Turbocharged
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat Aug 31, 2013 6:08 pm
Cars: 1990 Mazda RX7 Convertible
1995 Toyota 4Runner V6
2004 Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD
Wed May 21, 2014 4:28 am
Rotaries! My 1990 RX-7 FC Convertible
Hey, all, here's my daily driver/ car for prowling around the west coast all summer:
I've had it since last July, and it was a bit of a barn find with all things considered: the previous owner was a longshoreman, huge house in the mountains with four other cars and a brand-new BMW he'd bought on impulse. So his wife made him sell it for peanuts just to make space in the garage!
It had been sitting for a few years and the engine had gunked up a bit, so it was an unreliable runner at best when I got it untarped. Still, $4500 (canadian dollars!) to pick it up and an extra thousand or so to get it running, and it's just -gorgeous- now. It's got 185,000 km on the clock as of this post, with me probably responsible for 15k of that this year alone. Far more fun than my former '06 Cobalt, hehe.
But it's a bit of a dog in the straights: the engine is the original torque-starved naturally aspirated ~1.3L 13B rotary and the chassis is notably heavier than the RX-7 FC coupes. Slow off of the line for sure, but it makes an otherworldly racket when the revs climb. All convertibles came fully loaded for 1990, with power steering and headrest surround-sound speakers and stuff that wouldn't make it to mainstream cars for a decade. The rims are factory alloys and are unique to the convertible too! I swear, the car doesn't truly redline - the tach stops at 9000rpm, but the engine will just say 'screw it' and rev up to about 11,000 or so in short bursts if you let it. In motion it hums along highways with hardly any vibration, and the sounds it makes when the top down are definitely my favorite part of the car. The weight balance is 50/50 and the car's riveted to the road in the turns like a Miata's big brother; it's a shame they didn't make many RX-7 droptops, because these things are a blast.
I'll try to dig up more photos of the car if I remember, but for now, hope y'all enjoy.
I've had it since last July, and it was a bit of a barn find with all things considered: the previous owner was a longshoreman, huge house in the mountains with four other cars and a brand-new BMW he'd bought on impulse. So his wife made him sell it for peanuts just to make space in the garage!
It had been sitting for a few years and the engine had gunked up a bit, so it was an unreliable runner at best when I got it untarped. Still, $4500 (canadian dollars!) to pick it up and an extra thousand or so to get it running, and it's just -gorgeous- now. It's got 185,000 km on the clock as of this post, with me probably responsible for 15k of that this year alone. Far more fun than my former '06 Cobalt, hehe.
But it's a bit of a dog in the straights: the engine is the original torque-starved naturally aspirated ~1.3L 13B rotary and the chassis is notably heavier than the RX-7 FC coupes. Slow off of the line for sure, but it makes an otherworldly racket when the revs climb. All convertibles came fully loaded for 1990, with power steering and headrest surround-sound speakers and stuff that wouldn't make it to mainstream cars for a decade. The rims are factory alloys and are unique to the convertible too! I swear, the car doesn't truly redline - the tach stops at 9000rpm, but the engine will just say 'screw it' and rev up to about 11,000 or so in short bursts if you let it. In motion it hums along highways with hardly any vibration, and the sounds it makes when the top down are definitely my favorite part of the car. The weight balance is 50/50 and the car's riveted to the road in the turns like a Miata's big brother; it's a shame they didn't make many RX-7 droptops, because these things are a blast.
I'll try to dig up more photos of the car if I remember, but for now, hope y'all enjoy.
Platinum-ranked scenario scores:
2-Wheeled Insanity - 1467
Daffyflyer MK-X - 1652
Fighting the Imports - 1661
From Racing to Pacing - 1889
Military Gen Set - 1098
2-Wheeled Insanity - 1467
Daffyflyer MK-X - 1652
Fighting the Imports - 1661
From Racing to Pacing - 1889
Military Gen Set - 1098
.
