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Help wanted RX7/R34/Supra


GeorgeW

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I have a mate with an RX7 - no end of engine and electrical problems. He's no Lewis Hamilton either and has found himself unexpectedly pointing the wrong way on more than one occasion on track days. The interior is small - driving with a helmet on for me (6'4") is difficult. Fuel economy is dire regardless of driving style.

 

The engine actually blew up when he was driving it home after buying it, lol, cost him about 4K to put right iirc

 

Pulls like a Train though - slightly quicker than my stripped out e46 m3 in a straight line so it would leave a 350/70z for dust. (When rolling on the track... Haven't tried it from stationary). Not a fan of the exhaust noise compared to either of my 6-pot cars.

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^^^ Its not unheard of of course, but there are stories on here about people buying duffers, sorry to say it though, unless you have properly had the wool pulled over your eyes, i.e false rebuild invoices etc there is only one person to blame.

 

I found them very progressive when they started to slide, maybe when the 2nd turbo kicked in it caught him out, as you say, they are quick cars.

 

Valid point re electrics but they are over 20 years old, the 96 onwards came with better wiring and 16bit ecu, not 8.

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Same can be said for the rb26, no engine is bulletproof, all depends on how its been cared for, a rotary is good for 70k+ if cared for, I know thats a ltd lifespan, but its a great motor and very clever design, just a shame economy is poor and they are stumped on emmisions at the moment.

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Whats up with the 300zx? I went out in a fair few when looking around and even when out in an auto NA the guy booted it and it went at a fair rate of knots. Or what about an Impreza or the like? You can open the back doors to get the baby seat in the back rather than squatting in the footwell with the passenger seat pulled forwards :lol:

 

Or for £10k you can have my Celica ;)

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I turn my nose up at Subarus, I keep getting shouted at on Facebook for it but I just dont see whats to like about them, Evos on the other hand..

 

ok ok, what about Silvias? a nice S15 would be ok. We will find a car suitable!

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I turn my nose up at Subarus, I keep getting shouted at on Facebook for it but I just dont see whats to like about them, Evos on the other hand..

 

ok ok, what about Silvias? a nice S15 would be ok. We will find a car suitable!

 

I would say S15 turbos are around £10k and rising? NAs much cheaper. I actually like a mildly fettled S14, a small drop and conservative body kit and it looks nicely planted and more modern.

 

I have actually read more articles on the internet about Evo's blowing up than RX7s :lol:

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Trust me, Supras are not bullet proof :lol:

 

I notice in your sig that you had one..did it end badly or did you not get on with it?

 

It broke. Piston ring failure :(

 

It was a lovely car to drive, felt just like a fast 350Z :p

 

2 RB26s and so far never broke anything on them :)

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BUT I am still uncomfortable about the lack of seats. My partner has the family car, so with the 5 month old it isn't an issue having the zed, but I miss taking the fun car to the beach etc to show it off!

 

 

If your planning on taking the kid with you just make sure what ever you buy has space in the back for a child seat. UK law is currently kids have to be in child seats till 12 or 135cm, there's also talk a new law mandating kids stay in rear ward facing car seats till at least 15 months.

 

Also don't forget to take account of baby sick/poo on the interior....There's a reason why we're keeping the child seat in the lease car that is going to be handed back to the dealer :)

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BUT I am still uncomfortable about the lack of seats. My partner has the family car, so with the 5 month old it isn't an issue having the zed, but I miss taking the fun car to the beach etc to show it off!

 

 

If your planning on taking the kid with you just make sure what ever you buy has space in the back for a child seat. UK law is currently kids have to be in child seats till 12 or 135cm, there's also talk a new law mandating kids stay in rear ward facing car seats till at least 15 months.

 

Also don't forget to take account of baby sick/poo on the interior....There's a reason why we're keeping the child seat in the lease car that is going to be handed back to the dealer :)

 

Yes, well im pretty sure the R34 would fit the bill, and actually Lilly (baby) makes less mess in the car than Rhian (partner) no marks at all from Lilly in the focus, Rhian has spilt a whole mug of tea in the footwell, and lasagna on the seat!

 

We have found an R34 GTT (manual) which looks bloody nice. I am waiting to hear back with more info, but I like it! never had a proper black car either.

 

r34_zpsu84sf4cx.jpg

r344_zpswi120yi8.jpg

r342_zpsawgnwmow.jpg

r343_zpsp0l0hszn.jpg

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Good spot, sir.

 

Any downsides to that? I assume it's relatively straightforward.

 

I have never looked into importing before, but basically once I give him the go ahead, I pay him, it then takes 2 months to get to his HQ, then it gets fitted with fog bits, then its ready to get picked up! I had someone on facebook offering for the zed yesterday but I said I am using it for the wedding in May, he seemed happy to wait for it though.

 

I am just waiting for more info on the R34 I do like the red interior though!

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I looks like a manual conversion? As it has the tiptronic switches on the steering wheel? Could be wrong?

 

Good spot, I did look into conversion, costs about £700 quid, a few have done it. I will double check with him though

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Might be worth finding out if it has been converted (suspect it has) and who did it, it does require about £1k worth of parts and a good 2-3 days work including cutting holes in the bulkhead by all accounts. I almost went down that route myself before I got the Celica after I sold my R33.

 

I would actually spend some time googling as there can't be many out there in black with this done, you might stumble across some history on it.

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Saw your post over on the Skyline forum, I have previously owned a Supra for four years, driven R34 and R32, but never driven an RX7, if you want to actually carry an adult passenger the Skyline is the only one that can accomplish this, I have taken my teenage (at the time) daughter on a 600 round trip in the back of the Supra with a few complaints.

 

As for reliability and tuneabuility the Supra wins hands down, its easy to gain a reasonable amount of power for relatively little money, build quality is far better than a Skyline ( cant comment on the RX)

The Skyline are harder to get more power out of without spending serious money in comparison, and much more fragile and troublesome, the Supra is a much nicer drive full stop.

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