88 tII and i drive it everyday...she has her quirks, but so do all cars. of course i've only had it actually running about a month now...~1kmiles...but she's been good those 1k miles

and to the guy above who gets 24mpg...HOW THE ****?! i get 16mpg at best w/ a mild street port, no cat, intake....6psi...lol how do u do it man?!

 

You really wanna know? So would I.

Streetport, SSAC 3.5in turbo back, cone intake, FD fuel pump and FCD. So, I should be boosting higher (but I stay off quite a bit because I haven't ported my wastegate yet).

The stock fuel tank is ~16.5 gallons, no? It take me ~8 gallons to go 200 miles.

 

I get around 16-17mpg in mine on average.

 

this thread makes me sad

 

My FC has been perfect for me. Only my driveshaft went out ounce (138k on the chassis).

BUT I won't ever drive my car in the winter, **** it's hard enough driving a FWD sedan in alot of situations.

 

To answer the posters question I drive mine everyday and I love it. I bought my car for $1000 and it is the best investment I have ever made. Since I bought it I have given it lots of love. Replacing things it needed, oil changes every 2500 to 3000 miles and so on. I have owned my car for almost a year and every day when I drive it, it makes me smile. This is a car you can pretty much do everything on yourself. I had no previous knowledge of automobiles when I bought my RX last year. I now know how to change brakes, rotors, pads, rims, tires, oil, filters, electrical crap and so much more. This forum has taught me exponential information. Enjoy your purchase.

 

when I bought my 87 gxl I overhauled the suspension and did the exhaust, IT has run everyday no matter how cold or how warm out it is( I live in ma, it gets friggin cold). I drive it in the winter and during white out conditions, I have fun doing it. I fill up on 89 and it gets around 17 or 18 (filling up on 89 doesn't change my gas mpg).

I'm gonna redo the grounds and do a s5 intake swap but otherwise my only problem with the car is that it is running lean.

This car is so much better than my old v6 jetta and if I could I would drive it till I die(or I will buy a different mazda rotary).

 

i drive my 88 vert everyday other than i have a lack of space for my tools for work it works great

as far as winter driving we just got about a half inch of sleet on the ground and my car got through it fine in alot of snow i just put a sand bag in the trunk

 

Buy the very best condition car you can possibly find (you may have to search long and far) and you should be fine. I got my 91 a few years ago and I paid a bunch more for it than some of the other, older ones I'd looked at, but it was in immaculate condition and had had a full mazda reman and new clutch about 3000km's before. It had about 147000km's on the chassis. The bill for the work alone was about 85% of the selling price. If you can get one with a fresh rebuild then do it, you'll save a bunch of money that way. I paid more than I had to to get a S5, but in the end I've probably spent less on it due to the lower maintenance costs, and I've never regretted the decision to buy it for one second. I've had my car for a few years and the only problems I've had was a burst heater hose, a dead alternator, and a dead rear wheel bearing, standard old car stuff. It now has over 180000kms on it with 4 days of double driver track duty and a season of autocross. It's been the most reliable car in my family (96 Subaru Outback (290000km's at last count mind you), 98 Nissan Fronteir, 92 turbo Miata, 93 MX-6).

Like I said above, if you can get one in good condition then it should be just fine, but be prepared to spend more than whatever other ones of the same vintage are going for.

 

I bought an S5 n/a in NOV 04' with 85k on the clock. I blew the engine the engine a year later at 100k miles. During my christmas break I got to learn a lot about rotaries before pulling my engine the most complex car related repair i had done was change an alternator, lol. I have no regrets and still love the car, if the engine blew again tomarrow i would wait till May (end of semester) and rebuild it better than before. BTW: i'm a sophmore at University of Houston and commute 33miles each way into downtown Houston every day and do a lil "spirited" driving on the weekends. So basically i'm about as tough as you can be on a car and i'd give it an OK as far as reliability. I mean besides one small thing (an apex seal) i've had no problems with the car. It's never left me on the side of the road at least. Now it has 105K miles and i'll continue to daily drive it (unless the judge takes it away)

 

What did you do to that poor thing?

 

my daily driver

 

I drive mine every day, and it sees redline at least twice a day,
the previous owner drove it everyday back and forth to work a 44mile drive,
never left him stranded, hasn't left me stranded, hell it hasn't even flooded on me once
( knock on wood )
the body has 134k and the motor has about 80k,
I do ALOT of spirited driving too.

 

wow doty's back, does this mean you got that little side seal problem fixed?

 

I love my car, an 86 sport. I've clocked 50+ miles on it everyday since I got it on christmas, for 600 bucks!!! The interior looks so crappy though that people thought I stole my own car....

Only thing that's failed on me was a front diff mount, a battery, and a lower ball joint.

tach read 97000 miles when i got it, and 1500 miles later, it still roars. Body used to be flawless until some idiot hit my car while it was parked on the sidewalk.... now it has a dent in the quarter panel.

Don't expect an econo-car when you buy it. It's meant to be driven, and taken care of.

PS: Always check your fluid levels, my car eats up 5 quarts of oil every 800 miles.

Neglect the '7, and it will kick you to the curb.

 

5qts every 800 miles? I think somethings wrong there buddy. Mine only goes through, maybe, 1-2qts every oil change.

 

I drive mine daily. I dont have a commute but the car has never left me stranded. I am thinking about driving it from AZ to FL and back.

 

Damn, dude. Could you possibly promote his question with a more positive reply? You're so nice!

 

A road trip in a 7 isn't bad but, seriously, that seems a bit excessive oil consumption.

 

Edit: Double post.

 

Thanks for the replies guys.

I think i am going to begin on my mission to find a good RX-7.

 

I believe the rx-7 was made for high performance. It wasn't made to be a daily driver commuting car. I'd rather place my money on the miata being able to do well daily driven than put money on my rx-7. Let's face it, the rotary isn't a reliable car. Yeah, sure some people take care of it really well, and keep up with maintenance well. But I know that Half if not more than 50% don't do it so well. I think if you baby this car, and if its stock, then yeah, its capable of daily driving pretty well. But I think most people will modify the rx-7 and push it here and there if not pushing it too its limits in drag or track. After all, the rx-7 is a true sportscar. and the 3rd gear boost is just so tempting, right? If you do get an rx-7, get a S5 NA first. it will make your life a lot easier. Getting a TII should be 2nd, and I believe a TII really shouldn't be daily driven. Besides, why do you want to put useless miles on your beloved car. I'd rather use miles cruising or racing and practically using it for only fun and entertainment purposes.

 

I wouldnt have any problems daily driving a nonturbo rotary FC, especialyl if you keep it well maintained. But, they do have flooding issues at times and depending on how hard a driver you are ... you may bring problems on before a more grandma style driver. my nonturbo S4 FC had 180k on the odo before the motor blew and I bought it for the LS1T56 swap.

of course now I have NO problem daily driving my nonturbo FC, it just happens to have a 5.7 liter engine in it now

 

hmmm well i was actually sand-drifting when it blew (wooo-hoooo), but i think the engine had an early death at 100K miles b/c of a broken OMP line that i found when taking it apart

 

I am the said broke kid. I had a FWD P.O.S. as my first car untill i blew the engine. Now i love my 7 and daily drive it. It has also been a great learning expereance for me as i cannot afford to pay someone to fix it. When my last car blew it was way to shitty for me to justify spending any time or money on it. The 7 is a blast to drive in traffic (yes it even makes rush hour more fun) and if I had a FWD beater i would still daily drive my 7.
So go take your attitude somewhere else and quit discouraging RX-7 enthusiasm!