was around half the price of the $189,450 BMW E36 M3R and $218,000
Porsche 993 Carrera RS Clubsport and was a better road car than both the
Germans. With a carbon airbox, a lower diff ratio, Kevlar-shelled Recaros,
a huge intercooler with manual spray function, bigger brakes and stickier
rubber. That and a 120-litre race-spec fuel tank, a modified nose cone and
spoiler, 17-inch wheels, a freer breathing exhaust and a re-flashed ECU.
The result was a win at the 1995 Bathurst 12 hour (held at Eastern Creek in
that year, with John Bowe and Dick Johnson delivering Mazda victory for
the fourth year in succession). The car pictured here is the Japanese market
Bathurst R spun off the back of the wins in 2001.
While the likes of the SP, the Spirit R and the Type RZ are easy
recommendations, virtually any manual RX-7 is worth seeking out. The
Touring X auto is somewhat lame, and later Series 8 imports with automatic
gearboxes are down 10-15 horses compared to their manual equivalents.
Usually the difficulty is finding a relatively unmolested car. In the FD RX-7’s
case, that’s virtually impossible. Most owners understandably freshen the
look of their car with new alloy wheel designs, and switching the twin-
turbo setup for an easier to manage single turbo installation is a popular
conversion. This helps get rid of the so-called rat’s nest of vacuum hoses
that can spring almost impossible-to-diagnose leaks.
The engine itself is tougher than the internet horror stories suggest,
especially if previous keepers have been diligent with correct-grade
non-synthetic oil. The oil needs to burn in a rotary and synthetics don’t
do this brilliantly, leaving deposits and varnishes in the combustion
chamber that will wear the apex seals. A high-zinc content mineral oil that’s
changed every 5000km is the way to go. Getting a specialist to perform a
compression test is also key. The factory service manual reckons on 100psi
for each chamber, and should you see a result lower than 85psi, you could
well be on the road to a rebuild.
The RX-7 is broadly heat-intolerant, and hot climates can see the rat’s nest
and wiring loom become brittle and unreliable. Same goes for the engine
mount rubbers. Replacing the fan switch is recommended for Australia,
as the fan kicks in at 124° Celsius, which can be too late to prevent the
engine sweltering. Replacing it with an FC switch causes the fans to run at
medium speed from a lower temperature. Coolant should also be diligently
changed as old, acidic coolant will deteriorate the apex seals.
A good secondary health test of the engine is to connect a boost gauge
to the intake manifold and have a mate rev the engine slowly and cleanly.
Check that the turbocharger isn’t registering more than 10psi until around
4500rpm. From there, charge pressure will momentarily dip to around 8psi
as the second turbocharger spools up and then blip back up to a steady
10psi. Cranking up the boost on an FD RX-7 requires a lot of additional and
expensive work on cooling. Some have tried going down this route before
deciding that it’s easier to fit a small-block V8 than try to get an FD running
high boost reliably. Many RX-7 enthusiasts view this as a particular sacrilege.
Get a well-sorted car and all of the things that made the RX-7 great
back in the day still apply today. There’s a fundamental rightness about
the decisions made about the car’s dynamics that haven’t aged at all. The
qualities of light weight, a charismatic engine, great steering, adjustable
handling and a cleanly designed, driver-focused cabin transcend the
quarter of a century since the FD RX-7 debuted.
The years have done nothing to erode the appeal of this, the most
sensuous of all the Japanese bubble-era super coupes. The FD represents
a specific moment in time, but in this instance one that seems to have
perpetually sidestepped the undignified ravages of the ageing process. It’s
a jewel-like exotic which represents the last of an exceptional line.
ANDY ENRIGHT
FAST
FACTSPrices of Series 8 cars have yet to go berserk as a
result of the US 25-year import rule, but values of
special edition FDs are extremely firm. We regularly
see six-figure low-kilometre Spirit R and SP
models. They still look extremely good value when
compared to limited-run Skyline R34 GTRs.