Finally the Everyday Driver review is up! Enjoy:


They both had very complementary things to say about the FD. I love how giddy Paul was driving it, have never seen him quite so emotional about a car before. "I think this is one of the benchmarks for sports cars of all time." High praise indeed from two discerning reviewers.

 

I don't believe either of those other 2 cars in stock form can compare to the FD from a drivers perspective. IMHO I don't even believe the Nissan 300zx is a good car, but there are people out there who would say the same about the FD. And the Supra, while ultra reliable and comfortable to drive, is a TANK...in more ways than one. I still can't believe the prices on those have soared thru the stratosphere.

 

I owned a nicely setup '90 300ZX non-turbo before my FD, and I was surprised at how hardcore the FD is in comparison. The 300ZX really is more of a GT car, as the review mentions. The seats are super comfortable but the non-turbo suspension is actually pretty stiff, about the same as a base FD. Of course, driving dynamics wise the FD is in a different league. FD feels a lot more special from behind the wheel, IMO. Still love the Z32 though!

 

I have a friend in NC who has had his for like 8 years, red TT with the removable roof...very nice car. Anyways, I remember helping him work on it and I could not figure out for the life of me how to get my hands in the engine bay. I know you probably don't have to work on it as much as the FD, but man when you do you better set some time aside because you're gna be a while.

 

I did enjoy watching the video but at the same time, i can't connect 100% with these guys. I like their reviews but something about how they review the cars just doesn't sit with me perfectly. But still nice to watch. the conclusion was a bit surprising too.

 

For all it’s virtues and vices, it’s hard not to lust over an RX7.


~ GW

 

Another video where they go on and on about rotary maintenance and reliability. Whilst there is some merit in pointing these factors as potential drawbacks, there is never any critical thinking about whether the same thing might be said about the kind of cars they are comparing to. Even saying things about the RX-7 like "You have to change the oil and spark plugs frequently" while mentioning nothing about the other cars, it gives the misleading impression that non-rotary JDM cars can somehow be belted regularly with no regard for maintenance. The reality is that many Japanese cars of this era have serious flaws and known reliability issues. I have a friend who went through hell with his R32 GTR, while his highly modded13BREW converted Datsun 1200 with GT35R has given him reliable service for 15 years. Even look at Porsches or even more exotic cars from the same era and they have gearbox or engine issues that end up costing more than if you had the misfortune of having to replace a 13BREW four times. An FD RX-7 has nothing on any Ferrari built in the 80s or 90s in terms of maintenance and repair costs and is arguably a better car than almost anything Ferrari put out in that era (F40 excepted).

None of these motoring journalists have any evidence or personal experience backing up these assertions. It's just repeating rumour and hearsay.

Yes things go wrong on the rotary, but they are usually easy to fix and it's comparatively inexpensive compared to similarly-performing cars.

 

I could not agree with you more. Every car show, every meet, hell every time I drive the damn car to work I have to repeat exactly what you said when people mention the "reliability" bs that was started way back when from a bunch of people who thought they could just hop in the car and drive it like a Toyota Camry. I've had numerous friends throughout the years with those dread RB26 oil pressure problems. Numerous friends with Coyote Mustangs and those head gaskets. And don't even get me started on the Focus RS. So many sports cars over the years, both new and old, have had a particular set of issues that you just have to throw money at. On the other hand, my car has been an absolute dream for me for the past 3 years because I do my maintenance on time and I address issues as soon as they pop up. For these so-called automotive journalist to keep these garbage rumor's in rotation is doing these cars a disservice. Unfortunately this is the type of exposure that could potentially influence a future market value, and those rumors are the ONLY reason the Supra is priced so far ahead of the FD RX7.

 

Production numbers of TT Supras is far lower than FDs. It was also a world-beating car when it was produced. We all hate on it for being heavy, but it's light compared to most cars today. The FD is very light compared to most cars. However, down the line I do think FD values will overtake Supras, because they are prettier and much more unique.

 

As far as presenters go, these 2 are sort of tolerable. Yes, you do have to get used to some of their quirks, but as far as “YouTubers” go, they do alright.
Everyone here will be slightly biased towards our car (how could you not be.. ) but the debate will always be a topic of personal taste and needs.
Goes without saying the FD is the driver focused of the bunch. While the other 2 are more GT based.
Having lived thru this era and driven all the major examples, I still chose the FD. It was more inline with what I wanted. Even now, it’s the only one out of the bunch that still makes me look back whenever I park it anywhere.

 

+1,000,000

Pseudo-journalism and lack of real life experience absolutely sum this and many other channels up in a nutshell. I personally can't stand to watch videos of this nature anymore; to me it's become like Bill Murray's movie 'Ground Hog Day' where the same / very similar content is endlessly regurgitated. All the while, the media cycle is intentionally set at an incredible pace which is far faster than most can properly digest / internalize in a reasonable amount of time. In these 'unprecedented' times, I seriously find it very odd how cars have been thrust back into certain 'limelights' when there is little practical real world excitement for the ICE automotive industry (outside of us countless 'enthusiasts') as if Jay Leno were still relevant in some way.

Back when I used to day-dream about these sort of silly things, I used to ponder what a comparison of all the great 90's jdm sports cars would be like. Instead, I got a life as opposed to becoming some Matt Farrah type character. Internet people need to get real jobs and this is a big part of the 'great resignation' imo.

These are just my thoughts. Words are only words. Have a great day.

 

I got pretty annoyed at Todd's irrational fear that the RX-7 was going to blow up just because rotary. That's just pure internet hogwash and I wasn't expecting him to be influenced by bullshit. Yes these cars have a reputation of breaking down, but they act like it happens every time you set your foot on the gas pedal. The worst part is that these cars got that reputation because prior owners didn't know how to modify these cars correctly. So when they inadvertently broke, they turned around and blamed the engine when in fact if they would have left the damn cars alone they would have been fine.

Anyway as far as driving experience is concerned, I pretty much agreed with the video. Because back in 98' when I was shopping for my replacement sports car (my RX-7 had just caught on fire and was totaled) I got a chance to test drive all three turbo versions of these cars. This was the order of preference for me

3) The Turbo 300Zx felt too much like a GT car. Was comfy but that's not what I was looking for.
2) The TT supra had more power, felt like a sports car but at the same time I could also feel the weight.
3) The RX-7 a driver's dream. Even though it could have used more power, it was so light and nimble and just a complete joy to drive. So I bought another one.

Again given that it was 1998, all of these cars were 100% stock. And so I feel a lucky to have had the chance to have driven them how they came out of the factory.

 

I think part of the reason so many people blew up RX7's is because the factory setup didn't have a lot of safety margin built in. The stock RX7 ECU isn't happy running a setup with +75hp worth of airflow mods like intake/IC/downpipe/high-flow cat/muffler, which is no problem for a stock Supra with bolt-on 'BPU' modifications. Even if the ECU was OK with it, the stock radiator (and single oil cooler on most FDs) doesn't have much headroom. I haven't experienced this myself, but I hear that people have broken differentials from drag launches on stock FDs with sticky street tires. That's three problems that you don't hear about from the Supra community, because Toyota built hundreds of pounds of safety margin into the Supra. The tradeoff is a Supra doesn't feel like an RX7, and here on rx7club I think most of us prefer how an RX7 feels. I've driven a 400hp Supra and it's fun but it's not the same Miata-but-quicker feeling.

 

Agreed on the safety margin. Plus unlike a rotary, a piston counterpart can take quite a few pings/knocks before it grenades. In the past, many folks would get bolt-ons that inadvertently would create elevated boost conditions (or they would simply up the boost themselves). Everything would be fine that is until all of the sudden *boom*. Which IMO is quite unfortunate that they didn't just detonate immediately after adding the mods because it gave the owners a false sense of security before getting the rug pulled right out from other them. So naturally they would report that everything was great but their engine blew out of the blue and for no reason... But we know they were simply running too lean and they basically had a ticking time bomb.

I remember a thread about 15 years ago. Where a forum member was running bolt-ons @12 psi (IIRC) without an ECU upgrade. We were all telling him to cut that **** out because he was playing with fire but he kept insisting the car ran great. Sure enough one day not too long after, he reported that his engine took a dump. Gotta give him props though for coming back admitting his screw up.

Sure a 100% stock cars have some reliability issues (AST, precat, radiator end tanks, vacuum hoses, ect) but the truth is in stock form these cars don't blow up out of the blue. They start every time and you can beat on them pretty good on the street without fearing that they are going to detonate or overheat.

 

Lets be real. I think their knock on reliability is warranted. Mazda tried hard to build the FD as a lightweight sports car with great handling and good power to compete with larger automakers with much more resources. Reliability was never their top priority. In some aspects they tried a little too hard in terms of weight-savings...evident by fragile plastics and cheap interior pieces. If they build the car with the safety margin of Supras and Skylines, the car would likely weight much more. Supra is heavy because Toyota over-engineered the **** out of the car, which also helped the reliability. I actually think the comparison of FD to Lotus elise is actually quite appropriate. At the end of the day, as with most cars even the 90s JDM legends, you can only pick two out of three: reliable, lightweight, or fast.