I have a 1983 Mazda RX7 with 178,000 miles on the clock- and I race it. I
love the handling of that car, I regularly rev it up to 8,000 rpm, and I
have seen 95 mph on the straight at Holtville. On a faster track, I am sure
I would get another 10 to 15 mph... Oh, I forgot- the engine is stock with
all emission control equipment still working (but I have racing
suspension/brake pads, full race exhaust, etc).
We'll see if my racing Sprite lasts as long- it was rebuilt in 1997-1998 and
has had about eight races by the previous owner- the engine has already been
"freshened" once since. With the same engine size (Sprite-overbored to 1098;
RX7 1100cc), they have nearly the same horsepower- the RX has just over 100
bhp, and the racing Sprite engine is supposed to have nearly 100 bhp- I'll
check that on a dyno!
The Sprite will be quicker in acceleration(much less weight), probably
nearly as fast on the top end (I guess about 100mph), and it sounds much
better than the RX7 (that's my opinion)... but it won't rev as high or as
smoothly, and I bet I will have much more maintenance and repairs on it. I
bought the Sprite because I love those cars and I think they have tremendous
"character", not because I think they have superior engineering.
Jacques Le Clainche
SCCA Spec RX-7 #44, San Diego region
VARA 1960 AH Sprite #4, F Production
Ex-owner 1970 Sprite and 1972 Midget (in England)
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