all more than them!!
Thanks for any advice
wow that\'s an interesting 2nd and 3rd choice! I\'m guessing reliability isn\'t a big issue then? Out of the three, the FD would probably be the most reliable and cheapest to run (you don\'t often get to write that!)
i use it as an everyday car, i have a dog and a wife and a baby boy, do the shopping, go camping and other stuff, love it
i use mine as an everyday car....drove to sheffield from London and then back last night. Cost me 65 quid in fuel....which doesnt sound bad....until i realised tat my integra did Leeds to London and back in 45 quid...
lol
costs a fiver just to get out my drive
DC-Typer good work i like the effort you put in :-) Is it a big dog?
Once saw a lotus Esprit Series II with a surfboard on the roof heading to a camp site - top bloke.
Seriously though, Cerbera 15ish mpg I\'m guessing on, isn\'t that what you get from RX7s maybe slightly more?
Maserati do have a bad rep for reliability, but the last of the bi-turbo engines were much better, OK they need TLC but so does the rotary!
The Mazer would proably give about 20 - 25mpg I guess.
I get 27mpg all in from Impreza, although on track I\'ve had it down too 8.5 :-) but sitting on motorways brings overall average up, I know other owners with similar get less - probably because they have nicer roads to play on.
Is it norm to run super unleaded in the rotary?
Higher octane the better in the Rotary, (dont want det = dead engine)
I myself run an Rx7 for a daily driver (Hency why im coming across a lot of problems in such a short time, its new to the country only came in last november! and its off the road now, the water gasket on the pump died!) :2Confused. The Cars are like anything though, If you can get one that has been well looked after and keep ontop of it. or bring it up to a level, it should do you well :wave
And lets face it how many other cars give such a big grin? :evillaugh
Quote from: DC-TYPERi use it as an everyday car, i have a dog and a wife and a baby boy, do the shopping, go camping and other stuff, love it
Where does the dog go then? On the roof rack:Laugh
Quote from: RobbieRX-7Where does the dog go then? On the roof rack:Laugh
On the rear wing, obviously. Increases the downforce :D.
Quote from: ClintukQuestion is really about using a 3rd gen car everyday. They are getting on a bit, but I\'d be looking probably to get one that has had work done to it, ie single turbo, cooling upgrades etc... (Plenty for me to research there I know) Then put a bit of my own thought on top of that.
Cooling upgrades are always a Good Thing but I\'d use a mildly tuned one - the lower the state of tune, the longer it\'ll last. Plus, it\'s not exactly a slow car with a few reasonable upgrades.
Quote from: ClintukSo what do people actually get on mpg?
When driving long distance, I tend to get around 300 miles/tank in the FD and will then have to chuck about 60l in.
Quote from: ClintukI know and I\'m happy to change oil 3 or 4 times a year if need be.
Oil change intervals are 3000 miles, so this really depends on how many miles you do a year.
I\'ve had a Cerbera .. which i attempted to use everyday. I\'ve also had 3 RX7\'s and im currently looking at maybe getting another.
Ok .. the Cerb .. it is a supercar and drives like one, it hates being sat in traffic, It feels heavy, it feels big, the turning circle is terrible, the visibility aint much better, temperatures go through the roof if you get stuck in traffic but above all they need to be looked after .. constantly. I drove mine every day but to be honest every time you drive one its an event .. and can be quite tiring !! But get it out on the open road and they are simply incredible .. you can keep your RX7\'s, your skylines, silly rally cars ...nothing even comes close to the complete assault on every sense that the car causes, honestly they are that good. They aren\'t unreliable, they just need to be looked after, stuff like the engine needs to be tuned and balanced regularly etc.
RX7 ... every FD i\'ve owned has been used daily .. no problem at all and in comparison to something like a Cerbera are a complete dream to drive.
Masa .. never owned one, they look nice tho :D
Hello Mate
I use my jap 96 import as an everyday car in all weathers, I also leave it at airports for ¾ days at a time including winters and have no problems.
The car also has been lowered ( Tein suspension ) to 5†off the ground and I still clear all the London humps….
Petrol wise: depends what the car has had done to it fuelling set up…I am still on twin turbo set up but the car has a de cat, has been mapped and the boost is at 0.94 on both turbos so the “babe†drinks a little more petrol….
I do around 6k a year, change oil and oil filter every 3 months, change petrol filter once a year and service the car by RX7 specialist once a year.
No major problems so far….I do not understand people who have this fantastic car yet have it “hidden†in a garage for weeks on end â€" the car is to be seen and admired, so let it be an every day driver and I will guarantee you, it will put a major smile on your face every time you drive it !!!!
Regards,
Michaelb
Cheers Michael
Sounds like what I\'d use one for, although now I\'m thinking compared to Cerbera / maserati Ghibli (as possible alternatives), it\'d be the same price to keep and run both Impreza and RX7.
If this happens I\'ll be on Welsh boarder and obviously there\'s a fair few wet and even snow days, where RX7 may not only be a pain but impossible to :driving
But good to hear your thoughts - I\'m coming back to the Mazda :cheers
Clintuk
If you get a rex with good cooling upgrades it makes a huge difference. I\'ve got a race rad and a charge cooler and I don\'t think I\'ve ever seen above 85 degrees even when thrashing the tits off of it on track. Most normal rexs will see way above 100 degrees in the same situation.
Cheers Brooksie
Good 1st hand comparison on the Cerb. To be honest I hadn\'t considered one, until I saw the 2nd hand market - the next step in performance bargain?!
Sounds like I ought to have one while I\'m young enough to cope, sounds fun but the Mazda looks so much better IMHO.
Clint
Quote from: RobbieRX-7Where does the dog go then? On the roof rack:Laugh
sits in the back my friend, baby in front. wife on the roof:Giggle
Quote from: DC-TYPERsits in the back my friend, baby in front. wife on the roof:Giggle
lol :D
Clint .. yes m8 they are getting into the territory of performance bargain but its a car you have to buy knowing it is
going to cost you money to run .. i spent roughly £2500 in 6 months, thats not including petrol/tax/insurance .. that was just keeping it on the road !! (clutch/service/tune and balance)
a pic or two of it :)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v348/rx7dizzy2002/Cerbera/CRW_0068.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v348/rx7dizzy2002/Cerbera/CRW_0065.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v348/rx7dizzy2002/Cerbera/cerbrig.jpg)
Yeah I understand the high the car\'s potential the more it costs to keep going.
Clutch I\'d look at myself, but what do you mean by engine (tune) & "balance"
I get that specialists with computers are needed to kee the car in tune but my use of the word balance is when you rebuild the engine ?
I use my 380hp fd as a everyday car, its fine, you just need to look after them.
Reference the TVR, I had a Tuscan and it was a piece if crap, handling braking was awful a chore to drive, and the reliability was much much worse than a FD.
I\'ve driven one FD or another, ranging from stock to 500hp, as a daily driver for the best part of the last 4-5 years. Bizarrely, they\'ve probably been the most reliable cars I\'ve used - and the only type of car I havent done an engine in! ;)
The only issue is the 15mpg.
Ross sums it up well .. they are a chore to drive ..
throttle pots constantly seem to change settings and i found that this needed to be looked at all the time, timing wise, idle settings, matching and balancing both banks of the engine whilst trying to look at your laptop .. Cerbera was the only car to use their own AJP V8 which is just like to 4 cylinder engines bolted together and a flat plane crank (no idea what one of those is :D) , it doesn\'t sound like a V8 .. more like a bag of spanners to be honest with you :D .. anyway get an FD, they rock.
:D
Quote from: brooksieRoss sums it up well .. they are a chore to drive ..
throttle pots constantly seem to change settings and i found that this needed to be looked at all the time, timing wise, idle settings, matching and balancing both banks of the engine whilst trying to look at your laptop .. Cerbera was the only car to use their own AJP V8 which is just like to 4 cylinder engines bolted together and a flat plane crank (no idea what one of those is :D) , it doesn\'t sound like a V8 .. more like a bag of spanners to be honest with you :D .. anyway get an FD, they rock.
:D
Saw a Cerb with a 6.3 Ls1 at Craigs the other day and looks sweet. Funnily enough he\'s practically a hero with cerb owners for it which is a slightly different reaction to putting one in an Fd..... anyway.......
I use my fd every day but it might be coming on to the market soon if you can afford it and handle it BUT because of the very large ports it does about 12mpg I think. Goes a bit though and is no trouble, maybe because every part was new on the rebuild needed or not. They are great great cars.
Right then TVRs off the list :WaveBye
There are some good looking Rexs for sale on here. Was advised a while ago - it\'s probably best to get one with everything done you want even if it\'s not quite the way you\'d do it.
So I\'m probably looking at a Street port single turbo or upgraded twins (don\'t know much about that option yet) with cooling sorted etc... but are there specialists that sell modified ones or is the market usually personal? Had a quick look but they seem to be modifiers or standard car sales, but not both.
At 15mpg and my current milage equates to £5300 a year in fuel :2eek Oh well - there\'s a price to being cool, no trumpet blowing here, that goes when I get out of the car ;)
Quote from: ClintukRight then TVRs off the list :WaveBye
There are some good looking Rexs for sale on here. Was advised a while ago - it\'s probably best to get one with everything done you want even if it\'s not quite the way you\'d do it.
So I\'m probably looking at a Street port single turbo or upgraded twins (don\'t know much about that option yet) with cooling sorted etc... but are there specialists that sell modified ones or is the market usually personal? Had a quick look but they seem to be modifiers or standard car sales, but not both.
At 15mpg and my current milage equates to £5300 a year in fuel :2eek Oh well - there\'s a price to being cool, no trumpet blowing here, that goes when I get out of the car ;)
Send me an email in case you want a spec list and pics of mine.
pmaoudis@hotmail.com
Quote from: ClintukSo I\'m probably looking at a Street port single turbo or upgraded twins (don\'t know much about that option yet) with cooling sorted etc... but are there specialists that sell modified ones or is the market usually personal? Had a quick look but they seem to be modifiers or standard car sales, but not both.
Well...
I bought my FD off RoTechniks and they modified it to my spec (so in the end I bought a modified car off them). So yes, I think they do sell modified cars...
That said, I think most tuners are busy enough with their workshops so they don\'t have to trade cars on the side; in fact, that may get in the way of things.
The other way of getting a car you want is engage the services of someone like Miguel (Newera) to find you the car you want in Japan.
I use my FD every day and the more I\'ve messed around with it the more things have gone wrong with it and because I use it everyday, I don\'t have the chance to say \'oh well I\'ll look at that next weekend when I\'ve got time\'
To be honest if I was getting one again as a daily drive I would keep it as standard as possible, save for a few reliability mods, e.g. a Power FC to get it mapped for UK fuel.
gonzonija, what did you start doing that caused the problems if you don\'t mind.
Just for sympathys sake I had woes after doing a DIY hybrid turbo swap on my Impreza. Poor workmanship by the 1st guy I used to build the turbo put me on a path of having to change the damn thing 5 times :mad: !!!! People thought my car was unreliable, but to be fair it was me prating around with it :rolleyes:
Sorted now and I know my way round my car very well and know more about turbos than I ever thought I\'d need to.
Also I\'ve learnt that for a daily driver, go to the specialists and pays your money, cos they know.
If it\'s a toy you\'re allowed to mess around and face the consequences yourself :yes
oh all sorts. Changing the Air Seperation Tank (AST) it has different pipe sizes to standard so it leaks a bit.
Engines going. I had my car for about 2 weeks and it dumped coolant over the floor, needing a rebuild. It was rebuilt by someone with less than a good reputation (however they were close to where I lived), and I\'ve had to have it rebuilt again this year.
dunno all sorts of stuff...the biggest problem is the constant drain on my bank account.
Remember its going to be a 13 year old car, everything will be worn. Bits need replacing. If its your daily drive you don\'t have the luxury of changing bits at the weekend, or being able to do without the car for a week.
Don\'t let me put you off, for all of this, I simply would not drive another car.
Quote from: gonzoninjaoh all sorts. Changing the Air Seperation Tank (AST) it has different pipe sizes to standard so it leaks a bit.
Engines going. I had my car for about 2 weeks and it dumped coolant over the floor, needing a rebuild. It was rebuilt by someone with less than a good reputation (however they were close to where I lived), and I\'ve had to have it rebuilt again this year.
dunno all sorts of stuff...the biggest problem is the constant drain on my bank account.
Remember its going to be a 13 year old car, everything will be worn. Bits need replacing. If its your daily drive you don\'t have the luxury of changing bits at the weekend, or being able to do without the car for a week.
Don\'t let me put you off, for all of this, I simply would not drive another car.
I was lucky in a way, I bought a 96 jap import with NO RUST ( no salt in Japan ) rebuilt engine by RX Motors, new tain suspension and a 99spec nose, new alloys and Mazda Speed Spoiler.
Buying a newer car with “new bits†will generally pay off..
Regards,
Michaelb
I\'m from Malaysia and the weather is always hot + humid. I drive my car everyday too. Rule of thumb from my side is, good cooling system + keep my car stock std. condition.
Cheers,
Jason
Good cooling is essential on an fd. Get an aluminium radiator, eliminate or get aluminium ast and always fit the undertray