dillon410021

theres a youtube video about it

StoogeMoe

I'll agree with the observation that you don't see many around anymore. I have seen at least a dozen 944's in my area and maybe one second generation RX7. I never see the first gen, or the nice twin turbo variation.

The apex seals were the weak point. I knew a dude who had one and it smoked terribly. Ran like crap too. But he was a slob and didn't maintain it. My other friend had a pristine one and sold it for a Jeep Cherokee. What does that say about the car?

Tom R.

absolutely nothing. that is one of the silliest observations yet.

we sold a legend coupe for an aurora. what does that say about the car? absolutey nothing. we needed a four door.

Fishey

Never seen Apex Seals as the weak link on the RX7 infact its the last worry we have when we start to increase the output from the motors. Due to the design of the engine the first thing we have problems with is cracking the front/rear plates. This of course is more of a FC problem then an FD problem but its still common in both motors when you start to hit the serious HP range.

V2Rocket

the FD is a beautiful car, no doubt, and the engine is amazing technology.

if only they made more power but would last longer...i guess the RX8 has that down pat, 1.3L with 240HP NA.

951_for_John

As has been said already, The early cars are past the point of a rebuild costing more than the car is worth. ( ever priced the parts to rebuild a rotory?) So the people that still run them on the street are like us, they do it for the love of the car. on the other hand there are many, many Mazda's with the rotory running on the track every weekend.

As for performance, the first step is some basic bolt on's, intake and exhaust can almost double the power of an early RX-7, once you get past that, you get into porting for more power. now your talking about lots more money.

I myself have an 85 RX-7 (last year of the ifrst gen.) with a turbo 13B in it. with mothing more than a cold air intake, a 3" down pipe, full 3" exhaust and about 12 pounds boost it makes over 200HP. and this is in a body that weighs about 2100# with half a tank of gas. (gutted) lots of fun but the 951 is a MUCH, MUCH better car.

Will Feather

My friends 84' GSL-SE RX-7 keeps up with me pretty damn well. Similiar weight and handleing capabilities. I would say they are dead even in the performance area.

Maintenece on the other hand is a little different. RX-7's suffer horribly from sitting. Carbon builds up and then the rotors like to freeze up. Other wear items such as the apex seals and the coolant seals like to go. Rebuilding one isn't toooo bad, a rebuild kit ranging from partial to a full kit run between 500-800. They are a blast to work on, just refreshing than working on the ol' piston motor!

924 and the FB RX-7 have the same styling.

dmalo810

Why did Mazda kill the rotary after the 2 gen RX7? I heard it was MPG and the apex seals. Customers were scared of the cost of maint. I could be wrong. Anyone know?
Also, the RX-8 was sold as a vast improvement in the reliability of the new 3 rotor engine. I was running a race school in Florida at Moroso and a new D racer came to the track from the factory with a new generation rotary. They wanted to show it off to some potential clients. Looked cooler then all get out. 2nd lap it broke, a seal gave out.

fpena944

What do you mean? Both the 3rd Gen and even the new RX-8 use the rotary engine.

I love the 3rd generation RX-7...Beautiful car!

HIGHBOOST

Rod was into drifting as of recently. His son is Rhys Millen correct?

DVC

I like the looks of the FD. But I much appreciate the build quality, interior, steering feel and of course, fender flares of the 944.

86 951 Driver

DVC who is that in your avatar? Damn.

My brother had an 88 non turbo RX-7. It smoked really bad. He tried smoke be gone which is about the equal to honey in viscosity. That didn't really help too much. A little ATF and it was ready to roll. It didn't burn too much oil onced warmed up.

alex

My uncle has an 88 white anniversary edition rx7. It is a really cool little car. A lot different than the 944 is everything but appearance. I can appreciate both, but my alliance is with the p-car.

FRporscheman

All RX- models have rotary engines. And in America the rx-7 and rx-8 have 2-rotor engines but some versions in japan got the 3-rotor version. Even some JDM Miatas got the 3-rotor engine.

Tenacious_G

I did a Marketing research paper on this. Magazine collectors, check your 1980's R&T, C&D and Motor Trend collections -- Mazda pretty much admitted to copying off of the 928 and 924 with regards to some of their aesthetics, and built the cars to compete against the 924 (earlier models) and the 944 -- their performance wasn't quite up with the '44s early on but for less than half the price of a 944 you could have an RX-7 with decent options. Also, they set a trend in borrowing from the sporty look the front-engined Porsche's had -- they didn't do too bad a job, really, considering some of the cars that tried to do what Mazda did ( See: Chrysler Conquest). In a way, some of us kind of owe Mazda one -- with Porsche's financial issues and **** going on through the '80s, things were rough enough on their sales, then Mazda had to come and start making a car that was ALMOST as good, but MUCH cheaper to buy -- the result? Demand for 944s started to change a bit, people bought more RX-7s, the car basically depreciated the '44s -- look on ebay and craigslist for what an 89 951 and an 89 RX-7 are selling for -- the Mazda is almost always selling for a slightly higher price.

Had another marketing class where the professor started to talk about this relating it to product mix..
Prof: In 1982, Porsche released a new car called the....
Me: Oh Sweet! 944!
Prof: Uh.. yeah. You've heard of them?
Me: I own one!
Prof: You drive a Porsche??
*Class turns to look at me*
Me: Uh.. yeah.. But I'm not an *******! It was a cheap car
*Some kid laughs*
Prof: Actually, he's right, you can get them for a decent price today and if I'm not interrupted much more we'll get to find out why!

Ah, learning.