Best FD in the world??
 

As far as the best stock FD goes:

In the world - NO, in the USA - maybe.........

I have seen like brand new 2002 Spirit R's with under 10,000km sell at auction in Japan, one of those was a Type A in titanium grey sold earlier this year which may well be the best stock FD in the world. I think it had ~8,000km on the clock and went for over 4 Million Yen if i recall.......

Regardless, an opportunity for someone with deep pockets to secure a nice museum piece :nod:

OP - is this your car - I know you were thinning the heard awhile back.

Not even close.

Cleanest, shiniest and most stock FD in the world...maybe.

Best? Absolutely not. Still runs on 24 year old technology and the coolant seals are a ticking time bomb given the lack of thermal expansion and lubrication they are likely brittle and weak and will fail if it ever gets regularly driven.

I've always seen the FD as a drivers car, the best FD is clean enough to turn heads, rough enough for the owner to drive and beat on, and well built enough to consistantly shit on everything on the street.

Skeese

$55k is getting in to NSX territory. I think this guy watched too many Doug Demuro videos.

The "best FD in the world" is....your own.
It may not have the perfect paint job, interior, tires, etc...but if you've owned it for any length of time and worked on it and put your heart and soul into it...you know where every wire, nut and bolt, hose goes...yeah, THAT is the best.

2002 Mazda RX-7 Spirit R Review

/thread

"Best" is an opinion, so I guess you're allowed to say that, even if you're wrong :D.

It is a nicely maintained example, though :icon_tup:.

That's not an SR buddy. Also, the SR imo isn't as desirable as an RZ or RS-R, they're common by comparison ;).

What makes it not a Spirit-R?

It was made by Mazda, specifically for a VP of Mazda USA as a Spirit-R. It's literally the only LHD one in existence, not a replica or an imitation.

It's a 94 or 95 USDM FD made to look like an SR without most of the mechanical changes other than the brakes, it's not an SR, just a replica missing bits.

Just a little truth in advertising, Mazda North America's Spirit R has a plain Jane 1995 engine: :scratch:
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...b5f67a1c2e.jpg

It is still an official build by Mazda and it is a one off. So I agree with StaticX27 that is the best FD is the world.

It appears that Robert Davis (Mazda V.P.) wanted a road worthy car and not just a museum piece. Compliance with the EPA is imperative for road worthiness and the 1995 engine already had the proper paperwork. Going through all of the hurdles for the approval of ONE vehicle is not cost effective and that V.P. would had to do a lot of explaining for his pet project. IMO of course.

Left hand drive. ;)

Lets not forget about Goodfella's 1k mile FD.

boom.

It's just cosmetic. Not even dual oil coolers.

Agreed. I think the main reason for keeping the 95 engine is for CARB/EPA compliance.

Yea, it has to have a legal motor to exist in the People's Republic of California...

That said, I think he would have done us all a great service if he were to have gotten the Spirit-R legal approval from CARB. Can you imagine how many people would be worshiping the ground he walked on if he went through that work? The doors it would have opened for us?! Too bad he didnt' wanna spend the several hundreds of thousands of dollars to do that :(.

Either way, I still stand by that it was built by Mazda to be a Spirit-R, making it the only left-hand drive Spirit-R in the world ;)

Yes, I know why they did it that way. The funny part is that a few of the press reviews of this car commented on the additional power this particular car had over the standard RX-7! :lol:

I saw that car at Sevenstock many years ago. It was quite striking. An absolutely gorgeous car :)

As I recall, the vin ended in 00001