My New Car!

[philwhite]

Hi,

I’ve been a huge RX fan for years and have always dreamed of owning one, but after a friend a work took me for a spin in one a few years ago and I was completely hooked, I’ve since been lurking around this forum taking in as much knowledge as I could, and last week I finally took the plunge and bought this beast!
She’s a 1996 Type RS, completely standard apart from a Racing Beat cat back. She’s recently had a full rebuild by Rotechniks in Reading

When I’m not cycling she’ll be joining me on my daily commute of about 8 miles, so most of my driving will be fun miles, my wife now has my old Astra so that will be suffering all the shopping trips from now on.

I must admit to being very worried, thinking I may have a time bomb sitting on my driveway, and people who haven’t owned one seem to be quite vocal about how unreliable they supposedly are. I’m sure it’ll be fine and I’ll just enjoy owning my dream car!

The only bad bits are that the AC isn’t working and the passenger side lock is jammed, all things I’ll be sorting.
Are there any other owners in the Sittingbourne (Kent) area? And are there any tips you veteran owners can pass on to a newby like me?

Better photos to follow…

Phil.

[Kevin]

Welcome, looks awesome!!

I must admit to being very worried, thinking I may have a time bomb sitting on my driveway, and people who haven’t owned one seem to be quite vocal about how unreliable they supposedly are.

I love people who have an ultimate wealth of knowledge about something they\'ve probably never even laid eyes on.  These people are called d1ck heads.  Every car can be a time bomb if you dont look after it properly.  Treat it right and it\'ll last as long as you want it too!

[Sicknote]

RS is a nice car mate - Aircon probably needs a top up and the jammed door lock can\'t be much.....spray some wd40 in it :chat lol

[Nik da Greek]

I must admit to being very worried, thinking I may have a time bomb sitting on my driveway, and people who haven’t owned one seem to be quite vocal about how unreliable they supposedly are. I’m sure it’ll be fine and I’ll just enjoy owning my dream car!:p:p
:p
 
The only bad bits are that the AC isn’t working and the passenger side lock is jammed, all things I’ll be sorting.

Welcome, along, dude. Nice shiny looking car you have, I love the later model spoiler, think it finishes the car just right. No reason for the car to be a time bomb. Warm it up before sticking your boot in it, keep an eye on the oil level religiously, and let it cool down after every thraping by driving off-boost for a while, and it\'ll be as reliable as anything else. After all, you have just come from a Vauxhall :Giggle

Air con seldom works on Fds! Passenger door handles/locks frequently break! But they\'re not really unreliable, honest :Giggle

[FDAsh]

My aircon works perfectly after a regas and sealing.

And yes, I had the same sort of expert advice from people who have never owned a rotary, ignore them, all the info you need is available from people in the know on these forums.

Got a 1997 RS myself, I absolutely love it.

[Hi RX7]

Welcome, and I\'m sure you will enjoy driving the car.
Timebomb? well you could be right but then again like me you have been viewing this forum for some time and in all honesty my conclusion was that after driving the RX7 as well as many other considerably more expensive Japanese high performance cars I would accomodate the need to re-build which is a fact of life with RX7\'s because I liked everything about the car. I am a fairly recent owner of an RX7 who has had what could be described as a string of misfortunes that leads me to the conclusion that the RX7 can be very unreliable and very expensive to fix but if you buy the car knowing that then when it kicks you in the nuts at least you can be prepared for it but this could be in the very early days of ownership.
At least you have had what I now consider to be the most important factor in so far as a re-build by an established/recognised engine builder which should go some way in making your new ownership a pleasure.
As someone has already stated on this forum the RX7 is now quite an old car and as a high performance older car it\'s obvious really that like all thoroughbreds the upkeep can make your eyes water on occasions.
But hey enjoy it when its running well!

[philwhite]

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone!! Absolutely loving the car, took her out for a spin tonight to our nearest tunnel, wow, the noise was incredible, and these rotaries really have a great sound! (The exhaust made some nice pops too!!)


I’ve been keeping one eye on the gauges and all seems fine (as I understand it?), the oil pressure seems to remain between 4 and 5 unless under hard acceleration, and the temperature once warm stays slightly below centre and also doesn’t move. To be honest the only gauge that does move is the fuel!!

[Nik da Greek]

Stock temperature gauge is for water temp (allegedly) and NEVER moves past "9 o\'clock" except to tell you that your engine overheated ten minutes ago and it\'s time to start saving for a rebuild! Seriously, they\'re totally sh!te and will not give you any realistic indication whatsoever as to the actual temperature of the engine. If you only make one mod to the interior, make it a good quality aftermarket temperature gauge, you\'ll be amazed how much the temp actually fluctuates and is never shown on the stock gauge!

But enough scaremongering, glad you\'re loving the car. Tunnels were built just for Rexs to be caned in, it\'s rude not to!

[FDRZRich]

Hi there, glad you\'re loving it! I live in Maidstone, had my 96 RZ for 6 years now! Currently looking to sell it, but only because I do too many miles to work and back, not because I\'ve had enough!  It had a rebuild from WGT when I bought and since then I\'ve had nothing really go wrong!

[NurburgRob]

Hi fello 96 RS owner!

Lots of nice extras goodies on the 96 model and on top of that, the Type RS model