Hey guys im new too this site but not so new with the rotaries. Im a huge rotary head i have been ever since i was about 9 yrs old and always will be no matter what. Im more then glad i joined this website, and im looking foward to expanding my knowledge towards Rx7's.

But besides that, im 20 yrs old now and im looking into buying my first car. Obviously what im a looking for? an Rx7... I'm mostly interested in the FC, 1. because im a huge FC fan, 2. its in my budget and 3. i would save up for an FD but im looking for a daily driver not a car you only take out on a sunday because its a beast, besides it being a super car. Basically FD's! not a daily driver :/ ( if you know what i mean)

I am mostly aiming for the turbo II model. thats where my question comes in. "Could a Turbo II be used as a daily driver?".. And yes i am aware the care that has to go through with using a rotary as a daily driver, and im not afraid of providing that care. Reasons being i have love for these cars and my father and brother run a Mechanic shop.

The car will be used to go from school in the morning too work right after. Which would equal out too about 30 miles a day. Not counting the days i will use it too go out. Typical Daily driver -_-

Im currently going too school for Master Automotive Technician, so im currently learning the basics besides stuff that i already know from working at the shop. obviously this will aid me in properly maintaining the Rx7.

Looking forward to hear opinions from all of you.

 

I think you made a good choice. I had a non-turbo FC during my last 3 years of college, and it worked great for everything from just carrying my just my books to carrying my laundry to the coin-op mat. I also drove a TII daily for several years. Both cars were good, and I honestly have no idea why anybody would even question using them for a daily driver except under extreme driving conditions that would better suit a 4WD vehicle, such as snow, ice, off-road or poor roads, or for towing.

Now the old age of these cars is another story, and any car that is 20+ years old is a ticking time bomb unless you check every single hose, gasket, ball joint, belt, bearing, mount, bushing, etc., which is not very practical. However, it sounds like you and your father and brother can handle the repairs and upkeep. Other than the normal oil consumption of about 1qt per 3,000 miles, the FC will require no more maintenance than any other similar car of its age. In general it has less maintenance when you figure there are no valves to adjust or timing chains to replace, and there are only 4 spark plugs. I have no idea what you mean with respect to any extra "care" that you think would be required with these cars.

Keep in mind that a TII with as little as $3,000 in mods will wrap you around a telephone pole way faster than an FD would, so keep your TII mostly stock if you want to avoid the "beast" pitfall.

The best way to expand your knowledge is to read the "sticky" threads in the 2Gen section. This could be more than a month's worth of reading if you go to all the links. Be sure to see the links for the buying guides in the FAQ, and yes, the buying guide for the non-turbo still applies to the TII.

 

i hate to play the cheapo card but im sorry far as street driving on a daily basis you can beat an N/A. run regular gas. and plently power. why turbo?

whats you current car? i daily my FB all day and i love it.

my brother drove his fc for about a week it got hit in a parking lot. he got so discourage it now sits in the garage and only comes at meets, and weekends if that..



i wouldnt buy anything was was too nice just in case.

 

My insight after daily driving one for about 7 months. Be ready to deal with imperfection. Mine always started up, drove, stopped and boosted without any problems whatsoever until I started becoming obsessed with fixing every single little problem. Things like 5th gear grinding, 1-speed wiper switch as most have cold solder joint issues, tired hatch struts, an alignment, blah blah blah. Anyways, as far as driving it did a fantastic job. But beware.. You could become one of us very quickly in terms of wanting more power as well which can result in undefined periods of the car being down due to upgrades/ being taken apart. That's my 2 or maybe even 4 cents.

 

these are some bad *** cars my friend. other than the crappy fuel economy you can expect. if you can afford putting gas in it then i say go for it.

 

Good 5 cents there Lamb.
I got an N/A then went all Ga-Ga for more power.So I Swapped the engine and did the whole standalone,big turbo etc..
With the car being down so often due to modification I just bought a N/A,Because I want to drive AN Rx7!.
Trouble is,that the N/A needs work now and the TII has no insurance..(I can't win)
OH..a TII IN New York?.. in Winter?..Yay!!!!That'd be crazy!

 

Haha instead of battling the turbo I went out and bought a 1st Gen. Loving every day! Just as reliable, original engine and even easier to diagnose problems. It's a different feel to the 2nd gen and its great. OP, regardless what RX7 you get, you'll love it. I still have the Turbo, it's just full-time project status now.

 

A stock TII is rated for 87 octane.

I actually liked my NA better so I sold the TII when I needed to decide on what to keep due to limited garage space. It had nothing to do with costs, as the lower gas mileage and shorter oil change interval of the TII was not a significant cost difference and the insurance was exactly the same.

I do miss my 1Gen RX-7, but it was not as practical as my FC because it had a smaller cargo area and was less comfortable on long trips.

I currently have a mostly-stock NA FC convertible and a hyper-modified turbo FC coupe, so I am back to covering both bases again now that I have a place to park two FCs.

That's exactly why I bought the convertible. I think my coupe has been up on blocks longer than it has been on its tires, lol.

 

I love my T2 as a daily, I have a hitch on it for when I take it to moto races on the weekends and I use it everyday with no issues. Plus being a two seat you never have to taxi your friends around to bars...

 

If i end up finding a TII i would definitely leave it stock, i personally love OEM! But too be honest the farthest i would go is lowering the car just a tad, and maybe even putting an exhaust on. Then again like you said, i'm probably just saying this now but once i have my hands on the car things will change, lol. Lets just hope not

Although, I've been thinking im better off going for the Non Turbo. Reasons why is 1. Its cheaper so at least ill have some more money too depend on in case something goes wrong ( it is a 20yr old car) and im bound to find something or a couple things that needs to be taking care of. I hope to god thats not the case. but you never know :/ and 2. I live in Newyork and a car like a turbo II would not be worth driving everyday. The car's bumper would repeatedly get rammed on by people that do not know how too park -__- another big reason why is that obviously we have snow days and what do we lay on the floor?. Salt! The car is going to be sleeping on the street, and i don't know about you guys but when i put my car on the lift i would NOT want too see a gaping hole of pure rust eating away at my floor board. It would be a shame to see a Turbo II go through those things, you know.

By the way i'm still on the search for an FC, Message me if you know anybody selling one in the New York area. I would go out to New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut, but not too deep into them.

 

Welcome noob!
I think you are on the right track. Buy a decent NA and take care of it. The forum is your friend, look @ 2nd gen archives for inspection routines, common problems etc. I suggest hold out & buy one off the forum if possible so you get a better idea of it's history & mod list.

FYI I am on my 3rd FC. 1st was bone-stock 87gxl, super pretty, 125k original miles & drove like new
2nd was a monster T2. Got bored: it's much more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow!
Current is a very pretty 90 GTUs. 'stout' n/a with 160-170whp. fast enough to still get in trouble

welcome rotorhead!

 

For your first fc I'd get an na, rx7s are a learning experience and na are much more firgivng than a turbo model, try for anything but a base model, the base model has no limited slip or power windows/locks, or 5 lug setup (smaller brake calipers), no spoiler or rear window windshield wiper either, all the other models have a better setup, the only upside to the base model is its a little bit lighter weight wise.

No matter if you get a turbo or na, make sure the rx7 doesn't overheat/blow a lot of white smoke, as well as holding an idle ,look at the wires under the dash and engine bay to make sure they aren't melted or jimmy rigged all over the place. Last but not least, don't believe everything the seller tells you, especially if the car doesn't run.

 

I've been dailying my 88 N/A SE for about 2 months now and it isn't a bad daily. I heard from a lot of people that it was really only good for a weekend cruiser/track basher. Honestly, it drives like an 80's sports car. Since mine is the base model there isn't much in the way of creature comforts. No cup holders, power windows, power locks... Overall though I would recommend it as a daily to anyone looking at one.

 

I daily My FD.... its.. always on the edge of braking down but! with enough knowledge YOU MANAGE!

same as any other car . TII is a good choice I have a couple friends with them .

But Keeping hte car stock is not always hte best thing , Make sure you have all the reliability mods done keep the engine happy and cool . specially in that NY traffic . rotaries dont like to overheat dont be scared if you see a car with water temp gauge , boost gauge , EGT gauge hah .

 

I have been driving my ported s5 na 75 miles round trip every week day to school and back and it's been trouble free in that whole time. Gas millage sucks,not because of the car, because of my right foot. Honestly I wouldn't trade it for a gas sipper because the car is so fun to drive. Go for a FB or FC in my opinion.

 

I wish my fc was a dd all it does is sit in the garage being a fat ***

 

They are great daily drivers, bought an 89 shell, found a tii with only 12k original miles that was t boned, did my own swap and drove it everyday till I bought my FD. I don't regret it at all. The only problem was gas mileage, my own fault for keeping the throttle pinned everywhere I went.... Man 17 was fun.

 

fc great for everyday i got one and used it everyday til i got my truck now its my project

 

i had a 90 rx7 gxl that I was daily driving to work 15 miles there and 15 miles back home monday-friday. it costs me about $50-$60 to full tank it with 87 octane. With a t2, I can imagine it be more costly.

However, it's a really fun car once you get your suspensions worked on. I was taking corners so smoothly everyday, damn I miss it. I'm about to get rid of my audi a4 1.8 turbo and pick up another rx7. There's a red 90 gxl here locally that just passed smog that I would love to pick up after I sell my audi.

YOU WON'T REGRET IT UNTIL IT BREAKS ON YOU

 

If you plan to DD a car this old, invest in a set of bushings. Even poly bushings will have a better ride quality than 25 year old stock rubber bushings. That and a set of fresh shocks and it'll handle like new.

 

How many times were you filling her up?
and what kind of suspension you had on the car?

 

per week, i was filling about 1-2 times. usually every wednesday i would fill her up cos that's when i would get pay.

i had circuit sports coilover, changed the brakes to t2 setup, had 17s wheels, about 30k-40k miles on the rebuilt motor, and lsd.

 

I just had energy suspension bushings and tokiko illumina adjustable socks. Even with everything else stock, handling was pretty good and clean. Not as grippy as some setups but good at handling chaotic pavement gracefully.

I was DD'ing about 40 minutes one way per day, got about 21 MPG. No complains. .. Right until my coolant seal finally gave up the ghost

 

my fc is my daily and i love it, but im looking to sell it to so i can pay for school. ive had mine for 2 years and its had its problems but its a 20+ year old car so what do you expect.