1979 Mazda RX-7 Series 1

[Branno]

Hey forum,

Was just wondering about whether a 1979 Mazda RX-7 Series 1 is a reliable car,

I may be buying one.

Ive always wanted a rotary and I love the shape of this one.

Opinions and personal experiences would be great,

Thanks guys.

;)

[Mole]

No.

They drink oil and petrol and the rotors will be fairly worn by now.

If you really want one, double the price and recondition the engine, then it'll be ok.

Edited March 25, 2010 by Mole

[Hiro]

Kid across the road from my parent's place bought one for a first car - it arrived under its own power, but I don't think I saw it move more than twice over the next 6 months.

Amazing too how much petrol a 1.2L or 1.3L non-turbo can use, although if you change consumption to L/week instead of L/100km it comes out a lot better (because it'll be off the road half the time getting fixed) :P

Edited March 26, 2010 by Hiro Protagonist

[nate11six]

Not reliable.

[DreadAngel]

Old rotaries are unreliable but the later 13B seems to be more reliable as long as you treat it nicely (I mean extra nicely like not forgetting Valentine's Day, Wedding Anniversary, etc) and don't do anything too crazy, it'll be reliable :)

Edited March 27, 2010 by DreadAngel

[RoM2nV]

yeah, you dont buy rotaries if you want reliability. also the older it gets, the less reliable.

just buy it on the basis that its a fun car :P

[SuperDave]

I've been told with the 13b-rew to avoid any that have seen power increases. They apparently hold up fine on stock power levels, but up the boost and watch them wear. I'm told this by a series 8 owner, so make what you want of it.

I've also been a believer that the early ones (and even current ones) were crap because dodgy workshops rebuilt them that had no clue how to work on a ****le. Just like a lot of the dodgy LPG conversions, and the early days of EFI; there were plenty of dodgy mechanics.

In all, I'm going to say avoid a car that old if you don't know it's history or have the money for a serious rebuild. Would you buy any other 31 year old car?

[DreadAngel]

^^^

Very very true, only trust rebuilds carried out by Rotary experts and even then some of their reputations don't precede them...

[SILVABULLIT]

In stock form the engine's are ok but if anyone has tinkered with it it's a case of a ticking time bomb as other's have said. also be prepared to spend a lot of money on the handling side of things as they really are a bit of a pig as far as handling is concerned. Very easy to overpower the chassis dynamics with engine upgrades which will then see you spend a lot on mods to make the thing stay on the road.

[MT]

I'd only buy one if it was built by John Waterhouse from Reliance Rotary in Canberra.