edl@tekig5.UUCP (Ed Lingel) (10/08/85)
( and the rotary goes HMMMMMMMMMMMM) Last week I happened to drive by Portland International Raceway while Mazda was conducting the national press preview of their new cars, including the RX-7. They had several other cars to compare with the new models; Porsche 944, Nissan 300ZX, 1985 RX-7, and Toyota MR 2. Of all the cars, the MR 2 saw the least amount of action (at least for the 30-45 minutes that I watched). The new engine in the RX-7 is about on a performance level with the 300ZX. The 944 was consistently able to pull away from any of the sevens (there were four), but that may have been due in some part to the driver. The 944 driver was flogging his car more than any of the other drivers and it appeared he knew what he was doing. The old RX-7 wasn't on the same performance level with the other cars (except maybe the MR 2). In cornering the new RX-7 appeared to hold its own against the 944 (at least the car with the sport suspension did). It appears that the new "dynamic tracking" rear suspension referred to in an earlier article does not work well with the stock suspension. The stock RX-7's seem to have a tendency to oversteer and were falling off the track quite a bit. Maybe that's why they came to Portland for the press introduction; there's nothing to hit if you go off the track :-) . The car with sport suspension didn't seem to have this problem. I couldn't get a close look at the cars so I didn't see the interior or any of the exterior details up close. In fact, from my viewing position (the start of the back straight) the cars were probably traveling over 70 when they went by. The review of the cars will probably come out in a few months, since it seems to take the magazines that long after the event to publish. It will be interesting to see what the writers have to say about the car. _______________ Ed Lingel Tektronix
cal@pyramid.UUCP (Craig Levin) (10/09/85)
The review of the 1986 RX-7 is the cover article of the November issue of Road & Track. I received my subscription copy in Monday's mail. The article was favorable, but kept saying wait for the turbo, of which I had already decided. In the same issue, there is a discussion of the new Porsche 944S and a reissued 924, in the Miscellaneous Ramblings Column.