Discussion
After a few years in Subaru’s interspersed with a bmw and a honda Ive scratched an itch thats been with me for 20 years.
I was 16 playing 5 a side and another player arrived in his white RX7. I’ve lusted after one ever since.
I’ve never been brave enough and never really had the opportunity to own one until now.
18-24 was too expensive on running costs and insurance as I was doing 70 miles a day commute.
24- present day Ive been in company cars and the missus has used whatever the second car is as her daily. Hence the hot hatches and imprezas. Mode of transport for her. Fun weekend car for me.
Its always difficult to balance the two needs of the car. She hates any car that garners attention. Boy do a spec c impreza and a 2dr type r impreza get attention.
The decision was made to find her a car. Dull as can be. Anonymous if you will.
Bought her a bmw 130i. Fantastic little thing. Most importantly she likes it. Quick enough and completely invisible to 99% of the population.
Now with the Impreza type r sold, I started looking for a third car. I looked at and dismissed many. Hot hatches were out as I didn’t need the practicality. Caterham, too hardcore. Lotus Elise, fun but didn’t make me turn around to look at it after parking.
Nissan r32 gtr, too expensive for a good one and there are lots of bad ones around, also lacking that “something “ I was looking for. Love seeing one at a show, no overwhelming urge to buy one.
Wonder what rx7 are available. Lots of rubbish with poorly executed mods and body kits. Tired cars that needed a lot of work. The nice ones were out of budget. Spirit R is now a 100k car.
Jumped on the uk rx7 forum and put a wanted add up. A member messaged but wasn’t sure if he wanted to sell. Car had barely covered a couple hundred miles a year before going back on a trickle charger.
Thought nothing more of it.
6 months later with nothing good coming to market I messaged him to see if he was still thinking of selling.
This time he was.
Why are all the cars I buy located at the extremities of the uk. Arrangements made and a train booked. 5 hour train journey down south with a 1/2 hour delay due to a swan on the track.
Garage door rolls up and I’m greeted by my childhood hero. The price was the price. I either took it or got the train home.
No way was I heading home in anything other than the Mazda.
Cash transferred with Chase bank doing their best to stop play. Natwest not even are you sure you want to send a large amount of money to a random person.
5 hour drive home. Stopped in oxford to refuel and get something food. Unfortunately no pictures as I just wanted to get home. Also with a new car it was all going too well. An unknown rotary engined car giving no troubles. Make hay when the sun shines.
Home for 10pm completely exhausted from the day.
First impressions as 5 hours is enough time to get acquainted with the car.
Bad points first.
Only one speaker “works” its just muffled static.
Exhaust knocks on rear tow point.
Exhaust noisy. Very tiring on a long journey.
Suspension is fit for the track only. Multiple times I was bounced out my seat driving on a motorway (more on this)
Sooooo many rattles and creaks from the interior.
Good.
Just look at it.
Engine is strong with very healthy compression numbers.
About as standard as you will find.
No rust.
Been painted at the front but done well. Rest is good for a 26 year old car.
Driving position.
The experience of being in the car.
Only pic I have as I've been to busy to really do anything with it and it needs a clean after the trip home.
Only modifications are coilovers and a backbox.
Oem box rotted out so a coppy was made by TGS in stockport. It’s a quality system but needs stiffer mounts to stop it banging on the tow point. Its also a bit loud for my liking. Luckily they are 20 miles away so will pop in to see if they can silence it a bit and adjust the way it hangs.
Coilovers are Nitron R3.
These are a full on 3 way track spec coilover.
Previous owner set them to full soft as they were too stiff. This just made it a backbreaking pogo stick. I have no idea what the high and low speed compression is set to but they aren't nice on the road.
The spring rates are 11/10kg front and rear. Wayyy too much for a road car.
These are the doggs if you have a dedicated track car. This will see possibly one or two a year with me s
tting my self all the way round. Pushed hard on track this car will not.
These coilovers are literally shaking the car to pieces. Ive had a very quick play and set everything to mid point. They are much better than yesterday but its the wrong suspension for what I want the car to do.
Ive messaged Nitron for some advice and also messaged a very good garage up in preston who transformed my old impreza to see what they think.
The Nitrons are £4.5k so don’t want to write them off and spend 3k on Ohlins if I don’t have to.
I like making bad financial decisions not insane ones.
And there we have it. Up to date with a single picture and a small list to work through this winter.
Updates will be slow as once the cold wet weather rolls in this will be tucked away In a carport I’m yet to build for it.
These are some of the old owners photos. Hope he doesn’t mind as I’ve removed any identifying details.
Also saw these two in the services.
I was 16 playing 5 a side and another player arrived in his white RX7. I’ve lusted after one ever since.
I’ve never been brave enough and never really had the opportunity to own one until now.
18-24 was too expensive on running costs and insurance as I was doing 70 miles a day commute.
24- present day Ive been in company cars and the missus has used whatever the second car is as her daily. Hence the hot hatches and imprezas. Mode of transport for her. Fun weekend car for me.
Its always difficult to balance the two needs of the car. She hates any car that garners attention. Boy do a spec c impreza and a 2dr type r impreza get attention.
The decision was made to find her a car. Dull as can be. Anonymous if you will.
Bought her a bmw 130i. Fantastic little thing. Most importantly she likes it. Quick enough and completely invisible to 99% of the population.
Now with the Impreza type r sold, I started looking for a third car. I looked at and dismissed many. Hot hatches were out as I didn’t need the practicality. Caterham, too hardcore. Lotus Elise, fun but didn’t make me turn around to look at it after parking.
Nissan r32 gtr, too expensive for a good one and there are lots of bad ones around, also lacking that “something “ I was looking for. Love seeing one at a show, no overwhelming urge to buy one.
Wonder what rx7 are available. Lots of rubbish with poorly executed mods and body kits. Tired cars that needed a lot of work. The nice ones were out of budget. Spirit R is now a 100k car.
Jumped on the uk rx7 forum and put a wanted add up. A member messaged but wasn’t sure if he wanted to sell. Car had barely covered a couple hundred miles a year before going back on a trickle charger.
Thought nothing more of it.
6 months later with nothing good coming to market I messaged him to see if he was still thinking of selling.
This time he was.
Why are all the cars I buy located at the extremities of the uk. Arrangements made and a train booked. 5 hour train journey down south with a 1/2 hour delay due to a swan on the track.
Garage door rolls up and I’m greeted by my childhood hero. The price was the price. I either took it or got the train home.
No way was I heading home in anything other than the Mazda.
Cash transferred with Chase bank doing their best to stop play. Natwest not even are you sure you want to send a large amount of money to a random person.
5 hour drive home. Stopped in oxford to refuel and get something food. Unfortunately no pictures as I just wanted to get home. Also with a new car it was all going too well. An unknown rotary engined car giving no troubles. Make hay when the sun shines.
Home for 10pm completely exhausted from the day.
First impressions as 5 hours is enough time to get acquainted with the car.
Bad points first.
Only one speaker “works” its just muffled static.
Exhaust knocks on rear tow point.
Exhaust noisy. Very tiring on a long journey.
Suspension is fit for the track only. Multiple times I was bounced out my seat driving on a motorway (more on this)
Sooooo many rattles and creaks from the interior.
Good.
Just look at it.
Engine is strong with very healthy compression numbers.
About as standard as you will find.
No rust.
Been painted at the front but done well. Rest is good for a 26 year old car.
Driving position.
The experience of being in the car.
Only pic I have as I've been to busy to really do anything with it and it needs a clean after the trip home.
Only modifications are coilovers and a backbox.
Oem box rotted out so a coppy was made by TGS in stockport. It’s a quality system but needs stiffer mounts to stop it banging on the tow point. Its also a bit loud for my liking. Luckily they are 20 miles away so will pop in to see if they can silence it a bit and adjust the way it hangs.
Coilovers are Nitron R3.
These are a full on 3 way track spec coilover.
Previous owner set them to full soft as they were too stiff. This just made it a backbreaking pogo stick. I have no idea what the high and low speed compression is set to but they aren't nice on the road.
The spring rates are 11/10kg front and rear. Wayyy too much for a road car.
These are the doggs if you have a dedicated track car. This will see possibly one or two a year with me s
tting my self all the way round. Pushed hard on track this car will not. These coilovers are literally shaking the car to pieces. Ive had a very quick play and set everything to mid point. They are much better than yesterday but its the wrong suspension for what I want the car to do.
Ive messaged Nitron for some advice and also messaged a very good garage up in preston who transformed my old impreza to see what they think.
The Nitrons are £4.5k so don’t want to write them off and spend 3k on Ohlins if I don’t have to.
I like making bad financial decisions not insane ones.
And there we have it. Up to date with a single picture and a small list to work through this winter.
Updates will be slow as once the cold wet weather rolls in this will be tucked away In a carport I’m yet to build for it.
These are some of the old owners photos. Hope he doesn’t mind as I’ve removed any identifying details.
Also saw these two in the services.
I was one of those trying to talk you into an rx8... I'm glad you didn't listen 
. This car looks amazing and, IMHO, in one of the best colours.
There are many small mods you can do to the car to make the interior a bit less fragile and rattly.
Will follow this thread with great interest.
. This car looks amazing and, IMHO, in one of the best colours.There are many small mods you can do to the car to make the interior a bit less fragile and rattly.
Will follow this thread with great interest.
Bloody'ell Sam - not what I was expecting; but that's gorgeous 
Ste & Don will soon have you sorted; understand re the Nitrons, exactly what I had on my DC5 many moons ago; it was not nice driving down to Anglesey; the track was superb; the drive there & back, not so much
If you remove them; they'll soon sell I'm sure. But I think Nitron will be able to advise and probably offer decent advice on what to do etc
Ste & Don will soon have you sorted; understand re the Nitrons, exactly what I had on my DC5 many moons ago; it was not nice driving down to Anglesey; the track was superb; the drive there & back, not so much
If you remove them; they'll soon sell I'm sure. But I think Nitron will be able to advise and probably offer decent advice on what to do etc
Very nice. Are those the 16" or 17" wheels? looks good on them.
If it's rust-free and has a solid engine you've done well.
Notable that three of the five bad points relate to aftermarket mods (four if you include the interior being shaken by the coilovers). I definitely think these don't need super-hard suspension, mine was stock and still quick around a track despite comedy body roll. With low c.g. and wishbones all around, body roll isn't a big impediment.
Enjoy!
If it's rust-free and has a solid engine you've done well.
Notable that three of the five bad points relate to aftermarket mods (four if you include the interior being shaken by the coilovers). I definitely think these don't need super-hard suspension, mine was stock and still quick around a track despite comedy body roll. With low c.g. and wishbones all around, body roll isn't a big impediment.
Enjoy!
danb79 said:
Bloody'ell Sam - not what I was expecting; but that's gorgeous
Ste & Don will soon have you sorted; understand re the Nitrons, exactly what I had on my DC5 many moons ago; it was not nice driving down to Anglesey; the track was superb; the drive there & back, not so much
If you remove them; they'll soon sell I'm sure. But I think Nitron will be able to advise and probably offer decent advice on what to do etc
Bit of a departure for me. Had to be a JDM car as a toy and never owned a Mazda. Ste & Don will soon have you sorted; understand re the Nitrons, exactly what I had on my DC5 many moons ago; it was not nice driving down to Anglesey; the track was superb; the drive there & back, not so much
If you remove them; they'll soon sell I'm sure. But I think Nitron will be able to advise and probably offer decent advice on what to do etc
Steve replied to my email earlier and thinks he can get them working for me.
I trust his opinion and work based on my old impreza.
Only conundrum I now have, someone is happy to swap my nitrons for his Ohlins. The ohlins are widely regarded as the best street/light track option for the rx7 platform.
I really don’t want to spend ££££ on getting the Nitrons streetable when there is an zero £ option which is proven.
samoht said:
Very nice. Are those the 16" or 17" wheels? looks good on them.
If it's rust-free and has a solid engine you've done well.
Notable that three of the five bad points relate to aftermarket mods (four if you include the interior being shaken by the coilovers). I definitely think these don't need super-hard suspension, mine was stock and still quick around a track despite comedy body roll. With low c.g. and wishbones all around, body roll isn't a big impediment.
Enjoy!
These are the 17s. Car is a facelift or series 8 model. They had a lot of revisions over the pre facelift . If it's rust-free and has a solid engine you've done well.
Notable that three of the five bad points relate to aftermarket mods (four if you include the interior being shaken by the coilovers). I definitely think these don't need super-hard suspension, mine was stock and still quick around a track despite comedy body roll. With low c.g. and wishbones all around, body roll isn't a big impediment.
Enjoy!
Bumpers, wing, rear lights, turbo, sequential system, solenoids ect.
IMO its the one to go for as its the very last with all the reliability improvements. Plus it looks the best.
I think the oem wheels with some 15mm spacers will push them out flusher with the arches and still not rub.
Just need to find some that aren't silly money or chineseium.
Edited by sam.rog on Monday 7th September 16:57
Spent some a short amount of time this afternoon trying to pinpoint a horrific chirping sound coming from somewhere in the back area. Sounded like a bird in the boot.
It got worse/more pronounced the faster you went. If you hit a big bump the noise would improve or worsen.
Removed the spare wheel, jack and anything else that could be the culprit.
Also added some draft excluder foam on the contact points at the far end of the massive hatch.
Silence. Now to put the stuff back in one by one and hope the noise doesn t reappear.
A side note. Mazda were really pushing the light weight ethos for this car. The scissor jack is aluminium and even the crank arm is aluminium.
Not sure if this is on other Mazda sports cars but bravo Mazda.
It got worse/more pronounced the faster you went. If you hit a big bump the noise would improve or worsen.
Removed the spare wheel, jack and anything else that could be the culprit.
Also added some draft excluder foam on the contact points at the far end of the massive hatch.
Silence. Now to put the stuff back in one by one and hope the noise doesn t reappear.
A side note. Mazda were really pushing the light weight ethos for this car. The scissor jack is aluminium and even the crank arm is aluminium.
Not sure if this is on other Mazda sports cars but bravo Mazda.
Edited by sam.rog on Monday 7th September 17:41
sam.rog said:
danb79 said:
Bloody'ell Sam - not what I was expecting; but that's gorgeous
Ste & Don will soon have you sorted; understand re the Nitrons, exactly what I had on my DC5 many moons ago; it was not nice driving down to Anglesey; the track was superb; the drive there & back, not so much
If you remove them; they'll soon sell I'm sure. But I think Nitron will be able to advise and probably offer decent advice on what to do etc
Bit of a departure for me. Had to be a JDM car as a toy and never owned a Mazda. Ste & Don will soon have you sorted; understand re the Nitrons, exactly what I had on my DC5 many moons ago; it was not nice driving down to Anglesey; the track was superb; the drive there & back, not so much
If you remove them; they'll soon sell I'm sure. But I think Nitron will be able to advise and probably offer decent advice on what to do etc
Steve replied to my email earlier and thinks he can get them working for me.
I trust his opinion and work based on my old impreza.
Only conundrum I now have, someone is happy to swap my nitrons for his Ohlins. The ohlins are widely regarded as the best street/light track option for the rx7 platform.
I really don t want to spend ££££ on getting the Nitrons streetable when there is an zero £ option which is proven.
The Interior strip down starts.
This will be done in bite size chunks so the car isn’t sopping wet just before winter.
Tools will be KC polstar, brush thing on a drill, small vax wet dry vac and finaly some vax antibacterial cleaner.
I removed the 4 interior mats vacuumed them thoroughly, sprayed a load of polstar on them and attacked them with a drill brush thing.
Hung them on the line and then jetwashed them.
The floor mats are OEM and of a very high quality. Very deep pile so lots of space for dirt to accumulate.
Bearing in mind these are 26 years old I think they came up good.
The embroidery has seen better days on the drivers mat and theres a small amount of ware visible but pleased they came out this good.
And the obligatory dirty waste picture.
This is post polstar and jetwash.
I will let them air dry over night and go again until the waste runs clear.
I find dirty car mats hold a lot of bad smells in. This isn’t bad, but it isn’t good.
Also this car will sit dormant for periods of time so killing all the bacteria will hopefully avoid a bio hazard when brought out of winter hibernation.
The most important part in all this was also test fitted.
He fits and the seat is secure with no movement at all. It is a little wide on the base and does distort the bottom bolsters. I will try and find a narrower seat so it fits without potentially damaging the seat foam. If I can’t, it’s price I’ll happily pay to have him with me on some drive outs and car shows.
Next step is to remove the front and back seats. Clean the interior carpet and wetvac the front seats. Bizarrely the front are cloth and rear are vinyl. No idea why Mazda chose this option. Doesn’t really matter anyway as the rear seats are unusable if you have legs.
This will be done in bite size chunks so the car isn’t sopping wet just before winter.
Tools will be KC polstar, brush thing on a drill, small vax wet dry vac and finaly some vax antibacterial cleaner.
I removed the 4 interior mats vacuumed them thoroughly, sprayed a load of polstar on them and attacked them with a drill brush thing.
Hung them on the line and then jetwashed them.
The floor mats are OEM and of a very high quality. Very deep pile so lots of space for dirt to accumulate.
Bearing in mind these are 26 years old I think they came up good.
The embroidery has seen better days on the drivers mat and theres a small amount of ware visible but pleased they came out this good.
And the obligatory dirty waste picture.
This is post polstar and jetwash.
I will let them air dry over night and go again until the waste runs clear.
I find dirty car mats hold a lot of bad smells in. This isn’t bad, but it isn’t good.
Also this car will sit dormant for periods of time so killing all the bacteria will hopefully avoid a bio hazard when brought out of winter hibernation.
The most important part in all this was also test fitted.
He fits and the seat is secure with no movement at all. It is a little wide on the base and does distort the bottom bolsters. I will try and find a narrower seat so it fits without potentially damaging the seat foam. If I can’t, it’s price I’ll happily pay to have him with me on some drive outs and car shows.
Next step is to remove the front and back seats. Clean the interior carpet and wetvac the front seats. Bizarrely the front are cloth and rear are vinyl. No idea why Mazda chose this option. Doesn’t really matter anyway as the rear seats are unusable if you have legs.
sam.rog said:
danb79 said:
Bloody'ell Sam - not what I was expecting; but that's gorgeous
Ste & Don will soon have you sorted; understand re the Nitrons, exactly what I had on my DC5 many moons ago; it was not nice driving down to Anglesey; the track was superb; the drive there & back, not so much
If you remove them; they'll soon sell I'm sure. But I think Nitron will be able to advise and probably offer decent advice on what to do etc
Bit of a departure for me. Had to be a JDM car as a toy and never owned a Mazda. Ste & Don will soon have you sorted; understand re the Nitrons, exactly what I had on my DC5 many moons ago; it was not nice driving down to Anglesey; the track was superb; the drive there & back, not so much
If you remove them; they'll soon sell I'm sure. But I think Nitron will be able to advise and probably offer decent advice on what to do etc
Steve replied to my email earlier and thinks he can get them working for me.
I trust his opinion and work based on my old impreza.
Only conundrum I now have, someone is happy to swap my nitrons for his Ohlins. The ohlins are widely regarded as the best street/light track option for the rx7 platform.
I really don t want to spend ££££ on getting the Nitrons streetable when there is an zero £ option which is proven.
Lovely car an RX7 is on my to own at some point list too. Are you around Leyland area? Il keep a look out
Glenn63 said:
sam.rog said:
danb79 said:
Bloody'ell Sam - not what I was expecting; but that's gorgeous
Ste & Don will soon have you sorted; understand re the Nitrons, exactly what I had on my DC5 many moons ago; it was not nice driving down to Anglesey; the track was superb; the drive there & back, not so much
If you remove them; they'll soon sell I'm sure. But I think Nitron will be able to advise and probably offer decent advice on what to do etc
Bit of a departure for me. Had to be a JDM car as a toy and never owned a Mazda. Ste & Don will soon have you sorted; understand re the Nitrons, exactly what I had on my DC5 many moons ago; it was not nice driving down to Anglesey; the track was superb; the drive there & back, not so much
If you remove them; they'll soon sell I'm sure. But I think Nitron will be able to advise and probably offer decent advice on what to do etc
Steve replied to my email earlier and thinks he can get them working for me.
I trust his opinion and work based on my old impreza.
Only conundrum I now have, someone is happy to swap my nitrons for his Ohlins. The ohlins are widely regarded as the best street/light track option for the rx7 platform.
I really don t want to spend ££££ on getting the Nitrons streetable when there is an zero £ option which is proven.
Lovely car an RX7 is on my to own at some point list too. Are you around Leyland area? Il keep a look out
The problem is the spring rates. The 11/10 that's on there is way too stiff for the road. I swapped my springs for 8 front and 6 rear which is closer to stock rates and makes the car much more comfortable.
I've just done a 3000 mile trip round Europe with the missus earlier this summer and some of the days were 400+ miles, I couldn't have done that on 11/10 springs as my back would have been in pieces.
I've just done a 3000 mile trip round Europe with the missus earlier this summer and some of the days were 400+ miles, I couldn't have done that on 11/10 springs as my back would have been in pieces.
That's just lovely...nice colour too.
I know nothing about rotary engines, is there plenty of specialists around to take care of them, and has the weak points been ironed out over the years to give them better reliability.
When I was growing up I remember a guy in our village running around in a strange looking car which had a different sound to all other cars, it was an NSU Ro 80.
I know nothing about rotary engines, is there plenty of specialists around to take care of them, and has the weak points been ironed out over the years to give them better reliability.
When I was growing up I remember a guy in our village running around in a strange looking car which had a different sound to all other cars, it was an NSU Ro 80.
Clad-Hach said:
That's just lovely...nice colour too.
I know nothing about rotary engines, is there plenty of specialists around to take care of them, and has the weak points been ironed out over the years to give them better reliability.
When I was growing up I remember a guy in our village running around in a strange looking car which had a different sound to all other cars, it was an NSU Ro 80.
As usual the internet blows stuff out of proportion. Apparently the 13b in this is a hand grenade with the pin pulled. I know nothing about rotary engines, is there plenty of specialists around to take care of them, and has the weak points been ironed out over the years to give them better reliability.
When I was growing up I remember a guy in our village running around in a strange looking car which had a different sound to all other cars, it was an NSU Ro 80.
In reality they are quite robust. I will caveat that with if you look after them properly.
Treat them like a 4 banger in your golf and your in for a bad time.
They don’t like being started and stopped when cold. They flood the engine. So shunting about a driveway is bad.
Oil consumption. They use oil by design. There’s an oil injection pump which injects oil from the sump into the combustion chamber to lubricate the apex seals.
Because of this 10w40 mineral oil or semi synthetic is recommended and is dirt cheap. Change every 3k miles as fuel dilution is a thing on these. No point in running £80 fully synth it causes ash buildup as the additives don't burn clean.
The engines don’t tend to let go in a big way like lets say a piston engine throwing a rod. They just ware out and give ooor compression results leading to poor starting. Healthy engines are in the high 7s and 8 bar.
Mine was tested last year by the previous owner and was high 7s bordering on 8 on both front and rear rotor.
Anything starting with a 5 is tired and just about ready for a refresh.
This leads me on to the cost of a refresh. It’s cheap compared to a piston engine. 8-10k wasn’t unreasonable for a nicely built impreza engine without going nuts. It’s give or take 3k for one of these (assuming your rotors and housings are good).
They have a lot going on in the engine bay. The twin turbo sequential system is complex and constantly being cooked by the engine. They run very hot.
Rubber hoses go brittle due to the heat and can cause all sorts of issues. The sequential solenoids can fail causing all sorts of issues.
Mine being the later revision has the upgraded solenoid pack which is less troublesome but thats relative.
Thats why you see so many converted to a big single turbo.
They can pump way more air than a piston engine. So a bigger than expected turbo is fine. They tend to produce about 70% of the turbos rated hp figure. They also hate back pressure. Its quite common to find 4.5” exhausts on big power cars. 3” is small.
So in summary not the grenade everyone believes. But does need more maintenance and general keeping on top of things before they build up.
Parts are expensive, drinks fuel like fighter jet but its a trade off I'm willing to make as nothing else is quite like it.
You either get it or you don’t.
I’m smitten with it.
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