Hi Everyone,
I’m looking to buy my first FD (Around the end of the month if I can), and was hoping someone could answer a few questions I have?
First a few about the car itself:
1/I can’t afford to run a second car just to drive to work, so this thing has also got to be used for my daily commute. Lucky I only live about 10 minutes away from work by car so the fuel consumption shouldn’t hit me too hard, but is running the car like that ok providing I give it a good blast at the weekends?
2/How easy is it to get the car through an MOT? I have read a few horror stories as I’ve been flicking through the forums concerning emissions tests, although those mostly seem to involve modified cars. Would an unmodified 92/93/94 model have any problems getting through?
3/What sort of fuel efficiency am I likely to get with half town and half duel carriageway driving? I’ve seen 20mpg posted a few times, is that realistic or is it one of those magic values taken under optimum conditions? Also how many litres of fuel can the tank hold?
4/How much space is actually in the back? Seems to be seats and belts but surely no adult human could get in there? What about boot space?
5/The car’s speclist shows aircon as standard but this is rarely mentioned in adverts, should I presume it is included unless stated otherwise?
6/When browsing through the ads I’ve seen people mention that they have changed the oil and filter every 3k miles, is that essential maintenance and if so is it easy to do yourself? Are there any other things that should be done regularly to the car to help its reliability?
7/Is there anywhere in the midlands where I can get it serviced? I’m located between Birmingham and Derby, I don’t mind driving all over the country to buy the thing or get it repaired, but for basic servicing I would like something nearby.
Ok now a few questions about buying one:
I have a budget of about 8k, I guess I could borrow a bit and go as high as 10k if there was a really good car available. I’m only really interested in unmodified cars but I don’t mind what colour it is (The rex is one of the few cars that I think actually looks good in red!).
8/How much should I look at spending so I can have a relatively trouble free first year (if that is even possible)? Or is that purely down to picking a good one?
9/I’m not too keen on buying a car that has had a lot of mods, but are there worth having for the benefit of the car?
10/I’ve been studying http://www.robrobinette.com/buyaused.htm (http://www.robrobinette.com/buyaused.htm) and intend to get the entire page memorized before I go on any test drives, are there any other resources I can look at?
11/Is it worth buying a car from one of the various rotary specialists? I notice that (for example) Jimmys has a couple of cars that come with a new rebuild and 12 month engine warranty. To me that seems worth it for the slight increase of the cost of the car for its spec? Can anyone recommend any other shops that are selling cars with relatively recent engine rebuilds? (I don’t mind a slight premium).
I think that’s it, I’ll post some more questions if I think of any.
Thanks for any help
Hi and welcome
I hope you don\'t mind but to make responses easier I\'ve taken the liberty of numbering your questions.
Anyone who has info can just use the numbers as reference, easier that way.
Get ready for some reading.
Good luck
John
8 -10k should get you a very good example with some rebuild warranty left.
I recently sold my late 98 for 8k with a recent rebuild so you should have a lot to choose from in you price range.
2/ Can be troublesome, if you have a car with a mppable ECU this can remapped for MOT.
3/In 5 years I never saw 20, 18 if driven modestly.
4/ None to speak of. I beleive the \'seats\' were only introduced for tax perposes for the American market.
5/I beleive all have aircon.
6/ Yes plugs filters and oil every 3k, a diy job.
7/ Most RX owners have their prefered specialist but as far a nearest goes is gues it would be Hurley in Coventry.
8/As much as you can low milage or recent rebuild - ln this price range you should be OK
9/ Personal choice there, depends what you want to do with the car.
10/ The market is low atm, you should get a good deal from anywhere.
John
welcome mate!
8-10k should get you a minter if your after a standard one, Possibly even a
99+ model (if you can find one) as these have a few improvments over the earlier models.
2- MOT shouldn\'t be too difficult as long as you have a good condition CAT & don\'t start removing any of the emmisions control system.
3- I reckon somewhere between 15-20MPG is probably realistic for a standard car, the tank is fairly large, at the current rate i think a full tank is about £65
4- Back seats are a joke, you can fit people in but only really as a one off, no good for regular 4 up journeys. Boot isn\'t too bad but is quite shallow which limits what you can get in there, a set of golf clubs wont fit though.
5- All FD\'s came with air con
6- Oil & filter is a doddle mate, about 30 mins work, filters are easilly atainable & about £7 from halfords, on a standard car every 4k should be more than enough
7- Don\'t know about this one
8-8k should get you a very nice example capable of giving you a few years of trouble free motoring as long as it\'s looked after
9- Maybe look for a car with just the sort of mods that help with reliability as these are a bonus eg- alloy rad & ast to aid cooling, Apexi power FC ecu for better drivability, mpg and all round adjustability.
10- this is quite a good site but is based on US RX7\'s so some points may not be entirely relavant
11- A car from a reputable specialist is a good idea for a first time buyer as long as you don\'t mind paying a slight premium for the piece of mind of having a warrenty& somebody to turn to if any problems arrive. I think both Hayward Rotary & lindop motorsport often have good examples for sale (see banners at top of page)
Hope this helps mate,buy a good one and you\'ll love every minute of it!
Hello again
Thanks for the replies, just one more pay package then I’m off shopping :chat
A quick question about colours, I’ve seen plenty of ads for black and silver cars, but never seen one like this:
(http://www.turborx7.com/images/efini/rx7srfront.jpg)
I think it looks magnificent in grey, anyone know roughly how much it would be for a respray?
Cheers
To answer some of the questions...
At this moment in time, £8k will get you a very good car with a rebuild and "stage 1" type mods (Apexi PowerFC ECU, exhaust and induction, probably some body mods/wheels and other bits and bobs). I personally think the best bet is a car from Hayward Rotary with a 24 month warranty that includes trackdays etc. (This didn\'t used to be the case - it was 12 months and no track use!) Carl Hayward is very well respected and very good at tuning these things too, so you\'ll get a good car normally to your price and spec.
MOT will be tricky if you remove the cat. I\'ve yet to put mine through (full exhaust inc. downpipe and de-cat), but let\'s say I\'ll be looking for a sympathetic tester... :o
I can\'t make much more than 13mpg running 310bhp, but that is getting close to maxing out the stock injectors, i.e. pretty well tuned and hence not terribly economical. I would be surprised to see you get over 16mpg though, especially in commuting conditions.
One thing to be wary of is flooding - rotaries run very rich, especially on choke, so (very) short journies can mean switching the engine off before the choke goes off, leading to potential flooding. This is more likely with older engines though, so I would imagine you\'d be fine with a recently rebuilt one (a must if you\'re spending your kind of budget).
I have also seen some say that the rotary isn\'t too keen on lots of short journies, as the heat cycles are what cause the water seals to fail and you will get carbon build-up if you aren\'t able to use full boost. I don\'t know how true that is, but if you believe it, you will struggle to get the oil up to temperature within 10 minutes to allow use of full boost (plus in commuting traffic you probably won\'t have the road to do it on!)
Most people seem to do oil every 3k, it\'s nice and easy as the sump is easily accessible and the filter is at the top of the engine bay. Spark plugs are every 6k too.
There is bugger all space in the back or the boot!
I would say that £6-7k will get you a very good car, so why not run a crap car too?
i believe thats a spirit r, they\'re post 95, i think they were made till 2002?
higher spec, and fewer of them were made.
if ur insurance lets you drive any car car im sure you could find a cheap banger for under £500
1/ I occasionally drive the FD to the station but only if I absolutely have to and I don\'t take the shortest way, either. It\'s about 3-4 miles on the reasonable way and the oil\'s just about warm by the time I turn off the car. I usually take the long way home on the way back to ensure the engine warms up properly. Too many short journeys doesn\'t do the car much good IMHO. Maybe cycling is an option from time to time?
2/ Shouldn\'t be. Mine\'s mildly modified but still has the emissions gear and a new high-flow cat. Emissions are well below the required level.
4/ The boot\'s not very big as it\'s very shallow. I tend to use the rear seats as additional luggage space.
8/ It\'s purely down to condition
9/ Some mild mods are actually not bad but I\'d keep it at a sensible level. For example I wouldn\'t want an Nurspec exhaust on a daily driver...
Quote from: dthebuki believe thats a spirit r, they\'re post 95, i think they were made till 2002?
higher spec, and fewer of them were made.
if ur insurance lets you drive any car car im sure you could find a cheap banger for under £500
Spirit Rs were only made post 2000, only two in the country I believe.
99 spec are again pretty rare, These models are the only ones in Grey metallic.
But for 7-8k you will get a very good one , buying off this forum would be my first place to look as there has been some very good quality go for sale here.
You may even get one with a single turbo conversion with a rebuild.
Single turbo conversion can get you more mpg at a steady off boost motorway pace as its easier to stay off boost where as twins come on boost a lot earlier and lower down the rev range, I regularly saw 24 mpg to and from Pod on mine last year
On the motorway at a steady 75 -80mph I have managed 19 - 20mpg running 390hp. But if I so much as look at the accelerator it\'ll drop off to low teens, round town or hoofing it I\'m lucking at single figures. But mine\'s pretty far from stock. So long as the motor / injectors / mapping is all right there\'s no reason why you shouldn\'t see 20mpg on a stocker. It\'s totally dependant on your driving style.
I use mine daily and it\'s had to say what the running costs are because I\'m always buying new toys...