Yeah as Enzo said the R1 is probably the best in stock form, But is really not any faster or better than per say a stock Touring edition which you can normally find more and cheaper, The Touring edition actually has a Sunroof which none of the R1s have for weight saving purposes, The Major differences are the R1 has dual oil coolers in front which most people confuse with twin intercoolers but thats only in the 300ZX and 3000GT not on RX-7s, Stiffer springs and bigger sway bars, and also has an upper strut tower bar usually in RED which combines for an unbelieveable .99 gs on the Skidpad in stock form vs .93 gs on the touring edition. Also has a lower lip giving it a more agressive look in the front. Interior wise the R1 came with leather/Suade seats which usually deteriorate faster than the Leather found in all touring models. Personally i would go for a Touring edition if you where buying a 93-95 edition, Simply because its cheaper, has a sunroof and still performs as fast as the R1 as far as acceleration. Handling is still better than most sport cars today on the Touring model and if you want more it can easily be upgraded for around $250-$1500 depending on the suspension setup you want. that being said lets now more on to 86-91 edition, there was no RX-7s made in 92. The differences are several actually, Mostly in appearance and trim, there was two types of engines offered, all non turbos came with a 140-160HP naturally aspirated engine which was the SE, GXL, GTU, GTUs. The GTUs is one of the best RX-7s ever made, the car is extremly light weight, has all the suspension and tranny from the Turbo II model and 160HP, very fast but very few where made and are usually hard to find, if you do find one they will probably ask alot of money for it. Now The Turbo II model which u can easily identify by the Scoop in the Hood and usually has stickers on the middle part of the front fenders near the doors that say TURBO II. These cars can be made extremely fast and the motor is usually cheaper and easier to fix than the ones found in the 93-95 generations. A new J-spec motor can be obtained for as little as $700 with about 30,000 miles or less and they usually ship it with the turbo and intercooler. This is truly one of my favorite RX-7s, specially the 87 because its lighter, the HP on the 87-88 and half was 187HP and about the same torque, Came with sunroof, power windows and really sporty seats, too sporty for daily driving but a small price to pay. 89-91 they upgraded the interior, changing the center console a bit, they offered ABS, and CD player option, round tailights, better instrument cluster, Alunminum hood, power locks, windows and sunroof. They also made a Joystick style shifter. and HP went up to 200HP and same for torque. but at the same time the weight increased to almost 3.000 pounds compared to the 87 turbo II 2,765 pounds. So in my opinion the 87 would be the best one to buy because its lighter and the parts from a 89-91 can easily be swapped into the 87 body. In stock form the car run mid 14s to high 14s, you can turn up the boost but make sure you also provide adequate fuel and that your injectors are very clean and spraying properly. The easiest way to kill the Rotary engine is by not getting it enough fuel. FUEL IS KEY i cannot stress that enough on Rotary engines. Reliability is NOT an issue as alot of people will tell you about Rotary engines, If you maintain the car well, replace all the stock vacum lines with strong silicone ones, run high grade fuel on it and don't run too much boost over stock, you will have a solid motor that will kick some ass on the track or street. Driving an RX-7 is really an hard to describe, the car has independent suspension all around, 50/50 weight distribution and plenty of power for a car that size with a really tight close ration transmission, There are very cars that combine all things into one package. Specially in that price range. All i can say is get one and you will see, Love at first drive, and one that you will become obsessed with for many years.
78-85 and half, There are great cars for beginner RX-7 fans, very very cheap, they are usually very reliable, and alot of fun. Many models where also offered, GS, GSL, GSL-SE and a few more i can't remember, the GSL-SE 84-85 is the best one out of the pack, has the 135-140 HP fuel injected rotary motor, Stiffer suspension, better brakes and definitely very fast. the GSL and GS had a 100HP carburated engine which can sometimes be a pain in the ass with flooding and other little things that can cause major headaches. They are all just as much fun but the GSL-SE is just simply faster, brakes better and is the more reliable one. Many of the 1st gen RX-7s can achieve 200,000 miles on original engine with minor work sometimes. Like clutch which are normal wear and tear items. These cars have no rev limiter so watch out. They can safely rev to 8,000 Rpms but i would not do it, since the peak HP is around 6800-7100 rpms. For autocross these cars do extremely well with good beefy tires, suspension and bigger sway bars. and you can buy the GS around $500 to $4,500 for the GSL-SE.
Anyhow goodluck in your quest for the 7, One car you will really love like no other, take it from someone who has had them all from a 84 GSL, 87 TII, 90 TII and 93 R1, for a total of 4 RX-7s owned and driven about 28. If you got any other questions let me know, i can point you in the right direction.
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