For the few that will care - Mazda planning new RX-7 for 2017

[Say Chi Sin Lo]

Originally Posted by ollinger

^^ Ummm, the (Wankel) rotary engine in the Mazda has nothing in common with a jet turbine engine.

I assume the fundamental designs remain the same? Jet engines are rotary engines right?

[Steve Huff]

I had a 79 RX 7. Fun car to drive. Friend had a 280Z. His was faster, mine handled better. As for gas mileage--on the highway it wasn't bad (around 27). In town--12-13, even when driven lightly. And, it used oil more than most cars--about a quart every 5-7000 miles. It was rated at only 101 HP, yet I had it over 100 a few times, and judging by the tach, I could probably have gone 130. Not bad in those days for a small car. I bought it in 85 and still was solid--no squeaks or rattles. Rotary engines had most of their weight very low, so handling was their forte. Kind of like the boxer engines of the Subaru BRZ now.

[krz]

Originally Posted by FD3S

A lot of people seem to like that swap! In 2012 it's not a bad choice if you can afford it, though a lot of people still seem to swear by the 13B's, if only b/c of the power per liter measurement. Yeah it's a stat that's kind of useless for typical driving, but I find it downright interesting from a technical standpoint. Gotta give props to the LS1 for causing a hell of a lot less heartbreak over the years though!

Oh, man. What kind of mods did you have on that MR2 (SW20, I'm guessing?)

Yup SW20. I literally just sold it last week. Here is a copy/paste from my for sale post. To be honest though, my friends LS1 swapped FC was one of the most fun cars I've ever driven. And the FD has to be one of the most beautiful cars to ever come out of Japan.

I need a more mature non-boyracer toy now that I've hit 25. I'm torn between a NSX or Elise. I almost went Porsche 996 but, the car is downright ugly... those headlights!

Anyway to the mod list.

Induction:
Greddy T67 Turbo 8cm Housing
Greddy Tubular Exhuast Manifold with Brace
Greddy External Wastegate
Greddy 3" Downpipe
Greddy Type R BOV
Custom 4" Intake

Intercooler:
Spearco Air to Water Intercooler Core Mounted in Engine bay
OEM Lexus Heat Exchanger up front
Trunk Mounted Resevoir Tank and Pump

Engine:
Forged CP 8.5:1 Compression Pistons 86.5mm
Forged Eagle Rods
Ferrea 1mm Oversized Valves
Shimless Buckets
ARP Head Bolts
ARP Connecting Rod Bolts
ARP Main Bolts
HKS 264 Intake Cams
HKS 264 Exhaust Cams
HKS Cam Gears
Greddy Catch Can
Bored .020 Over.
ATS Racing Headgasket.
HKS Dual Dragger Exhaust
Ross Machine Racing (RMR) Intake Manifold
BBK 75mm Throttle Body
MoTec M4 Engine Management System

Fuel System:
Aeromotive Fuel Pressure Regulator
Walbro 255 Fuel Pump
850cc Top Feed Injectors
HUX Racing Top Feed Fuel Rail
Braided Stainless Steel Lines

Transaxle:
ACT 6 Puck Clutch
93 E153 Transmission
OEM Limited Slip Differential

Suspension:
Tein HA Coilovers
Suspension Technique Front Sway Bar
Suspension Technique Rear Sway Bar
TRD Rear Strut Bar
Polyurethane Motor Mounts
Crossed Drilled Front Rotors
Aftermarket Rear Stabilizer Bar

Interior:
TRD Shift Knob
AEM Uego Air-Fuel Guage
AEM True Boost Controller and Guage
Stainless Steel Door Sills
Leather Door Inserts
Personal Steering Wheel
A'PEXi Turbo Timer

Body:
Lexus RX300 Projectors and OEM Denso Parts
94 Rear JDM Spoiler
94 Rear JDM Tail Lights and Center Panel
94 JDM Trunklid with GT-S Emblem
OEM 93 Front Lip
Color Matched Mouldings

[FD3S]

^ That's a gorgeous car. Guessing you tracked it?

If you can find an NSX in decent shape for a decent price I'd say go for that - it's a design that (to me) has aged just as well as the FD. Elise's make for fun toys though Have you considered the FR-S/BRZ? It's been getting solid reviews from most people, and at this point in time it's probably a better bet then restoring an AE86, as venerable as that car is. Are you dead set on RWD?

The LS1 VS 13B is like 1HBH VS 2HBH - there's no clear-cut winner online. A safe assumption seems to be that the LS1 gives you more power off the line but the rotary allows for more precision in cornering, though individual opinions seem to vary.

[FD3S]

Originally Posted by SwankPeRFection

Meh, making this car an NA car (i.e. non-turbo) will be like making another POS like the current Subaru BRZ/Toyota 86. (Why the F they didn't leave the VF turbo on that boxer is beyond me...) Without a turbo it'll just suck, I don't care how you cook it. Besides, you can't take a legend car of the 90's and strip the very things that made it what it was. They did that with the RX-8 and it sucked ***. Maybe I'm just a traditionalist, but I don't believe if taking one of those icons and trying to reinvent them by stripping away the very heart that made it what it was.

I just saw this post :P The reviews on the FR-S/BRZ seem to be pretty solid across the board, and a light-weight car RWD car doesn't necessarily need forced induction to be fun. It's no 86, but it looks like it would handle being tossed into corners pretty well.

If Mazda end up going the forced induction route, I'd probably prefer if the new RX-7 went with a single turbine - the sequential twin turbo setup on the FD caused a lot of problems down the line, even if A LOT of the problems were caused by ignorant owners. If they go NA - just make the new engine have more torque than the Renesis and we'll be good.

[Say Chi Sin Lo]

I'm all for NA, but the recent trend on being eco-friendly AND respectable power calls for a turbo setup.

My Mazdaspeed 3 doesn't have terrible turbo-lag, but it's still there. If I can have all the power right now without FI, I'd do it in a heartbeat. If I'm in the wrong gear, the nothingness that happens from 2,000rpm - about 3,250rpm seems like an eternity for me.

[krz]

Originally Posted by FD3S

^ That's a gorgeous car. Guessing you tracked it?

If you can find an NSX in decent shape for a decent price I'd say go for that - it's a design that (to me) has aged just as well as the FD. Elise's make for fun toys though Have you considered the FR-S/BRZ? It's been getting solid reviews from most people, and at this point in time it's probably a better bet then restoring an AE86, as venerable as that car is. Are you dead set on RWD?

Yup, the best looking cars from that age were the NSX, FD, and SW20.

RWD is the only way to go. Ever.

FR-S/BRZ while a great feeling/driving car, is just a little too gutless for me. Plus, if I went with the Toyota version, I could never see myself putzing around in a Scion (Shallow I know.)

But, to be honest I'm leaning away from the NSX as I'm a little tired of older cars, there is always something to fix. The other option I'm thinking of is moving to just one car for everyday driving instead like a 2009 Z4 or a Cayman.

[Say Chi Sin Lo]

Originally Posted by krz

Yup, the best looking cars from that age were the NSX, FD, and SW20.

RWD is the only way to go. Ever.

FR-S/BRZ while a great feeling/driving car, is just a little too gutless for me. Plus, if I went with the Toyota version, I could never see myself putzing around in a Scion (Shallow I know.)

But, to be honest I'm leaning away from the NSX as I'm a little tired of older cars, there is always something to fix. The other option I'm thinking of is moving to just one car for everyday driving instead like a 2009 Z4 or a Cayman.

Cayman is the obvious choice.

[krz]

Originally Posted by Say Chi Sin Lo

Cayman is the obvious choice.

Unfortunately, they are pricey. I very rarely see any early models sell for less than 30K which is really at the top of my budget.

[ollinger]

Say
Every engine has SOMETHING that rotates, obviously, including electrics. Wankel has rotating "piston-like" elements, jet has rotating compressor (as does any turbo car engine.) Hardly very similar.

[Torres]

I used to have an RX-8. Nice car but its greatest downfall was the engine. Horrendeous fuel economy, used 1l oil every 1,000 miles, non-existent torque at the bottom of the rev range, had a tendancy to flood over very short distances. Also heard from various owners clubs that the engines needed to be rebuilt at 70-80k miles. I'm not sure what benefits there are to the rotary design as there seem to be more disadvantages than advantages.

[Say Chi Sin Lo]

Originally Posted by Torres

I used to have an RX-8. Nice car but its greatest downfall was the engine. Horrendeous fuel economy, used 1l oil every 1,000 miles, non-existent torque at the bottom of the rev range, had a tendancy to flood over very short distances. Also heard from various owners clubs that the engines needed to be rebuilt at 70-80k miles. I'm not sure what benefits there are to the rotary design as there seem to be more disadvantages than advantages.

I also heard that if you start and stop the engine within a ~5mins window, you risk flooding the engine too. Also, I heard that you have to redline the engine at least once a day to get rid of the carbon build up. And I'm sorry, but that's just ridiculous.

[Torres]

^ Yep. I flooded the engine moving the car from the driveway to the street. The engine really needs to be at a reasonable working temperature before turning it off, otherwise you run the risk of flooding. Such an interesting car, lovely to bomb down winding roads with it, but there are so many day to day things about it that drive you nuts. In the end it was just too much hassle. I replaced it with a 350Z which wasn't as practical, but was just as much fun to drive and utterly painless.

[FD3S]

Originally Posted by Torres

I used to have an RX-8. Nice car but its greatest downfall was the engine. Horrendeous fuel economy, used 1l oil every 1,000 miles, non-existent torque at the bottom of the rev range, had a tendancy to flood over very short distances. Also heard from various owners clubs that the engines needed to be rebuilt at 70-80k miles. I'm not sure what benefits there are to the rotary design as there seem to be more disadvantages than advantages.

Mainly power/weight ratio, smooth response through the entire range and the fact that most Wankels are quite honestly robust if maintained properly due to less moving parts. Shorter total lifespan (though I've seen some rotaries well over 100000 K with no rebuild), but if the owner's careful and takes care of it the engine's got a very good shot of making it to the end of that lifespan.

Of course, thinking back to all the rotary horror stories I've heard the 'proper maintenance' thing doesn't happen too often. There are a lot of people out there for whom putting in a quart of oil every so often proved to be a bridge too far :P

I can see why the redlining thing would be an annoyance though, especially for a DD.

[Say Chi Sin Lo]

Originally Posted by Torres

^ Yep. I flooded the engine moving the car from the driveway to the street. The engine really needs to be at a reasonable working temperature before turning it off, otherwise you run the risk of flooding. Such an interesting car, lovely to bomb down winding roads with it, but there are so many day to day things about it that drive you nuts. In the end it was just too much hassle. I replaced it with a 350Z which wasn't as practical, but was just as much fun to drive and utterly painless.

I drove the Z for a week. It was powerful, pulled like crazy, handled well. But, I couldn't overlook the weight of the thing.

It felt like I was driving a really fast tank.

[dennis10is]

Now this is a post worth reading.

Originally Posted by FD3S

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/201...the-next-rx-7/

This news made my day, as my username will attest to. I've always been a big fan of the RX-7 in all its incarnations, despite the practicality of owning one being slim to nil.

Yeah, it had horrendous gas mileage, a tendency to drink oil like there's no tomorrow, the literal need to rev the engine high (because let's face it - the rotary engine was meant to be DRIVEN) and was overall expensive to maintain. But it was also one of the finest handling sports cars on the planet, with an motor that was butter smooth throughout the entire range, and the auto geek in my is rejoicing at the rotary being given another shot even if it is aimed for five years down the road.

Pistons? Valves? Give me rotor housings and apex seals any day

[FD3S]

Originally Posted by krz

Unfortunately, they are pricey. I very rarely see any early models sell for less than 30K which is really at the top of my budget.

Well, if you can get past the styling, the Miata's always gotten pretty much universal praise from people driving it - cheaper than the Z4, at any rate.

I've never had the chance to drive a Porsche - was gonna ask if you ever had trouble with rear-engine RWD, but then I remembered you were coming from a monster MR2 and thought better of it

[krz]

Originally Posted by FD3S

Well, if you can get past the styling, the Miata's always gotten pretty much universal praise from people driving it - cheaper than the Z4, at any rate.

I've never had the chance to drive a Porsche - was gonna ask if you ever had trouble with rear-engine RWD, but then I remembered you were coming from a monster MR2 and thought better of it

Miata's are amazing cars to drive. But the styling isn't my cup of tea and I'm looking for a bit more of a high end feel at this point. Then there are always those uninformed people who call them girl cars :P

With Porsche I must say even with them releasing recent abominations such as the Panamera/Cayenne, their other cars are still true to form in terms of driving experience. Though Boxsters have that same stigma Miatas have, so I couldn't own one(wow I'm getting way more shallow these days.)

Rear engine-rear drive/mid engine-rear drive I learned 3 words very early. DO NOT LIFT!

[tennismonkey]

if mazda's idea for the new rx-7 is a $20-25k two seater/2+2 like the new subaru BRZ/scion FR-S -- then i think this is a great idea. lightweight rotary engine and supreme handling would make for a fun car. if mazda is making a competitor for the 350z or 335i in the $30k+ price range -- i think it's a fail. rotary is too low on hp and torque and fuel/oil economy.

[Power Player]

I have always thought about buying an old porsche..something super sweet and retro like a 944. It just would not make sense as a daily driver, which is what I need.

I think the best cheap daily is still an older 4runner.