Wish I never sold my RX-7

On 12/5/2014 1:33 PM, Joe Weir wrote:
> Daniel DeLuca wrote on Fri, 05 December 2014 13:28
>> Wish I never sold my RX-7
>
> Same here.
>
> There might be a predictor for TZE disease. Perhaps we need to advertise coaches for sale in the old VW and RX7 forums...

I'm sure it is. It's a "cult car" kind of leaning.

http://www.rdmag.com/news/2014/12/small-engine-packs-punch?et_cid=4302124&et_rid=45586987&location=top

The GMC content here is that they're developing it for lawn and garden
equipment and, wait for it, generators!

"If you look at a 3-kW military generator, it's a 270-lb gorilla that
takes five people to move around," Shkolnik says. "You can imagine if we
can make that into a 15-lb device, it's pretty revolutionary for them."

Finally something to fit in a 230 generator compartment!

Kelvin
'73 23' in Eugene, OR

Back around 1970 or 1971, a co-worker in my Air Force unit in Wiesbaden, Germany bought an NSU RO-80 sedan. He liked it, but I rotated back to CONUS in 71 and don't know how it held up. Neat car, though.

I, on the other hand, bought a FIAT (Found In A Toilet/Fix It Again Tony) 124 Spider. Loved the car, but not the reliability (hardly any). If Fiat would redo that car and do it right, I'd probably buy another one. I have heard a rumor that Fiat might get together with Mazda and do a joint project. Hmmmm. Style and reliability together?

A friends son had one of the new Rotary engined Mazda's (Rx8???). Really strong engine until it wasn't. In the space of 10 miles the seals failed (not the correct name but what passes for piston rings...if it had pistons). By failed, the motor went from being fine to barely being able to get off the highway in 10 miles of city driving. The motor at that point required a many thousand dollar overhaul. I loaned him my trailer and helped him pick it up at the dealer after they gave him a 4K estimate on the repair. He sold it to someone who had a good engine out of a wreck and lost about 3K on the whole deal by the time he'd paid off the loan. He's sworn off rotaries.

Apparently with the latest version, failure can come with little or no warning and no external cause.

Note, I've never owned a rotary and only ridden in one once. The above is ALL I know about them and this is anecdotal evidence although I did hear the mechanic tell my friend the 'failure can come with no warning and no cause' bit.