RX7 as a daily driver?

[Brett]

There was a nice cosmo for sale on here a few days ago, that\'d make a nice daily driver

[Holmsey24]

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!

[iaint]

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

[Shark]

Originally 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..

[sdminus]

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

[MikeLMR]

thats just less than 21mpg

[sdminus]

Nice one!!!:D
i was driving it hard as well so looks good.
cheers
scott

[A7NTY]

FD - daily driver?!?!?!

PMSL

[A7NTY]

Mind you a GTR is an equally silly prospect unless it is not tuned

Ant

[Andyp]

I use mine as a daily driver cost my a fortune but rather that than a saxo

[sdminus]

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

[A7NTY]

They arent cheap to run, but thats insignificant as you are driving the best car to have ever come out of Japan.

[Bill Carr]

Some more good advice here, thanks chaps

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 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.

[sdminus]

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

[gsb876]

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!!!