I didn't misread anything. You should re-read my post.

 

Hey man, Congrats on 2 great choices on cars! Myself I have actually owned both a Z and FD, and right off, Both have similar problems with the cooling systems. (that's really the big one). As far as comparison, what would you use the car for? The RX-7 was designed as an Exotic Japanese sports car to combat European handling and speed. Whereas the 300ZX took it's place as a Grand Touring Sports/Luxury (kinda). The Z will have more torque and cushy factor, but the 7 is a blast to drive.

 

also to chime into this, if you're looking at affordablilty as much as I'm gonna get flamed for this..... look into a 1st gen DSM. They are easy to find, aside the timing belt maintenance the motors damn near bullit proof.... True they are a common car, but in trims with AWD (GSX TSi Laser RS) You can have a lot of fun with out being locked into "ricer groupings" Parts are cheap, and thank god it's not a damned Honda.

 

I'm not a hardcore racing fanatic and I do not abuse any of my cars so the use will be purely for the weekend or whenever I have time off in the week. I have a 200SX I use to drive to and from work (40 miles each way). I would be interested in doing some autocross but that's about it. I would increase its performance slowly to get better response in the expressway.

As for the DSM, they are nice cars. I even considered one before buying my 300ZX NA but I immediately went back to the Z when I saw it standing in front of me.

I'm not really looking into affordability as much as fun. I set my cap at around 13K + or - I know I can purchase a nicely used 02-03 WRX with this money but I'm not a big fan of the look.

It will definitely be Z if not FD.

It seems the community doesn't really want me to buy one. (is this so that more will be left for you guys? heh) I asked for an opinion and I'm sure I got the main message stating that they are expensive to maintain cars...but I doubt MAZDA designed their cars to break every 20K miles if driven properly...so I'm not too worried about this. As I said, I have the 200SX and I wouldnt mind waiting a couple of weeks for a part (especially in the winter) should the car break down.

The main factor now is what comes up first that fits my $ bracket.

 

You guys are sooo spoiled, here in Norway you won't get a decent below $33k.

sandplasma, I don't think you'd still be around here on the forum if you hadn't already decided on the FD. If the option is Z versus FD, and you already have had an NA Z, it's time to move on to the sexy and exotic FD.

I doubt I would have bought the FD unless I could have paid it in cash. I didn't want any mortage on the car as I knew it was going to cost to own it (repairs and modifications). The car ran fine the 2 first months, after which I started having some serious coolant leak issues (at which time I didn't know anything about the FD or it's problems) and then I started having exhaust leakage.

Got the local Mazda shop to replace gaskets, which helped the exhaust leakage for 3 hours. Yes, the car was in garage/shop for many months, got it "repaired", and I blew the engine after 3 hours. And I tell you, the $$$ (it was a lot) I paid for the "repair", was well worth the 3 hours joy of the FD.

Decided to do the R&R myself, got a local rotary expert to do the short block overhaul, and everything else I managed on my own using forums, DVD, etc. Learned a lot from the process and now I'm sure I can debug and fix smaller issues when they happen.

After all my modification the car is very rough, but it's not undriveable in the city. I love to take it for a spin downtown, gets so damn much attention. Gotta get my windows tinted, ASAP!

Paid more than $12k in repairs and modifications and I've only had the car for little more than a year. Yes, Norway is expensive. Gas prices is double of what they are in the US, and car prices are tripple.

As someone else mentioned on the forum, I'm never going to sell my FD so I don't care how much money I invest in the car. I do it for the joy of driving the FD.

Still 500km away from being able to do +4k RPM (newly overhauled engine), I have not redlined since 1st of February when the engine broke... it's to keep of the pedal. That reminds me, I'm gonna take it for a spin now! Good luck on finding your perfect FD!

 

That is awesome man
How did you break the engine? Is it true that you NEED to redline this car? I've never heard this on any car. I realize these are rotary but really?

 

The 2 biggest enemies of the Rotary are Carbon and Detonation IMO. Redlining is a great way to burn off Carbon buildup. But any motor does need opened up every once in a while to burn the crap off of valves and such.... I run my DSM hard at least once a week either on the highway or some of our side/back roads at high rpm to clean up the valve surfaces.

The reason people are trending away from the FD for you are simple. it is a budget destroyer. A lot of us have at one point or another had to part with Rotarys at some point due to cost of parts and labor... You truly have to be DEDICATED to the 7 to keep it as Reliable as possible. And by that I mean not on fire.

 

I think that's been exaggerated a little bit. What can happen is that carbon buildup on the rotors can cause hot spots. These hot spots can cause detonation. One way to combat carbon build up is running the car harder than normal. It helps burn off any deposits to keep build up off the rotors.

IMO, making sure to run decent oil and keeping up with the rest of the maintenance is more important. TBH, it's hard not to redline these cars when you drive them.

 

Ah ok, good to know. Have you guys heard of SeaFoam? Would this help in such situations?

 

Once you break down a motor and try to clean it by hand, you'll have a hard time imagining if any of those techniques work. Some people use SeaFoam, other use water or ATF. Honestly, if you have carbon build up on the rotors, it's not coming off without some real work. And that's not going to happen with the rotor still in the engine.

 

damn

 

I will say this, I have done Engine Swaps on DSM's, RX-7's, and my 85' 300zx Turbo........ I'll never do another Z swap... EVER.

 

Yeah, I don't know about the 85 but the 90+ looks like they really really just got the engine in the car. Hardly any space for work without having to remove everything in sight.

 

I wouldn't dare try to squeeze my hands in that TT bay.... uh uh no way