RX7 as a daily driver?

[Bill Carr]

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?! ) think the RX7 would meet my rather exacting requirements?

Any feedback would be appreciated

[J4P RX]

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

[Holmsey24]

I\'ll be keeping my eye on this post as I plan to use mine for daily driving.

When it finally arrives!

[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

[TonyBlair]

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.

[davefrith]

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

[gsb876]

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

[MikeLMR]

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 !

[Bill Carr]

Originally 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!

[J4P RX]

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).

[johnf]

The 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

[gsb876]

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

[jay]

That is one mental 32........
 Cheers Jay...:wave

[gsb876]

Originally posted by jay
That is one mental 32........
 Cheers Jay...:wave

It actually is growing on me, first i thought WTF but now hmmmmm:)

[Bill Carr]

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" 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.