Out With the RX in with the REX

2018 Views 15 Replies 9 Participants Last post by isszy, Feb 9, 2015

isszy

Discussion Starter · Jan 10, 2015

I have had a series 1 Mazda RX-7 for a number of years. I taught the kids how to drive in it and we generally had a lot of fun. But it had a number of downsides. It smelt of burnt oil all the time. You stunk when you got out of it. No air and no power steering meant my 12 year old struggled to race it on hot days. And on top of that, racing a 35 year old car at speeds over 150kmh was not very palatable.

So the old girl had to go. It took a month or so, but I got a good price for it - 4 times what I paid. And I replaced her with one of my dream cars - a GC8 WRX.

It is an MY99 built 12/98. Motor was rebuilt 20,000km ago to STi specs. Has a bigger turbo, dual entry intercooler, 3 inch mandrel bent exhaust, slotted rotors, APS chip, Koni shocks, Whiteline front and rear sway bars and strut brace and probably some other stuff I forgot.

It was wet today when I picked it up, and 4 wheel spin in second at about 70kmh at boost was ... fun

.

Not much more for me to do to it other than drive it.

Oh and a gratuitous photo of the other new addition to the family ...:lmao:

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1 - 16 of 16 Posts

AmericanRevolution

· #2 · Jan 10, 2015

One of my first memories of a car was riding in my parents '85 RX-7, white with red leather. Loved it. Two nice cars, sir!

LetsRace

· #3 · Jan 10, 2015

Well done Sir.. :dro:

chinamonty

· #4 · Jan 10, 2015

Nice buy and the pup looks good too.

rockyspaw

· #5 · Jan 10, 2015

I am amazed at how well preserved your cars are!

Cute puppy...is it an Australian Shepherd?

0fxxk0

· #6 · Jan 10, 2015

Gorgeous new additions! Congrats! What kind of wheels are those?. I would love to have a set of those on my 98 Impreza wagon.

Neanderthal

· #7 · Jan 10, 2015

What a cute pooch!

isszy

Discussion Starter · #8 · Jan 10, 2015

rockyspaw said:
I am amazed at how well preserved your cars are!

There is some rubbish here too. I actually wanted a bog stock car and looked for quite a while. There were plenty that had massive blow off valves, a 4 inch fart can and a trashed interior. This one was clean and honest and had all receipts for the work done to it. I also got a friend who is a race mechanic with some Subaru history to have a look. I think the twin 2 inch exhausts look much better, looks stock until you have a good look.

Cute puppy...is it an Australian Shepherd?

Indy is a border collie. We lost our last border collie Kess to kidney disease last November. Interesting trivia - Australian Shepherds have no relationship to Australia. They are actually a breed developed in the US and have only found their way into Australia in the last 5-10 years.

0fxxk0 said:
Gorgeous new additions! Congrats! What kind of wheels are those?. I would love to have a set of those on my 98 Impreza wagon.

They are a brand called Radius. I had never heard of them. Some quick Googling would suggest they are a UK company.

I took my son to the T20 Big Bash in it last night (Aussies and maybe the Brits will know what I am talking about - it's a cricket game). I drove onto the tollway onramp and floored it - the acceleration above about 5500rpm was so strong it felt like he front was coming off the ground ! I picked my daughter up from the local shopping mall last night - she grinned with every gearchange. It's a fun little car.

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rockyspaw

· #9 · Jan 11, 2015

isszy said:
Indy is a border collie. We lost our last border collie Kess to kidney disease last November. Interesting trivia - Australian Shepherds have no relationship to Australia. They are actually a breed developed in the US and have only found their way into Australia in the last 5-10 years.

Sorry for your loss! I had to ask...I'm a little bias. I have two Aussies, Gimbel and Taylor. My Macy, also an Aussie, passed from leukemia in 2012. I hope you enjoy many years with Indy!

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isszy

Discussion Starter · #10 · Jan 11, 2015

They are cool dogs !

Reactions: 1

unkillsam

· #11 · Jan 11, 2015

Personally I'm digging the white Commodore in the background myself.

isszy

Discussion Starter · #12 · Jan 11, 2015

unkillsam said:
Personally I'm digging the white Commodore in the background myself.

You mean this old thing ?

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dreadnaught1181

· #13 · Jan 11, 2015

I envy you sir as that is my favorite generation of WRX and all the U.S. got was the 2.5 RS which had the "show" but not the "go".

By the way, what motor did you have in RX? 12A or 13B?

isszy

Discussion Starter · #14 · Jan 12, 2015

dreadnaught1181 said:
I envy you sir as that is my favorite generation of WRX and all the U.S. got was the 2.5 RS which had the "show" but not the "go".

By the way, what motor did you have in RX? 12A or 13B?

Had a 13B but from an RX4 not a series 3 RX7.

91 s-10baja had this report on his site :

http://testdrivejunkie.com/1998-subaru-impreza-2-5rs-test-drive/

isszy

Discussion Starter · #15 · Jan 19, 2015

First play day:

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isszy

Discussion Starter · #16 · Feb 9, 2015

I got the results from the first competition above. I won my class and my 12 year old son was third in juniors. Suspension is really too stiff for dirt though.

I got in contact with the last owner via Linkedin. The car has a few pretty cool improvements. The engine was blueprinted at the last rebuild, and has an Exedy clutch and heavy duty gearbox. And sometimes having an attempted theft is not always a bad thing. Thanks to some incompetent thieves, the console and stereo are brand new. For a 16 year old car, it looks nearly brand new inside.

Still makes me smile each time I start it up.

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