Hi all, I joined this website to ask rotary owners about the rotary engine and how reliable it is and if it suits my current lifestyle. I am an 18 year old university student in New Zealand currently driving a Nissan 350z but my dream car has always been the FD rx7. I don't know much about rotary engines and am not very mechanically minded, basically I have a lot of gaps in my knowledge but I can do the essentials like service a vehicle (brakes, oil filter, oil, air filter etc.)

Anyways, I was just wondering what having a rotary engine would be like for someone like me and I thought I would come to some experts on this. Currently my 3.5l NA 350z is drinking petrol (averaging 6km per litre) however I hear that turbo cars aren't a lot better. I don't mind having to work on a car every so often and service it more regularly than other cars but I'm just wondering how this is going to look for me financially. Since I am a student I don't earn very much money but its usually somewhere around 200 NZD a week (about 150 USD).

I really have a million questions about the rotary engine like: What is daily driving one like, what procedures do you have to go through to make it run, how often do you service it etc. Hoping someone on this forum can help me out!

Cheers,
Michael.

 

Plenty of guys like yourself buy rotaries and end up having a love affair with them ..... even though they pretty much ruin their lives financially .
I think the 350z is a way more sensible option than an RX7 in all honesty but would rate the rx7 as more fun to drive.

 

The Rx7 is a finicky beast and if you do not have the resources to feed it then it will bring you down Hard.
In all honesty I would hold off on the Rx7 stuff and keep what you have as it is reliable and gets you where you want to go.
Jumping into unfamiliar territory with limited knowledge of the overall mechanics of this car can cost you one big freakin Headache.If you buy it as a daily then you should be experienced enough to fix whatever the car throws at you or it will leave you high and dry.

Now,I am not trying to stray you from the Rx7 Scene,but merely trying to get you to look at the overall picture.
Being 18 with limited funds and tossing what you have into it..just to "have an Rx7"..Well,that in my opinion would not be the best bet in this case.
Bide your time..keep your eyes open,learn about the car more and save a couple bucks if you want to toss money at a car that will ask for it,every time you look at it!You won't get the money back that you invested into it,so shoot that "I invested into the car" scenario down the toilet.
You will get FUN..but as I said at a cost.
Being unique is insane..and many of us Rx7 owners ARE insanely broke..lol!..But still the car is unique!~

Oh..if you buy an Rx7...have a GOOD car..to use to go GET parts FOR your Rx7.

 

You wont get much better mileage out of the rotar, but you wont get much worse either - even a 400+ rwhp single turbo one. If you like servicing your car and changing the oil regulaly, warming it up before you redline the crap out of it, all the common sense stuff, ect, then they are as reliable as anything else, possibly more so when it comes to pounding the crap out of them at a race track or whatnot. They hold together pretty good. But they are an older car, and likely will need money spent unless you find a really good one.
Check the FD section for things to look out for, and good luck with it.

 

if you dont have the time to learn more and dive in the engine to fix yourself the rx7 will eat you alive, the 350 is a economy car compared to an rx7 too