A while back there was a build that Supernaut on here was doing that was a replica. But before they finished they stopped and sold everything off unfortunately. It was pretty sad actually because it looked like it was going to turn out amazing.


Building a USDM Spirit R Replica - RX7Club.com - Mazda RX7 Forum

 

Mine's a '93 base with a bunch of bolt-on performance modifications built as a time attack champion - what it's really missing is cosmetic mods (front and rear spoiler, for example) and a new set of wheels.

If I win the lottery, perhaps I'll be that guy.

 

Wow! I've never seen that thread before, pretty cool attempt imo. I bet it was beyond helpful being surrounded by people / shops who support you. Not to mention, plenty of inspiration to go around when you get to bounce ideas off others. Sad it never came to be. By 2011 I'd already left the whole car scene due to the massive shift is culture towards drifting, anime taking over everything, jdm culture bastardized, etc and it was time I focused on more serious accomplishments in life.

 

you are probably right about that. i'm sort of thinking about what i could do in my garage and get a good result, so like known quantities.
the technology available to me today, is probably better than what was available in the 1950's.

although i was impressed with how simple the McLaren MP4/4 really is...

 

The Eunos Cosmo: A Rotary Masterpiece

 

CRX with a F20 swap. Hyundai i30 N with only 350 hp posts 5th fastest climb. Wild Porsche cup cars take 2nd and 4th while tried and true EVO's take 1st and 3rd. Not to mention every privateer vehicle entered appears to be exceptionally well kept and full of ingenuity.

I personally really enjoy how Euro motorsport events are so well organized along with all the high quality video production which typically accompanies them. It's a far cry from anything produced by pro and pro-am stuff stateside. Not trying to point any fingers, but I'm looking at you Gridlife (whatever that is even supposed to mean) because the caliber of cars are subpar by comparison as well as the event itself seems to be more about immature hoonigan style antics on track as opposed to being a legitimate coordinator of quality motorsport events.

And I swear a fact which ALWAYS gets overlooked is that EVO's are the best platform for time attack as well as the fastest jdm time attack car on Earth hands down. Been that way for 20+ years and counting. Fire Ando just roasted his new PB and track record at Tsukuba. To me, it's a wonder there aren't ANY usdm EVO's out there worth mention. Or are there???


ps- I remember many old school Option time attack episodes where the only vehicle that could challenge and beat the FD's were EVO's. Never a Supra or Skyline or NSX. Just saying.

 

I have also made similar observations... While I was late to the party by about 15-20 years, after reading enough thread topics and posts on here, it's really interesting to see what and how people were doing things over the years. Many years ago I stumbled upon the fd3s.net website and a lot of the mailing list correspondence was focused on getting the most performance (and value) out of the platform. Normal people working to make a lot of the technical developments that we now take for granted. If you take a look at a lot of the builds (and build philosophies) from around that time, I think you may come to a similar conclusion. Lots more motorsports participation (or at least that's what it looked like) from the owner base. Chris Regan's track-related section of his website gives some nice insight.

When I was 16, I was all about the hoonigan-type stuff. I wanted a 180sx and all of the usual stuff so I could go drifting. I started looking for one (with $10 in my name) and realized that the majority of them were bastardized beyond recognition for exorbitant prices and the owner base, while some extremely knowledgeable and helpful, I couldn't get behind the culture surrounding the platform. Shortly thereafter I got hooked on third gens and 7club and the rest was history (after telling myself that such vehicles were for crazy people)

I think some of the current automotive social media landscape could be attributed to "content creators" attempting to outdo one another and as a consequence there has been more and more "extreme" stuff to differentiate themselves from others. It'd be fine if it didn't affect anyone who wasn't directly involved, but just like many have been told by their parents not to believe everything you see on television or the internet, someone has to go and ruin it for everyone.
Over where I live, we get a lot of the craziness from NYC and every night you can go on the highway and find people street racing their Honda accords and the like. Naturally, people ask law enforcement to put a stop to it, so they just go after anything that looks like it's been messed with. I'd like to think that my antique plates help in that regard. At one point I had to be very careful of where I took it at night because someone would always try to race. I had some ding-dong follow 10 feet behind me for a mile when I was breaking in my engine.
I don't frequent vehicle-related gatherings as much these days, but I much prefer (and nearly exclusively attend) the early morning stuff that usually features a more mature audience. Many a time have I attended one at night and some upstanding individual does somethings that facilitates the arrival of law enforcement, more often not replicating they saw on YouTube or the like.

While I do derive more enjoyment than probably I should from making fun of the folks in Porsche world (rennlist and the like), I do think they have the right approach for a lot of things that I wish we could implement here if the conditions were right. (high quality aftermarket support, build philosophy etc.)

 

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts. Some excellent points made imo.

Way bay in my high school days, I would stay out late participating in the illegal drag race scene and later (after graduation) I got into spirited canyon driving with friends. I also had the privilege of working at a karting track and I paid a lot of driving dues at that time. As an adult, I really only attend HPDE's and the occasionally car meetup anymore.

Like you said, there's way too much influencer / 'hoonigan' influence and the respective culture has changed dramatically in a very short period of time.

 

i just got back from Sevenstock and one of the things that was noteworthy is that the crowd has gotten younger (or maybe stayed the same age?)
turn out was good, and there were lots of nice cars there, the quality of the builds has gotten better.

the influence has changed, people are going for a look that isn't just JDM+ which is fine, although i'm kind of out of the loop so i don't know where it comes from
in the past the FD's have been really boring, because they were all the same, but you see more variety now, under the hood anyways.

on the outside the FD still looks best when you highlight the stock lines, its a gorgeous car

 

Rotary engine on two wheels:

 

I really appreciate this creators' content and perspective. He never shy's away from pointing out all the ridiculousness in this hobby and has no problem making fun of himself either. Having a sense of humor goes a long way in today's world.

The part where he gets to the FD is spot on, haha.

 

kind of sad story on this CYM. But good cautionary tale.

 

^ Vargas'd

 

Kyle Mohan discusses an FD3S motor build:

 

Tomiyoshi Racing Shop Visit - Miyashita's FD3S - Kyushu's Fastest RX7?
Narita Dogfight

 

Curious about that rear brake and dedicated handbrake setup. Looks like a nismo 350z caliper.

 

Sorry if this is a repost, but I just ran across this story of the rx on youtube

 

Anyone have the link to the YT channel of the RX7 build that had a thread on the forum (that I can't find) that was an ex-professional racer. He did a somewhat OEM+ build with minimalist mods, chassis and suspension mods and a few other things.

Can't seem to find it, only one I can find is speed academy blue rx7 build but don't think that's it.

 

Super clean build and everything but the wheels are what made me click

 

Keiichi Tsuchiya vs. RX-7 (Hot-Version 1996)

Use Closed Captions and Auto-Translate Japanese to English


MAZDA RX-7 RZ FD3S TYPE 4
MAZDA RX-7 RS FD3S TYPE 4
NISSAN SKYLINE GT-R V-spec BNCR33
TOYOTA SUPRA RZ A80
KNIGHT SPORTS FD3S

I Feelin FD3S
KSP Engineering FD3S
Pan Speed FD3S
FUJITA Engineering FD3S

 

https://youtube.com/@dino_dc?si=5dHBm6uERhBFfpkN

Dino DC

​​​​​​Excellent JDM car content from Japan all over Asia. Posting this because he deserves a larger following. Always uploading high quality content. Check it out

​​example.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=n3uNXTu5dz4&si=TuMnKruTyBnM6ZJm
Example 2 panspeed workshop your
https://youtu.be/__kW-IgK5MU?si=KgSKgY6ngGx3ARw4

 

This build... It's something special.

 

I don't get it. Always complaining about YouTubers and "clout". But then claiming you will "break the internet"? It's certainly ok to be proud of what you've built, but would be less cringy to watch if you stepped away from the whole break the internet claims. Don't get me wrong, it's a nice car and I hope it works well, but that isn't going to be breaking the internet anytime soon. I share the love for FB, but the general internet does not. The 240z is the star of that similar body style era which is why the internet at least pays attention to them.

 

I think being humorous with a bullshit claim and then showcasing a well thought out car is better than the current media trends of showing some bolt-on weekend project. Bolt on **** is cringe. Repetitive is cringe.

The 240z was a decade before this car. Completely different market.

 

I said similar body style era. If you look at them there about 4 highly similar looking cars with a similar wedge shape. They also overlapped a year. A nicely modified z will get more attention than this even if yours is built better, that's all I meant.

If you are being humorous, ok, but the videos don't come across that way.