Hi everyone. I\'m Carl and I\'m from Camberley in Surrey. I don\'t currently own a Mazda but my dream car has always been a rx7 but just weighing up the pros and cons of getting one. I haven\'t even driven one yet. Nor actually seen one close up in the flesh so I may be tempted to pop along to your Brooklands show so I can see all your cars and meet you all. I would also be interested to know if anyone owns a rx7 and happens to live near me as I would really love to see one close up. And not sure if I am able to make the Brooklands show yet.
In the mean time I have been wondering how much boot space the rx7 has? I am a mountain biker so was wondering if could get my bike in the back now and again or if I would need a rack. I\'m also into rc model planes. Some of which are quite big so wondering if I could get those in. Obviously the wings are removable but the fuselage on my largest plane is almost 6ft long.
Any feedback greatly appreciated. And I know what you are all thinking. You don\'t buy a car like this for practicality. I know I know. But I can\'t afford to run two cars. I\'m only 26 and insurance companies like to rape me.
Look forward to your replies.
Hey and Welcome to the club,
I live in Staines which is only round the corner. Both myself and my girlfriend have FD\'s so you welcome to come have a look and get some info.
Space wise, i think you absolutely no chance of getting a mountain bike in the car, however you could easily fit a rack on the back.
Dale
Ok thanks for your reply. I just might have to come see your cars. Unless of course you are out cruising in them today with this lovely weather. Maybe I could meet you guys somewhere. Btw why do you call the rx7 a fd?
It\'s the model designation of RX. The first generation were FB, the second FC and the third gen twin-turbos were FD.
Gyles used to fit a competition pushbike into his FD and drive it to Belgium regularly like that, but there was some dismantling invovled, so it should be possible. Boot space can be surprisingly generous if you remove the strut brace first.
Welcome to MRC, btw:Thumbs-up
...and don\'t go to see Dale\'s car in Staines; he wears flipflops, he\'s not to be trusted hahahaha
Oh ok cool cheers. So does anyone else live locally to me with a rx7? I used to see a white one driving around with a massive rear wing
I was joking about the flipflops lol. Dale\'s a great guy, knows a lot. You could do a lot worse than go learn off him :yes
Quote from: carlbrainiac;757442Oh ok cool cheers. So does anyone else live locally to me with a rx7? I used to see a white one driving around with a massive rear wing
All I can think of that\'s white with a massive wing is out L18m but he doesn\'t really drive around much!
Theres two RX-7 FC\'s over here at our place in Camberley too :)
Which RX-7 are you interested in? The two FC\'s here are a Cabriolet and a Coupe, but no FD\'s I know of in the immediate area!
To be honest I\'m not entirely sure what rx7 I am interested in as its only recently I have found out there are different ones. And still don\'t know what the differences are lol. Where in Camberley are you then? Maybe we could meet up somewhere. I\'m dying to see one in the flesh
Oh and the Brooklands show on Sunday do you have to pre book or get tickets before hand? Or can you just turn up? Just don\'t fancy driving there only to be turned away lol
Quote from: carlbrainiac;757469Oh and the Brooklands show on Sunday do you have to pre book or get tickets before hand? Or can you just turn up? Just don\'t fancy driving there only to be turned away lol
Paid-up members get in free at the members entrance, anybody else prices are as stated on Brooklands website, anybody can turn up and pay on the gate, as for Brooklands it\'s just any other day and they have their paying customers. :)
You\'ll see (probably) all the different RX-7\'s at brooklands on sunday. There\'s loads!
You have
RX-7 FB3S (1st Gen)
(http://www.452-engines.com/uploaded_images/Mazda-rx7-1st-generation01-786036.jpg)
RX-7 FC3S (2nd Gen)
(http://www.452-engines.com/uploaded_images/Rx7FC1-747785.jpg)
(http://www.rx7convertible.com/RX7%20Main%20Copyrighted3.jpg)
And the FD3S (3rd Gen)
(http://www.rftuningshop.com/images/800px-Mazda-rx7-3rd-generation01.jpg)
Those are just the RX-7 gens as well. You also have the RX-8\'s, RX-3\'s, 4\'s, etc etc
Quote from: carlbrainiac;757464Where in Camberley are you then? Maybe we could meet up somewhere. I\'m dying to see one in the flesh
Not far from Camberley high street, about a 5 minute drive?
You\'ll probably get your fill of seeing them in the flesh on Sunday! :D
Truly is an awesome day out :)
Ahh ok then. It\'s the 3rd gen I like then. The FD. But i also know. there are a few versions of that too lol
That there are! UK spec and Jap spec, pre and post facelift, and different editions like the Spirit-R etc :)
We have a couple of FC\'s, not FD\'s, so not what you\'re desperate to look at, but have no fear, I can bet there will probably be 10 or so at brooklands!
Awesome. And yeh the other thing I have been thinking about is UK spec and Jap spec coz my insurance is bad enough as it is. If I even breath the word Import it\'ll just give em another excuse to drain my funds. Was thinking though maybe I could get one under classic car insurance? lol Maybe that\'ll make it cheaper. Although really I would like as late a model as possible really as I have got used to newer cars with all the mod cons. What was the last production year for the RX7 FD?
Not too sure on that exactly, I know they made them well into the late 90\'s as I\'ve seen 97 onwards models, but if it\'s mod cons you\'re looking for, my 1989 EGI has cruise control and some even came with air con, so it\'s not that uncommon for the older cars to have them!
Also when picking a car weigh up all your options like insurance, the difference between FC and FD for insurance (if your me, 23yo) is about £450 a year (£720 anually for the FC, over £1100 anually for the FD)
See. Once again someone younger than me getting cheaper insurance than me. lol. Everyone I talk to my age or even sometimes younger always seem to pay less insurance than I do. I just dont understand what insurance companies have against me. Im 26 with 8 nearly 9 years protected NCB. Ok I have 3 points for going through a red light. But who doesnt have 3 points at least. I also always set my excess quite high. I use all the comparison websites. Then I have called round to make them compete to get me the best price but still I find it hard to get it below a grand whatever car I have. My 04 plate Subaru Impreza WRX wagon (unmodified, doesnt even have PPP pack) I have now is costing me £1421.90 a year :-( Thats with Elephant.co.uk
I also tried Adrian flux because everyone said they are good for performance cars and they quoted me 5 GRAND! I said to them no I dont want to buy shares in your insurance company. I simply want to insure my car. lol.
I also just very briefly put into confused.com a couple of number plates I saw on some RX7\'s Problem is confused.com only lets you put in upto 6 mods so would have to call for an accurate quote. But for one it came up as £1200 and something. So less than my Subaru. For another it came up as Over £3600 ?? I guess maybe one was single turbo and one was twin turbo. But yeh if I was to buy an RX7 it would have to be 3rd gen FD. No offence to your choice of car. But I have just always loved the look of the FD. And would idealy like some mods as a standard car looks a tad plain once you have seen all the heavily modded ones lol.
Confused.com and other such sites are a waste of time with FDs. Try skyinsurance or peter best
I thought my insurance was quite high, M1tch on here is the same age as me and has the same or slightly less I think no claims than me and gets his FC Turbo insured about £250 cheaper than my N/A!!!!
Also how much is it to tax a FD? Thats the other shock I had with my Subaru this year. Last year it was £215 which was enough. This year £245 !! Bloody rediculous. Oh also how do FD\'s cope with speed bumps? Coz we are plagued with em round here.
Oh and whats with the whole 1.3 engine size or 2.6 ??
To be honest if I was to get a FD I would rather it not have any engine or suspension mods. Maybe a slightly fruitier exhaust. It\'ll be plenty fast enough for me as standard. I just want it to look nice really. With a subtle body kit and spoiler. And some nice matching wheels. I dont understand half the stuff under the bonnet anyways and Im not the type to rag my cars anyways. Might squeeze the throttle now and then. But I just like to cruise. Plus if I did get one it would be my first rear wheel drive car so wouldnt wanna end up backwards through a wall somewhere. lol. I am not ashamed to admit Im not the best driver in the world. I know people say if the back end isnt out you aren\'t pushing it hard enough, But it scares the .... out of me lol. Especially because if you bin it not only are you and others at risk but then thats a lot of money down the pan and in my case I would probably never get insured again lol.
This is a tax regulation.
Any non-imported RX-7 because of (not sure what but I think it\'s to do with) the categorization of power to weight or something like that and how much standard HP is in the 13b compared to other cars of it\'s kind and emissions and what not (I\'m probably talking crap here but others know better) the DVLA classify it as a 2.6 on the log book to charge it at the higher rate of emissions, since otherwise it would be the other side of the pre-2002 law of over / under 1.5 litre.
All 13b\'s are 1.3l, or to be exact, 660cc per rotor. A pre milenium FD will be the same tax as my Honda Civic daily drive, which is about £220 a year last time I checked since it\'s over 1.5 litre (1.6 litre, dammit! lol)
Fair enough.
Well I shall pop along to the Brooklands show and have a look round. If nothing else it\'ll be a nice day out. Then decide if I should actually own my dream car. Or just leave it as my dream car.
Thing is although my Subaru is bloody exspensive to run it fits all my criteria perfectly. Its quick enough (though the turbo lag does annoy me as I was used to my Honda Civic Type R that I had before with instant acceleration) Its also a good comfortable safe daily driver. And its a very practical estate car without going old man style as Im still a young guy lol. But its great I can easily chuck the bike in the back and my fishing gear and my model air craft as well. And also its all wheel drive so when it snows I can continue as normal. Where as if I had a rear wheel drive RX7 it would probably just sit there spinning its wheels lol.
I just dont know what to do. Have been pondering about it for some time now. I will probably just keep the Subaru and just hope my insurance comes down over the next couple of years. As Im still living at home with my parents as well lol. But I have been doing really well lately saving all my money. Where as if I get an RX7 yes I\'ll have my dream car. But it will be completely impractical and I\'ll probably still be living at home when Im 40 lol.
Quote from: carlbrainiac;757483Awesome. And yeh the other thing I have been thinking about is UK spec and Jap spec coz my insurance is bad enough as it is. If I even breath the word Import it\'ll just give em another excuse to drain my funds. Was thinking though maybe I could get one under classic car insurance? lol Maybe that\'ll make it cheaper. Although really I would like as late a model as possible really as I have got used to newer cars with all the mod cons. What was the last production year for the RX7 FD?
Not too sure - but there are some 1999 cars in the country now - they stopped making it quite a lot earlier for us in the UK - too noisey etc..
Most of the differences you see in FD\'s is down to body kits that are applied afterwards, but there are some 20 odd variants of the basic FD, with things like suspension tweaks, lighter weight, twin oil coolers on some models, etc. I think there is a thread on here somewhere about all the different variants.
Quote from: Lacey;757496This is a tax regulation.
Any non-imported RX-7 because of (not sure what but I think it\'s to do with) the categorization of power to weight or something like that and how much standard HP is in the 13b compared to other cars of it\'s kind and emissions and what not (I\'m probably talking crap here but others know better) the DVLA classify it as a 2.6 on the log book to charge it at the higher rate of emissions, since otherwise it would be the other side of the pre-2002 law of over / under 1.5 litre.
All 13b\'s are 1.3l, or to be exact, 660cc per rotor. A pre milenium FD will be the same tax as my Honda Civic daily drive, which is about £220 a year last time I checked since it\'s over 1.5 litre (1.6 litre, dammit! lol)
For FD\'s - all UK Cars are classed as 2.6L for tax - nothing to do with emissions - all FD\'s are on the old pre 2003 system :)
FC\'s are classed as 2450cc for some reason - but engine size is the same.
Some canny people have managed to get their import FD\'s registered as 1.3L - and hence enjoy a cheaper tax :):)
The engine is actually 2 rotors of 654cc displacement - but you get 2 power strokes in a revolution compared to the one in an equivalent 4 pot, so the engine makes much more power than a 1.3L 4 cylinder would.
There\'s a few FD guys locally - but not sure how many have their cars on the road at the moment - there will be plenty of local FD owners at Brooklands - plus a good spectrum of FD\'s from nearly stock to madly modified. Plenty to give you an idea :)
Nice. Looking forward to it. Plus never been to Brooklands before. And just noticed it isnt actually that far :-) I see the times on the brooklands website are 10am till 5pm. Is that the times all you guys will be there or..?
You don\'t want a UK car even if you can find one. There were only 124 ever sold, they have pointless stupid engine-damaging pre-cats in the downpipe that strangle performance, loads of extra emissions nonsense to go wrong, they have a more strict emissions MOT test to comply with because they were an official reported model, and most have long since rotted back to the soil by now. If you can find a good one that isn\'t rotten chances are the owner will know what it is and ask silly money.
\'99 model FDs are a lot better in quality, and slightly more powerful but also go for stupid money, very few in the UK even fewer for sale. As Jit said, Sky or Peter Best are very good at finding insurance options for people in your situation, it\'s what they specialise in. An import is definitely your best option, even with the slightly higher premium
If you want an idea of what a good standard ish fd should drive like, you\'re more than welcome to a pax ride in mine. It\'s a bit out of your way (NW London) but should help u avoid buying a dog
Quote from: carlbrainiac;75750910am till 5pm. Is that the times all you guys will be there or..?
It is indeed! :)
Cool. Thanks for all the help and advice guys. And see ya at the show although I doubt we will recognise eachother until we talk and realise we have been chatting on here lol.
Btw if I do decide to keep my Subaru do the sky and peter insurance companies also cover Subaru\'s? I assume they would do. Would be interesting to see what quote I get with them. I think what I will do when I renew though is just put my excess at something stupid like a grand or something daft to try to bring down my premium. On my policy at the moment I have £100 compulsory excess and £250 voluntary excess so total of £350
Sky cover most of not all modified and/or sports cars, Sky are mainly for people like us who have modifications, regardless of the make or model
Welcome to the club Carl.
I live near Godalming not far from you. Sadly i cant make it to Brooklands this year but your welcome to come have a look at my car or we can meet up somewhere nearby if you like (once i get it back from the painters which will hopefully be next week). I\'m not the best with all areas of stuff and you\'ve had lots of your questions answered already but i can do my best to answer any more you may have :)
Adam
Thanks mate. Yeh would be nice to see your car too. To be honest I have kinda missed the whole car meets and stuff. I used to be a bit of boy racer but grew out of that phase. But miss seeing all the nice cars and the people. Used to be a regular at the guildford cruise till it just became chavs in their corsas doing hand brake turns and drugs and lots of police drawn round. Just wasnt my scene.
Though I guess if I keep my Subaru I should really go back to SurreyScoobies as I assume this being Mazda rotary club I would be the odd one out lol. But if you guys do occasionally have local meets would be nice to see ya even if I dont get one as then at least I can still partly live the dream of my dream car by being around them regularly lol. I just dont know what it is. I just love the 3rd gen FD RX7. I honestly think it is one of the sexiest cars ever made. Just the lines and everything are gawjus.
We do have an occasional Guildford meet so keep you ears peeled and eyes to the ground for when one pops up.
As a daily car i will say the FD would be a lot more expensive to run compared to a Scooby but you will get a hell of a lot more smiles for your miles in it :)
As for insurance, you could try AON as they do modern classic policies. Car has to be a 2nd car, must be over 10 years old and you have limited mileage for the year driving it. Its what i do and have a cheap (crap) daily run about to counter act the running of my FD
Adam
Cool.
And to be honest I dont worry too much about running costs as I dont do many miles. Work is only 3 miles away. If I wasnt so lazy I could ride my bike to and from work. lol. And I dont really go out much unless Im going to ride my bike or fly my planes. Or occasionally out with the mates. I guess if I had a nice car I might go to more meets so then would do more miles. But as it stands atm Im probably only doing about 5000 miles a year lol.
Believe me if you got an FD you\'d be finding the longer routes to get places ;)
Adam
I guess in my situation the sensible thing to do would be not own a car altogether so I dont lose all the money and then I\'ll be in my own place in no time. lol. But eventhough I never really go anywhere I just couldnt be without a car. So I guess you could argue I should just get an electric car or something lol. But ermm no I think I\'ll pass thanks lol
Also with the rotary engine. Is it really as bad to live with as everyone makes out?
Horror stories I hear all the time is oh they are terrible on fuel, they are noisey, bad emissions, And spend more time in the work shop with engine rebuilds than they do on the road. lol.
Any truth in these comments?
Also the other thing that worries me is when it does come to repair bills its a very specialist thing as not many people know how to work on them and thus repair costs are massively high.
Repairing the engine is a specialist tihng yes but the costs dont have to be massive if you\'re able to get your hands dirty and can handle a few basic tools (believe me, if i can remove an engine then anyone can).
Fuel bills can be high depending on how you drive (but thats no different to any sports car) and also depends on the spec of the engine (porting size, turbo size.. etc).
Find a friendly MOT center and emissions aren\'t a bother then and as for noise.... well they sound great, no problem there :D
If you find and get one with a strong engine (low mileage or proof of rebuild and compression test a must) and treat it right then it will look after you as long as you look after it.
The last thing i will say is to buy the best you can afford. Dont be distracted by shiney bit and pieces and fancy add ons, cos they\'ll be no good if the rest of the car isn\'t solid and well looked after. Some of the FD are now 20 years old so you have to remember there will be somethings that\'ll need doing to them anyway but buy with your head and not the heart... you\'ll grow to love (and Hate) it later anyway :D
Adam
Yeah I hear ya. Would be easy for me to fall in love with the way the car looks without even thinking whats going on under the skin. I shall keep your advice in mind. Cheers.
Quote from: carlbrainiac;757535Thanks mate. Yeh would be nice to see your car too. To be honest I have kinda missed the whole car meets and stuff. I used to be a bit of boy racer but grew out of that phase. But miss seeing all the nice cars and the people. Used to be a regular at the guildford cruise till it just became chavs in their corsas doing hand brake turns and drugs and lots of police drawn round. Just wasnt my scene.
Though I guess if I keep my Subaru I should really go back to SurreyScoobies as I assume this being Mazda rotary club I would be the odd one out lol. But if you guys do occasionally have local meets would be nice to see ya even if I dont get one as then at least I can still partly live the dream of my dream car by being around them regularly lol. I just dont know what it is. I just love the 3rd gen FD RX7. I honestly think it is one of the sexiest cars ever made. Just the lines and everything are gawjus.
There\'s the Reading Jap meet every 3rd Tuesday of the month - can\'t gaurantee rotary presence - but during the summer months, you can normally see about 3-4 FD\'s, I turn up in the vert from time to time, as I only work around the corner. It\'s a static meet, and allthough the crowd is a little younger than 2 years ago, it\'s not been invaded by the chav\'s yet - they tend to stay away for fear of being severely outclassed.
If you\'re lucky Kermit the 20b FD makes an appearance too.
I\'m sure others more knowledgable will put me right, but I wouldn\'t want to use my FD for a lot of short runs.
No car likes to be used in that way and I\'m sure the rotary is no exception. In fact I walk the 4 miles to work, rain and shine while my car stays at home !!!
Quote from: Big Al;757668I\'m sure others more knowledgable will put me right, but I wouldn\'t want to use my FD for a lot of short runs.
No car likes to be used in that way and I\'m sure the rotary is no exception. In fact I walk the 4 miles to work, rain and shine while my car stays at home !!!
Far as I know all cars are suitable for short runs
providing you let the car come fully up to running temperature before you actually set off - i.e. let it idle for long enough to be a suitable temperature to drive, it\'s the starting up and setting off, then shutting the engine off when it hasn\'t been up to temperature for very long that ruins the life of them as far as I know? But I could be wrong, even in the EGI I don\'t think I\'d ever set off until the engine had come up to temp, it only takes about 5 - 10 minutes on normal idle to warm up, which is about how long it takes to drive 3 - 5 miles in light traffic, and when people usually turn the engine off after a shortish drive which is what does the damage?
Just what I\'ve been led to believe. :)
Actually having an engine idling doesnt do it much good either. And takes longer to warm up because it isnt under any load. It is actually better to set off straight away but just dont rag it. Go easy on the revs till the engine warms up. But agreed that short journeys doesnt do any engine any good. But every now and again I give it a good long run.
I now own a FD :-) Thanks for all the help and advice guys. Im sure I will need more in the future lol. So hope to see ya at the shows.
Oh and I have decided to keep the Subaru as well. Yes its gonna cripple me running two expensive cars but hopefully the FD wont be too bad as its classed as a 1.3 so only £125 tax a year. And have left my details for a call back from the Insurance companies you guys suggested and hoping will be able to get it insured pretty cheap as a second car and a classic car with limited mileage. Wish me luck :-)
Quote from: carlbrainiac;757700Actually having an engine idling doesnt do it much good either. And takes longer to warm up because it isnt under any load. It is actually better to set off straight away but just dont rag it. Go easy on the revs till the engine warms up. But agreed that short journeys doesnt do any engine any good. But every now and again I give it a good long run.
I run mine pretty much straight away, but stay off boost for the first 5-10 minutes until it\'s warmed through ;)
With the engine just idling, as long as your fan is working, it shouldn\'t do it any great harm, but your transmission is cold as are the brakes, and they are not warm when you set off with your warm engine.
Was good to meet you! :D At least you didn\'t have trouble picking me out of a crowd! XD lol
Just called sky insurance as peter best didn\'t seem to be open and they said first off my 8 years no claims can only count on one car. Also that I can\'t get classic insurance on a modified jap import. So best I could get was £870 and I need to get a cat 1 alarm system fitted. My local place Ian bannings suggest sigma s30 £480 fitted. Sound good? On the plus side next year when my subaru insurance expires they said they can do the very same price on the subaru. Which will balance things out as I\'m currently paying £1421.90 on that
Oh and Lacey is your car back on the road yet? Would be nice to meet up as we live so local and have a look at your car. And you can take a look at the one I brought. You may even know more about it than I do lol. Was playing with some buttons last night and cant figure out why there is a button to flip the lights up without having them on? Why would you wanna do that? lol Also its apparently had a rear brake/fog light conversion. Which I guess means one of the brake lights becomes a fog light when the switch is flipped. Which Im guessing is the switch on the centre console behind the handbrake but that doesnt appear to do anything. lol. Also still trying to figure out where high beams are lol. Though did just think maybe it is something like push stick away as pulling it up does a quick flash. Will go try that in a min.
The light switch pop up - the manual calls it a maintenance switch, I guess it\'s for working on the lights or cleaning them. One tip - if you are ever working on the lights take the retractor fuse out as it\'s possible to get trapped in the mechanism if you managed to trigger it by accident !
Not sure if the high beams are the same as the FC switch - ours are momentary unless you have dipped beam on, then they latch on and off by pulling it towards you.
ahh nice one cheers