I use a Mazda RX7 as an everyday car, commuting to work and for play. ;) I bought it from the Southampton car import dock yards and here is my honest review. Note: Remember I am only talking about the 1992-2001 "FD3S" RX7 as in the picture above!
The designer of this RX7 was not happy with the standard of sports cars around at the time. He proposed to Mazda that he wanted to create a REAL sports car designed for just that. The rotary engine was used to keep the bonnet as low as possible as well as for pure power. The layout of the car is midship - meaning the engine sits in between the front and rear wheels resulting in improved handling and further enabling the designers to tweak the chassis so that all 4 wheels can be pushed to their full potential around corners without sliding. Obviously this is a rear wheel drive car and is also a good example of a drift car. In fact this car is very
easy to drift and also easy to correct while mid-drift. As quoted by 'Tsuchiya' the Drift King of Japan (who did the stunts for the film Fast & The Furious Tokyo Drift) "High standard, also very easy to control, most outstanding and the racers will enjoy the RX7 most." What Mazda ended up with is the most lightweight car out of its competitors at the time which made it the best handling high power sports car for 1992-2001. Forget the newer RX8 - it is a weak attempt at recapturing the target market from the RX7 pedigree where the RX8 fails badly.
Often described as the sexiest car from Japan - RX7s between 92-01 are ALL twin turbo 1300cc engines. 280bhp with a very quick 0-60 of 5 seconds (for my standard Type-R2 but others are pretty much the same). You can only get single turbo if it has been modified. Brand new these cars costed about £35,000 and nowadays you can pick up a decent one for around £7,000 however there are a few things to look out for...
Rotary engines are known for "blowing up" (needing an engine rebuild) every 60,000 miles. This is not totally true, if you look after it and make sure it is serviced regularly on time (every 3,000 miles) you can easily see 100,000 miles. Don't be put off by this though as there are a couple of ways to make sure you have a healthy car. - Compression testing is the main way and is measured in bars/PSI. A rotary compression test tool is needed rather than a normal piston compression tester. Any Mazda garage can do a compression test however there are a few specialist independent garages that deal with rotaries solely. You will be looking for a good 6/8 Bar reading, 8 Bar being a brand new rebuilt engine figure while 6 being a decent engine. Go much lower such as a high 5 (5.7 etc) and you should just walk away as the car may not last long. A 4 Bar reading would make you wonder if the car starts or not. - Secondly a coolant pressure test - again a simple test that all garages should be able to do and all you are looking for here is that the coolant should be able to hold a good pressure.
If you've come this far looking to buy a car you've probably looked at the competition: Toyota SupraTwin Turbo, Mitsubishi GTO, Honda S2000 to name a few. Why choose the RX7 over all these? - Supra Twin Turbos are a very big and heavy rear wheel drive car, I havent had the chance to play with one but I understand they do not handle as well as the RX7 but they're supposed to be as fast? - Mitsubishi GTO 280bhp is the four wheel drive competition, however i feel 4WD is very unnecessary on British roads. There is more transmission loss with 4WD so the BHP figure stated will actually be a lot less on the road in reality. Interior looks inferior to the RX7. - Honda S2000 is the only naturally aspirated car here however it deserves its place. 2.0L 240bhp RWD with a 0-60 of 6.2 seconds. Interior is nicer than a GTO but not as driver focused as the RX7.
The RX7s interior is very focused like a cockpit. The handbrake is already in your pocket and you feel like you're playing Tom Cruise's role in Top Gun. It is very snug so if you are tall/overweight try getting in one before you buy it! Visibility is still good out of the rear window but as with most coupes you do have a lack of blind spot views. For short journeys the rear seats are fine - they come from the factory as leather 'bucket' seats which means even the passengers in the back are sitting close to the road. The driving position feels luxurious so you know this is a car that you would feel comfortable in for long distance journeys.
I service the RX7 myself and oil changes take no time at all. The oil filter is located in the top right of the engine bay which is easily accessible, and the sump plug is in a very good location too. Try having the passenger side jacked up a little more to help the oil flow out. Mazda recommend Mineral Oil only which is a lot cheaper than synthetic!
When you drive an RX7 you will find you can surprise 600+cc motorbikes, say bye bye to BMW M3s and even push Ferrari Testarossa's up the road... i know I have! ;)
High petrol costs and group 20 insurance is wallet crippling if you are under 21 years old like me but if you can afford it and you love fast Japanese cars this is actually the Mecca for you.
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Advantages: real sports car performance without attracting too many stares Disadvantages: she's a little older and parts are getting into the "hard to get" bracket
sting_of_the_scorpion 20.03.2006 (11.04.2006)
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