I live in Vail, Colorado for 4 months out of the year and all I can say is you can't REALLY appreciate turbocharging until you get 7,000 to 14,000 feet above sea level - and your power is STILL there!! I've left several new Carreras in my rear view mirror sucking wind. (However, a new Porsche GT2 might pose a problem........)

 

I am embarrassed to be in the same forum as those of you who believe that rotary engines cannot handle a road trip. Please DO NOT spread rumors about things you don't understand. How the HELL can you say the RX-7 is not made for long drives. Highway driving is the easiest miles put on ANY car, and an RX-7 would long outlast any PISSton motor on highway driving. I have driven from MT to CA to MT to PA to MT to PA to MT to PA to MI to PA to MI to PA to MI on the same rotary engine without so much as a hiccup.
There are 3, THREE, TRES, 1+1+1 (I don't know how many more languages to put it in) enemies of the RX-7.

#1 No oil/no oil change
The achilles heel of the RX-7 is the apex seal. However, with the quality of oils in the world today, not to mention the leaps and bounds made by Mazda in apex seal technology since the 70's has long since made this rumor exactly that---A RUMOR!!! The only thing that will kill your RX-7 outright is to not put oil in it. If you are going to drive an RX-7 and not bother to keep an eye on your oil level and condition just don't even waste your time, go get yourself a Honduh.

#2 Overheating
Now this does not mean the normal operating temperature achieved when highway and city driving. Occasionally when sitting in traffic you will get your motor pretty hot, however, as long as your cooling system is up to snuff you WILL BE OK. Trouble comes with a broken cooling system and a very hot day. Simple to avoid, just watch your TEMP GAUGE, if it is HOT, let your car cool down.

#3 People who spread rumors like the one posted above
Any perceived hostility in this message is in direct relation to the amount of times I've had to hear people tell me "rotaries are only good for 20K, 50K" or "rotaries always overheat or blow up" or "rotaries aren't reliable". When I ask them if they've ever driven a rotary before, the answer is always "no", and then they mumble how they heard it from the brother of a friend of a friend. If you follow rules #1 and #2 above your rotary will last longer than you and your Honda driving friend's ricecake.

On a sidenote, I believe that your RX-7 is like a horse. The more you take it out and exercise it, the stronger its going to be. You do more damage to your engine by letting it sit for a week or two and then taking it out for a granny drive than you do driving it daily or every other day. You will have plenty of time to park it in your garage and look at it when you are old and gray, so you better drive it now while your young and still alive.

There I've said my piece,
Nate

 

Off of Sweetwater and Lexington. The Houston RX7 club is pretty well organized, the next meeting is in August, 2nd Saturday of the month I believe. I think it's in Galveston for August. I've been to only two meetings in the past year of ownership (I work Saturdays), but it seems like a great bunch! http://houston-rx7.net/

When I FINALLY get my car going, we can meet up. A few of the members live in this area I think.

Ltr!

 

My RX-7 is great on the highway. I drive from Austin to Dallas once a month and I have made the trip to Houston several times. Check oil and coolant before you leave and you should be fine. Cool Story: Last time i was going to Dallas I left at about 2 pm and made it to Georgetown and moved out of the way for a cop car. Turns out he was from San Antonio and was travelling to Dallas too. I got behind him and set the cruise @95. Everyone was moving out of the way. Made it to Dallas in 2hrs and 15 minutes w/ traffic.


p.s. GoodFellaFD3S I made it from downtown Austin to Temple College once in 35 minutes. That's 70 miles in 35 minutes. Hmmmmmm...

 

Doing the fan switch mod is also a good idea. On hot summer days, I car would climb to 230-235 easily. On these days, I run the fan all the time. Temp rarely over 210 even on the hottest (100+) days.

 

I've put 20,000 miles on my FD since last October. Most of that is highway trips. I frequently drive between the Bay Area and Orange County (~400 miles one way) or from the Bay Area to central Cali (~250 miles one way). Heck, when I lived in Orange County, I took a couple of ~250 mile-one-way trips to Vegas in 110+ degree weather. My FD currently has 105,000 miles on it, so if your FD runs fine driving around town, then it should be perfectly happy on the highway.

HTH.

Eric

 

Just got back from picking my FD up last week. Drove from St. Louis to Colorado with no problems (~900 miles) It rode great too, no sore back or butt.

 

I drove from Michigan to Southern California, quickly, when I moved two years ago. The car ran great and is surprisingly comfortable if you have a reasonable sounding exhaust and not-too-upgraded suspension or smooth roads. I've taken lots of 2,3,4,500 miles trips in it, too. If the car is in decent shape when you leave, it will be fine.

 

Very cool, I live near Highway 6 and 90, in New Territory. It'd be cool to meet up, but I'm driving an Accord right now, so don't make too much fun of me!

 

Yep, I drove from Philadelphia to Santa Cruz in 3 days, no problem at all. And I'm going back to Philly in a week and a half, and I'm not really all that worried. I just make sure to keep the oil and coolant handy. Why have the car if you're not going to drive it?

 

I *should* have my car up and running by middle of next week, so email me and I can show my car. Have you picked up yours yet? Right now, I'd LOVE to have an Accord as my daily vehicle. My A/C went out on my beater...

Ltr!

 

I know I already posted but after reading this I feel the need to post again!!!

Some of you guys need to get your FD out on road trips more. Its a AWSOME car for road trips!!!!

I took a trip to Fl from Birmingham, Al and drove all over FL. I went all the way down to Miami area and visited Cam at Pettit Racing (great guy by the way!!!)

At one point I set my cruise on about 120mph for around 200 miles!!!!!! It was awsome, it was about 2-3 in the morning and it was a toll road with barely a exit anywhere. Very hot temps outside but with the A/C on my car ran cool as a rock at about 190F the whole way.

I drove 4000 miles that trip!!!!!!! and it was only one of the many. I always use my car for vacations and road trips eventhough my wife has a 99 Camery we much prefer to take trips in my car, its sooooo much funner.

Later,

 

I live in Minnesota. Last summer my girlfriend and I drove all the way down to Houston to buy a 3rd-gen with 18k miles on it. I drove it all the way back without stopping for anything other than gas or to eat. Providing it's properly maintained you can pretty much drive it for as long as you wish. Although don't plan on packing much

 

I have been making quite a few 200mile trips with my car and its not a problem, just make sure you have enough oil.

I blew the engine on my 1st Gen RX7 back in 93 on a trip from
Calgary to Vancourver (about 600 miles), I had done that trip at
least 10 times already but must not have had enough oil in it that
time (the engine was at about 160.000 miles). The engine lost power (one Rotor I think) in Revelstoke which is about half way
(middle of nowhere :p). I bought a gallon of oil and continued
driving it for another 300miles. Occasionally I would lose power
during the trip (it happens very suddenly) I would pull over, let
it cool add more oil and continue. I used up that gallon in those
300 miles. When I drove at low RPMs she would smoke like a
chimney but at high speed it burned the leaking oil cleanly.
Its amazing that the engine didn't seize up but I think that is
actually a feature of Rotary engines and why they are used in
some planes.

 

I've done several long trips in mine too, unfortunately, it looks like my next one will be to RP up in Garland to iron out the kinks the previous owner put into the engine and tranny. (took this long to surface, which doesn't bode well.)

My only tip is take some stretch breaks... for some reason, my lower back just doesn't like the suspension.

 

think i could go from Springfield, Il
to Sacramento, Ca.....

 

I live in the SF bay area, and I have driven it to Vancouver BC for 3 times in the past year. Each of those trips was non-stop, except for gas, food, & marking my territories along the way. One way is about 1000 miles. For a few hours, the car would see outside temp reaching 100 plus degree near Shasta. I basically had no problems ……… ………No mechanical problems that is.
However, I got headache from the Washington state trooper and the immigration at BC. After I took a leak at a rest area, a state trooper was parked behind my car and turned on all his lights. Then he started questioning me a whole bunch of stuff…where are u going,…why,…...is this your car,…..can I look in your trunk………. It went on and on. After about 10 minutes, he left. When I reached the BC border, the guy in the booth told me to pull over and check with the immigration office. I think he was doing it very selectively because I was the only one in the office during that 15 minutes check. Yeah right, illegal immigrant to BC in a bright yellow RX7 with 18” rims (275 tires) and a very loud exhaust.

 

I saw a sweet 93R1 on Ebay last year W'/ 14,500 miles orig. tires and completely stock. I made an offer that was a steal and they dropped the ad before the price climbed thousands over the amount I could pay. I took a price line flight out there For $100 and took the car for a mile test drive and signed the papers. Checked out Mt. Rushmore( which was 25 miles further west) and stopped for an oil change (even though the owner said it was just changed) bought an extra quart, a bottle of redline Injector cleaner and I was on my way back east. I took I90 for well over 1200 miles. The total trip To P-burgh was 1700 miles in less than 18 hours. Totally enjoyed the trip back, car ran perfect. I 90 beat the crap out of me. the seams in the pavement are spaced just right that going 70-90MPH bounce you up and down like your a human milk shake. 23-25 MPG around 100$ for fuel I could not ask for more.

I debated Trailoring the car back to save miles on the car but I don't regret that drive.

This is my second R1 and is still completely stock with just over 17K miles on it now. I did ad factory cruise though ( would have been nice on some parts of that trip.

I modded my other R1 to play with and it now has 46K miles and running great.

PS. the GS430 is a sweet long distance car.

 

I just got back yesterday from L.A. I ive in El Paso,Texas and I put 1892 miles on it. It never gave me a problem. The temperature gauge never moved. It was fun taking my car out in the open road. Loved messing with other cars trying to pass me. The rx-7 is a great car for long trips.