cost of running a rotory

[Shaun]

Hi Guys,

Im from australia and was thinking about getting a 2001 rx7,

Now I have never had a rotary car before and was wondering how reliable a rotary is and how much it cost to maintain and fix if anything goes wrong compared to a piston car such as a wrx?
I currently own a WRX and its got a few to many kms on it now and I am looking for a new toy, I was thinking about getting the rx7 with about 50,000 on the clock or less.
I would be working along side a experienced mechanic to try to learn a little more about a rotary as well.


Thanks in Advance.

[RICE RACING]

Hi Guys,

Im from australia and was thinking about getting a 2001 rx7,

Now I have never had a rotary car before and was wondering how reliable a rotary is and how much it cost to maintain and fix if anything goes wrong compared to a piston car such as a wrx?
I currently own a WRX and its got a few to many kms on it now and I am looking for a new toy, I was thinking about getting the rx7 with about 50,000 on the clock or less.
I would be working along side a experienced mechanic to try to learn a little more about a rotary as well.


Thanks in Advance.

First tip:

Don't waste your time on any of the Australia forums ;) asking for advice there is like asking a car sales man for an honest opinion.

The FD3S is a high maintenance car, they cost a fortune, especially if you are relying on others to do the work for you.

You will pay extortion type rates of labor charges to have any work carried out as they are time intensive cars.

Rotaries in general when you are buying unknown cars or staring form someone else's base cost even more, if money is an issue for you a rotary is not the engine you want, and 100% a FD3S chassis is not what will fit you.

I have tuned, built, and run RX7 all over Australia and I have seen people come and go from them all the time, over many years, you get MANY cock smokers who play little games on forums power tripping thinking they know everything when they themselves do not have a running car or it breaks every time they take it out LOL. Steer clear of these cunts mate.

Once of my customers who has an RS recently fucked his engine after 3 years track running and as a weekend car, it was a 50,000km example with all the basic mods done, running around 14psi and a 90-140kmh time of 3.8 seconds or so *pretty quick for a twins car* The engines them selves do not last very long when there are used the same as you do your road car, in a FD3S they are under allot of stress in the Australian environment due it being so hot here and they need ALLOT of re engineering to make them reliable like what you will get out of any decent piston turbo car of similar performance.

IF you are willing to spend the ca$h and fix all of the short falls of the original car then you can make a great little car, but as I said be prepared to urn up allot of money in the mean time.

There is a reason they are so so cheap and so many for sale on carsales, most owners HATE them and want out after waisting too much money basically. There are much cheaper ways to go fast, it just depends on if you are a true rotary person or just a drifter passing through your rotary stage in life :cheers2:

[Whizbang]

this is more or less the reason I have jumped ship on the rotary for my rallying. Too expesnive for the power I want, too much heat and the fuel economy sucks (its a factor since you have to make it distances between fueling).

So instead of the rotary in the Rx7, I have a turbo miata engine. I have to stay with the family of Mazda per Rally America rules.

[mattallac]

I think the rotary mazdas are for the mechanic/tuner/fabricator/rotary addicts . Yes the fuel economy sucks ,but the power band is what truly grabs me . That and when you meet a guy with a big block chevy who's engine bay looks like the high performance parts store threw up all over it . They are telling you how fast it is and you beat him in the drags.....No more talk. The other aspect of rotarys (to me )are the 7 guys and the vintage guys .I'm a vintage guy and in my lifetime I have owned one FB .My opinion is buy an FB or FC they are cheap ,fun and fast for 1.1 to 1.3 L. Throw a header and an exhaust on it , block all the smog shit and thrash on it. FD mazdas are great but still big$ ,but they did win best sports economy care of the year for a reason . When you are a vintage guy your in for the style and the bigger picture ,parts are hard to find (if you don't live in Australia )and my emotions get involved when I'm building a car from the ground up . All I see is the finished product in my head .I live in northern California and when I get to a show I'm usually the only vintage rotary there.So in my opinion if you want one get one ,they sell tools and work shop manuals . The learning can be the rewarding part of the fun when you own a Mazda.

[RICE RACING]

I think the rotary mazdas are for the mechanic/tuner/fabricator/rotary addicts . Yes the fuel economy sucks ,but the power band is what truly grabs me . That and when you meet a guy with a big block chevy who's engine bay looks like the high performance parts store threw up all over it . They are telling you how fast it is and you beat him in the drags.....No more talk. The other aspect of rotarys (to me )are the 7 guys and the vintage guys .I'm a vintage guy and in my lifetime I have owned one FB .My opinion is buy an FB or FC they are cheap ,fun and fast for 1.1 to 1.3 L. Throw a header and an exhaust on it , block all the smog shit and thrash on it. FD mazdas are great but still big$ ,but they did win best sports economy care of the year for a reason . When you are a vintage guy your in for the style and the bigger picture ,parts are hard to find (if you don't live in Australia )and my emotions get involved when I'm building a car from the ground up . All I see is the finished product in my head .I live in northern California and when I get to a show I'm usually the only vintage rotary there.So in my opinion if you want one get one ,they sell tools and work shop manuals . The learning can be the rewarding part of the fun when you own a Mazda.

Well said ;)

I second, if you have the drive and passion for rotaries, learn to do everything yourself and you will win on many levels, be warned its not an easy path, but it is very rewarding if you are of the right character to fit the rotary car club :)

[Shaun]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the replys and advise. I would be willing to have a go at trying to learn maybe I could get a non turbo and try and learn the ins and outs of a rotary, would you by any chance be able to link me or pm the details for getting hold of one of these rotary manuals.
I actually live in the colder parts of aus in tassie.

[RICE RACING]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the replys and advise. I would be willing to have a go at trying to learn maybe I could get a non turbo and try and learn the ins and outs of a rotary, would you by any chance be able to link me or pm the details for getting hold of one of these rotary manuals.
I actually live in the colder parts of aus in tassie.

That is a nice place, I'd consider moving there just for the climate, and the fact you have more lax laws for road cars, there are some nice rotary turbo's for sale there .......... something to do with Targa Tasmania I suppose ;)

The rotary thing is not really NA, its just Turbo's in all engines are harder, but in rotaries specifically you can break one pretty easily if you are attempting to do it yourself. In Tasmania you have the extra added problem of finding decent people to work on your car. One car I consulted on that was a strong performer (550rwhp @ 24 psi) bullet proof combo (dyno sheet featured on my water injection page) was sold from QLD to a customer there, they decided to re tune it and they promptly blew it up! the new customer rang me asking for the original set up parameters, and a few parts to help get him back on the road..... anyway that is the kind of thing that happens to turbo rotaries.

if you go NA its pretty hard to fuck it up. Only problem is they are retarded slow!!! even in 3 or 4 rotor form! so once you have had a turbo car, bit like American chicks, once you go black you never go back LOL. :rofl:

To run a FD3S you really only use it as a secondary fun car, you need your own workshop space to work on it and an assortment of tools, there is nothing beyond any enthusiast from the whole drive line to the electronics or anything to do with engine of turbo. If you are prepared for the work and the fun and satisfaction and spend a bit of ca$h then I say DO IT! A nice low km unmolested stock FD3S and do EVERYTHING yourself step by step stage by stage, from BPU to 600bhp supercar killer! what ever you want you can do it. If on the other hand you are a useless back rubber or pay to play wannabe, be prepared to sell you ass to the bank manager :) to stay in the game :)

If you go to my web page and look under VBOX testing you will see an unrivaled resource of actual testing of many FD3S set up options, comparing stock to finely tuned, to do base level mods its easy, and like I said if you swing the spanners yourself and are willing to listen and learn to the exerts then you will have a good time in a rotary turbo.

Hope this helps/motivates you!

[Whizbang]

i will say logan making 425hp on a NA three rotor is pretty damn good!

(na rotary for life! (because im poor))

[RICE RACING]

i will say logan making 425hp on a NA three rotor is pretty damn good!

(na rotary for life! (because im poor))

yep he has done good,

But:

Too loud
Too peaky
Too expensive

A simple T2 block junk yard engine and a $500 T04 some second hand injectors and weld together two S5 intercoolers, ghetto together some fuel pumps and you have that power BUT all over the rpm range :) and its stealth. Pretty cheap too :)

This is part of the Shaun's questions I guess? you can build a sick arsed rotor, for cheap if you know the formula and do it all yourself too ;)

> http://www.riceracing.com.au/water-injection.htm
ghetto 440rwhp > http://www.riceracing.com.au/Videos/440_bHp_Series_2_water-injection.wmv

[Whizbang]

i wish that would work for my needs (rally car). Too risky for extended whomping and entry fees and tow costs are too damn high.

henseforth, my use of miata engines with a turbo.

[Signal 2]

There are alot of smart guys on http://www.fdrx7.com . Great forum...friendly, the mods know their stuff and it's local to you.

Network and learn. Good luck anyway. Let us know if you change your mind.

[RICE RACING]

.

[My5ABaby]

If you buy an FD, expect to pay maintenance like it's a Porsche. They were built to compete with Porsche and they continue that tradition 15 years later. :rofl:

[yzf-r1]

Ultimately you buy an FD for the same reason you date hot women: you love the way she looks and how she feels - nothing else compares for less than about $80k or so - so you put up with the high maintenance

[yzf-r1]

If you buy an FD, expect to pay maintenance like it's a Porsche.

Eh, the parts are expensive but they're nowhere close to Porsche

[DriFD3S]

80 liter tank,
300KM AT BEST city driving with a soft foot.

FD's are amazing toys, but not really the greatest DD's.

[Shaun]

yeah not planning on on daily driving it. would be my life long toy.
do the FD RS's come stock 3 rotors? guessing these cost alot? like all rotarys?
what would be the best series to get ?
how would i go about getting my hands on a rotary manual? so i can learn about these engines?

sorry about all the questions pretty keen on learning!

Thanks guys!

[mattallac]

manuals are on e bay ,and Racing Beat sells some hot rod rotary books that are very informative .

[FC Zach]

3 rotors didn't come in the RX7.

[FC Zach]

what would be the best series to get ?

This is generally ones own preference. In the US for example, we stopped receiving the 7 in *1995 so if an individual decided he preferred the later series bumper/tails/bla bla bla he would have to convert. It's probably a good idea for you to view all the different trims since they can come with a plethora of different options to suit you best, once you figure which one you fancy then you can start your search. May take a while to find one but if you're patient one will pop up.

Here is a book I purchased that is very detailed in the evolution of the 7 and what years came with whatever option, can be bought here RX-7-Mazdas-Rotary-Sportscar-Revised
(http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1904788033/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1904788033&linkCode=as2&tag=rotarycc-20) http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61xWJ8oGEYL.jpg (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1904788033/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1904788033&linkCode=as2&tag=rotarycc-20)

*pretty sure that is our last model/year.

[RICE RACING]

yeah not planning on on daily driving it. would be my life long toy.
do the FD RS's come stock 3 rotors? guessing these cost alot? like all rotarys?
what would be the best series to get ?
how would i go about getting my hands on a rotary manual? so i can learn about these engines?

sorry about all the questions pretty keen on learning!

Thanks guys!

The best RX7 to get is the SP (1995) only a genuine 25 of these made! they are super rare and very expensive.

Next best to get is a Spirit R Type A (there are plenty of these for sale)

Type RZ (another limited sprots run) plenty of these for sale

Type RS is a great el cheapo model to get, comes with bigger brakes, 4.3 diff etc

Then there is the host of other models of RX7.

The Australian spec cars fetch a BIG premium over the jappo market models btw.

[yzf-r1]

You Aussie guys have it made, the FD market in the U.S. is a wasteland of 90% junk with 120k+ miles

[Fendamonky]

Thanks for the insightful bump Mark... :rofl:

[yzf-r1]

Not much going on in the third gen section here ;)

[Oyvindjs]

1. Maintanance plan, super important. the happy rotary is the maintained rotary.
2. cash to spare incase of emergency
3. reliability upgrades
4. performance/looks moods.