Took the day off from work yesterday and took the car out for a 250 mile road trip on my 47th birthday...yeah that's right 47th. Fueled her up, treated the FD to a quick wash & hit the road starting out in northern Connecticut & driving on up to Vermont in cool, crisp 50 deg New England weather-gotta love the boost at those temps! I drove through classic New England towns, up & down hills & mountains following long, lazy sweeping curves with plenty of tighter turns along the river beds to take my attention off of the fall foliage. Driving into Vermont gave me the chance to take some roads little traveled by others (except a few moose). No kidding, they actually have signs posted that warn drivers of moose crossings. I've always loved these cars from the time I saw my 1st FD. I knew someday I would end up with one of my own. I purchased my 1995 MB FD back in 1998 direct from a dealer with 2k on the odometer. I am the original owner & the 1st owner listed on the title. I have the original window sticker & owners manual. The car has 43k on it now and is used as a daily driver for 9 months of the year (I keep it garaged from mid Dec to mid Mar). The car never ceases to amaze me & puts a smile on my face whenever I drive it or just gaze in it's direction. The car is basically stock except for AST, front brace, 17inch LM Forgelines with 235/265 PS2s. Since it is a daily driver I try to keep it stock as much as possible and also religiously change the fuel filter, plugs & oil & go through a startup & shutdown routine for warmup/cool down. These cars were built for drives like this. All I can say is it really doesn't get much better than this!!!!! What a way to spend a birthday!

 

That trip does sound very exciting. It would be nice to be the original owner of my own car, hehe.

 

Happy Birthday, and congrats on being an original owner. Sounds like a nice way to spend the day. Did you have a passenger along, or would that have been a bad thing .

 

Happy b-day and enjoy that car... there are few like it.

 

I did something similiar for my 49th b-day last month. My b-day was Friday and I attended the Texas Quad-State Rotary BBQ on Saturday. I went for a long drive on Sunday and enjoyed every minute of it. This is like my therapy, only one other thing I rather be doing.

 

Not enough stories of people having a good, enjoyable time with their FD! Happy B-day! Sounds like a great trip!

Dale

 

happy bday

 

Passenger would have been my wife but I couldn't get her to come along. She says I make her sick when the car goes around the corners too fast. I really don't blame her...I wouldn't want to be in that passenger seat either.

 

Sounds like fun. Wouldn't have been as good with her getting sick, or telling you to slow down

 

^Exactly what I was thinking as I was reading this. Happy birthday!

 

Happy B-Day. enjoy the car. its good to hear someone is enjoying these cars and not distroying them. post some pics of those wide open roads and your FD.
Jeff

 

Happy birthday! Hey, you are lucky, youre one of those young guys on the forum! Ditto to your statements above. You hit the nail right on the head, it doesnt get much better than that. There arent but a handful of women that understand this "love affair" between man and machine, its a guy thing.
chuck

 

That is the same thing my wife says.

 

happy b-day man. i turn 21 on weds. but tomorrow(monday) i take a 880 mile trip to sheppard AFB in tx for training. i have done all the prep work and i'm confident that my FD will get there and back with out a hetch. but driving the car on highways for 12 hours is a totally different thing then driving twisties but i'll still have a good time!

 

Just curious billt, how often do you change your fuel filter?

 

On the average the fuel filter has been changed every 8k-10k but I've been changing it every spring for the past few years when it emerges from winter storage. I keep the tank full & start it up a few times during the winter & talso ake it out for very short rides if the pavement is clear. In the spring I run all the gas out of the tank without boosting too much. The fuel filter is replaced after I've run a couple of tanks worth of gas thru the old filter. I've driven an awful lot of cars in the past 31 years and owned an MG Midget, Mitsu 3000GT-VR4 & '69 Dodge Charger but I have to say without a doubt that the FD is the most entertaining & best looking of them all. This car is a keeper. Thanks to everyone for wishing me a happy b'day & also for all of the great info the past few years. I guess you might say that I've been a "silent" member who has learned a whole lot from you folks. Thanks again for replying kindly to my b'day post. Long live the FD.

 

Happy birthday. Wish more people would share stories like these.

 

WOW, you're even more meticulous than me. I'm the original owner of a '95 with a little over 30k miles. I shoot for a filter change by every 15,000 miles and I've had it done twice, the last time about a year ago. I do winter storage too. For a couple of years I put in Sta-bil with the last fill up (Watch you don't spill that stuff on anything). But now, in my opinion and experience, I don't think you need Sta-bil. (and I worry it could be too caustic for the fuel system.)

I fill it to the very top with the last drive, in late Nov. or Dec. I'll even add a little with a hand held can when the car is in the garage. Then I run it every week or two. It goes back on the road in late March or early April with a fresh fill up. It gets BG 44k or Redline fuel system cleaner every 5 -10,000 miles and I've never had any fuel system problems. Engine runs smooth and strong.
I think changing the fuel filter is one of the keys to preventing detonation in these cars.