Songzzz

In terms of handling, are these Japanese FR cars better than the 951?

Duke

IMHO the one to look out for among those it's the RX7.

The rest needs extensive mods to be good.

turbo944

Depends which ones you are referring to. If you refer to the versions that were out at the same time as the 951 you are looking at a totally different level of technology than the later ones. I had a mid-80s Supra and it handled very well, however it weighed with 2 people on board and fuel close to 2 tons. Weight transfer in quick switchbacks could get exciting.... The mid-80s RX-7 did handle well, but the magazines all thought that the regular 944 series handled better and had better feedback. Most of these Japanese cars have little feedback compared to what you get in your 951.

PorscheDoc

I would think a mid 90s RX7 would give you problems.

toddk911

Older rx-7's ride on rails!! I have seen them in person take corners like it was no body's buinsess

Aleks951

I also think the 93+ RX-7s are a really good match (probably even superior - stock for stock) to even a 944 Turbo S. I used to own a 93 RX-7 and while it handled beautifully, the car was in the dealership more than in my garage. I think that almost every time I had any fun with the car something broke. But I would imagine it was only THAT single poor example.

However, I still think the 951 looks much better than the RX-7 but it does come close.

v944god

That is so true. I must say it handles well, both the FC, and FD series, but the FD hands down is the best. That thing handles so well and smooth. But god damn they are a pain in the *** to maintain. The one thing I like about rotarties is the engine is so easily accessible (too many people rebuild them and sell them so the price has gone pretty low) so if you blow one all you do is swap it out, unlike finding an engine for a 951 takes some work. Problem is rotaries blow without much trouble.

Dan87951

Didn't those generation of RX7's (what is it 93-97 era?) have like a class action lawsuit against them because of how poor their reliability was? A guy at the dealership I use to work for had one and the mazda dealership refused to work on it he said!! The Chrysler techs tried to fix it since the mazda dealer wouldn't even look at it but I think they just screwed it up more. I think the car was overheating alot but the car was full of coolant and everything seemed to be operational as far as the cooling system goes. Oh well at least the car looked cool just sitting there.

will951

If you look on Ebay or something you will see that almost all of that generation's RX7s have had their motors replaced.

I was looking for a while and realized what problems they must have if 80%out there have new motors installed.

skene

The thing about their engines is they've got seals on the perimeter of the rotory section. This means basicaly every 30k or so you'll have ripped/burned through at least one of them and need to rebuild the engine. They fixed that in the RX-8 though, so that's good. As for handling, sorry, I've not driven 'em enough to compare well.

Danno

The RX-7 didn't handle that well until they got the independent suspension. I had a 1st-gen. RX-7 and it didn't really handle that much better than my previous Toyota Tercel. The 2nd-gen. Supra I got after that handled a tonne better. I found that my Supra was more forgiving at the limit than the 951; but the limit on the 951 is definitely higher. From list presented, I think only the 4th-gen. MKIV SupraTT has better suspension than the 951. It's got a double-wishbone suspension front & rear just like all Ferraris.

It's really the only kind of suspension that allows for increased camber gain as the body rolls. You don't have to use insanely stiff spring rates to reduce body-roll in order to maintain a flat contact-patch like you do with 951 cars.

FSAEracer03

"It's really the only kind of suspension that allows for increased camber gain as the body rolls. You don't have to use insanely stiff spring rates to reduce body-roll in order to maintain a flat contact-patch like you do with 951 cars."

How true... double-wishbone is easily the most superior suspension design out there. Hell, Michael Schumacher seems to like it! I still am very happy with with torsion-bar rear though. It might not be the best design, but it sure is fascinating, and works well as is, even in today's standards!

Danno, I think you might be able to help me. I've been trying to find the stock spring rates for my '87, but can't seem to come across them. What were the rates for the rear bars as well (and of larger upgrades as well)? Thanks a lot.