CourageOO7

Hey guys, I am less than a week away from buying a 3rd gen. I have two in particular in mind. Both appear to be well maintained but one has not had the turbos replaced and has 107k miles on it so that makes me nervous.

Anyway, one of the enthusiasts I talked to said that if you want everyday reliability with an RX7 then you should consider a single turbo upgrade with a relatively small turbo. Is it true you can't have a reliable 3rd gen that's got a brand new motor, brand new tranny, most reliability mods done, and even new turbos in one case.

Should I try to find a 3rd gen that's got a single turbo that doesn't make obscene power? I don't want 400HP. I want like 300HP cuz it's gonna be driven daily for about a year until I can get a beater.

Thanks!

DamonB

You've been misinformed. Use the "search" key and search for "reliability mods". You'll learn a lot.

EricM

Go to www.scuderiaciriani.com instead of search. You'll get info faster and weed out lots of worthless posts.

alberto_mg

Nah, the car can be reliable with twins. While it is probably true that the car is more reliable with a single turbo, a lot of other factors affect that too. Everything from how you maintain the car to what kind of power levels you are looking for to what kind of upgrades you do to overcome the FD’s shortcomings.

The reason many people say its more reliable with a single turbo is usually a combination of the following factors:

- the stock twins hold a lot of heat very close to the motor which contributes to the stock seals (esp the water o-ring seals) deteriorating from heat
- the stock twins are very complex with lots of solenoids to control the sequential activation and vacuum hoses that sometimes develop leaks or are incorrectly installed leading to funky boost level issues
- the stock twins do retain a lot of heat which also result in the manifolds developing cracks
- the extra heat affects other things underhood like coolant hoses and wires that get brittle due to the heat
- the “rats nest” or wiring harness is located in a spot that receives a lot of heat which contribute to the wires eventually getting brittle and eventually needing to be replaced.

That being said, if the car is fine to begin with and is carefully modified and properly tuned and maintained it can probably last just as long. A single turbo no matter what size isn’t going to feel the same as the twins which I am really starting to love I’ve had a few Turbo IIs and have driven other turbo cars and nothing gets boost spooled as quickly as the FD with twins. Anything more than a feathered throttle at low RPM and you have 5PSI! Sweet

I just bought my FD a couple of months ago. It has 120k miles on it. I got it with a blown motor, new rear, original turbos and original tranny in excellent shape. I had similar goals as you do – moderate power levels but very reliable and streetable. Upgrading the radiator, thermo switch, radiator ducting, intercooler ducting, using the stock airbox with fresh air ducting (cooler air than open intakes), SMintercooler, wrapping the downpipe and a few other things (like my vented hood) have decreased underhood temps and operating efficiency overall with great power for street driving. Most of these mods/upgrades aren’t that expensive either especially if you buy used.

I had the motor rebuilt and tuned by local tuner SmokinJoeRacing.net and the car is running incredibly well. My turbos have 120k miles on them and have some small cracks, but they are absolutely fine otherwise. They perform well and build boost like they should. Very little oil blow-by. No leaks.

Whichever one you decide upon, make sure the owners can back up their claims about the various engine/tranny/rear/turbo rebuilds with actual receipts. If they can’t, then they are probably lying about it. I wouldn’t worry too much about the non-rebuilt turbos provided they are not smoking and you don’t see an oil pit under the turbos or in the pipes going to the intercooler. You can have them rebuilt by BNR for under $1k. There are also some stories about rebuilt turbos that have not lasted long, so...

Buy what seems like the best car on paper and drives better and seems better priced. PM me with details if you want my opinion or just post for others to comment upon.

CourageOO7

Alberto, thanks for the info. I have been doing some reading as a lot of people have offered help. Well, here's the deal. This one guy has a lot of mods which include reliability mods done. 70 miles on the new motor, but old turbos (no biggie as there is no smoke). He appears very to know his stuff and he's got a fuel computer to compensate for the full exhaust with no cats and other mods.

This other guys has a totally new drivetrain, motor, and turbos. He has done full exhaust also, however, he doesn't have a tuning computer and I think that's something I'd like to get on that car to adjust fuel enrichment (I'd have a pro do it). I live in the DC area...I'll be using it daily for about a year. My email is jarmenta@pheared.net so if you see a car you might be interested in then please let me know.

THANKS! J

jdhuegel1

Tell you what:

Get pictures and EXTENSIVE lists of exactly every-single-thing done INCLUDING BRAND names, how many miles, who tuned what (IE Fuel computer) and any other information you can get on BOTH cars. Post it and we'll help you find a better (Or better cared for) car. Just because someone got a fuel computer, doesn't mean they knew what the hell they were doing with it. Good luck!

alberto_mg

Well its definitely good that he got a fuel computer. It sounds like it would be a Peter Farrell or maybe an M2? Like jdhuegel1 said, you really need to know the specifics on the brand of fuel computer and also the model. For example, the PFS (Peter Farrell Supercars) computers have 3 different types designed for a specific set of mods. The fuel computers are easier to deal with than something like a Power FC (PFC) as the PFC needs to be setup for the specific car and mods.

Don't rush into the decision, spend some time reading the links people posted as there is a lot of stuff that you need to know before buying.

- What type/model of fuel computer? Have him show it to you and compare pics with what you see when searching this board. Some of the PFS boxes are colored.
- What brand exhaust? If you want to pass smog you can buy a stock cat here on the board for $40-80.
- What intake?
- What radiator?
- What intake?
- What intercooler?
- Physical Receipts for engine/tranny/rear work

Its always a crap shoot with a used car so be careful. The more and more detailed info the better.

adam c

iTrader: (2)

If reliability, not power, is your primary concern, you should not buy either of those cars. Find a lower mileage stock car.

CourageOO7

Okay, thanks for the info guys. Here's the deal.

The red car (I like red) has:

Apexi Computer
Apexi exhaust (MP, DP, CB)
Apexi dual intake
Apexi FMIC
Fluidyne Radiator
Apexi Boost Controller
Tokico shocks BFD (Big F'n deal)
Air seperator tank (can't remember who)
HKS Blow off valve
Upgraded Clutch (someone good)

Both have less than 100 miles on the motors, the red one has 102,000 miles with tranny rebuilt and original turbos

Black, my second favorite color has:
Apexi Dual intake
Racing Beat exhaust, down pipe, and midpipe
no suspension work
new motor, new tranny, new turbos, and new stock clutch

It needs new tires but everything else looks good...
90,000 miles on chassis.

Let me know what you think!
Both are asking about $16,000

CourageOO7

By the way, isn't a fuel computer kind of necessary if you are going to vent gases that quickly?

Thanks!

skunks

id go for the red one and get it tuned by a pro, you dont need a new fuel comptuer "to vent gases that quickly" (i dont actually know what that means btw, im assuming your talkign about having a straight pipe exhaust which would cause you to over boost if your not careful), you just need to control boost levels to be safe

CourageOO7

So you are saying go for the red one despite the fact that the turbos have 107,000 miles on them?

alberto_mg

The red one sounds like it is better setup. You are also getting more parts for your $$ - the intercooler, boost controller, shocks, upgraded clutch. Dollar for dollar it seems better prepared.

GarageBoy

Are you sure the turbo's lasted that long? The Apexi PFC will be vital later on. (stock closed-loop ECU doesn't like mods)

doncojones

I too, would recommend getting a stock or close-to-stock car with less mileage rather than someone else's project.