Racing a 3rd Gen RX7, is it reliable enough?

I have always wanted to get into road racing. I finally have enough money to buy a car and was wondering if I could get some advice.

I am a total beginner to racing but I would really like to get into it. I was planning on buying a 3rd generation RX7 because I have always been a huge fan of them. My problem is that I am not sure if this car will really be the best option since this will be a track specific car which will be driven hard. I am fully up to the task of doing whatever it takes to keep the car reliable and maintained.

I was wondering if anyone out there has raced this car or have friends who have raced this car and can therefore give me some feedback.

Thanks

Yeah sure... they are great cars! Being a fan I would hope you would know that...

But if you are new to 'racing' then I would probably recommend something with less power... how about a Datsun Z or Datsun 510? having a Track Specific Rx7 will not be kind to your wallet... since you are a begginner you are probaly going to smack a few things and end up in the gravel more than anything! A nice and old but reliable and potentially powerful Z or 510 would suit you better and you will not feel so bad banging one of those up! They are easy to repair, many in junk-yards and mods are a dime a dozen! Good luck! BTW... what does this have to do with street-racing?

Could work, but I mean any car will end up breaking shit if you drive it balls to the wall there is no question about that, just that since the rotary isn't something that screams reliability might want to look somewhere like ^^^ mentioned, try and find an ol' Datsun 510 or maybe an old Corolla GT-S or Civic gutted to hell with something nice swapped into it.

Yuh... and if you just hafta stick with rotaries! Then a First or Second Gen Rx7 will do... and don't forget the lil' Rx3!

A 2nd gen NA FC RX-7 would be plenty reliable and fun on a road course. But I still stick by that the best beginner cars are Honda FF's or a Mazda MX-5 Miata if you're serious about racing.

I have always wanted to get into road racing. I finally have enough money to buy a car and was wondering if I could get some advice.

I am a total beginner to racing but I would really like to get into it. I was planning on buying a 3rd generation RX7 because I have always been a huge fan of them. My problem is that I am not sure if this car will really be the best option since this will be a track specific car which will be driven hard. I am fully up to the task of doing whatever it takes to keep the car reliable and maintained.

I was wondering if anyone out there has raced this car or have friends who have raced this car and can therefore give me some feedback.

Thanks

Whatever you do, don't get a 3rd gen RX-7 right now. Buy another car first, or do tons of research on the car first, otherwise your gonna turn into one of those whiny people that are liek 'OH why is my car in the shop every minute (cuz you didnt do reliability mods)'.

DO YOUR HOMEWORK! They are delicate cars, and need special treatment so you can't treat them like regular cars.

Whatever you do, don't get a 3rd gen RX-7 right now. Buy another car first, or do tons of research on the car first, otherwise your gonna turn into one of those whiny people that are liek 'OH why is my car in the shop every minute (cuz you didnt do reliability mods)'.

DO YOUR HOMEWORK! They are delicate cars, and need special treatment so you can't treat them like regular cars.

He's right too... The uneducated and inexperienced are the ones who consider RX-7's unreliable. They're not, they're just different. They arent just "Change the oil and fill the gas tank." (Not that piston engines are that simple either, just an analogy)

Whats up with a rotary engine then.... its all new to me I heard there is only 3 moving parts inside the block or is that just some BS???

its like a triangle in a circle that rotates....it spins on an axis in 3 cycles: intake, combustion, exhuast. its pretty simple once you see the operation of it. A 1st gen is a lot of fun to drive and might be a good idea. As far as like a 510....they are not easy to come by and require a little work to make them "track ready" not like a newer vehicle. I dont know if id want to just buy a 1971 vehicle and take it to a track. All in all the rx-7 IS a good car, just misunderstood by most and rarely maintained well. Apex seals are your enemy!

I would get an S5 FC T2 (89-91 RX7 turbo) and get a complete exhaust from racingbeat.com that would put you over the 250 HP. then upgrade the turbo and damn. BTW FC= 50/50 weight so its a perfect Track car.

a miata!

its like a triangle in a circle that rotates....it spins on an axis in 3 cycles: intake, combustion, exhuast. its pretty simple once you see the operation of it.

its a 4 cycle engine just like normal piston engines.

its a 4 cycle engine just like normal piston engines.


that is correct, they are 4 stroke engines. But to add to that comments they do have one cycle per revolution as oposed to piston engines with 1 cycle per two revolutions.


This is why often rotary engines are rated as having double their displacement E.g. RX8 engine is rated by mazda at 1.3L but many engineers rate it at 2.6L.

Here's some rotary engine info:

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/rotary-engine.htm

I had a 91 miata that i SOLO II raced.....it was a very fun car. I would have to recommend that as well. you can get them pretty cheap and parts arent to bad either. Have any of you seen the 3 rotor motor that makes like 555hp?

I had a 91 miata that i SOLO II raced.....it was a very fun car. I would have to recommend that as well. you can get them pretty cheap and parts arent to bad either. Have any of you seen the 3 rotor motor that makes like 555hp?

Saw a 3rotor RX-8 at sema atlantic city earlier this year.

Japvillage has a 3rotor Rx7 thats turbo and makes 620HP and is running 2 stroke

I can honestly say that RX7's are not reliable. I told a buddy not to get one, but he did it anyways. Now he has a money pit. They're not the most ideal cars because most mechanics don't want to work on them, and their apex seals are always gonna go out. As far as potential is concerned they're off the charts. Personally I think you should go with the second generation, although ultimately i'd advise you to do an SR20DET swap with a Nissan 240SX.

If you're just getting into the sport, go with something cheap and underpowered, like a Miata or a 240SX. You can swap an SR20DET into the 240SX once you get good, upgrade the suspension, and have yourself a fine track car. The RX-7 is an excellent track car as well, but I wouldn't recommend it until you've gotten some experience.

Whats up with a rotary engine then.... its all new to me I heard there is only 3 moving parts inside the block or is that just some BS???
Basically there is three moving parts but if you count all the seals, springs, gears there’s allot more then three but for the most part people consider there only being three moving parts.
As far as a good track car there's a guy racing a third gen rx7 his name is Damian something (sorry I can't ever remember his last name) that runs it hard and his vids are great. The cars aren't unreliable if you do the maintenance to keep them running but like said before they're not like piston engines and have different needs.

If you have the funds to make a third gen into a track car you're going to have the same basic repairs that any track car takes. They will make good cars but I wouldn't suggest getting one until you do your homework because they can be a headache.
The first and second gen rx7s can be just as much of a pain if you abuse them, although the N/A cars are more reliable they can break just as easily.
Apex seals don't just break for no reason they normally go after a large amount of carbon is built up and they keep passing over that until they fail or detenation occurs. This can be avoided if you take proper care of the engine.

I wouldn't suggest a 3 rotor track car because it will throw the weight distribution off a bit and the cars are already sitting on a near perfect 50/50 distribution.

I dont know much about the RX7s, I've heard that if you do the right thing when you get it (something abotu a vacume hose, not sure, other little things), it should run fine.

Get a camaro and call it a day

YEah, the 3rd gen 7's are a bitch to keep up with. Really f*%$ing expensive to fix when you need to. A second gen (86-91) 7 would be better, because parts are a little cheaper and ther'es junkers everywhere that you can get parts from. Personally, i prefer the S4 (86-88) over the S5 for a few reasons, mainly the mechanical OMP, easier to find parts, and better looking tails.

Get a camaro and call it a day

Nah, if your looking for a track car, just get a used 95 ///M3. You can get them for less than 15k on Autotrader, then just drop another 8k on an AA Turbo set up. Your looking at a low 12 to mid 11 with a good driver that can handle well, and looks good too. But thats just my 2 cents.

take it from a 3rd gen rx7 owner - it is a truly phenomenal car. it will also leave quite a dent in your wallet. the sequential twin setup is overly complex. you'll need to get all new silicon hoses. get a big radiatior w/ upgraded fans, and get a frontmount intercooler. i would also recommend a standalone ECU (like the apex-i power fc) with proper tuning. and don't forget an upgraded AST - that's a must. other than that, if you treat it well and keep your eyes on EVERYTHING about the car, you should be ok. btw, the average life of a rotary engine is something like 75,000miles. and that's with the n/a motors factored in that bring the average up quite a bit. other than that - have fun with it!

75 grand, pah. it's the turbo motors that pop, and even then, its generally at 100k for the FD's and longer for the FC. my TII has 128k on it and still has awesome compression.

i'm not saying it's impossible. i'm pushing 50k on my 3mill street port rebuild, and it's running great. but you're an rx person, you know that there are a lot of motors that barely see 30k. IMHO i think these are the same people that are missing certain pieces of the puzzle, be it proper tuning or whatever. i expect my motor to go for another 15k-20k.