Former Mazda RX7 or RX8 Drivers?

[selmeralto]

HI,

I'm thinking of buying a G37 Sport Coupe after many (happy) years driving Mazda RX7s and RX8s. Are there any RX7/8 drivers on the forum who can say something by way of comparison?

Thanks.

[SVTCOBRA]

Welcome to Nico!!

You must be a sax player?? Musical family here!
I did drive my room mates RX7 when he first got it, but that was waaaay back in the 80's.
I would say that the G's are much more comparible to the RX's from what I remember.
Very tight, connected driving experience. You must go test drive one!

If you are ANY where close to CLT NC, there is a SWEET deal on a used one here for $26K with 21K miles on her. I drove her and she is nice!!! One owner, local trade in.

[biggie]

First car was a '86 RX-7, but that was 17 years ago.

Differences: G = welcome to having torque.

[timmy0257]

i worked for Mazda for a few years. I became very familiar with the RX8. I have experience with the earlier rotary engine vehicles.

One big difference is going to be low end power for the G. The rotary engine did not create as much power. RX8s (could be slightly off) had around 248hp in the 6sp and slightly less in the automatic. They burned oil pretty readily because the oil is metered into the fuel in the rotary engines. I also found that alot of them had issues with the charging system. The RX8 has the small suicide doors, so you will have much more room in your backseat even if you get a coupe. You also wont havea that ugly yellow spare tire. =) additionally, you actually have a trunk...

I did like the feel of the mazda. it felt like you were in a race car.
me personally, i much prefer the Infiniti. I think it is a much more quality made car. Ive seen rx7s with 300k on them, but i would eat crow if an rx8 will run that long.

[selmeralto]

Thanks very much, folks. This is very helpful.

You're right about the rotary torque issue - though I did have one turbo-charged RX-7 that was no slouch.

But, torque aside (especially low-end torque aside), there were two things I really liked about 7 and the 8: the smoothness of the engine and the handling of the car, especially around corners and twisties. In the Mazda's I really felt at one with the road.

Any thoughts on these aspects?

Thanks again.

[biggie]

The G will be a heavier car and you'll feel that, but the extra power balances that out. The G is still a good handling car and will be close to the RX in that aspect.

[selmeralto]

Thanks. One other question.

The suicide doors in the 8 actually worked pretty well for carrying stuff: with both doors open you could actually slide some pretty large loads into the back of the 8.

Any experience on the cargo carrying of the G37 Coupe? The back seat folds down, yes? But it looks like the actual entry from the trunk into the back seat area is limited by side walls.

I know it's crazy to be asking about cargo on these cars but it's an issue for me. Also, I'm not living in an area where it's easy for me to get to an Infiniti dealer. That's why I'm trying to do this web research.

Thanks again.

[zozoka1212]

here is my .02. I think the G coupe has one of the smallest cargo and rear room. Get a sedan. LOL just kidding. You seem like a coupe guy. 335 has much more room in coupe version than the G. Sedan is the opposite. G coupe handles well and have a great interior with a good reliability. But if you looking for something with cargo and super handling you probably should open your search to other cars.

[selmeralto]

Thanks, Zozoka. You really hit the nail on the head. I am a sports car guy and handling's very important to me. I was actually looking to get the BMW 135i coupe - great handling car and some cargo options - until I learned about the high pressure fuel pump problem that BMW hasn't been able to fix and other reliability and expense issues. So I decided to go back to reliable Japanese brands. I know the G37 has good reliability ratings. I'm trying to reconcile the good reliability, great looks, plush inside, electronics, etc., with two worries: that I'll be disappointed with the handling and I'll have virtually no cargo options. (The RX-7 was a hatchback so it could carry quite a bit and, as I mentioned, the suicide doors allowed you to slide in large things into the back.)

[timmy0257]

Thanks very much, folks. This is very helpful.

You're right about the rotary torque issue - though I did have one turbo-charged RX-7 that was no slouch.

But, torque aside (especially low-end torque aside), there were two things I really liked about 7 and the 8: the smoothness of the engine and the handling of the car, especially around corners and twisties. In the Mazda's I really felt at one with the road.

Any thoughts on these aspects?

Thanks again.

the G has plenty of power to smooth out the hanlding. audtatious just installed a sway bar and cites that the handling is very nice around curves at higher speeds. cheap bolt on mod that i plan on doing myself. looks nice under the hood also..how-to-install-gtspec-strut-bar-on-g37- ... 93363.html

regarding the cargo space, ask biggie about hauling two new front seats in his coupe. Tetris champion, he is
leather-seat-bleach-is-bad-t506014.html

I agree the suicide doors help for sliding large things in there...if cargo is that much of a concern, get a Suburban.

[biggie]

I actually fit 2 G35 seats into my G35 coupe without much problem and without removing anything. I chose the coupe becuase of its fold down seats where the sedan doesn't have them. I haven't had much issue with hauling stuff, yet. Not sure on the differences of cargo room between G35 and G37 coupes though.

[pippen99]

I have owned three RX7s(1981, 1986 and 1991). The 86 was my favorite. I loved my G's but still consider the RX's to be the best cars I have owned. While there is someting to be said for gobs of power ther is a whole world of small cars (Mini, MG, etc.) that are huge fun to drive without 300 HP. Kept in the proper gear I had more fun tossing my 86 around than any other car I've owned. I bought my 03 G coupe instead of an RX8 because I had an 01 Infiniti I30t and was happy with it. I also like the clean lines of the G and would have considered an Rx8 but they were still almost a year down the line and wasn't totaly sold on the styling.
I was very happy with my G coupes(03 G35 and 08 G37) for what they were; A small fun car to drive with a lot of power and more than a bit of luxury. I was never happy with the throttle response thinking it was a little sluggish but whatever. When it came time to trade again practicality trumped fun this time. I was tired of a barely usable trunk, a worthless backseat and absolutely the worst car I have ever owned in snow.
So I bought a FX35 to solve those problems. Perhaps a RX7 for fun might not be a bad idea

[selmeralto]

Yes, Pippen, you've got the spirit of my question. The RX rotaries are really fun to drive. It's something you really have to have tried to understand. If and when Mazda comes out with a successor, either an RX7 or an RX8, I'll go back. In the meantime, the G37 coupe seems a good choice. I appreciate all the comments from folks here and will give the car a test drive as soon as I'm able. Any other comments are still welcome. Thanks to all.

P.S. The 1986 RX-7 I had was a turbo. It was the best car I ever owned.

[biggie]

I never trust anyting that bleeds (oil) and doesn't die.

It had to be said.

Maybe the turbo rotary is the big difference, my '86 was NA and also enjoyed my S13s more than my FC. I would have loved an FD, but would have gotten a Z32 TT back then if I could have afforded it.

[selmeralto]

I've had 4 Rx's and had no trouble with oil. As Timmy points out, the car is designed to inject oil to lubricate the engine and it was a bit of bother - every 4th tank of gas or so I'd check the oil level. I'd had to add oil a few times a year but not much more than that. My experience was that if you did this little bit of preventative maintenance the engines were strong, easily capable of putting on over 100K, usually lots more. The cars were terrifically reliable. I bought the RX-8 in its first model year. There were a few computer chip flashes that had to be done (under warranty) and they had originally put in a battery w/o sufficient capacity. But once the flashes were done and larger battery was installed (also under warranty) the car ran like a champ.

This seems really different from the BMW. I've been following the boards of a few BMW groups and it seems to be the case that BMW has had problems with high pressure fuel pumps just stopping - which can be pretty dangerous especially on the highway. The pump is used on several models apparently. BMW has tried to redesign the pump so far without success. The folks on the forums often wear the unreliability as badge of honor ("If you want to drive an appliance, buy Japanese," one said.). But after years of driving terrific Mazda cars (including the 3, by the way) that handled beautifully and were reliable and cheap to maintain, I was less than impressed by the bravado.

[biggie]

I think the NA rotary is good and reliable, my '86 had 133k when I bought it, drove for almost 2 years and sold it, no issues. But it is weird to have to add oil in between oil changes.

The turbo rotary though is another story, seems if you can have everything perfect and you'll still need to rebuild it every 50k miles or so. And as expensive as the FDs were, that's insane.

[timmy0257]

i noticed there was an issue with insufficient battery capacity too. we were constantly jumping rx8s off on the lot. i just though it was because they were rarely driven. i did see a few go into service on tow trucks because of dead batteries. i think they got that right in the following model year. Those Shenko rx8s were sure nice.

if you are shopping for a daily driver, it think the best choice is to always go with practicality. i went with a sedan rather than a coupe (at 6'6" i fit fine in both) because i suspect by the time i have it paid off i would have a baby on the way. i just felt like the sedan was a better choice for me.

good luck in your decisions. let us know what you think after your demo.

[Sentientbydesign]

Hmm, the G37 is gorgeous, it's powerful, and has a nice interior. But handling is going to require some up front money. The luxurious side of Infiniti made the suspension roll too much. I was never really thrilled with how my G35 let loose. Roll roll roll -> Oversteer.

If I were to buy another G (35 or 37). I'd do mild coilovers with adjustable camber. A mechanical LSD. Wider rear rubber. And sway bars. I'd also put the damn thing on a diet and see if I could shed a couple hundred lbs without killing the luxury (The G35 was allways too top heavy for my taste).

[Kendahl]

I used to have a 1984 RX-7 GSL-SE. I bought it early in 1985, with 12k miles on the odometer, and drove it for the next 23 years before giving it away at 190k miles. Overall, the car was very reliable and fairly inexpensive to maintain. At the end, it still had the original engine, clutch and transmission. Repairs were limited to replacing a cracked oil cooler, rebuilding the aluminum radiator, replacing the front struts and rear shocks (but not the rest of the suspension) and replacing the starter. Its one weak spot was brake rotors; they warped fairly quickly. Over the 23 years, I probably replaced a dozen of them. As is typical of rotaries, gas mileage wasn't very good; upper teens in the city and mid 20s on the highway. The other typical rotary behavior was significant oil consumption. You had to check the oil level every thousand miles and expect to add a quart or two between oil changes. This didn't bother me.

I expect the G37 to be quite reliable since it is basically a NIssan. Long ago, I had a 1979 Datsun 810 which I drove for 16 years. It started out as the "good" car and gradually worked its way down to winter beater. It's one major failure was a blown head gasket. The rest of the engine remained sound. It still had the original clutch and transmission when it went to the junk yard. The 810's handling was good enough to let me zig zag around the rear of an old fart who turned left out of the oncoming lane right in front of me. (His right rear seat passenger probably needed a change of underwear.) What killed the car was rust. Over its life, the wheel wells gained 4 inches in diameter due to the sheet metal rusting away. Although I don't intend to drive the G37 during bad winter weather, I'm sure Nissan has learned a lot about rustproofing since then.

Compared to the RX-7, my 2008 G37S coupe is larger, heavier, more powerful, faster, quieter and more luxurious. You get into the G37 whereas you put on the RX-7. Although the G37 is 50% heavier than the RX-7, it has 2-1/2 times the power. As as result, the G37 is 3 seconds faster to 60 mph than the RX-7. Top speed for the ungoverned RX-7 was lower 120s; the G37 is limited to 155 mph by its governor. By comparison, a Porsche Cayman S with 300 hp has a top speed of 170 mph. Absent the governor, the G37 should be equally fast. Although the RX-7 was supposed to be prone to oversteer, I found that it understeered significantly. The G37 is much more neutral. At 70 to 80 mph, interior sound level in the RX-7 was around 80 db. In the G37, it is in the lower 70s. This makes the G37 much less fatiguing on a long day's drive. (High interior noise was why I rejected the Porsche Cayman.) One of the reasons why the G37 is larger than the RX-7 is that it has usable rear seats. It's a long way back there, but they are quite comfortable if short on head room. Although the G37 coupe's trunk is tiny, when you use the rear seat for storage, too, there is actually more room than there was underneath the hatch of the two-seat RX-7.

[selmeralto]

Great write-up, Kendahl. Thanks very much.