drove one and i wasnt impressed... but.....

[jasonw]

maybe it was the actual car i drove but my experience was as follows, btw i\'d be happy for anyone to put me straight as i love the look of the cars.
 
firstly everything rattled and huge knocking when going over uneven ground, wasnt overly quick (at least not as quick as i thought it would be) it had a rebuilt engine so wasnt knackered, and my daily driver is an E90 BMW 330i so i am used to a reasonably quick car to begin with.
 
didnt get any idea of ther handling as i only drove it on a dual carriage way and a roundabout and back up the other way,
 
didnt like the way it looked, it had non pop up headlights, tiny wing mirrors and a fast and the furious style rear spoiler ( not my idea of nice), it was also in red which i think is not the best colour.
 
(also i dont mean to offend anyone that has a red one or anything that i have mentioned on their car)
 
i would like a Lotus elise/exige (with a honda engne - good for 0-60 in just over 4 secs) or RX7 so i want it to handle very well, i love the idea of a turbo\'d car to get more power easier and the looks of  the std (with subtle work) RX7 is amazing
 
Did i just try a crap one or have i describe the ownership experiences of an RX7, honesty would really be appreciated here.
 
Thanks

[logicalChimp]

Hmmm - sounds like it has been fairly modified - and needs a set of new bushes / pillow balls (clinking from the rear).  Given the suspension sounds a bit old, changes are it wouldn\'t handle too well either.

Mine\'s pretty stock in the engine bay, and i find it has quite a lot of pull, but you have to get the revs up, so that the turbo\'s engage.  Also, whilst it may be been rebuilt (so fewer eingine *block* worries) that doesn\'t mean that the Rats Nest is going to be perfect, or that the turbos are fine - either of which can gut the performance...

I\'d suggest taking a couple more for a spin, try out a few of them.

[johnf]

didnt like the way it looked, it had non pop up headlights, tiny wing mirrors and a fast and the furious style rear spoiler ( not my idea of nice), it was also in red which i think is not the best colour.

I can\'t see why you went to test drive a car with so many things you didn\'t like to begin with.
Was it highly modified?
I\'d find another one that looks right and try that.
Never driven a 330i but you should be able to find comparison figures somewhere.
There aren\'t many who drive an RX and don\'t rate them.

John

[CharlieP]

I\'m in love with mine.....well...you know what I mean!
Maybe that\'s why I\'ve got two on the drive!
 
I think to realise the real handling ability, you need one thats set-up as it should be...ie. good tyres, sus (rubber mounts, bushes etc)
 
For example, I noticed a huge difference going down to 17inch wheels from 18s!

[johnf]

For example, I noticed a huge difference going down to 17inch wheels from 18s!

In what way?

John

[jasonw]

didnt really have the intention of buying this one as he wanted £9k, (he was a trader)
 
he couldnt tell me if the power had been upped.... AFAIK it had a turbo timer only, so the general opinion other than drive others which i will do is that they are good handling cars, would they get close to Elise/Exige handling with the correct suspension mods, money no object as the RX7 would be cheaper to buy than an Elsie and pay 10k for the honda engine conversion

[Jimi_Hendrix]

Not much low down torque from rotary engines. And certainly not as much as you\'d get from a German straight six 3.0ltr afair. That might have put you off?
 
Honda VTEC engines dont have a lot of torque low down either, but in something as light as an elise you prob wouldnt notice it that much.
 
Just try a few more and if its not for you then its not for you.

[Kash_]

try a few others as it sounds like you drove a bad example?

[chrisJDM]

there are alot of bad examples about especially twin turbos with boost issues, you really wanan get one that has been well looked after and for 9k you could get a very good one, uprated to single turbo etc

[ro284]

Some time ago i found myself right up behind an Elise, just before a motorway, he floored it so did i, and i pretty much stayed with him up to 90, it was raining i had to back off and my alloy wipers started to lift! but thats no excuse i think he would have left my standard FD anyway, but they are so small, i\'d hate to be in one of them for such a small speed advantage,
Sounds to me as though the one you drove may have needed suspension set up properly, i noticed a huge difference when mine was done, like the guys said try a few, when they are right they are stunning cars to drive, and i am very old, but love chasing bikes!
Good luck hope you find a good one

[CharlieP]

In what way?
 
John

Sorry should have said-
Well I found the ride much more forgiving (larger tyre wall) and seemed to handle better!
 
Oh and after having the tracking aligned made it even better!
 
ps. one of my RXs might be for sale!

[philiwily]

My front and rear suspension is out after a crash (just got it back on the road), It handles that bad i wouldn\'t give anyone else a shot. Before the crash it was truly awsome. All bent stuff replaced just needs aligned. Try another I would say.

Phil

[FDAsh]

Fell in love with mine as soon as I drove it, had to have it.

Shame the engine popped but hey, onwards and upwards. Sounds like you drove a bad example. I\'d personally never change the lines of the car too much, even down to keeping the popups - I think they\'re a piece of motoring nostalgia, and it\'s nice to give the finger to the Health and Safety people as well as the Greenies when you go stonking by with your giant carbon footprint.

[BenLewisMav]

I was under the impression that the RX-7 was one of best handling RWD cars to come out of Japan? Can\'t remember where its from, but I can only really think of a few others that come close (e.g. NSX, but I guess thats really a supercar?)
 
Definately get the bushes and pillowballs replaced if you hear knocking, and I wouldnt be suprised if its not running full boost either if it felt sluggish, mine had both of these problems when I bought it.

[gsb876]

Try to view a single turbo rx7 with decent upgrades to go with the turbo,

you\'ll find it much quicker than the one you drove which sounds quite standard tbh, the exterior is another story really :King

The single turbo rx i had was running a T78 turbo and nothing on the road touched it in the time i had it, had a quick play with a new M3 at the time, nearly hit the back of the M3 it was that slow :Laugh