MR2 or RX7 ???

morphelan

I want to buy a fun car so it's time to buy something silly.
I've narrowed it down to 2 favorites, the 2nd gen MR2 Turbo (SW20) or the last gen RX7 (FD3S). Both are powerfull, light and drive well. Both are well in excess of 200bhp and rear wheel drive. Both have turbos...... well you get my drift, it's hard to decide.
If any of you have had experiences with these cars, good or bad let me know.

Oh and no fighting between fans of either breed I want advice not a job as a ref ;-) These aren't american forums lol

mloc123

I have a MR2 turbo and had considered a RX7 when I was buying it, what put me off was...

-The dreaded rebuilding of rotary engines, tips need replacing every 60,000 miles as I'm sure you know.
-Insurance, the RX7 was loaded much more than the MR2 and at 23 that was really the deciding factor for me.

If I had to chose from either and insurance wasn't an issue I think I would go with the RX7, and I hope to trade up in the next few months.

The MR2 is great to drive, good fun and very noticable. Mine is on coilover suspension so the ride is quite stiff and compared to me previous car (206 gti) it is not what you would call comfortable. You can't beat the sound of the turbo spooling up behind your head tho and you get a real sense of speed being to low down in it.

Whichever you pick you'll be very happy with I'm sure.

morphelan

ya that is the main reason I haven't fully decided on the rx7 yet, there is a distinct lack of ppl who will touch a rotary engine in this country and if i get a jap import i won't have a clue when the last rebuild was done (if ever). Oh ya btw I live in kerry so the accessability to the few ppl i've heard about is a long trek. I must try contacting the local mazda dealership first. Heart says yes but head says no to the mazda.
To be honest I was mad about the MR2 and dead set to get one until i sat into a RX7 recently so i'm shagged if i can decide now.
I'm gonna give myself a few weeks before i decide yet so i'll have a poke around to see who can do what for me in regards the mazda 'cause I know I'll very little problem sorting the toyota.

Anyhoo cheers mloc ttyl

JohnCleary

MR2 = Fast as Fiachra

RX7 = Drift machine

Yes I know the MR2 is RWD also, but rear engine = no diffing

mloc123

JohnCleary wrote:

MR2 = Fast as Fiachra

RX7 = Drift machine

Yes I know the MR2 is RWD also, but rear engine = no diffing

The MR2 can be drifted Not very well tho'... by me anyway But I know what you mean, the RX7 was built to drift... nice long body, no weight in the back etc..

Fey!

Choosing between two of the top reliability manufacturers, too!

Personally I'd prefer the Mazda - rarer. How do running costs compare?

DrChoda

Curious, but since you are talking about 2 cars in completely different categories what others have you seriously considered?
Have you considered the cost for maintenance, parts and repairs for both models besides just insurance? When you get something like an rx7, you're not buying to save money or for durability.
Engine rebuilds after 60K is enough to make most people walk away.
Have to say between the 2 the rx7 is much better looking and puts out more power but its in the japanese super car category, the mr2 is not. Can think of a few other cars in the same category that after driving will leave an even bigger grin on your face than those.

unkel

morphelan wrote:

Heart says yes but head says no to the mazda

The Mazda is the superior car as you seem to know full well reading between the lines. The Toyota is not silly but the Mazda is. The question is: do you really want silly and are you brave enough to handle that?

Fey! wrote:

Choosing between two of the top reliability manufacturers, too!

A Mazda A-B common denominator sh1tbox like a 323 is reliable and will go forever, a Mazda RX-7 is not

JHMEG

As you know the MR2 breaks no new ground. An inline 4 with a turbo (3sgte IIRC). It shares a lot of parts with other Toyotas, which is a Good Thing. '94 on are 240bhp, so not too shoddy. Performance-wise the MR2 is edging into the supercar performance league. Should be tuneable to 270bhp without breaking a sweat.

RX7 otoh, well you know about rotors wearing out etc. Nice car, shame about the engines.

If you want something more powerful than the MR2, but affordable and reliable I'd be looking more in the direction of an early GTO or a 300ZX. Tho neither are especially cheap.

DrChoda

JHMEG wrote:

If you want something more powerful than the MR2, but affordable and reliable I'd be looking more in the direction of an early GTO or a 300ZX. Tho neither are especially cheap.

Will be hard to wipe the grin off your face after driving a 300ZX. If they are taken care of and maintenance kept up to date, they will last forever!

528i

If you want to impress yourself get an e36 M3 evo, if you want to impress some skirt, get the RX-7 (and be prepared for a little heartache down the line)

cpoh1

Dont be fooled by people saying the rx7 isint reliable because it is super reliable if looked after properly. I had a fella for 3 months in the uk before coming home with the skyline and it never gave me any trouble at all.

The problem with the rx7 is the running costs and the fact that it is strictly not an everyday car if you only do short journeys. Just a few things to note from when I owned mine:

The car needs to be left to idle for 5 mins before and after startup.
It needs to be redlined at least once every time its driven to make sure she ran smoothly and keep the dreaded sludge problem from building up around the rotor tips. And finally it averaged 17mpg on normal journeys. I wouldnt be too worried about rebuilds, there are quite a few fellas over here that are top notch and reasonable too.

A mate as a revision3 mr2 turbo, very fast car and great fun to drive but completely impractical space wise. There's literally feck all cabin and luggage room in them. The rx7 is better looking, handles better and is faster and has more cabin room, a small back bench but is more expensive to run. (tax and insurance are both very similar).

Best of luck, my advice is go for the rx7 and dont touch any irish one for sale, make the trip to the uk and buy from an enthusiast. This is a really good uk site www.mazdarotaryclub.com

bazz26

528i wrote:

If you want to impress yourself get an e36 M3 evo, if you want to impress some skirt, get the RX-7 (and be prepared for a little heartache down the line)

Sounds like your speaking from a personal experience there.

layke

If cash ain't a prob, the RX deffo.

mloc123

cpoh1 wrote:

A mate as a revision3 mr2 turbo, very fast car and great fun to drive but completely impractical space wise. There's literally feck all cabin and luggage room in them. The rx7 is better looking, handles better and is faster and has more cabin room, a small back bench but is more expensive to run. (tax and insurance are both very similar).

I wouldn't say the MR2 is completely impractical space wise, I would compare the boot to that of a small hatch-back(clio, micra etc..). The Cabin is very roomy imo, even my friend who is over 6 foot thought so.

Imo the MR2 is much nicer than a standard RX7 and will out handle a RX7 any day, but then again I am heavily biased

morphelan

I do really like the rx7 but I am all too aware of the various problems so I've been doing a little more research and have found out that the usual problem with the rx7 is that the pre-cat is ****e and blows chunks into the primary catalytic converter causing it to block up, resulting in exhaust backing up and frying the engine. Well i think that was the jist of it (I'm prob way off) and the simply answer is to cut out the pre-cat.
You'd also have to change the intercooler on the turbo to stop overheating probs and get the engine remapped to get it running properly on the 95ron gogo juice we have over here etc etc. So it starts to get a little rough on the old pocket.
Anyone know of a good rotary mechanic in kerry?

The MR2 on the other hand is still a serious performer. I dunno what DrChoda was talking about about them being in different categories altogether. I've heard about both cars being tuned to 900hp (I'm obviously not gonna do that but still).
I hope ppl here don't think I'm talking about the current MR2 I'm looking at the 2nd gen MR2 GT post 94 pre 99 turbo model 245hp in standard form.

Still can't make up my mind, any other suggestions?

P.S. thanks for all the advice so far ppl :-)