im looking at buying a first car, i did want an rx7/still do/ not sure..., but the more im on this site the less i think should get one...i keep reading about the problems... .

i can either get a: fc rx7 (non turbo...dont ask)or a nissan silvia s13 (also non turbo) or anything thats rear wheel drive for under 7
grand thats still looks and goes good.

im on apprentice wages so...$6 an hour (slave labour )...so i wont have alot of money to spend on fuel,repairs,maintainance (<<dunno how u spell it) etc..

my mates are probably getting v6 commodores so i want to be able to keep up with them and try a bit of circuit/ drifting...

basicly i want to know has anyone driven/owned a s13 silvia? (not a 240sx/180sx) and how do they rate it in comparison to the fc?

 

IMO - with the whole drift thing going big here in Los Angeles, everyone wants to get a 240sx and i dont blame them - theres a plethora of parts and goodies available for the car... i personally don't have anything against 240SXs - i just dislike them.


as i say to people that are looking into buying a "drift" car - "the 240SX is the new Civic"


but dont take my word for it

 

Generally you will find a lot of threads about problems on any forum. People don't generally post about how their car is working perfectly. That coupled with the majority of the automotive community being ignorant to the workings of a rotary engine have lead to gross exaggerations of rotary unreliability, especially non-turbos.

I can't give you a perfect comparison but I can give you close... I have too friends with non-turbo S13’s and I have a turbo FC needless to say I would take the Fc any day of the week (except for fuel day).

Sylvia’s are a lot more common so you may find a good one cheaper/easier but you will get to drive past another one every day, I honestly can't believe how many of them there are for a car that was never even sold here. It will also be hard to find a manual trans as a pose to the majority of Fc’s coming as in manuals.

if you ever plan on having more than one passenger then at least the Sylvia has usable back seats

http://fc3spro.com/TECH/DRIFT/DCOMPARE/dcompare.html
^ You may find this interesting

 

rycerock3t - i dont want a s13 because of the whole drift thing i am thinking about one because of the price...and how easily i can get parts.

and

REVRE- i know that i will see silvias all the time but if i do get one it will only be until i have a full licence then ill definently get a rotary but i do need to get to work every day so any engine problems will most likely result in me getting fired...i could get an old pos for a dd tho and still have the rx7...but that means ill have to hold of on mods on the 7 for about 6 months... any sugestions as to what else i could get other than the 7 or the s13?

 

Get the 7 (compression test first of course) Then do all the reliability mods, use it as a daily while you save and look for another beater/dd.

Once you have the dd then put whatever mods you want on the 7.

You get to have your cake and eat it too.

 

Ah yes forgot about those stupid L/P platter restrictions. I just slipped through before them but it does limit your choices a bit.

Another option could be an mr2, but that won't be too much more reliable.
Ever thought about a motorbike? Very cheap to run and maintain , though some what impractical.

 

its not that im implying that you want a drift car - you just want a car for DD during the week and perhaps maybe a weekend car for spirited driving, right?

well heres my bottom line: if you want parts and LOTS of it - go with a 240. there are tons and tons of em, you'd have a hard time deciding. if you dont want the hassle of working with 40+ moving parts of a piston engine, then go for the RX7 - parts aren't THAT hard to come by, but you're going to be looking a little bit harder for them. you'll be surprised on how easy it would be to work on a rotary.

as far as reliability goes, it would all depend on how much you gotta spend on getting a car. my rule of thumb is that you get what you pay for, whether its a 240 or RX7, it would be a POS if the seller is selling for less than $900 (or maybe not, if you're lucky)

last thing - you're going to be dealing with cars that are more than 15 years old, so whichever route you're planning on taking, expect to do some fixing-upping

other than that - good luck

 

revre- im in western australia...NO RESTRICTIONS!!!! :-) parents wont let me get a turbo.... :-(

i thought about an mr2 but they dont have excessive engine bay room...

rycerock3t - you just want a car for DD during the week and perhaps maybe a weekend car for spirited driving, right?

im not sure yet.. like i said im an apprentice = low income... so it depends how i go. and how much would you pay for a good fc rx7 (N/A)?

oh and in perth (aust) we now have new hoon laws...
1st offence- car impounded for 7 days
2nd offence- car inpounded for 3 months
3rd offence- (this is just wrong, say bye to your car....) CRUSHED WHILE YOU WATCH!!!! and it doesnt matter if your driving a $500 beater or a $500,000 ferrari...they will crush it.

 

its all about what you want. if you want the seven and can afford maintainence. go for it but its an expensive car to maintain. silvia's are cheap and parts are easy to gather... i guess like they said ... its the civic of drifting

 

i had a s13, its good. loved it.

I now have a rx7, i dont think it is too far apart.

sometimes i rather, have my 240, since i know i can definitly get a part to fix it cheaper if i needed to. i replaced all my sensors in my old 240 and put in a injen intake for... 600 dollars? that is every single one... except the knock sensor.. thats just plain garbage. lol the car ran great, felt great.. the only thing my 7 has over it, is the way it takes a turn.

 

well if you plan on buying an rx7 in a year anyways....just buy the rx7 now, and with the income u have fix the problems that come up just make sure the car has been taken care of.

 

And I though we were the only ones that got stuck w/ N/A 7's

 

N/A rx7's aren't unreliable if cared for, the only thing that happened to me is the alternator and starter have both gone out and that could happen with ANY car. I love my FC's

 

Well you've got to realize two things:
1- Most of the people on here only come on here if there is a problem with their seven, so, obviously there is alot of talk about problems.

2- It's a twenty year old sports car. Be prepared to deal with problems that twenty year old cars have.

And about the s13..... it is a 240/180sx....but the japanese version w/ a sr20det turbo engine. If you want to drive one go to japan, or import the engine and put it in a 240.

 

ah F#@K it ill get the 7.
thanks 4 ya help everyone.

 

Good choice! I'm sure you'll LOVE IT

just make sure you get it compression tested.

 

And look for rust. My god look for rust.

 

yeah, p4nc has a good point. If in doubt on whether it's too rusty, skip it. it shouldn't be THAT hard to find a clean n/a.

 

look for rust, under the front wheel well, twards the rear of the front wheel, under the plastic flaps.

if you can put your finger through it with no problem, either buy a welder, or look for another car,

also if you can wiggle the metal bar thet goes in front of the radiator,

dont buy it.

ask me how i know............

 

Metal Bar In Front Of The Radiator?

 

there is a 2"ish metal bar that goes across the front of the car. if you look in from the front you can see it.

 

why is it bad if the bar moves?

 

I'd have to say I have been pretty lucky with my RX7, although it is smoking on high revs (no here to discuss that). I've driven it from Georgia to Indiana and back. That was like last Christmas. Eats rear tires like hell though, don't know what's up with that lol. Anyways, hope you do get a good one... if not, that car could be sitting around in your driveway for a long time and out of your apprenticeship...

 

Y'know, you're not limited to these 2 or 3 cars for RWD fun. Old celica GTS's were RWD, not to mention early corollas. Old BMW E30s don't go for too much, and those cars have tons of support. But if you want options for cheap RWD, be prepared for a lot of maintenance. Of course, this country's filled to the brim with old 'Merican cars, just about all of which were RWD prior to mid 80's. But that's probably not in the spirit of what you're looking for... But you could sure get one on the cheap...

In more the same vein as 7's, there are Supras and Z-cars. I still want to get an old 240Z, but I'll save that for when I have more experience resto-modding old crappy cars, like my current 7

 

My personal opinion: I have had rx7's since i was 15 (all fc3s) i am now 24. I tried other things, i tried other cars. I even rode nothing but bikes for a little. But no matter what i always come back to my first love... the seven. Since the fist time i rode in one i knew i had to have one and i would want one forever. Women come and go but the seven remains! If your not sure which one you want, then take a ride in both... which ever one you like then thats the one for you.