Well it wasn't really a deliberate visit... I happened to be driving home and I saw a whole bunch of cars in this parking lot... of course it peaked my interest, so I had to go and check it out.

I pull in and I guess it's like the new hang out of the area. Cars all over the place... mostly imports, mostly japanese. I didn't really get out of the car to walk around, I just kinda cruised around. From what I could see, people would scope out their competition and then go out and line up on a 3x3lane road outside of the strip-mall complex. I opted not to go that route... cause that is a little bit too obvious for me just in case 'johnny law' should show up.

While crusing through the lots tho, I managed to pick up a few people who wanted to learn just what those ///MPower decals on the side of my car stood for. People who got schooled included

a Civics Sis
a Honda Prelude
a Nissan 240SX

and I finally got taught by a RX7 what turbo rotary powre means... that one hurt, but I lost to a turbo, I expected it to happen. On my return run. I opted not to go the obvious route of blatently lining up in the street. I took the backway out of the strip mall and got on the xpressway with my prey and did a rolling start. That way it wasn't as bad.

It was interesting tho... after my last run with the RX7 I was crusin' back to find out that 'johnny law' had shown up and decided that all the people were loitering and pushed everybody out. I was invited to join the pack of now buzzing honda, supras, and miatas as they migrated to a different location but I opted to pass due to inclimate weather... last thing I want to be around is 800hp supras and crazy people when the roads start getting slick.

It was an interesting night tho... Who'd have thought there'd have been this kinda of activity out where I am.

If I were to get a Japanese car, it would be the RX-7, a 94 model. Sweet cars.

RX7s... wonderful cars, but require too much maintanence. If I were to go Japanese. It'd probably be an NSX or Supra.

The Supra TT can make some unreal HP with not much money spent! That engine was very well built and nowhere close to its limit in stock form.

Bob ///M3

Put me down for the Supra--that car is one mean beast! I think it has much more build up potential than an NSX since it has that mad turbo, but don't get me wrong the NSX just looks amazing! In the end I'd opt for the Supra though, it can be just so damn fast!

Originally posted by Bob ///M3
The Supra TT can make some unreal HP with not much money spent! That engine was very well built and nowhere close to its limit in stock form.

Bob ///M3

Saw an 800hp supra on the dyno... totally sick. We can only estimate at the HP tho cause the wheels where spinning on the dyno rollers... Next time they bring the car back they have to put some better tires on.;)

Kevlar, I saw a video on the net of a 800hp Supra spinning off of the dyno, wonder if it was the same one you saw? I just remember it was black and unreal, damn. Those Supras can be FAST with little money spent, similar to my brother's TT Stealth, just unreal cars!

I was watching ESPN2, the import drag races. Diam Supra vs an NSX. The NSX got such a good launch and had about 3 cars on the supra... The supra had a terrible launch and almost went sideways... anyway, 1/2 - 3/4 down the track the Supra passed the NSX by about 1/2 car length. Holy mother of everything good and right those things are fast.

I'd get an NSX though, just because of the handling. I don't care too much for 1/4 mile speed anymore.

Kevin:

1st I hope you didn't go on a Saturday. I always hear
those helicopter flying over my house. (I live 20 secs
from palmetto hospital and expressway).

2nd You must have been on Pembroke Pines Bvld. That
means they were raided in Okeechobe and the gas
station. That's their last resort.

My friend got a 2001 Suzuki GSX-R1000. Hopefully I'll go
this friday if my bike gets fixxed up. And do some
SERIOUS test and tunning =)

Tong

It was diagnally across from Pembroke Pines mall... on Pines & Flamingo at the Publix plaza. I was driving by on Saturday night and the place was packed with cars... all sorts. Around midnight - 1am the cops came and broke it up... people were jamming with some serious bass... I'm guessing people started complaining...

When the cops broke it up... there were crazy 5-10 car races up and down flamingo and pines blvd to I75. It was sick.

the funny thing is I know all these roads.....and I'm from Montreal.....

wierd....

I remember my first drive down Sunrise BLVD. I almost rear ended a few people checking out all those cars! too many to name, but you name it and it was there.....from Hummers to Bentleys........


one night (last new-years, 2001) my buddy was driving me home.....we were doing about 150KM/h on the I-90 (heading back from Atlantis to my condo in Boynton) and a trooper pulled up next to us, smiled and took off.....and kinda motioned to my friend who was driving (without a license) to slow down.....what a wierd night.....

befor I got my new job I was thinking of moving to FLA....

Originally posted by Atticka
I remember my first drive down Sunrise BLVD. I almost rear ended a few people checking out all those cars! too many to name, but you name it and it was there.....from Hummers to Bentleys........

The auto toy strore... i drool everytime I go by that place.:eek:

The '94 and '95 RX-7 TwinTurbo's are awesome cars. '93 is technically the same but had some problems that resulted in explosions leveling homes, etc.

The great thing is that the rotary engine is nearly indestructible and can put out unreal horsepower also. Plus it has the sweetest sound of any car I have been in. The Porsche 993 engine is second. The RX-7 sounds like a jet turbine in the cockpit.

The 93-95 make 255HP stock but a non-turbo rotary can put out that much if its ported and polished, etc. The weakest link is the tranny. The engine can sustain 15k RPMs and continues to increase output as RPMs rise, but the tranny can't handle it. too bad.

Oh yeah, best part about the rotary, only 3 moving parts.

I would have to beg to differ about the indestructibility of that engine. It seems that the 60k mile service on that engine is a rebuild. People seem to blow the seals on that thing all the time.

I actually saw one do it at the track. He was some pompous kid that had just finished heavily modifying it and when I was just talking to him about it, he acted like he was too good to talk to me. I realized he had no idea what he was doing not too much after that though. He was about to do his 1/4 mile run and he turned his boost way up and turned his fuel pressure way down(?!?!) I just kind of chuckled to myself since he was such a jerk and let him run. Half way down the track, boom! He crawled to the finish....23sec ET :-D

That was just an extreme case but when you look at any RX-7, they all say rebuilt engines.

Seton

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe it's the apex seals. They are at the tips of the triangular-like section that rotates. If this weak link was enhanced (maybe in the next generation RX), the Wenkel engine (note, it was invented by a German) would be much more cost effective.

eurospeed,

tru dat, tru dat. It's the apex seals that need replacing in a rebuild. The engine itself is rock solid, though. Did a report on the Wankel for my engineering degree. Durability of the apex seals is the motor's weak point. They'll rev like a sumbitch, turbine-like power delivery (not much torque down low, but tons of top end) and extremely smooth (no up-and-down reciprocating mass). Very compact motor, too. Owned a 85 GSL-SE, first of the fuel-injected rotaries, in college and pilot training.

The M3 is still the best car I've ever owned, tho.

I love my 7 but the tts are prone to problems with the apex seals. Mine is a rebuild too!!http://rx7club.wegov2.com/file_depot/0-10000000/0-10000/696/folder/6092/both2.jpg

Just wanted to clarify some things about the wonderful Rotary engine. It was indeed invented by a German, Dr. Felix Wankel to be exact (thank you, thank you). The rotary eninge is by design meant to be more reliable than a piston engine due to it's 3 moving parts, however as someone mentioned above the apex seals are the weak link in the system. Mazda won the 24 hours at LeMans with a 4 rotor engine and is still to this day the only Japanese car ever to win that race. They dominated most of the endurance races during the late 80's and early 90's. The problem with the engine is that the apex seals are very sensitive to detonation, while in a piston engine detonation is also harmful, a rotary cannot withstand more than 5-10 audible "pings" before kicking the bucket. This causes a big problem for people who want to modify their cars, Mazda went with a Speed Air Density system in the 3rd gen RX-7's that does not compensate with more fuel when there is more air like a Mass Air Flow equiped engine would. The car will run long and well if taken care of properly, but when people start to modify the cars they lean the mixture out and without adding fuel to that equation you end up with a blown eninge. The way to fix it is to add more fuel by modifying the ECU. Hopefully with the release of the RX-8 in the near future Mazda will once again bring back the greatness of the rotary to the US. We'll see...

Originally posted by JRX7
Just wanted to clarify some things about the wonderful Rotary engine. It was indeed invented by a German, Dr. Felix Wankel to be exact (thank you, thank you). The rotary eninge is by design meant to be more reliable than a piston engine due to it's 3 moving parts, however as someone mentioned above the apex seals are the weak link in the system. Mazda won the 24 hours at LeMans with a 4 rotor engine and is still to this day the only Japanese car ever to win that race. They dominated most of the endurance races during the late 80's and early 90's. The problem with the engine is that the apex seals are very sensitive to detonation, while in a piston engine detonation is also harmful, a rotary cannot withstand more than 5-10 audible "pings" before kicking the bucket. This causes a big problem for people who want to modify their cars, Mazda went with a Speed Air Density system in the 3rd gen RX-7's that does not compensate with more fuel when there is more air like a Mass Air Flow equiped engine would. The car will run long and well if taken care of properly, but when people start to modify the cars they lean the mixture out and without adding fuel to that equation you end up with a blown eninge. The way to fix it is to add more fuel by modifying the ECU. Hopefully with the release of the RX-8 in the near future Mazda will once again bring back the greatness of the rotary to the US. We'll see...

I have to disagree with you on a few things.

A) The car has more than 3 moving parts in the engine. Do your homework please. If you want to talk simplicity, you should state the wankel has approxiametly 630 parts vs 1050 ex. piston engine.

B) Now now, you can't compare a Le Mans engine to the quality of the engine in your car. That is like saying, well the Audi R8 bla bla...my a4... No, one has alot more money, tuning and development then the other. Compare apples to apples, production engines to production engines.

C) Now, your gonna say the RX7 is all great, but the matter of fact the car is made to be CHEAP. Thats why you ended up with a dated Speed Density system, where as other cars ala Supra have MAF. MAF's are more expensive, and thats why Mazda opted to go with the cheaper system. Not to mention all the other build quality issues, and an interior to match that of a Pontiac.

D) Greatness of the Rotary in the US has yet to be shown, achieved or even demonstrated. By the time the Rotory catches up to horsepower/fuel consumption/emissions, it will be the day gas is 20$ a gallon.

Explain why 90% of 3rd gens sell around the 7k margine compared to a Supra that sells for more than double.

Originally posted by bootrix2


I have to disagree with you on a few things.

A) The car has more than 3 moving parts in the engine. Do your homework please. If you want to talk simplicity, you should state the wankel has approxiametly 630 parts vs 1050 ex. piston engine.

B) Now now, you can't compare a Le Mans engine to the quality of the engine in your car. That is like saying, well the Audi R8 bla bla...my a4... No, one has alot more money, tuning and development then the other. Compare apples to apples, production engines to production engines.

C) Now, your gonna say the RX7 is all great, but the matter of fact the car is made to be CHEAP. Thats why you ended up with a dated Speed Density system, where as other cars ala Supra have MAF. MAF's are more expensive, and thats why Mazda opted to go with the cheaper system. Not to mention all the other build quality issues, and an interior to match that of a Pontiac.

D) Greatness of the Rotary in the US has yet to be shown, achieved or even demonstrated. By the time the Rotory catches up to horsepower/fuel consumption/emissions, it will be the day gas is 20$ a gallon.

Explain why 90% of 3rd gens sell around the 7k margine compared to a Supra that sells for more than double.

Well, to keep things simple, a rotary only has three main parts to the engine, the two rotors and the eccentric shaft as opposed to a six banger that has six pistons, two crankshafts, at least 24 valves, etc,.. I agree, you can't compare a Le Mans engine to a production engine so do you think it's fair to compare a 1.3 liter engine to a 3.0. Mazda also didn't "cheap out" on the car either. They went out of their way to make the car light hence the lightweight spare, lightweight aluminum jack, lightweight engine, etc,.. I don't know why Mazda opted to not go with a MAF system but I'm sure they had their reasons. They have a air seperator system that I personally think serves no purpose so go figure. It's also easier to just reprogram the ecu then it is to incorporate a MAF sensor onto an already complicated intake system. I think most of the japanese sports cars from the 90's all had similair interiors, they were all performance oriented so to get in a sports car and worry about how the interior felt rather than how the car itself felt is ridiculous. Do you think Lamborghini's have great interiors, I don't think so. Most of the quality issues regarding the RX7 have been corrected already and most of the problems arose from the 93 model, the first year for the newly redesigned RX7. I think the rotary is gonna break ground in the new RX8. A two rotor, naturally aspirated powerplant that delivers 255hp. WITHOUT the help of twin turbos. Imagine when tuners get there hands on this car. The Supra, if I remember correctly MSRP'ed at around $40-50k depending on the package you wanted. The RX7 started around $29k. With depreciation and the basic bum rap that the rotary has gotten I can see why the prices are so low for the car, though a $7k average does sound ludicrous. Even respectively you can see why the RX7 is going for less due to the lower MSRP.