What can you tell me about an S5 FC RX7?
 

As you may have gathered from the thread title, I'm looking into selling my current car (1992 Celica GT-S) and getting an FC RX7. I prefer the look and added power of the S5, but I really don't know anything about the cars themselves.

So, what can RS tell me about them, ie things to watch out for when looking one over, things to check while test driving, known problems with these cars, maintenance items that are particularly expensive or inexpensive, etc. I don't want a turbo as from what I can tell they aren't very reliable at all? (plus I can't find any of them anyways lol) But the N/A rotary is quite reliable?

TIA.

i don't personally own one. but i know that it eats lots of gas. it also requires a engine rebuild every 200k kms or something? i'd check out the milage on it and ask if a rebuild has been performed. btw what's the price range you have in mind for a na fc? i'm sure rx7 owners on rs will speak soon :) good luck!

The two that I'm looking at the most are

http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/bn...944263890.html

and

http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/rd...940051740.html

As far as price I'd be aiming to keep it below whatever I could sell my Celica for, so that I'd have a little cash left over to do some maintenance and maybe a couple mods (namely, new suspension).

edit: also, does anyone know what lip this is?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...b2/S5FCRX7.jpg

^ looks like an oem optional lip.

ask raid3n. he'd know. he owns a turbo II S5.

all i know is that they burn oil naturally, and arent exactly best on gas.

electronics are all weird on these cars.. wiper controls etc.

S5 shouldnt be as bad as the S4.

its those crazy boosted rotaries that blow up. A normal N/a rotary, with proper maintenance would last 100k+ easily. assuming you exercise the car once a week to burn off the carbon build up on the exhaust port..

and buy one thats aircared! saves headache.

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-a...64976_1948.jpg

i've been looking for a clean S5 before.. so i did a bit of homework on those cars... always wanted one.. who knows, I might get one too... S5 Turbo II please

I'm used to burning/leaking oil (well ok only leaking, but the topping up is the important part).

I've heard of the weird electronics, as long as the engine management stuff doesn't tend to have problems I'm fine, I can set up my own wiper blade switches and stuff.

The red one I posted got a rebuilt motor 80k ago, 100k seems low to me as my old car had 438k at death and the current has 298k...

But now what do you mean by exercise? I drive quite a lot, and I drive my cars hard a fair bit, so if I get an FC it'll be getting sideways and ripping twisties a decent bit.

I don't care about aircare at all, as there isn't any in Kelowna. In some ways I think I'd prefer to get one that fails aircare as it'll be cheaper to buy, but on the flip side I worry about what possible engine problems could be causing it to fail aircare...

air pump delete or no cat= air care fail for sure.

wiper switches, power windows, and a few lighting pieces in the interior.. i think. cant remember. sunroof too.. so a good bet would be the basic GX model.. (manual windows, mirrors, no sunroof)

well, according to the rotary guys, you're supposed to give the car a spirited drive once a week to prevent the carbon build up... spirited meaning redlining it, and driving it like you stole it. which isnt really a problem for us lead footed people.

regular oil changes, regular oil top ups.. and the rotary would be fine. No synthetics. only thick dino oil would do just fine. like 10W30, 10W40 or even 20W50.

get a set of turbo aero mirrors! they really complete the look on the N/a cars.. looks so clean.

a redline a day, keeps the carbon away.

If you buy an N/A, beat on it. The more you rag on the engine, the more power you get out of it.

Before you buy any rotary, make sure you do your homework really well. If it's been rebuilt, make sure you ask where, who rebuilt it and how long ago. Mileage is key with them. FC's usually last between 200,xxx and 240,xxx if you take good care of them. Also make sure you check for rust especially in the wheel wells. RX7's do require more maintenance than regular piston engines, but if you keep on top of it, you'll have an amazing car for a good while. One really really big point (that tofu mentioned already) ALWAYS do your oil changes. Every 3000km iirc.

I would suggest joining BC Rotary and rx7club.com to do your research. BC Rotary is local, whereas rx7club will be for all of North America (I believe there's some Aussie members too).

It also might help to ask any friends that are familiar with rotaries if they will go and look at it with you :) I took my brother and our friend with me when I bought my 1st gen.

Thanks for all the info guys, I'm out of thanks atm but you'll gettem when I do haha.

I actually prefer to have all power options and a sunroof, figity wiring is no big deal for me cause I can just run new wiring and new switches if needed. I don't know any of the differences in mirrors or much yet but I'll take your word for it!

Inaii what do you mean by more maintenance? Just make sure all the filters and fluids are changed on schedule everytime and it should be a-ok?

For the mileage, is that per rebuild? So the one I've found with 80k on the rebuild should be good for quite some time before it needs to be done again, whereas the second one I posted has 211k and no mention of a rebuild, so it might not be far from kicking the bucket?

Oh and about how expensive is a rebuild anyways? My understanding is that the apex seals blow/wear out and thus the engine no longer holds compression, right?

I just signed up for BC Rotary, I'll be poking around there tonight and tomorrow. I don't think any of my friends know much about rotaries (other than blown apex seals) but I'll ask round, otherwise I may have to try and bribe some of you RSers to come help me haha.

just make sure you change the fluids on time.. and the car would be as reliable as any other car..

haha.


uh, loaded models are nice.. but keep in mind: more complex it is, more likely to break. some of them, notably the GXL had electronic suspension dampening! pretty neat actually..

i have a friend that owns two FC3s... both S4's though. ill ask him what could go wrong with those cars.

electronic suspension dampening? sounds like it would've been cool in 1990, but probably a pain now haha. If I just swapped out the (probably stock) struts for some manual adjustables or something, would that effectively remove the electrical bit? I want to be able to buy it, tidy up some maintenance, toss in some new struts, cut the springs a little, toss on my rims, tires and stereo and tear around in it.

not all of them had it.


i remember my friend told me it had like a normal mode, touring mode and sport mode for the shocks.. neat imo.

Does that have turbo? :noob:

noob!

Ok cool, I'd probably keep it on the stiffest setting all the time anyways haha.

No turbo for me, that'll be the next Celica I get haha.

look into running 2 stroke oil (premix):)

If its a stock engine he won't need to premix. The only ones I know (rx7's in general) of that premix are the ones running over 400hp.
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I've been looking around YouTube at videos and now I have to ask, can the NA ones spit flames? :p

Ooh, a black one now. My list of ones to check into is getting longer. It looks like I might head down on Saturday and check a bunch out.

http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/va...958291448.html

a very very spartan S4.. great for building something.

manual steering rack too w/ cage!

That one is tempting, I'd like the extra power of an S5 (unless there really isn't much difference?) but while I'm down there I may as well check it out.

One of my main concerns is how much power these actually have, as I don't want to be where my car is now, getting quite good handling and control, but not enough power to really come out of corners and such hard.

n/a's are torqueless.

they rev really smooth. builds power smoothly... but its so smooth it doesnt gives you that kick of torque that most cars provide.

i believe theyre at about 150hp..? S4's.. 160hp for the S5's

handling would be worlds better than the celica. i could vouch for that.

Fc's are great cars with maintenance up to date, one thing to note is if you don't know 5 speed to well don't learn on them since they will torque through the clutch and then you'll be replacing it quickly and it's not cheap, they do burn oil heavy as well as being gas guzzlers but the power is well worth it. As everyone else said definitly look into the rebuild status but at the same time watch for the ignition coil make sure it starts right off the bat because it's not a cheap part to replace, also ask if the brake calipers have been changed as it was a common problem for them to seize up.
hope i'm helpful

Ok gotcha, I don't really mind the lack of a kick so long as a decent bit of power is actually there.

A far as handling I think I've got my Celica set up fairly well right now actually (well ok it wasn't fully intentional, I got new front tire which are very grippy and the rears are nearly worn out), anything super tight it does understeer a little bit but that might also be because I don't spin the wheel fast enough, any normal sized corner is neutral with the occasional touch of oversteer. Though I know that a RWD car with the same parts into the suspension would handle better and be a bit more predictable.

I've been driving standard since I got my L (so 5 years now) so I definitely won't be learning haha. Slightly related, how close are the gas and brake pedal in height? The Celicas gas pedal is significantly lower, so I've never been able to heel-toe to rev match.

If the clutch isn't cheap then I'll be sure to make note of how it feels, I should also note that I do all my own repairs/mods so labour cost I'm not super concerned with, just the part costs. Is there a way to tell if it's the coil vs say a weak fuel pump or something? Knowing about the brake calipers is very helpful, was it one end of the car in particular that can do this, or all four? If I buy one and take it back over the Coquihalla the last thing I would want is for a caliper to stick halfway back.

As far as rebuilds go, how much do they cost anyways? Do they simply replace the Apex (and other) seals and then it's good to go? About how much does a rebuild cost (for future reference)?