Mazda may have the most popular brand in sports car competition these days, but 30 years ago things were quite different. No one had yet envisioned the Miata, and the company’s rotary engine needed some serious PR help. After all, it had already earned a reputation for being a somewhat unreliable gas-guzzler.
The new-for-1979 Mazda RX-7 reversed the company’s fortunes. …
I've had mine 16 years now, still having fun..
I love watching and hearing the sound of these guys at Rallycross. I have no idea how their times are, but they always look like they are having an awesome day. Makes me want a first gen RX-7
44 years young this past March
I have an '83 GSL that I bought 3.5 years ago at 43K and it now has 49K.
Bone stock, original engine, everything works fine except that the retractable antenna just started to go, zero rust California car, always garaged, original paint that looks great, and all it has needed is a new alternator and battery.
The only down side is that it's an automatic but it satisfies my rotary lust (I put 287K on a FC 5-speed and 244K on a FE 6-speed). Basically, my job is to enjoy it (if a rotary goes brap-brap but nobody appreciates it, did it really make a sound)...protect it (537K miles of rotary experience so I'm starting to get the hang of it), and only hand ownership over to someone that's capable and committed to caring for it.
It's hard to estimate its current value as about 85% of BaT sales, etc. are manuals but I got it at a decent price and they've been steadily going up in value so it's all good.
I really want an '84 or '85 GSL-SE 5-speed that hasn't been modified or used up.
The easy button would be to do a car + cash trade with someone that needs to get out of a manual (hip replacement, new squeeze that doesn't want to learn stick, etc.)
The trouble for me is that my engine is in absolutely fantastic shape so the deal really is car + cash + near 100% chance that I'm getting a worse engine.
In reply to dannyp84 :
I've had mine for about as long. I don't find it as fun to drive now, but that's because traffic is worse.
Like most old cars, its unsophistication makes it a breeze to work on.
Have had at least one in my life since 1998. Currently have two, one as stock as could reasonably be found in 2016 (has a header and coils, but it still has a Nikki fed stock port 12A. And air conditioning) and the other one braps, is fed by Megasquirt, has an FC front suspension and a Ford 9" attached with a tri-link.
The nearly stock one is much more fun to drive in a "not dreading it" sense. The far from stock one is very fun when on a rallycross course... and I am about 12 years older than when I first did the major conversion, which is why I got the other one to enjoy on the street.
Pete. (l33t FS) said:and the other one braps.
I use to cut the mufflers off (that usually were rusted out) and I would put duel Anza Exhaust tips on them. It sounded like a British sports car from the 50s/60's when you were just putting it around. Then after about 3K it went into car alarm setting off eardrum melting mode. They were tons of fun. An underground parking garage was the best. :-)
dean1484 said:Pete. (l33t FS) said:and the other one braps.
I use to cut the mufflers off (that usually were rusted out) and I would put duel Anza Exhaust tips on them. It sounded like a British sports car from the 50s/60's when you were just putting it around. Then after about 3K it went into car alarm setting off eardrum melting mode. They were tons of fun. An underground parking garage was the best. :-)
But that won't make it brap 
Brap is the staccato 6 hit / 6 miss palm muted powerchord beat of an idle that heavily ported rotaries get.
Hey I recognize that car. I should really get it back on the road.
Well, I got my 82 rx7 in ahem ...1988. Served me well in high school and through college. It did a brief stint as a track day car in 2004 or so. Got shelved for a good long while, and is now starting its next chapter with a T2 swap.
From way back when with snazzy 80's striping...
Current State...
In reply to j_tso :
I used to have a Rex with that exact color and rims. Just curious if yours has carbon fiber door panels and speaker mounts in the rear? The only thing I can see that is different is that I had shaved the side marker lights off mine. Any history of your car being in Florida?
In reply to jgrewe :
that's a different car. The blue got sprayed on mine in 2015, it used to be dark grey.
I owned a 1980 model with the 12a. I really enjoyed the car. Had a few quirks. The steering had a dead spot in the center from slack. The adjustment I found didn't work, It only adjusted the preload on the steering arm. The brakes were weak. I couldn't lock the brakes at anything over 45 mph on the factory tires. I know locking the brakes increases braking distance but it also means you're able to use all the available grip. Weak brakes were a common problem on early Mazda's; The RX-3's that ran in the IMSA Radial Sedan series lobbied for bigger brakes. They had problems with brake fade. And that motor hated alcohol blended fuels. There was a noticeable decrease in low end power. Last but not least, the rear suspension would bind at the limit, resulting in snap oversteer. I heard the cure was to lower the pickup points on the lower control arms where they attached to the chassis by 1/2". When the car first came out, Mazda had a TV ad of the car driving down a winding mountain road with some real pace. They crashed 3 of them trying to film the ad before they hired Rod Millen to drive for them.
In reply to jerel77494 :
Lowering the suspension mounting points (like the '84-85 had) makes the snap understeer worse, not better. Mazda did that to induce some roll understeer (axle steers against the turn when it articulates with lean) to make the handling less nervous, with the side effect that it made the binding worse.
The binding is because the 4 link and the Watts link describe different roll center heights. The Watts roll center is 40mm above axle centerline, the 4 link's inherent roll center is somewhere around the roof. When the suspension articulates to a certain point, the bushings cannot squish anymore to accommodate this discrepancy, and the axle just sort of stops moving. Snap oversteer because the effective wheel rate goes sky high.
Really the best fix for the snap oversteer is to use the 18mm rear sway bar from a '79-80 to keep the suspension out of that articulation range, and stiffer front springs to balance the handling.
Between the smaller 15mm rear bar and the lower rear link mounts, this is why '84-85 are the most prone to ripping the upper mounts off of the chassis. They have the highest amount of discrepancy so the highest stress on the tub.
my '79 I autocrossed until '94 in New England and FL region SCCA. I used the early big rear sway bar with the biggest aftermarket front bar I could get. Won me many trophies.
sevenracer said:Well, I got my 82 rx7 in ahem ...1988. Served me well in high school and through college. It did a brief stint as a track day car in 2004 or so. Got shelved for a good long while, and is now starting its next chapter with a T2 swap.
From way back when with snazzy 80's striping...
Current State...
That is a great color!!!!
Loved my time with all mine, but crazy market sent it to a new owner. 
44 years old as of last month.
In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :
Thanks for the info! I was rereading the article and it said $7000 when they first came out? That may have been the msrp, but I remember dealers demanding, and getting, north of $11k. And there was a waiting list at that price.
If you want to really hear some rotary noise, there's a YouTube clip of their Group C car on the dyno. It sounds like the engine isn't going to stop revving!
JIC anyone is looking for a GSL-SE.
jerel77494 said:In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :
Thanks for the info! I was rereading the article and it said $7000 when they first came out? That may have been the msrp, but I remember dealers demanding, and getting, north of $11k. And there was a waiting list at that price.
If you want to really hear some rotary noise, there's a YouTube clip of their Group C car on the dyno. It sounds like the engine isn't going to stop revving!
More down to earth, a deturboed Turbo II engine that made 170hp at the wheels with a 12A exhaust system.
Hot damn I love these!
First gen RX-7s used to be thick on the ground, but decades of being available cheap means they were all snapped up for crazy race schemes and poor modifications by inexperienced youth like me. They are fairly rare now. Also, the engine parts are out of production now, and a poorly assembled rotary engine destroys the important parts, so good luck scoring good parts.
The oldest of these cars is now forty-four years old. If an RX-7 tells you it's only thirty years old, it's dying its hair.
The article neglects to mention the GSL models that came with a limited slip and rear disc rear axle. Also, any oil or coolant leaks on the motor aren't merely a caution sign; the motor is hurt and is living on borrowed time. It needs a rebuild.
The top three upgrades I did on my RX-7 were:
1) an MSD 6A direct firing a 2nd gen coil in a wasted spark setup on the leading ignition.
2) a header and dual 2" exhaust
3) a street/strip clutch
Thanks for giving some love to these forgotten gems!
In reply to EriktheAwful :
Amusingly, I use a stock clutch on my bridge ported 13B because no naturally aspirated rotary can make enough torque to cause it to slip (I have about 170-175 ft-lb), and I like a light pedal. The hydraulics, clutch fork, and pivot ball are all kinda fragile, too.
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