Ok 3rd gen guys, a question.

I'm a long time first gen rx7 owner. Bought my first GSL-SE in 1997 and daily drove it for years. Followed it up with a second 1980 FB with a weber'd streetported firebreather motor (mazspeed's old car). I tracked that car for years (Sear's Point, Laguna Seca, Thunderhill) and it kicked *** and never failed. After selling my FB's I moved to miatas. Now my daily is an 05 STI, and I just sold off my latest toy (Lotus elise) I always had a soft spot for FD's but never had a chance to own one. Now I have the chance.

I am currently looking at a single owner 1993 FD with only 28k miles. It was driven stock until 2005 when it's owner began to carefully modify it for track duty. The owner is an engineer, and the car is pristine. It was garaged it's whole life and looks new.

It currently has the original stock engine with the following mods:

Knightsports v-mount IC + radiator
Kightsports intake + AST
efini Y-pipe
BNR stage 3 twin turbos
SMB downpipe.
Running on stock computer but it comes with a Power FC (uninstalled and untuned)

It also has tein flex coilovers, and a stoptech big brake kit.

Most of these mods are fairly new and recent.My use for the car would be as a street toy and track toy. As you all know the reliability issue is a big one on FD's. I've read so many reliability threads here it's made my head spin. So my plan if I buy it would be to install the Power FC, get it tuned conservatively for the mods and leave it alone. I would add water or water/meth injection for a bit of a safety margin.

The main worry I have is this: As great as these cars are, they seem to be getting more and more rare, parts are drying up and places to have them serviced & tuned are disappearing.
I love rotaries but I'm also cross shopping early NSX's (more reliable but more expensive).

What would you guys do?

 

The car will never have the aftermarket or support of say, a mustang.. but I wouldnt say parts are that scarce. Other than finding someone local that you can trust to work on it , if you choose not to yourself, there are still plenty of parts/knowledge available, especially on this forum. Youd be surprised what you can still buy new from the dealer, and good lower milage used parts can be sourced from importers of later model FDs from overseas.

 

fd's are easy to take care of after you have it setup how you want. people have problems because they either cut corners, neglect maintenance or are uneducated. my fds have always treated me well after i cleaned up the previous owners hacks and messes(which sounds like a non issue for you). they are great track cars and weekend warriors. i have a few friends who daily them but im not sure i would recommend it because i like low mileage cars.

 

I'm in the SF Bay area so It would be Rotorsport or Rick's.

 

I think that because you posted this on RX-7 club most would purchase the RX-7.


I think if you post the same thing on an NSX forum most will tell you to get one of those.


IMO, the car sounds like a great platform to start off with. Even though it is low mileage it may be a good idea to get a compression check, it is also important that the antifreeze has been changed at regular service intervals.

I agree with stevensimon, these cars are reliable; in the right hands. I have owned my FD for 3 years and 18k miles and it has never left me on the side of the road or have been unreliable. In most ways it has been more reliable than my DD.


BTW, arent stock NSX's slower than the FD? I never understood the appeal of those cars. They seem like a wannabe super car but do not have the horsepower to back it up.

 

i'm surprised it's still in one piece running the BNR's and the stock ECU... if you buy it you will need an immediate tune along with the PFC installed.

i agree with most above, a rotary car is only as reliable as it's owner but is less forgiving to neglegence. my TII has been the most reliable car i have ever owned, but it took a bit of work to get there. the chassis has 220k and the engine now has 70k on it with all the hard engine parts being used so the engine realistically has far more than that aside from the seals.

but i'm going the opposite direction, as i get older i prefer older platform cars like the old 2,3,4 and datsun cars. no offense to anyone here but i never really cared for the FD after driving so many.

 

haha... to the OP you sound just like me a couple of months ago...

Well, rest assured. I've actually already bought an Rx7 and it isn't bad at all. There are still many services around for these cars and if you looked hard enough (and by hard i mean just searching for 10 min or so), you'll actually find all the parts you need.

 

I'm relitively new to the FD, I got my first one in November of 2010 with a blown motor and a ruined interior.

I've had no problems at all replacing the entire interior as well as getting a motor rebuilt along with an extensive list of aftermarket parts.

I'd say this has been one of the easier cars that I've owned to source parts for.

-Geoff

 

Yep older model cars are so much easier to work on, much more connected to the driver etc..... I have a cayman with a dead battery and can't open the trunk to charge the dead battery because the battery is dead. How effing stupid is that and I thought Germans were smart engineers. There is a little fuse thing you pull out and connect some jumper cables to but it doesn't seem to work so now I have to take off the drivers side wheel, dig around under the wheel liner for some little cable WOW!!!!!!!

BTW the FD has the opposite effect on me so that comment really hurt my feelings The more I drive them the less I want to drive anything else Different strokes for different folks

 

Yes, I believe immediately after the BNRs were installed, the owner put on 2 manual boost controllers limitng the boost to 8-6-8 until the PFC could be put on.

But yes, a tune would be a priority. Any recommendations of good califronia tuners?

 

+1 Honda really seems to have that track record... Lets produce cars that would be awesome if they had twice the power..... i.e. NSX, S2000, RSX. The NSX is even more frustrating because of the OEM price tag... They really fancy themselves.

As far as the FD goes, it's another level of cost and performance. It's like any other layer of ownership. As you step up the performance and technology, cost goes up. It's not a Porche GT3, but it's not an FB. It lands right in the area of cheap supercar. It is an extremely capable car for it's price tag. Some would argue the best.....

Parts.... PLEASE, I could build a car with a few months of our marketplace. I continually see many awesome deals and influx of quality parts for FD's in our section. I noticed how much faster the FD section moves compared to FB & FC.

Service.... All I can say is learn your car. For me, half of this great hobby is building my own car, and doing my own work. You don't have to be an expert engine builder or fabricator to effectively own these cars. Being an enthusiast means you are willing to learn and tackle projects. There will always be companies out there to build you an engine or fabricate a turbo kit.

For me, it was always an FD. I've owned 10 Rx7's and only 1 FD. It's by far the greatest package sports car I have had the pleassure of enjoying.

 

^^^This is the main reason I would rather pay extra for a COMPLETELY STOCK FD .

 

How much is the seller asking?

 

You have to carefully craft your definition of reliable to make any FD fall under that description.

 

My FD has been reliable as you can get. It ran everyday in rain, snow, sleet and any other weather condition. I auto-x it, highway race it on occasion, beat on it all the time, dragged it a few times, took it drifting twice, drove it and beat it for days straight at Deals Gap, and never had it die on me. 4½ years of great fun. Only issue is gas mileage.

 

YEP

If I used my track car on the street I don't think I could break it.

 

FD reliable? you get it cause you love it especially the looks/turbos/rotary etc. sounds like you dont know what you want and you are just trying out different things. my car gets a lot of attention. lol @cayman dead battery.

 

The mileage may be low but the engine is 20 years old so you may be needing a rebuild in the not to near future. The coolant rings deteriorate over time.

 

The older Honda's are apparently a dying platform....... they're still showing up at road courses, autox, and drag races.......


the FD is not a dying platform IMO, theres A LOT of support still around.

 

I just took the plunge, so of course I say go for it.

Misery loves company

 

Don't include the s2000 in that list. Honda did well with that car. It's made car of the year, 240hp out of an NA 2.2l, forged internals out the box, awesome handling, and decent gas mileage! Not to mention they're about as much as a GOOD STOCK FD. If I didn't buy an FD I would have nabbed me an s2k in a second.

Most facts have been stated in this thread. Keep up with maintenance and understand your car. If you're the kind of guy who doesn't know what knock is or doesn't understand that when you hit the gas and it shudders and sputters and shakes then you don't just go into boost to see if it's still ok. I don't know why people always think that's alright. I are all the time on this forum kids saying, "my rx7 is hesitating and sputtering and running like garbage, but I went into full boost in third and it boosts fine! But when I took it home now my vacuum is all jumpy help!" Do your research. I researched FDs for 3 years before getting mine and I love it

 

i had an s2000 before my FD.

it was meh. i also had far more problems with it than i cared for. only kept it 3 months.

<3 my FD. it takes work, but i like doing it.

 

^^^Best quote so far

 

OP, the FD is a dying platform. We are getting less and less support from Mazda and more and more people are going to have to go v8 or fight over leftover parts so don't bother. The less new FD owners, the more parts for me!

Seriously though, I think within 5 - 10 years we are going to have a really rough time finding parts.

 

This is the stuff that warms my heart. I'm really close to pulling the trigger on it, the main problem is finding a tuner in the SF Bay Area to tune it. Might have to got to LA which would be a hassle.