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Mazda Rx-7 1987-90


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#1 moosenukem

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Posted 13 July 2005 - 12:10 PM

I don't know if you really want this topic is here, I'm just curious.

Does anybody own one of these cars. I am thinking about getting one, but it would
be my first car, so I don't know if it would aa good idea.

For those who have/had one of these cars, are they reliable, what are some cool things to do to them?
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#2 Arcanum

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Posted 13 July 2005 - 12:15 PM

Wow, I was just thinking about getting a used mazda rx-7. I know that once fixed up the car will run for a long time. If its already in good condition, you're golden...I think. Last I checked RX-7s were a pretty good buy.
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#3 SneakUP

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Posted 13 July 2005 - 12:33 PM

My dad just got one. Its nice and its a stick shift but for a 1st car I would perfer a non stickshift.
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#4 Suave

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Posted 13 July 2005 - 02:02 PM

No man! Stickshifts give you such a better feel for the car. I drive an old Civic and it's a stickshift, I really enjoy driving it.
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#5 CustomSnake202

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Posted 13 July 2005 - 02:19 PM

I've heard good things about the Rx-7 aswell. My dad owns a 89' Mazda MX-5 miata, and I love the thing. I've only practiced on it a few times, but you can feel everything in that car. He was close to buying the Rx-7, but later decided to get the miata because of the better handling and other specs.

It sounds like a good car to me. I like the body of the Rx-7, and its a rotary engine! I can't wait to drive the miata to school. Hard top convertible. Mmmmmmmmm.
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#6 ItalionStallion

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Posted 13 July 2005 - 02:28 PM

I know someone who owns a Mazda Rx-7. Its a damn fine car but its got several downsides. First off, its a maintenance hog. Its a carthat requires alot of care. Second off, its a pretty tough car. Honestley, if you're a first time driver then it wouldn't be the best choice. If i were you id go with something thats sporty yet is cheaper and requires less maintenance. Something like a mitsubishi eclipse, honda accord, any acura or a toyota celica is something that still has alot of power but doesn't require all the care that an rx-7 does.

I personally have a 99 acura CL. I absolutley love my car. Honda's are frickin tanks so all i need to do is get an oil chance and do the proper switches and i should be able to drive it for another hundred thousand miles. My friends got a 97 accord with 65k and it drives like new. Honda is definitley a great first car.
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#7 Talio

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Posted 13 July 2005 - 02:32 PM

Yeah, driving a manual is pretty fun, but not if you live in a metro area. I live in the land of Philly traffic and get stuck in it almost everyday. It sucks balls having to shift back from first to second over and over again. I don't know much about Mazda's, but consider the mileage and do your research. On an old model like that, it pays to get a carfax report.

Personally I drive a Crossbow purple (I shit you not, it's xbow purple) Grand am. Tiny little engine, but it's a pontiac, so if I want to, it will go the proper speed. Just don't expect long run reliablity from one. It's given me problems on a couple occasions.

Make sure you check all the info you can. Check Kelly Blue Book, make sure you're not getting ripped and running a quick search on MSN auto's couldn't hurt. Sometimes they'll have the consumer reports reviews for older models, but it really depends. Also, just Google it and see what comes up. You never know what kind of useful information you can find.

Most importantly, check the mileage. Not many cars will last past 150,000. If the engine has been rebuilt, that's good, but make sure the radiator and belts are all in working order. The electrical is important too. Also if you can, have a mechanic look over it before you buy it. That's kind of a bitch to set up, but I've been able to do it in the past and found out that I had a loose timing chain that needed to be replaced. When I confronted the dealer about it, they changed it and it never became a problem.

There are alot of things to consider when buying a new car, but most importantly do your research.

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#8 moosenukem

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Posted 13 July 2005 - 05:06 PM

Thanks for the input everyone.

Stallion, what do you consider a maintenance hog? And what is a "pretty tough car"? Tough to drive?
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#9 ItalionStallion

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Posted 13 July 2005 - 07:07 PM

^^^

It might just be his car, but since its a sports car you've got to keep ontop of everything. Stuff goes out faster, things break down more often. Shit like that happens, and it can be a bitch. I've actually got a friend who owns a BMW M3 whoc CONSTANTLY fixing the engine, and he drives a frickin BMW.

I've heared its a relitivley tough car to drive. Since its got so much power behind it it may be harder to control it. Especially since you're a new driver (no teenager is a perfect driver, i'll be the first one to admit that im not a perfect driver).

Plus, im sure insurance is pretty high on it. Since its a sports car and you're 16 i wouldn't be suprised if it was 2 grand a year. Insurance on a 3000gt for me was 2 grand a year and i had a good student discount and had taken drivers ed.

Sticks are overrated.

Edited by ItalionStallion, 13 July 2005 - 07:08 PM.

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#10 merlinski

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Posted 13 July 2005 - 09:09 PM

First of all, a manual is the only true way to drive. Automatics are boring as hell. I've driven a manual for the past 2 years and I love driving it - as soon as I get behind the wheel of an automatic I lose all my love for driving.

The second-gen mazda RX-7 is a pretty decent car. The reliability issues stem from it being a rotary engine - which are notoriously bad for blowing apex seals. This shouldn't be too much of a problem unless you're running a lot of boost, and I'm assuming you aren't going to be installing a turbo. It's also pretty cheap for the kind of performance you'll be getting. I'm not sure about the second-gen, but the third gen (93-95) was one of the best handling cars in history. Not only that, but if you're feeling ambitious you can swap a GM LT1 or LS1 engine (V-8) into the Mazda using only a relatively cheap swap-kit, and you can get major power in a light body. If you want I'll get you the link to some sites about that.

As long as you're not an idiot and the car's not a lemon, it shouldn't break down too much. I'm willing to bet that the reason ItallionStallion's friend's BMW M3 breaks down so much is because his friend just beats the hell out of his car. Just because a car's fast doesn't mean you can drive it at its limits constantly. It's fine to push it once in a while, but if you're constantly dropping the clutch and peeling out or revving the engine high, any car will break down.

The fact that it's a stick-shift shouldn't matter as long as you know how to drive an automatic. I agree learning to drive for the first time on a manual can be difficult, but once you've got the basics of driving an automatic down it's a piece of cake to learn a manual. It'd take a few days at most to get the mechanics of it down.

In a few years (once I've saved up the cash) I'm probably going to buy a 93-95 Mazda RX-7. I'd get one from an earlier year except that I don't like the wedge design and the 93-95 just looks stunning. Of course, I'm looking to do an engine swap that's been done only a few times before (Toyota 2JZ-GTE if anyone's interested), so that's a major project car for me. Good luck with your car.
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#11 ItalionStallion

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Posted 13 July 2005 - 09:55 PM

I'm willing to bet that the reason ItallionStallion's friend's BMW M3 breaks down so much is because his friend just beats the hell out of his car.

...Yeah the previous owner was a complete asshole to it. The dude took the fucking thing off roading for gods sake. The guy who owns it now does alot of drifting with it. M3's are practically made for that kind of shit though.

I personally am perfectley satisfied with my car. It's got 200 horses and handels very well. I was planning on doing some stuff to the engine but i don't really think its needed.

I drive my car in mostly short distance/stop and go driving so there wasn't a real need for a stick shift. If i can go fast, then i couldn't give 2 shits about a stick. Thats just my opinion though.
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#12 xedice

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Posted 14 July 2005 - 12:43 AM

I heard these were high maintenance cars. My friend who owns a Rx7 says that the 3 tips of the rotor or whatever its called, the main part of a rotary engine, well anyway, the tips of that wear out quick. He is always fixing his car and I think rotary engines are just too much trouble for a first time driver.

But if you do get a sports car, opt for a manual (cheaper too). I learned on an auto, and now that I know how to drive a manual, I really wish my parents put me on a manual first. Also, having an auto sports car is just so boring. I have an auto 'stang and it is very boring to drive and shifts at the worst times (for economy).

They came out with this new tranny, called a tip tonic or some stupid name like that, but the idea is cool. Its a manual when you want it to be, and an automatic when you want it to be. My buddy recently bought a Nissan 350Z, and the tiptonic was actually the cheapest transmission, even though he gets the best of both worlds.

Oh yea, have fun with your insurance haha.
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#13 taita cakes

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Posted 14 July 2005 - 03:47 AM

I didn't know an older RX-7 existed :ph34r:

The latest RX-7 isn't the greatest, with discussion of how much rotaries chew through the petrol, comparable to that of a V8 last time I heard, but I'm not a car man. The other problem is that the car is an absolute death-trap. You have to release the front door before the no-handle back door can be opened. Fun. Try doing that with a splitting head[ache].
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#14 ItalionStallion

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Posted 14 July 2005 - 11:52 AM

I heard these were high maintenance cars. My friend who owns a Rx7 says that the 3 tips of the rotor or whatever its called, the main part of a rotary engine, well anyway, the tips of that wear out quick. He is always fixing his car and I think rotary engines are just too much trouble for a first time driver.

But if you do get a sports car, opt for a manual (cheaper too). I learned on an auto, and now that I know how to drive a manual, I really wish my parents put me on a manual first. Also, having an auto sports car is just so boring. I have an auto 'stang and it is very boring to drive and shifts at the worst times (for economy).

They came out with this new tranny, called a tip tonic or some stupid name like that, but the idea is cool. Its a manual when you want it to be, and an automatic when you want it to be. My buddy recently bought a Nissan 350Z, and the tiptonic was actually the cheapest transmission, even though he gets the best of both worlds.

Oh yea, have fun with your insurance haha.

Yeah, my dads 2006 BMW 530 I has tip tronic. BMW was the first company to actually have it on their cars, i didn't know Nissan had it yet.

Its really simple, all you do is click the shifter down to shift gears. It goes from gears m1-m6. The things just incredible. You can switch from m1 to regular drive with no problems.
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#15 merlinski

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Posted 14 July 2005 - 12:02 PM

Xedice - the 3 tips he's referring to are called the apex seals, which is what I referred to in my post.

While the tiptronic is cool, it's really not a manual at all. First of all, it's mechanically an automatic transmission (automatic and manuals are very different) that just allows you to control the shifts manually. There's a delay between pushing the lever for the shift and the shift actually taking effect, so you actually have to shift a second or two before you want a gear change. And most importantly, there's no clutch, so it really doesn't feel like a manual at all - there's no control over starts or shifting, and you lose the feel of connection with the car.
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#16 notorious oxide

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Posted 14 July 2005 - 08:01 PM

The latest RX-7 isn't the greatest, with discussion of how much rotaries chew through the petrol, comparable to that of a V8 last time I heard, but I'm not a car man. The other problem is that the car is an absolute death-trap. You have to release the front door before the no-handle back door can be opened. Fun. Try doing that with a splitting head[ache].


i think you are reffering to the RX-8.
but i agree with most of the other replies when they say it is high maintanence, but once you learn the car it can be avoided.
on the topic of manuals (stick shifts as you people call them) i have learned to drive in a manual and i never intend to buy an automatic.
the tiptronic transmission is not recent at all, F1 cars have them and have had them for a very long time, same with feraris and a couple other exotics, but the tiptronic comes in different forms, one is where its just a lever that you pull to gear up and push to gear down which can be found behind the stearing wheel or where the gear stick would be, but does not require a clutch. the other is whereit is still the lever but with a clutch and is a lot closer to driving a manual but a lot easier, i have had experience with both, because my brothers boss races v8 super cars, and super-karts which are comparable with F1 and F2 racers, and a guy i know builds exotic replicas as a hobby.

but i have always had a taste for the series 5 RX-7 simply because i like the shape and when worked well they sound nice, the downside is that they are a bit smaller than most other cars, but i recon its worth it.
but as a first car i would go with something a little less of a sports car.
hope it works out for you.
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#17 The Infinite Shindig

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Posted 14 July 2005 - 10:12 PM

Sheesh oxide, do you think you could start capitalizing for a change?
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#18 merlinski

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Posted 14 July 2005 - 10:55 PM

oxide, you're a little off with your description of transmissions.

There's a difference between "tiptronic" or "manumatic" transmissions found in your average middle-of-the-line car and the gearbox that you're referring to. The tiptronic transmissions are fundamentally automatic transmissions, meaning that they use a viscous clutch and a planetary gearbox. It's just that pressing the button overrides the computer and shifts the automatic gearbox.

The transmissions in race cars which use a lever are insanely different from tiptronic transmissions. They're called "Sequential Manual Gearboxes" or "Direct Shift Gearboxes", depending on the company. It usually uses a complex controller to convert linear motion of the lever into the switching of gears, which are normal gears (not planetary) in the form that would be found in a manual gearbox. The direct shift gearbox by Audi uses a double-clutch system where a second clutch is always engaged, so the shift requires no clutching. Some of these sequential manual gearboxes only have one clutch, which is the lever/clutch system you've found in race cars. For a comparison, google image search "planetary gearbox", then google image search "direct shift gearbox".
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#19 notorious oxide

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Posted 14 July 2005 - 11:02 PM

I have a straight shifter in my beetle, its just the shifter and the shifter box that was changed. And the information i gave is true in what i experienced and what i have seen but there are many different things out there.
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#20 taita cakes

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Posted 15 July 2005 - 01:36 AM

i think you are reffering to the RX-8.

Yes -_- :blush:

I spoke to the guy at school who I usually talk cars with, and he was saying that the rotaries do chew through a fair bit of petrol, at a comparable rate to a V8, and are absolutely insane when they get hot. For the weight and power of the car, the RX range is pretty thirsty in his opinion.

But yes, the RX-8 is an absolute deathtrap. But hey, no more than a 2-door.
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#21 rylundo

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Posted 28 July 2005 - 12:26 PM

1966 mgb its british baby yeah.
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