1986 Mazda RX7 Sports Model review from Australia and New Zealand

Turbocharger failed, made marginal boost

Engine water seals failed - block needed to be rebuilt

Diff mounts have broken from hard launching

Airconditioning unit locked to hot setting only - needed to replaced entire unit

Power mirrors are temperamental, in fact all electrics on car is tremperamental

Gearbox shifting action is fairly imprecise, probably due to age and lack of syncro's in the series 4 'box

Replaced worn brass button clutch.

I've owned this car for less than a year and have spent $7000 on repairs and $3000 on suspension upgrades. It was brought for $9000. Yeah I know I paid too much considering everything that has went wrong with it, but the body and paint was fully restored 4 years ago, after the engine rebuild I was so frustrated with this car that I immediately put it up for sale, but withdrew the sale shortly after, I've decided to keep it as a long term project and throw in a dual-fuel LPG system to reduce fuel costs by around 60%. Fuel economy is quite poor, as expected from any Rotary, don't expect much better than 15lt's/100km when driven sensibly.

Apart from the engine rebuild which included a mild port, I've done most of the cheapish turbo power-up mods on the car; 3" turbo back exhaust system, large front mounted intercooler, intake, microtech ecu and upgraded fuel pump and increased boost with a boost controller to yield 270rwhp.

Don't bother buying one if you're not going to at least budget for the above mentioned modifications (unless you're lucky to get one with most already done), as in standard form the s4/5 Rx7 turbo is no faster than a modern 3.5-4.0lt manual six cyl car, not bad, but a bit underwhelming for what is is; I guess it was considered good in the late 80's, but not anymore.

The series 4/5 Rx7's, especially the turbo models are not a wise purchase if you're looking for simple, affordable, hassle free motoring. It is a high maintenace car, and at this age things will inevitably fail, the most costly being engine seals blowing neccessitating a rebuild. Not to mention that only selected Rotary specialists know the car well, getting RX7 specific maintaince work on the car can also be a hassle.

I'll suggest that if you're looking for a light rwd turbo coupe with good handling and less reliability issues than the s4/5 Rx7's stick to the Nissan Silvia/180 range, the SR20DET's are a much more reliable and less tempremental engine with more aftermarket support. However in circuit racing the Rx7 has better out-right balance; with the engine been so far back, while the Nissan's are more nose heavy - better for drifting, but not for outright speed.

Having said all that, if you're after unique sports coupe with great handling and a unique engine and have budgeted for at least one engine rebuild during your time of ownership; on the right piece of tarmac, on the right day when all the mechanicals are working, it can be a very rewarding drive.

I probably wouldn't have brought the Rx7 if I had done more homework on maintenance costs and mechanical issues, but now that I've rebuilt the engine and sorted out most of the bugs I'm looking forward to at least another 150,000km's of reliable motoring with the current engine.

There have been quite a few performance lpg conversions (direct vapour injection systems) on series 4/5 engines in Australia, and it's well worth the investment if you're planning to keep the car for at least 2 years. Costs range from $4200-$5500 depending on the type of conversion and ecu options taken. I live in Western Australia where we're entitled to not only the $2000 Fed govt. lpg rebate, but another $1000 from the State govt - meaning that my out-of-pocket lpg conversion will cost around $1500, easily recouped in less than a year's worth of driving.

A 300+hp lightweight rwd coupe which runs on 55cents/lt lpg is the reason why I've decided to keep this car. I'd strongly suggest looking into a performance LPG conversion if you're gonna use your Rx7 as a long term daily driver.