Mazda Rx7 FD?

JFENG

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One of my classic car friends and racing buddies has offered me a mid 1990’s Mazda Rx7. It’s a low miles unmolested car. It was maintained by a single Mechanic at the local dealer for pretty much all its life. It could use some dent removal and the bumpers painted (this is Boston, ya know). I test drive it was surprised by how quick it was, and the handling didn’t seem to have any vices at sensible speeds and slip angles. Build quality, based on the feel of the interior parts, was far below BMW level, but it nothing rattled and everything worked as new.

I’m curious if anyone in the E9 community had had one, and if yes what was it like to live with. I’d be using it as a ‘personal’ car in the spring/summer/fall. That means taking it instead of my E9 or other rust prone Classics to car guy meetings when it’s going to rain.

John
 

autokunst

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Many moons ago (mid 80's through early 90's), I worked at a dealership - the marques were BMW and Mazda. I've never owned one, but I did drive MANY RX7s at the time - both new and older (trade-ins and service cars). As such, I am most familiar with series 1 through 5 RX7s. I assume you are looking at a series 6 car, which I am unfamiliar with other than photos. I do know that the series 6 and 7 cars were still, at the time, quite reasonably priced. The series 8 cars jumped up in $, and presumably jumped up in performance, too. Watching with interest.
 

Norm!

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It would be a great personal fun car as opposed to a daily driver. I haven’t had one, but did experience the RX-2 in the 70’s. The FD series cars (91-97), which this one sounds like it is, are now collectible. They are 250 hp twin turbo serious sports cars that are a blast on a mountain road or race track. I wouldn’t consider one as a great daily driver because they get poor fuel mileage, need a quart of oil every 1000 + miles or so to lubricant the apex seals and must be treated kindly to postpone the time until an expensive turbo or engine overhaul. Warm up and cool down should be done before and after having fun. They are bullet proof at high revs but can blow seals with symptoms just like a blown head gasket. Ask me how I know. Don’t get me wrong, I love them, but would think of one as second collector’s car and not a daily driver Honda Accord.
 

Mmshul

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One of my classic car friends and racing buddies has offered me a mid 1990’s Mazda Rx7. It’s a low miles unmolested car. It was maintained by a single Mechanic at the local dealer for pretty much all its life. It could use some dent removal and the bumpers painted (this is Boston, ya know). I test drive it was surprised by how quick it was, and the handling didn’t seem to have any vices at sensible speeds and slip angles. Build quality, based on the feel of the interior parts, was far below BMW level, but it nothing rattled and everything worked as new.

I’m curious if anyone in the E9 community had had one, and if yes what was it like to live with. I’d be using it as a ‘personal’ car in the spring/summer/fall. That means taking it instead of my E9 or other rust prone Classics to car guy meetings when it’s going to rain.

John
Girlfriend at the time owned a 1994, never an issue, fun to drive. Don’t recall any rattles, compliant suspension too. Nice steering and brakes. Put some Toyo Proxes 888 and go have a blast on track days. Not a lot of torque but manageable. Fun car that plays well with your needs.
 

JFENG

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Many moons ago (mid 80's through early 90's), I worked at a dealership - the marques were BMW and Mazda. I've never owned one, but I did drive MANY RX7s at the time -


This is what Mazda folk call an FD (4th generation). It feels substantially faster than my 540i (e39) or my 535i sport (e60), and even slightly faster than an NsX (2002).

I get it about this not being a DD because of its warm up and cool down needs. It sounds like it’s more trouble than it’s worth since it’s not a good DD , and I don’t need a second track car unless it’s a BM2 powered Brabham or Huffaker with a V8.
 

Norm!

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I didn’t mean to scare you away with my warm up and cool down comment. Driven normally it would not be an issue, but if you get on it hard when cold or don’t let a hot engine cool down a little it before shutting it off it could cause problems. The turbo plumbing is pretty complex.
 

Markos

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I’ve always loved the look of the late model RX7’s, particularly the hump on the rear end (which Mazda also added on the MX-5. I have to admit that I don’t think the aesthetics have stood the test of time as the Supra. Also, RX7’s seem quite affordable now compared to the Supra. For a while they were both equally pricey but the Supra never stopped climbing.

My next door neighbor has two of these hiding in the garage. Like me he’s always working on the house and not the car. I help him with house stuff but would much rather wrench on the RX7’s. :D
 

Nicad

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I love those last gen RX-7s. I hear they are delicate but really handle.. A lot of people have put LSX engines in when the rotary acts up. Now that would be another type of fun. I say go for that FD experience. Mazda really built a unique car with that one. I can't see how a good one will not hold it's value.
 

JFENG

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I didn’t mean to scare you away with my warm up and cool down comment.

No you didn’t.

You just clarified I don’t need any street cars that are really track toys. I’m already fully busy with old street car projects (E9, GTV), and when I’m on track I prefer fully race-optimized classics (Alfa, Lotus).

It’s really a Japanese classic sports car, and I’m just not into the JDM scene with the young women in ultra-short mini skirts,Honda’s with 8” diameter exhaust tips, and tires that smoke in different colors.

Therefore, despite the bargain price (and it comes with a spare fully trimmed motor and gearbox), it’s superfluous to my needs.
 

Sooner

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Back in the day, I had the third RX7 in the US, probably should have kept it, but anyway, fun car, easy to maintain and reliable. Only issue I had was driving the mountains over to San Jose my steering wheel came off, WTF, pushed it back on and coasted to the side of the road, tighten up the bolt and continued the journey
 
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