Motive Retro Review: 1993-1995 Mazda RX-7

[features@motivemag]

In a world of progressively swelling curb weights, Mazda's RX-7 was a rare and welcome anomaly. Penned by Miata designer Tom Matano and built with such an excruciating eye toward weight reduction that its wiring harnesses were redesigned to shorten the wire lengths, the third generation RX-7 - sold here from 1993 to 1995 - held the distinction of being not only lighter, but also smaller and faster than the car it replaced.

The RX-7 also stands as a sterling example of why enthusiasts make lousy focus groups. "Give us something purpose-built," they said. "Give us something without extraneous gingerbread. Give us a pared-down, track-ready street car and, by God, give us something that takes skill to drive!" Full Story...


Modified by Jeff@motivemag at 7:37 AM 1-31-2008

[leaftye]

Quote, originally posted by features@motivemag »

That so many people fondly reminisce about the RX-7 is a testament to selective memory: Everyone remembers its chest-knotting performance but forgets that Mazda couldn't give them away. Sales in 1993 were a meager 9477 units, and they nose-dived to 500 by 1995.

I remember that, but I remember wanting one anyway. I decided not to get one as my first car because I knew I wouldn't be able to take advantage of the handling. Hopefully I'll be able to buy a mint RX-7 T1 (??) someday.....if not, I'll go even further and get an Atom.

Wasn't this the car with hollow fiber carpeting? It was either the RX-7 or the last-gen Supra.

[Lawl Master]

Awesome read.

[PineappleMonkey]

Quote, originally posted by leaftye »

Wasn't this the car with hollow fiber carpeting? It was either the RX-7 or the last-gen Supra.

Last generation Supra had hollow carpeting, not sure if the RX-7 does as well.

[Mazda 3s]

Great article

[neokai v2.0]

Did they just flip a right-hand drive picture for the last picture of the article?

I loved my rx-7.

[eurodono]

Awesome article.

When I was younger my friends brother owned an RX-7, I never realized it was such a monster.

[TigerinColorado]

Appreciate the walk down memory lane. TWIN TURBO!

Have always loved those. Withe the exception of the rear hatch speaker base tube BS (totally in the way) it was damn near perfect IMHO. We need a pic of the pedals.

[Wes@motivemag]

Quote, originally posted by neokai v2.0 »

Did they just flip a right-hand drive picture for the last picture of the article?

Yes, I did. Unfortunately, Mazda North America didn't keep any of their press photography for cars that old, and the examples I found were all too rough, too modified, or too dirty to be photographed.

[MVZOOM]

So damned beautiful. What a car.

[Viss1]

Quote, originally posted by Tigerincarolina »

We need a pic of the pedals.

That's one aspect the article didn't mention... if you have feet larger than size 11 or so, forget about wearing normal shoes.

IMO the article exaggerates the hardcore nature of the car a bit. I did a 650-mile round trip in my brother's 3rd gen in a weekend once. It certainly wasn't a car to relax or stretch out in, and the combination of the ride and seats did get uncomfortable after a couple of hours, but I didn't feel like I had been through an S&M session or anything after the trip. At the end of the day, the fun factor went a long way to overriding any comfort issues. My bro's was putting ~280HP to the wheels, which I guess further influenced that equation.

[vwlarry]

These cars have, if nothing else, the sexiest door cutline of any mass-production car of the last 30 years, IMO.

[Mike0105]

Nice article...one of my favorite cars from the 90's that isn't considered a supercar. They've aged so well and even today it's a treat to see them on the road.
Mike

[Markasaurus!]

A great read about my favorite sports car. A clean example is going to find it's way into my driveway as soon as possible. <3

[geofftii2002]

Quote, originally posted by vwlarry »

These cars have, if nothing else, the sexiest door cutline of any mass-production car of the last 30 years, IMO.

When I was in design school, I found myself- both subconsciously and not- emulating that very design feature on everything I sketched. Where ever possible, anyway! I found it amazing how one seemingly insignificant, but absolutely necessary line could define an entire shape.

[Download_Complete]

I hated the way they designed the rear end on these. That said, EVERYthing else was perfection on wheels. It looked like someone took the skin, pulled it as tight as possible, then hooked the excess to a hydraulic ram and pulled it even tighter.

Ditto on the door cutline. Wow...it looks great even today.

[Mazda 3s]

Quote, originally posted by Download_Complete »

I hated the way they designed the rear end on these. That said, EVERYthing else was perfection on wheels. It looked like someone took the skin, pulled it as tight as possible, then hooked the excess to a hydraulic ram and pulled it even tighter. Ditto on the door cutline. Wow...it looks great even today.

What's wrong with the rear?

[LS2GTO]

I had an FD about 5 years ago. Blew 3 motors in 6 months. Wasn't really the car's fault...wasn't really my fault either. Car hadn't been maintained well at all by the people who owned it before me, so there were a lot of issues (mainly fuel related) that I didn't find out about until the engines started to go. Then I made the mistake of taking it to a dealership to get it fixed...they dicked me around for 4 months and still managed to install that engine wrong (that one gave out 2 months later because of their incompitence).

They are fun cars to drive...handling is amazing. Power is OK - the TT system on it is WAY over engineered It has a vacuum system that looks like a ball of tumbleweed. Modifying that car also requires following specific steps. Can't just do anything to it because if it goes lean it will detonate and chip an apex seal. Unlike piston motors you can't just tear it down and replace the broken bits, you have to remove the whole thing and rebuild. That's what sucks about them is they are constantly on a razor's edge and if you screw up a little bit with one it will bite you hard.

[1552]

Well done, Wes, and positive proof that Motive is much more than a bunch pf pretty pictures and a slick layout

[Rukh]

Excellent read - it just reinforces how impressed I am with Motive.

[turbo_nine]

Quote, originally posted by features@motivemag »

The RX-7 also came with a roadgoing version of the Bose Acoustic Wave radio. With nine feet of six-inch-diameter plastic intestines snaking around the rear cargo hold as a sounding tube for the subwoofer, this audio set up is best known for blocking access to the spare tire, with the side effect of producing a tangibly small quantity of bass.

My '92 Celica All-Trac with the OEM "System 10" 10-speaker audio had this too, if I recall. I could not understand why taking up MORE space inside a crowded little expensive car was somehow a better idea than just putting an actual subwoofer in.

[1SICKLEX]

This car was fantastic. I can't fit inside (too tall, steering wheel doesnt move)
but WHAT a beautiful car and so light.

Great article!!

[vr6fanatic]

Quote, originally posted by Mike@TripleZoom »

Nice article...one of my favorite cars from the 90's that isn't considered a supercar. They've aged so well and even today it's a treat to see them on the road. Mike

My brothers good friend has a 93 RX-7. It's definitely a treat to see some of these on the road Kudos to those that still have one of these rare breeds

[sandiegan]

I wish they could be made reliable daily drivers

[yellow68]

Awesome article, and I guess I am skewed. I think my RX-7 has the best ride of the 4 cars I drive.

[a10thunder]

Quote »

Mazda managed to move fewer than 14,000 examples - nearly as many F355s as Ferrari delivered with a dealer body 1/20th the size.

Wow, that's an amazing stat. I've seen a lot more RX-7s than 355s though.

Also, how harsh was the ride in the RX-7 as compared to a current gen STi? Both are apparently notorious for having harsh rides.

[tomjava]

Agree . RX-7 is simply the best sport car design out of Japan, IMO.

[rosskoss]

Fantastic article! I love Motivemag.

Who knew that Mazda sold less than 15,000 RX-7s?

[Big M]

Quote, originally posted by Rukh »

Excellent read - it just reinforces how impressed I am with Motive.

Honestly, I could give two craps about Lambos and Ferraris that I'm not likely to ever own or drive. But these types of articles..."Retro Reviews," that just makes my day

[element256]

Only 10k supras. They were close to $55k though

FD with an LS1 swap is just plain deadly though. No more rotary worries and power on tap like whoa

[MEIN_VW]

Quote, originally posted by turbo_nine »

My '92 Celica All-Trac with the OEM "System 10" 10-speaker audio had this too, if I recall. I could not understand why taking up MORE space inside a crowded little expensive car was somehow a better idea than just putting an actual subwoofer in.

I had a 1990 Celica GTS with the System 10 and it didn't have anything like that. An 8" subwoofer was mounted in each door.

[Wes@motivemag]

Quote, originally posted by turbo_nine »

I could not understand why taking up MORE space inside a crowded little expensive car was somehow a better idea than just putting an actual subwoofer in.

At the time, it was pretty much tech for tech's sake. The Wave Radio came out the same year as the first FDs, Paul Harvey was touting them mercilessly in that stilted, punctuated way he has, and it just seemed natural that the most advanced car in Mazda's lineup should have the latest, greatest "breakthrough" - notice the quotes - in sound reproduction.

Remember, this is the company that gave us oscillating dash vents and a 1.8-liter V6.

[Download_Complete]

Quote, originally posted by Wes@motivemag »

Remember, this is the company that gave us oscillating dash vents and a 1.8-liter V6.

One of these features were cool. The other one was a cheap motel gimmick.

[turbo_nine]

Quote, originally posted by Download_Complete »

One of these features were cool. The other one was a cheap motel gimmick.

Hey, a 1.8l V6-powered vibrating bed is NOT cheap.

Oscillating vents were kinda nice...

[squint_91]

I always thought these looked like mini Corvettes

<br/>Shot at 2007-08-14

<br/>Shot at 2007-08-14