Classic Car And Driver - The Mazda RX-7

Recently I found an old tape with a recorded episode of "Car and Driver Television". The subject of the "Classic Car and Driver" segment was the 1st gen Mazda RX-7. It got a favourable review and was liked by all, though some of the information presented is a bit inaccurate.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• car
• and
• driver
• mazda
• rx-7
• wankel
• rotary

[pallymeat]

Its crazy that back in the day all major manufacturers had bought patent rights to build the wankel / NSU rotary. Nissan, chrysler, GM, Ford, Toyota you name it. They all scrapped their designs during the oil scare in the late 70's early 80's.

Imagine if they didn't?

[aaroncake]

That's the excuse they made, but I'm betting they simply gave up because they weren't willing or capable of making the engine work. Even Mazda struggled at first. Then Mazda had no trouble selling RX vehicles throughout the 70s and 80s.

[Deetroiter]

I'd like to think that if the 3rd gen Rx7 was released today, it would have no problem fetching the $40-$45k pricetag.

[aaroncake]

Only if it was reliable. If Mazda junked the twin turbo system and used a small modern ball bearing turbo (ie. GT30 size) the car would make a lot more power, weigh less and be infinitely more reliable. I always wonder why Mazda spent so much R&D on making the twins when they could have just spent that money on a better single turbo...

[Auruura]

@aaroncake With Twinturbo-setup you get better low-end torque, which makes it more enjoyable and economical to drive. This way Mazda was able to attract more customers and better sales.

[aaroncake]

@Auruura That's why Mazda developed the system, but the implementation was flawed. Going with a more modern turbocharger instead of one designed in the 60s would have been a better choice than developing a sequential turbo system around two ancient turbos. Unfortunately hindsight is 20-20 and engineers sometimes don't see the whole picture past their specific goals.

[aortiz826]

135hp!!!... Man, i got a 618hp 3 rotor 1st gen.... I bet they didn't knew this car would fall on our puertorican hands.. hehehe

[dreadly101]

Australia still had new rx7's in 2001 not 95

[rotarycorvette1]

my first car was a 1985 gsl teal blue i loved it so much never broke on me

till i crashed it street racing with my dad so dont street race in a mazda becouse there will be one less we need to preserve them iam sad now!!!

[aido1987]

haha i bet felix wankel would shit himself if he knew that lol

[DJM442]

my dad's cosuin has the very 1st RX-7 on the west coast of the US, he still owns it if i remember correctly, though it hasn't run since the mid 80's =(

[speed4mike]

Its funny that you talk about 20 years ago, you were 9 years old. So you're talking about what somebody else told you, cause you surely didn't experience it at 9.

Also, if the RB26 was so badass, Nissan'd still be making them, but they're not. So that should tell you something.

It's exactly as us real engine builders have been telling all the turbo tuners since I can remember, THERE'S NO REPLACEMENT FOR DISPLACEMENT. Nissan's know's it, & that's why they enlarged the GTR's displacment by 46%