Does anybody here know much about rotary engines and the rx-7... About a few months ago I was interested in trading my vehicle and getting cash up top for an rx-7... I don't know why, but I just always loved those car. I heard many horror stories about the engine just dying out the blue, heating problems, electric problems, and many other issues. Are these problems fixable so I could drive the car around at least a thousand miles a week or so? Like if it has the original engine but it has been built and cooling has been upgraded and etc. If anybody here can let me know more about this vehicle, your information would be handy. I've been reading a lot about the car, but I wanted to hear first hand from a former rx-7 owner, or current owner that knows the pros and cons of the vehicle. I'd appreciate it, thanks!

 

I doubt there are many cars at all that you can drive a few thousand miles a week except for a civic. Wouldn't you want to drive a luxury car if you're driving that much?

 

just trying to be helpful here; rx7club.com has a lot more rx7 owners than evom, it'll be a good place to get some info.

that said, from everything i've heard/read about the fd rx7.....u'd be crazy to want one as a reliable daily driver imo.

good luck though. there's a red fd parked right next to my evo right now outside the hotel parking lot....it's freakin sexy....

u could sell ur evo, use the cash to get an rx7 and a reliable daily beater (e.g. civic), then use the little (if any) left over cash for rx7's repairs and maintenance. just a thought

good luck.

 

I am a mazda tech. let me tell you the rx7 are the worst cars i have ever seen
I havent seen many with over 60k miles that didnt need an engine. The way I see it
rx7's are a money pit.
DONT DO IT!!!!!!!!

 

Buy it and do the LS1 swap

 

There is a lot of potential in the 13BTT rotary engine, but they do suffer from a lack of reliability. The sequential twin turbo system is hard for the computer to control. Plus they have a rebuild schedule of about 120k miles. You can help reliability by switching to a larger tubo setup (and going single, instead of twin). Try pettitracing.com or racingbeat.com, they specialize in rotary engines, they can help make them more reliable. Factory stock however, good luck....

 

Peter Farrell Supercars is located in Manassas

EDIT: They were located in Manassas, it appears that they've moved to my neck of the woods, Frederick. He used to race RX-7's and is a well known tuner.

 

there are 3 guys in my car club that have 2'nd gen rx'7's. 87 to be exact. dunno if it the same engine or not (13B). 1 guy is n/a. no problems really. other two have turbo II's and one guy blew his motor and other has had lots of issues. I know they are very unstable. One ping and its over. They are failry easy to fix (not a lot of moving parts, just a million seals.)

as said above. www.rx7club.com is where they go for info.

 

RX7's aren't unreliable. I used my turbo FC daily and never had any serious problems. The only problems with the car are that they are getting old and so various things wear out or just quit working. The engines are not idiot proof like an Evos either. If you don't keep everything maintained properly and don't have a perfect tune then don't expect to even get 20k miles out of the motor. Well maintained rotaries have lasted 100k-150k miles, but your results will vary depending on how you treat the car.

The number of mods you have on a rotary is inversely proportional to the life of the engine. Single turbo setups will most definitely shorten the life of the car. What is suggested is switching the turbos from a sequential spool to simultaneous. All that does though is simplify the vacuum hoses under the hood so you have less to worry about.

If you are serious about cars and know how to do a few things yourself then I would say go for it, but if you are looking for a beater that doesn't require a whole lot of attention to keep running then you are looking at the wrong car. An RX7 is like a super model girlfriend; she's a whole lot of fun as long as you have lots of $ and keep her happy, but as soon as you mess up she's gone.

 

i was a long time owner of an FD, and hands down the best car i ever owned, yes i am biased. the '93s had many issues and those cars are up to 14yrs old now. the '94s and 5s are much better but rarer and more valuable. there are bunch of known problems with these cars (cooling, sequential turbo system, intolerance to bad tuning/detonation) but these can all be rectified by and knowledgable and attentive owner. the best thing is do a TON of research about the car before going looking for one, then if you decide to buy, seek out the best one you can find and afford. also, find a good shop that specializes in 3rd gen 7s. i have dealt with most of them throughout the country. let me know where you are located and i may be able to recommend someone. you think mitsu techs are clueless about evo's, mazda was worse by a factor of 10, mostly due to lack of training. many perfectly good twin turbos setup were replaced under warranty because the techs didnt know how to diagnose a vacum leak in the sequential setup (which by the way, is excellent & reliable once you replace the stock rubber lines w/ silicone and zip-tie them).

 

The fc cars were many times more reliable than the subsequent TT fd's. Its the sequential setup as I said before, but he's talking about a 93'. Thats a fd. the 86-91 gsl and turbo II cars were great. I have a buddy who has an 86 with an 87 engine in it doing 450whp. He drives it to work every day. The great thing is engine rebuilds are easy to do and not too expensive. You can get a complete rebuild with a mild street port for less than 3k. Tuning is a whole other issue however...

 

Thanks for the great insight everybody!! It came across to me that I will miss my evo if I get the rx-7. I mean the work thats already been done to the car and the money and time spent so far, it'll go down the drain. Plus, like you guys stated the rx-7s are harder to maintain so I'll need that extra cash, which I'm a broke basterd now So yea, I'll prob think about it more, shiet man im so indecisive lol. First I was gonna sell my car and try to get an IX, decided to keep my car and now I am looking at rx-7s lol. Even though I love this car I always want something else. Maybe if I got my cams installed on my car with the new clutch I want, I'd be satisfied 8- )

 

Total POS 100% unadulterated POS!!! Understand Run far far far far away.

Any motor that has to be tuned that perfectly to push 350-400whp and can still blow is a POS IMO. Go read Rx7club.com you can't make the damn things solid. For every 1 diehard racer who has managed to make the car reliable there are 10 people who blew there engine.

That the whole reason the car never stuck in the import seen. How many drag FD's do you see these days? How many track FD's do you see? Over 325whp they suck end of story.

I owned a 94 Motego Blue handled great, looked great at the time (at one time I loved M. blue not anymore I hate it now) with bolt ons the stupid motor popped a seal. With just a catback and a intake at 12lbs of boost.

Runaway unless you are going to swap in a Ls1 then they rule!!

 

Not true at all!! You may have had good luck pushing 200whp, but go try to push 350-400whp on pump and it's a different ball game. Glass_man on Rx7club has been through 6 motors tuned by some of the best shops out there you just can't make them bullet proof.

 

It sounds like you just don't know how to work with them. Let me guess, you threw on a bunch of bolt-ons before you got a good method to tune it? Or you did the fatal mistake of not porting your wastegates and boost creep took your motor out. Maybe you simply forgot to overbuild your fuel delivery? There are a million ways to blow a rotary, and that's why it takes more than your average joe to keep it running.

There are a ton of people that simply cannot handle a picky engine. I have been working on them for years, and problems are directly related to how informed and motivated the owner is.

You can beat the snot out of any car and you will blow SOMETHING. 350-400whp is nothing for an FD. It's usually the people that tune past 400whp that have issues. Give Evos 10 more years and they might even get the new unreliable award. They're already off to a great start...

I already said the car is NOT for most people, just the ones that have enough passion to put a lot of work and effort into keeping it running. I drove the crap out of my mildly modded TII(~240whp), and it's still running with great compression. I recently gave it to my brother, and with how meticulously I took care of it I know he'll get at LEAST another 20k miles out of it. That's assuming that the motor would only last 70k miles though.

Go to rx7club.com and you will find plenty of passionate people that don't have more problems than can be expected from any car. Motors do blow, but it's usually human error that caused it. Most will tell you that the rotary is only as unreliable as you make it, and that it's not bad at all. However, they will also tell you to stay away from the car unless you have the money and time to fix it.