Well the evo has been fun. i still owe a little money on it, but when its paid off im not sure where my plans will be. i originally planned to finish my honda build and then start on the evolution and maybe do a fp black with supporting mods and shoot for around 650-700hp but things are changing, and quickly.

as i stand now im researching the 93+ mazda rx-7 fd. i know the vehicle is 10 yrs older than my 03 evo but the rx-7 has always held a special place in my heart. in my eyes the top 5 cars import wise would have to be 1. nissan gt-r or any type of skyline 2. toyota supra 3. mazda rx-7 fd 4. acura/honda nsx (only because of the rare and wow factor. lets face it you prob dont see many roaming around) 5. finally the evolution.

im still debating, but what im thinking of doing is paying off the evo and trying to trade it for a fd rx-7. i have also considered finishing the honda, and selling it once the evo is paid off and taking out another small loan. and yes i mean small loan because the list of modifications done to my honda exceeds 25k so i would list it kinda high but still less than half of whats in it.

what do you guys think? am i crazy? i just joined rx7club.com and have been doing my research and from what a lot of people say the rotory motors are unreliable, but honestly what mitsubishi is? granted my evo hasnt had any major problems yet but every mitsubishi i have owned has had its share of small problems. ive also read that the 13b likes power and gains power very easily since the rotory design is overall more efficient than a 4 stroke engine in general, BUT after around 500hp it gets dangerous and you start popping engines left and right. thats prob one of the major factors right now for me since 500 hp can be obtained on a stock 4g63 since i have read as long as you keep it at or below 400 tq.

give me your opinions and what you think. thanks in advance.

 

Coming from owning turbo'ed Rx7s and rebuilding them, I'd stick to the Evo. I would never have a Rx7 for a daily driver and it will be a love/hate relationship. I loved my Rx7. It has grace and beauty unmatched by most cars on the road today but holy sh*t was it a pain.

Keep the Evo once it's paid off. It's such a relief to know you have a vehicle paid for. Later on you want a little side project, by all means, grab a nice FD and work on it.

 

weird being in California I see more NSX and supras than FDs hell I see skylines once in a while...
I love the FD lines but the engine is crap...I would put an evo engine and mount it longitudinally.. in the engine bay with a custom bell housing and have a rear wheel drive evo...

 

In my opinion I like rx-7s, good styling, good weight, easy mods, good track car.
But I chose the more practical Evo, awd turbo cars have a very special place in my heart and with properly tuned handling makes me feel like the stig

 

The rotaries are good for power, they're pretty popular for drag racing here. Unreliable is right (personally I wouldn't say mitsis are unreliable). I've had several mates and people I know who have owned them and had a long list of issues with them. A couple of them have been hit with something serious enough that they've had to sell because they couldn't justify the expenditure to repair. But if you're capable of working on them yourself, that's a huge positive.

 

LS1 transplants into FDs aren't uncommon, a 4G63 transplant should be just as easy, if not easier.

 

^the thought of an ls1 in an rx7 or even a 240 makes me vomit a little in my mouth.

Thore, is there any cons/pros between the rx7 and the evo you can think of off the top of your head besides the unreliable issue? and in all honesty ecery project i have had has been a love hate relationship. so i know that comes with the territory

 

Each to their own, but I'll just leave this here, http://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_...0149_large.jpg

V8 setups in FDs are quite ideal for drag setups, balancing and such.

 

RX7's & RX8's are so unreliable in so many ways, it's not even remotely worth trading in your evo. Don't do it. I freaking love those cars, by no means would I ever own one.

 

I love how the rx7s look, but I would stick with the evo.

 

I love the 2nd and 3rd gen as much as the next guy but they can be a pain in the *** some times. Its hard to find a decent shop or support and they can become money pits. But of course you know all this already

 

i think the 3rd gen rx7's are very cool. but i wouldn't buy one cause i dont wanna work on them. they are known for performance, but not for reliability. i dont think you should trade your evo for it, but get it alongside your evo. i would be a great second car. and check this out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMLFQzmdhng

and here is a good read http://www.rx7.org/Robinette/index.htm

 

From that site...

"A Word about 3rd Generation RX-7 Reliability

Many people ask me about purchasing a 93-95 (3rd Gen) RX-7 as an only, daily driven car. These cars are not known for their reliability and they are absolutely scary in any amount of snow. Many, many people have had to replace their engines well before 100,000 miles. And an engine overhaul is expensive ($5000 or more with labor) because the engine must be completely removed from the car. The turbo control system is complex and prone to problems. Repair and upkeep can be expensive because the cars are rare and most Mazda dealers are not familiar with them. I've heard hundreds of horror stories from people that had minor problems that were diagnosed by their dealer as something much more expensive such as "need new turbos" when only a vacuum hose was lose, or "need a new pre-catalytic converter" when the problem had nothing to do with the exhaust.

I can't really recommend a 3rd gen for someone that doesn't have the ability or desire to learn how to maintain it themselves unless you are lucky enough (and rich enough) to be near one of the rotary specialty shops (PFS, Pettit, Mostly Mazda, Rotary performance, KD Rotary, etc.)"


This in itself is one thing that would scare me from having one as a daily

 

My friend went through 3 FC RX-7s... All of them at one point in it's life, were his only cars to drive to and from work. All of them had FLOODING issues. He's been late to work because of it, he couldn't leave my house one time, etc... It was like every time you wanted to start the car up, you had a 50/50 chance of it starting up. Don't know if they fixed these issues with FDs but it's pretty much the same motor.

 

They never fixed the issues in the RX8's either. Unflooding these engines were a *****. One of the dealerships I worked at in the past used a specific washer fluid mazda recommended to unflood them. I seen more engine replacements in the R8X in 1 year than I did in any model my entire life as a tech. The Evo is actually fairly reliable IMO compared to most performance cars.