Hullo, bit of a noob here (as in never posted, but visited lots). I\'m thinking of getting a 3rd gen RX7 (J or K reg) for my next car. I currently drive a MX5, which is perfectly fine, but I want something quicker!
Now, I\'ve done a fair bit of reading about the RX7, and tbh, it sounds great - cheap (ish) to buy, unrivalled performance for the price, it looks great and it\'s well equipped. However, it\'s a slightly daunting prospect! Why? Well, there\'s the whole engine thing for a start - rebuilds, oil level monitoring, fuel consumption - then there\'s the whole issue of "is this the right car for me?". I don\'t do a lot of miles, I have (at the moment) a short commute and I do lots of short journeys around town, with the occasional cross country blat at weekends, for fun. But I want something that\'s quick, stylish, has "presence" and will be fun - yet ideally not too expensive to run, reliable and not unbearable on English roads.
Now, what I want to know is, can a RX7 be happily and reliably used as a daily driver for everyday motoring? And how well do you Rexperts (did you see what I did there?! :D) think the RX7 would meet my rather exacting requirements?
Any feedback would be appreciated :)
It would be fine if you get the right one, but expensive on fuel especially. Depending how many miles you intend to do its probably cheaper to have a 2nd car for the short trips and commuting etc.
When its the fun miles, the cost doesnt seem so bad :D
I\'ll be keeping my eye on this post as I plan to use mine for daily driving.
When it finally arrives! :)
For daily driivng I\'d say no to be honest, the cost of fuel etc
short journeys aren\'t good for it
buy a shitter and drive that, will save you a fortune
Bill, how economical is your MX5 to run? What kind of MPG do you get out of it?
My RX-7 hasn\'t arrived yet so I couldn\'t comment of the fuel economy. but I think they are something like between 15-25 MPG (feel free to correct me ;) ) - depending on how you drive them. So if you\'re getting 30-50 MPG out of your MX5 then expect to pay twice what you\'re paying at the moment to run your car on a daily basis.
I think what J4P RX is saying about "It would be fine if you get the right one" is that maintenance wise, as long as you get an RX-7 in very good condition you shouldn\'t need to worry about expensive re-builds, certainly not in the near future. (is this kind of what you are saying J4P RX?)
Have you considered keeping the MX5 and going along with J4P RX\'s suggestion of having the Rex as a second car?
Jon.
15-25mpg, dream on mate :)
the Rex is fine as daily driver until it starts to go wrong on you, then its a right royal pain in the arse etc and expensive
personally i wouldn\'t exasperate the whole reliability issue by using the car on short daily commutes
My rx is a daily driver long / short journeys and the comment about getting the right one i believe is in relation to mods!
If you are looking for reliability and economy get a standard rx7 which is still very quick, a very highly modded rx is not great for everyday driving.
Also ideally buy a rx7 which has recently had a rebuild will save you lots of hassle and worry, a rebuilt rx can be bought from anywhere in the region of £7000 - £9000 dependant on mods, infact theres a red rx for sale in the sales area for £7000 with a recent rebuild already done??
ps- no its not mine:rollin
they aren\'t the most economic cars, I have a 1st gen which is not turbocharged and completely standard, on the round trip to Santa pod ... about 200miles I used £35 of fuel, now thats not bad until you realise that I spent most of that trip cruising at 55-60 in convoy with a car towing a car trailer !
asuming 81p/litre thats 21mpg !
QuoteOriginally posted by TonyBlair
Bill, how economical is your MX5 to run? What kind of MPG do you get out of it?
I get about 25-28mpg depending on how heavy my right boot has been (although the MPG seems to be improving now I\'ve stuck a tank of Optimax in it). That\'s a lot of urban driving, and a lot of short journeys. I can appreciate a Rex isn\'t going to be anything other than heavy on petrol.
The thing is, I want a quick car, and I\'m evaluating the options. The Rx7 is my cheapest potential purchase, being within the £6-10k range. And there\'s a LOT of performance for the money. I wouldn\'t be able to run the car as a second vehicle because frankly, I couldn\'t justify it!
Other options are (with drawbacks):
Lotus Elise (very costly to run, reliability issues)
Porsche Boxster (could only afford LHD)
Mazda RX8 (fuel costs!!!)
BMW Z4 (expensive, bit knobbish)
Any other suggestions would be welcome!
You say you cant justify running a 2nd car, but my average MPG is 12. Even on motorways I only just see about 20 and thats going along at 60 the whole time.
I dont think an Elise as per your example would be costly to run next to an RX7 but I have no experience of owning one (I know people who do though).
The RX may be your cheapest potential purchase but its probably the most expensive to keep so you need to weigh up the costs. They are great when everythings cool and the roads are open however and the only other car on your list id consider is the Elise (if its a high powered one).
QuoteThe Rx7 is my cheapest potential purchase, being within the £6-10k range.
So the options in your list ARE within the price range? RX8???
John
Another option to consider is possibly a R32 SKYLINE or a MR2 twin entry turbo ??? both fairly quicker than the MX5 and within the £10k price range??:)
Worth a look for certain no??:)
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=18238&item=2493762726&rd=1
That is one mental 32........
Cheers Jay...:wave
QuoteOriginally posted by jay
That is one mental 32........
Cheers Jay...:wave
It actually is growing on me, first i thought WTF but now hmmmmm:)
Sorry, I may have confused the issue! My budget isn\'t £10k, I just meant to say (and I thought I did :confused: ) that you can get a fair to good RX7 for £6-£10k. That\'s right, isn\'t it? I realise the more you spend, (generally) the better an example you will get, but I\'d be unwilling to pay much more than that for one. Heresy I know!
With the other cars, I would have to rely on a loan or finance, which is another consideration, but those are the other cars that interest me (that I\'ve thought of so far!).
I\'m not too keen on the R32, but thanks for posting it gsb876! That\'s pretty nuts, although I don\'t think it\'s quite "me" :D MR2 turbo doesn\'t really interest me either tbh.
Thanks for your feedback so far, it\'s always good to hear what other petrolheads think. Especially people who are experts on such a specialised vehicle.
There was a nice cosmo for sale on here a few days ago, that\'d make a nice daily driver :D
Personally I have looked at the RX7 for a long time now and was initially always put off by thinking reliability issues, rebuild prices and petrol consumption.
I was initially looking at an R33 GTR Skyline sourced through Newera. The car was gonna set me back at least 15000 to find a mint example with low 40k ish mileage on it. Fuel consumption was not that much better than an RX7 at 20-25mpg for what I was looking at, a slightly modded example. The RX7 swung it because I wanted to pay more for that exclusivity. That exclusivity also costs more on a day to day basis but I thought you can\'t have your cake and eat it! They are expensive to run, but thats why IMO they are exclusive and you don\'t see that many on the road.
Changing from an MX5 to an RX7 is going to have to change how you keep your car. You will have to get more involved in looking after it Bill, than what you might currently do with the MX i.e oil checking, water checks, servicing. As Gurj said tho find the right one and take away the hassle of rebuild if you don\'t want any worry.
Personal opinion though says to me that the looks of the car and performance far out way the "hassle" of looking after it.
Just bear in mind that you are moving, and no offence meant, from Mazda Division 3 to the Premier League in performance and with that comes extra responsibility on your part to keep the motor running.
I say do it :)
PS Sorry about the length of post thought I might be able to help!
I used to use mine as a daily drive on a trip that was about 75 miles a day... Car was fine. Needed a rebuild anyway and the piling on of the miles didn\'t help in that respect.
My car was consistantly doing ~18-20mpg, since rebuild and mods its around 17 consistently - got 17.5 off the last tank and that included the blat up to SantaPod this weekend with associated convoy antics and showing off to a passenger... It\'d probably do ~22 if I just cruised in it.
Rebuilds aren\'t as expensive on a FD as on something like a skyline but are probably more frequent.
Iain
QuoteOriginally posted by Bill Carr
Other options are (with drawbacks):
Lotus Elise (very costly to run, reliability issues)
Porsche Boxster (could only afford LHD)
Mazda RX8 (fuel costs!!!)
BMW Z4 (expensive, bit knobbish)
Any other suggestions would be welcome!
Elise - painful daily drive due to no servo assist on the brakes.
Boxster - people will think you\'re a ****
RX8 - good allround car but won\'t turn many heads
Z4 - hideously expensive - I\'d question reliability as a mat has had problems with his, and they\'re slower and less powerful than the RX7
Buy a 7, mine is daily driver and handles UK roads fine (no more bumpy than the Z4, possibly less), though I do worry about parking and speedbumps. if you can afford the 10-15mpg and the insurance then go for it. Reliability is not a problem per se because of all the advice here and you expect quirks with a car like this..
driving to santa pod on sunday from norwich and back my car did a whole tank. approx 60 lit. fd3s 240rwhp. the car was drivin hard all the way there and moderatly all the way home. and covered 275 miles all in all. also include in this figure the use of the air con whilst queing to get in and out of the pod.
scott
thats just less than 21mpg
Nice one!!!:D
i was driving it hard as well so looks good.
cheers
scott
FD - daily driver?!?!?! :D
PMSL
Mind you a GTR is an equally silly prospect unless it is not tuned :D
Ant
I use mine as a daily driver cost my a fortune but rather that than a saxo :D
Sorry mate not a daily driver. but there are plenty about. Drive it only in good weather. The car has been checked out on the dyno and runs pukka mate. ie not running on a lean mixture. I tend to find the car drinks heavily around town but not on long runs.
It really plays me up on short journeys so i tend not to use it for going round the block or a run to the shop. I find i need to really open it up at least once on every journey. (thats what i tell the g/f anyway) that might be difficult at rush hour in grid locked traffic:D
fd fd all the way home.
never had a car that will amaze so many high performance car owners and bike owners time and time again. shock horror when you move to overtake them hahahaha!:rollin
scott
They arent cheap to run, but thats insignificant as you are driving the best car to have ever come out of Japan. ;) :D
Some more good advice here, thanks chaps :D
Was taken out for a drive in a RX8 today... the dealer wouldn\'t let me drive it because I\'m 24 and their insurance wouldn\'t cover me - wtf?! Anyway, it was the 190 bhp version, and it was impressively quick! The salesman caned it a bit, and we were going pretty quickly - and this is a car that\'s 2 seconds slower to 60 than a RX7!! Was a nice car though, left me with a smile on my face. They\'re going to try and find a way for me to have a drive next week.
I\'ve got a drive in a Z4 tomorrow. 3.0 litre version :D That should be interesting. Unless the dealer decides that I\'m not covered by their insurance!
I know of a Mazda specialist near me who has 2 RX7s in stock, don\'t know what condition they\'re in though. I think I may give them a shout next week.
Dont be afraid my man. You know you need one.:cool
As once said by mr D Vader your skills are nearly complete come join me and together you can rule the universe.
:rollin
scott
I\'d say have a drive in all the cars you\'re interested in and make up your own mind, best way really:)
I\'ve had a Mr2 (twin entry turbo), RX7 (twin turbo) , Nissan Skyline, Escort Cosworth, RX7 (big single turbo ) and find the last one the best which is my current car, you cant beat a rx7 for thrill driving!!!
:)
QuoteOriginally posted by Bill Carr
Some more good advice here, thanks chaps :D
Was taken out for a drive in a RX8 today... the dealer wouldn\'t let me drive it because I\'m 24 and their insurance wouldn\'t cover me - wtf?! Anyway, it was the 190 bhp version, and it was impressively quick! The salesman caned it a bit, and we were going pretty quickly - and this is a car that\'s 2 seconds slower to 60 than a RX7!! Was a nice car though, left me with a smile on my face. They\'re going to try and find a way for me to have a drive next week.
IMO the 7 is a much bettter car. I have been looking for one for a while now because of the rareness and the power.
I took a RX8 190 out this morning for a test drive. It does have plenty of pull once you get to 4000 RPM or so. But to be honest everyone seems tp have one nowadays. The Dealer i saw had over 15 on the forecout all sold.
Then I met up with another member of the MRC who took me out in his car. ( He knows How he is and it was much appreciated). The 7 feels totally different, scarily fast, and it will piss on almost on the road.
Anyway IMO buy one their Great.
Well, today I drove a BMW Z4 3.0. Me like :D Very very nice car, stupidly fast - I think I managed to scare the salesman, although it didn\'t feel very fast! Impressive levels of grip, and very smooth engine. Nice inside too. The hood is hugely impressive. I\'m so tempted, as much as it saddens me (if I buy a beemer I\'m sure everyone will think I\'m a knob). But it was a very nice vehicle indeed.
I think I might pass on the RX now :D
The Z4 may have impressed you but reading back through the posts.....................................
Have you DRIVEN a 7 yet????????????:)
It\'ll be love at first drive or forget it.
John
And I see your 24................insurance \'ouch\' on whatever car from your list.
John
QuoteOriginally posted by Bill Carr
Well, today I drove a BMW Z4 3.0. Me like :D Very very nice car, stupidly fast - I think I managed to scare the salesman, although it didn\'t feel very fast! Impressive levels of grip, and very smooth engine. Nice inside too. The hood is hugely impressive. I\'m so tempted, as much as it saddens me (if I buy a beemer I\'m sure everyone will think I\'m a knob). But it was a very nice vehicle indeed.
I think I might pass on the RX now :D
Having been in both you defo have to get a drive in an RX7 now.
Compared to the Z4, the 7 is quicker, more involving to drive and feels both lighter and faster. You also don\'t have any traction control nonsense stopping power getting to the road in the 7 :D
It is smooth, I grant that, and a very nice car. I would urge you to drive a 7 before spending though cos at least then you have made the comaprison.
Bill, you know what will happen if you don\'t try an RX-7 before you buy the Z4... you\'ll be on the motorway one day and some mysterious looking car will pull out behind you and overtake you with ease - then you\'ll always have this nagging thought in the back of your mind; "would I have preferred an RX-7??"...
Could be worth finding out when a mini-meet is going on in your local area and trotting down to have a look, maybe someone there that will let you go out for a spin in there pride and joy?
There\'s a local mini-meet for Z3/4 owners every day where I live... at the local golf club :rollin :rollin :rollin
Cheers
Jon
QuoteOriginally posted by davefrith
For daily driivng I\'d say no to be honest, the cost of fuel etc
short journeys aren\'t good for it
buy a shitter and drive that, will save you a fortune
That is sooo true, I drive mine everyday (FC), t loves the longer journeys, but the shorter ones do more harm than good!
But it is very expensive on fuel (I must go through about £80-90/week:eek: )
Plus, being in Milton keynes, you\'ll love the extra power on all those roundabouts:D
I recommend the one at Kingston ( opposite Monkston and beside the Bakery;) )
Bill, mine\'s a daily driver and yes, it\'s not cheap on the old petrol, especially as I only use Optimax, but you will not get anywhere near as many looks in the Z3 as you would in an RX7......mines for sale and you\'re welcome for a test drive, and I promise you that you\'ll dump the BM straight away.......
Martin
mchapman1976@aol.com
...I use mine as a daily drive, and yes it\'s expensive to run, but the thrill of people eyeing up the car is well worth it...
...ive loved the Rx7 3rd gen since i was 15!!!i wouldnt choose another car!!
Marc
I was thinking of getting 1 and using it as a daily drive but i think id rather get another car 2 use as a work horse. That way i can save the rex for weekend/fun use only.
Also my cup does 35mpg and the shock of the rex maybe to much!