The lugwhat? how do you check those?

When I first got my car I drove it back home for about 800 miles, in one day. My way of testing if everything was alright in the car was to progressively increase speed until I was doing over 100 mph. That was on the first day I drove it... Now I do look around and check more for anything that might go wrong at those speeds...

 

Thanks for the comments. I have had this car up over 105 on several occasions, but want to stress that this is really dangerous.

Judging from a lot of the responses in this thread, it sounds like we all like to drive fast, all take consideration about where we do this, and generally conduct 'speed-testing' in as safe a manner as possible.

When you're driving that fast, however, you should be on a deserted stretch of road, preferably separated highway, and with NO turns, whatsoever. As long as you're being cautious about other drivers and any potential (unforseen) obstructions in the road - you'll probably be alright.

Something to think about with our older cars is that they're not in as good of shape as they once were. Anytime you take the car to that kind of extreme speed, you better have made some preparations beforehand like checking your lugnuts, your oil level; pretty much everything on the car.

Scares me to think that a forum member may be driving at the ragged edge and not even be looking at these things...

 

hey tn, i had a 73 rx-2 with an 83 (non gsl) engine and 5 spd tranny, straight pipe; took her up to 125 with no problem.....jb

 

LongDuck speaks truth. Its a blast to be running high speeds at WOT, but don't be like the Fast and the Furious kids and do it in the middle of the day. Fast driving is for deserted highways in the middle of the night.

 

FUEL GAUGE.....i changed the omp on my gsl and ever since the fuel gauge has been out of wack. when the tank is full the needle will read so but it will only read to just over 1/2 a tank, anything after that the needle stays below the "e", is that just a coincidence or do i need to check the gauge????

 

hmm I think you need to do a search and then if needed, start a new thread...

 

I second the motion...

 

For the record, I dont speed much at all on public roads. The 142 was at the end of the front straight at RRR. I would never do that on a public highway. I value mine and other peoples lives. A bit different doing hi speeds in a car that is prepped for it on a closed circut. Not to mention having been thru racing schools, and having saftey people on hand just in case, and also no oncomming traffic, pedestrians, animals, and being forwarned of trouble up ahead (yellow flags). Am I making my point clear? Be safe y'all.

 

i see a lot of people worried about how these cars -first gens -handle at over 100 mph, all i have to say is it depends on youre experiance, youre skill, and how crazy you are-or stupid :b anyway- to make my point i will offer two of my stories- the first one took place on I-79 south from morgantown w.v. i was being pursued by a co-worker in his neon and was leaving him, we met up at a gas station later and he informed me he was going 115 and was tapped out while i was pulling away-at the time i had only new spark plug wires and a good tuning job on the engine-all stock parts. second is the time last year on 73 south from morgantown-a back road about thirteen miles long, i ran it in 7min:34sec -do the math -the clock dont lie -i averaged about 110 the whole way- if you saw the road you'd crap yourself, these cars are plenty capable when in stock form- but dont kid yourself, things go wrong at these speeds -go to a track- i'm stupid for what i did, ps.. check youre ball joints before attempting hi-speed driving,dont ask how i know .

 

what about the ball joints at high speed?

 

Without air dam and spoiler it will lift, but with proper aerodynamics an RX-7 does fine at reasonably high speed such as 130-145 mph if it has the power and cooling capacity. Watch the temperature when driving over 110-130 mph for extended periods, you may need to upgrade the cooling. Like any other car, always ensure it is in proper mechanical condition. You should not drive at any highway speed if there are potential problems with tyres or suspension, etc. I would drive 143 mph / 230 kph on the highway during the day, but not at night without upgraded lights.

 

Stink bro - tough luck, it should be good to go past 120 and around 125 should be possible - easily - well if running properly unrestricted.

Tune up tme

 

My '79 felt like it was doing a city speed shopping cruise at 190km/h and just a bit light feeling in the steering past 200 - it would go up to 220 odd km/h though and still feel quite solid with no aero parts what so ever.

 

You outta feel wacky's (Wacko's) car at about Maxxxxxx (150mph) RX3 now that's power!!! little scary but what a RUSH

 

Can't FD's do like 150-160 easily?? Umm. don't think I'll do much playing with them any time soon...

Speaking of FDs, that is the ONLY other body style from Mazda other than than the FBs that I have ever liked. Only reason I don't have one is b/c reliability issues and cost. Maybe one day I could buy a FD w/a blown engine and then put a streetport 13B with a sidedraft-no turbos....sound crazy????

 

a ball joint failing at low speed is bad- it lets the tire flip up under the car or do other wierd things -my left front ball joint almost came completely apart once - and for months before that it used to make a nice "clunk" and then shake loose about 1' when taking left turns agresevely -then one day i noticed the ball joint boot was torn- pulled on the controll arm and it almost poped completely out. so they kill you when you drive fast and one goes. thats what wouldve happend to me had i not checked it.

 

I see. I was asking because I have this problem that nobody has been able to diagnose or resolve where I'm driving on the highway and when making turns, especially right turns, the car seems to jump at a certain point, the equivalent of moving the steering wheel fast towards the right, maybe 1/4th of a turn. That's not too bad except that at 90+ mph can get a little scary. Would that be a ball joint problem?

P.S. sorry for the thread hijack.

P.P.S. wow freaky, this thread has 66 replies and 666 views as of now...

 

i have a 85 gs and i was running on my interstate in 4th gear goin 85-90 and i still felt like i had some pull on my car with room to shift maybe u need a tune or somthin or ur seals are wearing out u need to get that checked out because thats not right

 

I have had my 84 SE with racing beat exhaust up to 110 MPH before, but it was really scary. I have flat spots on my tires so it was shaking almost uncontrollably

 

yeah got the prob. fixed. turns out it was just my timing.
I can get 110 pretty easy now. Maybe 120 if I have enough road to try it on. Looks like 120 is pretty much it for us "stock" folks. And by the way kids, do this AT YOUR OWN RISK. I don't want to be responsible for someone getting serious hurt or killed here b/c I've got everyone pushing their sevens BEYOND the limits of the car.

Rusty, thanks for the post. Maybe I will see you around sometime in Charleston. I plan on moving there (or Summerville) by next summer. I-26 a good stretch to race?

 

When my '84 GSL was new and stock it did 117, just like the specs said. It was scary, the front end felt very light. I would never consider driving it at high speed on twisting roads without aero treatment.

20 years later it will still do 95 pretty easily. Engine, carb and everything else still stock, never rebuilt. 106,000 miles on it.

 

I have had mine up over 125 and I just did the math you won't run out of rpm till you hit 185mph, if your car can push that far. The calculations were done using the specs for an 83 LE.

 

I have had mine up over 125 and I just did the math you won't run out of rpm till you hit 185mph, if your car can push that far. The calculations were done using the specs for an 83 LE.

 

I have had mine up over 125 and I just did the math you won't run out of rpm till you hit 185mph, if your car can push that far. The calculations were done using the specs for an 83 LE.

 

sorry for multi post, forum lag