okay so im 16, goin on 17 looking for my first car in a few months, no doubt im getting an rx7, ill wait and save up instead of getting a POS civic. i used to look at and dream about FDs but i know theyre out of the question so now im looking at FCs since they are known to be fairly reliable and all. my question is: NA or Turbo? am i going to see a major power and gas mileage difference in a turbo over the NA? how much money would i save if i got a turbo now, instead of upgrading later? how much quicker would a used turbo most likely wear out? i know i should read the FAQ, i read some but personal answers i feel are always the best. if you choose to flame, go for it.

 

im not trying to be a dick, but do you have any driving experience at all? also you know your going to be buying a money pit if you get an rx7. do you know anything about rotartys also?
and i suggest read the faq's and go to aaron cakes site, what you need to know is there.

 

no im driving, i drive my dads bmw x5, i know about rotaries etc, ive been lurkin this site for like a year. and i figured getting it now while im living with my parents would be better than getting it later when im on my own and i have a bunch of bills to pay.

 

oh true, well if you plan on getting big power, go turbo. they run higher though but its easier than just doing a swap if you not mechanically inclined.

i personally choose a 1990 vert and im in the process of doing a turbo/5 speed tranny swap to it.

 

get an N/A now and swap the motor latter if you dont want to deal with the upgrade. as odd as that sounds it will be cheaper that way (Turbo II JDM motors with trany start at like 1350$ before ship)

 

thanks

 

I started driving with my dad's FC when I was 16. Its my daily driver, never been wrecked. I've avoided a few collisions when other drivers, much older than me were at fault.

However, Andrizzanizz does have a point. Don't do anything stupid (doing 120 on the freeway). This car has no airbags, and will crush pretty easy compared to most modern cars. If you get in a car wreck, you will lose.

 

If you want a hobby/project car, the FC is great.
Be prepared to getting rides frequently and spending money when you don''t plan on doing do.

 

go turbo or save your money..all rx7s since there old cars will need alot of basic parts replaced...i picked my t2 when i was 16 now 18 and replaced almost every part on my t2. when people say they are money pits there not joking. unless you have decent $ and alot of free time possible another dd dont buy the car just yet. my 2 cents

 

i agree, i did the same thing as you are looking to do and ended up not driving my 7 for about 8 months, after about 6 months of driving it, until i could get money and time (no to mention motivation).i would have been screwed if it weren't for my honduh DD. i didn't believe people fully when they said that 7's are money pits, but i definitely do now! Its still worth every penny to me though. good luck.

 

I think higgi would disagree with you.

 

If your wanting a reliable daily driver an NA sport will be fine PROVIDED you don't get crazy with it. When I had my 87 sport i put over 100k on it without a glitch.

NOW with that said, I had to replace the exhaust so i stepped it up to a N1 cat back and a bonez cat. the OEM exhaust was too rusty to pass, i changed to a cold air intake... cant remember which one it was. AND I always did the oil an filter changes and swapped the plugs every other oil change. I also had a coil go bad but after 20 years.... its gonna happen.

If you can find a car that has been driven normally and been decently maintained you should be fine with an Nonturbo as a daily driver. then you can work on saving your cash for a decent engine/drive train swap while your actually getting some useful experience under your belt and if your already a good driver thats just a better place to start building experience from.

best of luck in your search.

BTW a good FC will run you about as much as a decent civic or at least thats what Im finding around here.

 

I would go n/a for now. The n/a will save you some $ and will be more reliable. Either way you choose will be awesome. Just drive responsibly and you will be just fine.

 

i personally would go with N/A because not only do they have a basic 40k longer life span but it takes a real man to make a Naturally aspirated quick. and i like the feel of a fine tune N/A over boost. just my opinion. im most likely gonna get burned for this but im gonna stick with my belief.

 

What are your power goals.

Yes, the turbo have much mroe power and power potential but it will eat through gas faster. The turbo car will also be eating premium gas where the NA will chug along with 87 octane.

If your going to do just a stock turbo swap into an NA then I'd say you'd break about even. You just save yourself the hassle of having to do the swap, and you can move right into building off of the existing platform.


Depends entirely on how used it is and if it was used for higher than standard boost.

My advise would be to buy a honda and save your money. If you have a good cash flow then go for a TII.









They are also a BIG gamble. Its about a 33% chance you will get a motor that will last for a satisfactory amount of time. And its a usually a 66% chance that the motor will be DOA, need a rebuild, blow within 10k miles. Most people that buy JDM motors tear them down and rebuild them.

 

I'd only get an FC if you know how to work on cars and have a back up plan for when it breaks. Most FC's are over 20 years old. That means you get old worn out parts for the most part that could use reconditioning. Beat on them and they will break. For the most part, FC stuff is inexpensive, but your replace things frequently. Especially when you begin making more power.

I'd get something you can count on getting you to school and work for now. Get a 7 when you can afford to think of it as a toy. When it is OK that you need to spend a couple grand to get it going again b/c the wastegate hose popped off and you destroyed and engine and a turbo. If you can't come up with that kind of money at any given moment or have something else to drive in the mean time while saving, get something else.

If you are dead set on a 7, get an N/A. They are plenty fun to drive and usually don't cost as much to own.

I'm not trying to be a butt head. I just know that there is no way I could have handled the **** these cars give when I was 16. This is coming from someone who has had four rx7s.

Josh

 

congradulations on getting a rotary.

i'm glad you did your research cause there are alot of kids your age who dont and they go out and a buy a rotary especially the fc and all they do is complain about how crappy it its and unreliable..i myself am 21 and have drempt about owning one one day since i was 12 so i finally got one and i'm also a father but i already got my dream car. lol i cant wait for my midlife crisis i'm so gonna get a fd lol

 

Thank you for saying this im 17 and everyone at my school has a civic and thinks its the **** i have a 91 fc n/a and i blow them out of the water everytime they race me but they say o well its a rotary itll blow up and wear down after 100k damn i hate those idiots there are very few kids my age who understand the rotary for how good it is and how much better it is compared to a piston engine

 

actually the FC was light years ahead of crash standards back in the 80's. Many modern cars from Toyota, Honda, and GM don't hold up as well as a FC in a major wreck.

Its the people that do dumb things, like use substandard ebay Chinese parts, or raise the back of their hoods for "ventilation" or cut out structual metal when putting in stereo systems that cause someone to think that a RX-7 is not a crash worthy car.

And frankly air bags should have never ever been even put in automobiles. If it wasn't for the lame US population that couldn't be bothered to put on a seat belt that forced the governments hand and placed an explosive device 12 to 24 inches away from your face on every car built after 96 sold in the USA. You don't see air bags on a F1 car, or any race car which take accidents 1000 times worse than the average drunken teenager causes. A car without an airbag but with a functioning and used seat belt is much much safer and has much few injuries per accident than a car with an airbag.

The only thing worse than an explosive device in your car; 12 to 24 inches from your face is WD-40... so it is a good thing that you didn't post about that.

 

Get an N/A. It's a smaller hastle to deal with, especially for a green car guy like yourself.

i was lucky. I picked up my n/a s5 at a dealership and it had only 92k on it. BUT it still has little problems here and there...it had a chronic problem with air in the coolant system, the window motors are wearing down, the struts need to be replaced, and it's getting colder up here in Washington so it's beginning to have cold start/flooding issues, not good for a guy like me who has to get up for work at 4 every morning.

**** happens and it will happen to you too. FC's are fun to drive and turn heads, but come with a price.

 

I hate Airbags Also!!!!! You have got a great point there!

 

I have that same problem right now out in socal. there are about ten stupid kids that just got their ricer-mobile civics and put Pepboys parts on them and they think they are the sh*t. Im not hating on Pepboys cause I do buy some misc. items there. But I dont even waste my time [and the danger] to race them. Unless they put their car on the track, like I do, which is where cars [especially rotaries] are ment to be. Then, and only then, would I race them.

I would say get an N/A as well. Im still in high school too and I did my research, about my entire sophmore year, on this same question. Just buy a clean N/A and you will be satisfied with the results. you most likely will be missing some random parts here and there so look into buying the same series parts-car or look forward to being a regular at pick-a-parts. Or you can T2 swap. Thats what Im going to do with my 'parts-car' since I took all the parts off it that I needed to make my 91 a clean DD, aside from the dings on my doors.

 

Very interesting, I just assumed that FCs were bad in crashes, since they're 20 years old, small, and have no airbags. Didn't know that about the airbags either.

However, I use WD-40 all the time on the FC. The other day my original OEM struts were squeaking, as well as the back hatch. I lubed those suckers up with WD-40, and no more squeaks. Also, my transmission felt a little weird, so I coated the outside of it in WD-40, but so far, no results.






Kidding, I'm kidding, I read your FAQ.

 

thanks, i ddint think i'd get this many results xD

i found a N/A not to far from me (cause i dont want to drive across the country for a car) and it looked to be in decent condition.(it was 4 grand with FN01R rims and a new hood) i think im gonna keep my eye on it until i get the money and then go check it out.

once again thanks alot, *takes off fire proof suit* :P

also this is the car for anyone who wants to take a look
http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail...eadExists=true

ALLSOOOO..even if the motor would be blown or dying, that isnt really a problem, cause im on my parents insurance, driving their cars...so i would have time to do the rebuild, and have a car to get around

 

first thing take the ebay carbon fiber hood off untill it really is a t2...like the wheels though. . try to talk him down. i dont think its worth 4k. try may lik 3.5..most people will lower price if you come numerous times then say you have 3.5k cash. good luck with the car if you do end up getting it