1987 Mazda RX7

Summary:

Cheap to upgrade not to fix

Faults:

Well, I just bought the car. So I have noticed only what is wrong now.

I need to replace the high output coils which run about $150 a piece (I need two), and it's a little loose in shifting, but I plan to get a short throw if I can find one.

AC doesn't work and I have no power steering, neither of which I plan on using (more hp).

Rotary hurts my wallet.

General Comments:

The car is very sturdy and much stronger built than my last car. Its very beefy.

The car handles very well, getting me out of a couple situations.

The car is very quick, but won't go above 45 with the bad coils, but still is very quick.

I scored it for $800 and it makes all my friends jealous, and I know with coils I can whoop them all.

Performance parts are easy to find for simple mods, but some of the higher upgrades are not.

Less moving parts = less to buy for more hp.

Performance parts are cheap and cool looking, and with 150hp stock, the car will fly.

Did I mention the beautiful handleing.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 20th April, 2005

1987 Mazda RX7 Coupe 13B

Summary:

I fell in love as soon as I saw it and I would buy another one in a heartbeat

Faults:

The emergency brake cable froze on me.

The interior trim cracks easily with its old age.

I replaced the starter and battery.

I replaced the plugs and wires.

I replaced many wires due to corrosion.

I replaced all hoses.

I re-soldered main solder joints in the computer to repair a faulty horn and erratic idiot lights.

General Comments:

I just want to say that this car was an excellent car and it was very fun to drive. It handled extremely well and would eat up other imports that challenged it.

I recently rolled this car over twice and though it is a very sad thing for me, it protected myself and my passenger very well. Not a single injury. Thank you MAZDA.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 2nd December, 2004

28th Aug 2005, 15:04

I just bought my 1987 Rx-7 a couple of months ago and It has a few similar problems that you were talking about with the faulty horn. where did you go to find the info on how to make the repairs. If anyone can give me that info please send me an E-mail to William.Tomcik@shaw.af.mil thank you!

1987 Mazda RX7 GXL 13B Normally Aspirated

Summary:

An often over-looked legitimate sports car with high reliability, great fun

Faults:

There were a lot of little things when I first bought the car, mostly electrical. Some research on the web and several hours with a soldering iron on bad solder joints took care of inoperative windshield wipers, intermittent clock, random idiot lights, etc.

A cracked windshield was replaced, which has been the most costly fix so far at $400.

The broken self-retracting antenna mast was replaced thanks to parts and how-to from Mazdatrix.

The clutch hydraulics were replaced mostly due to my own desires to eventually "zero-time" the car, not because of any failure. This helped shifting tremendously. Again, Mazdatrix provided parts and advice.

The car is very easy to work on. All easy stuff, web is great resource of how-to.

General Comments:

If you looked past the nit-noids of the problems stated above, this car was the proverbial cream puff. An enthusiast owned it before me and kept it immaculate.

This is my third RX7, the previous two were first-generation. I like the electronic fuel injection much more than the carburetted 1st gens.

Interior comfort is better, although with the sunroof my headroom is limited.

An advantage of the rotary engine is it is very happy on regular grade pump gas.

The ergos of the car are excellent. Controls are very intuitive and easy to operate even during spirited driving.

Perfect car for enthusiast on a budget: responds well to maintenance and mods, commutes, hauls groceries, looks good, is a blast on weekend mountain curves, an entire cottage industry of aftermarket support.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 20th October, 2003