ok ive finally brought myself to actually consider whether having an FD will be good. I know lots about it and know that takin care of it is a must and i am fully prepared to do that. The car will be daily driven but just short earins(sp?) here and there and just crusing in. However im not FULL pockets rich and would probably just do the few reliablitly mods and take extra special care of her. Im not dirt poor either. The thing is now i have beguna eying the 3000gt, preferably the VR4. I have done some search on it but didnt want to get in to deep cuz this is JUST a thought of getting sumthing besides the FD. I have heard sum stories how they too can be unreliable and i know they are heavy as all **** but im not going to be drag racing this baby. just havin fun with it(and controlled fun that is, none of this 80 into turns while its snowing or speeding into oncoming traffic). SO what do YOU guys think, i say you guys because i want to know YOUR(RX-7 guys) opinion. And if not the VR4 what about just regular SL(i believe those are the NA models of the GT) Btw this would be a newer 97+ model. THANKS A BUNCH to anybody who has takin the time to read all this and decides to reply.

 

If your considering a 3000GT only get the VR4, the other models aren't that fast. I still think an FD would be better for you, and it seems like u really want one. One question, do u have a pic collection as large as your RX7 one with 3000GT's? Probably not.....

 

I don't know how much you are looking to spend on either, but I can promise you that you will not get a good condition VR-4 for less than 25k. They are cool cars, but heavy. So if you don't mind the weight and the price I would consider a supra.

 

I dont think you want to go with the SL, the later years are 160hp, with all that weight (the earlier ones were 200 I think).
A co-worker of mine back in the day had a VR4, he ditched it because problems kept coming up.

Take it from me you dont have to have your pockets lined with gold to own an FD, I'm just like you, I'm not "dirt poor" or super rich. I got a rebuild, and had everything that had to be replaced, replaced. Then went on to do reliability mods. It's been my daily driver since and have never had a problem with it. If your really just going to have a lil controlled fun here and there, I dont see why it would get all screwy with you if you take care of what needs to be taken care of. Also, you've got to have a REALLY good, and reliable rotary shop nearby, just in case you run into things you cant handle.

Good luck.

 

i have id say probably 1 pic of a 3000 gt. and i only even considered this because i saw a 97+ SL model with like 56k miles for 7,000. it was a local too. And im not gunna lie i think the 3000gts look pretty good(newer ones) but definatley not as good as the FD. But if they arent that expensive and are reliable as well as pretty fun....

But i would rather have the FD

 

Yea SLs are not cheap, but having been in an older SL (91 I think with the 200hp) they were not slow, but not fast either. Plus the 91's do not look as good.

You will probably save A LOT of money going with an SL, u just ccant do everything u would do with an FD.

 

Supra's are nice but also very $$. I am not a fan of the vr4 because of its size. I am pretty sure the vr4 is all wheel drive which is better for all weather. I couldnt even imagine driving my rx7 in the snow. Thank god for my 1977 granada. Wih out that piece I would have totaled my fd for sure.

If your looking for a cheap modifiable car why not look towards DSM. Like a first gen talon. My friend just got one and they are extremely easy to make fast.

 

LOL who said anythign about supras?

 

Ugh, any car but a 3000!

Just kidding.

In all honesty, my FD pisses me off as much as it makes me love it. There isn't a more fun car to drive (when it's driveable). There isn't a car that will **** you off more when it's not driveable.

If you like tinkering, want to pay a lot of money for replacement/upgrade parts, then the FD is for you... Realiability is only as good as you make it. It's not a Civic so you can't treat it like one.

IMO, if you want a sporty car with some power, reliability and not spend every weekend under your hood, look for a Vette (sweet cars and decent power N/A). If I lived in a state where there was no winter, I would definitely pick up an older Vette for my daily driver!

 

ask your self, do you want a sports car or a daily driver...

 

I had a buddy that had a VR-4. He said the damn thing never ran right. I dont know much about the cars, but he sid he could not wait to get rid of tht peice. what he buy instead? My 96 impalla SS.

 

tk5dan man o man if you read the whole thread you would see that DHALL mentioned it 4 posts before me .

 

The VR4 is a nice car, but if you get one thats not runing great, then youre prolly in trouble. There arent many shops specializing in 3000gts, maybe 5 at the most ini the us. there is a turbo kit for the sl that puts the car in the low 12's and high 11's with the right driver and the price of the kit and the car are pretty similar to that of buying a good condition FD.

 

3000Gts are nice cars, I think they look good and in VR-4 form are fast, but definitely not nearly the "driver's car" that the RX-7 is. They are more reliable, and are easier to take care of, although cost-wise owning one isn't going to be much cheaper than an FD just because they have the same super expensive part syndrome that FDs have. The main improvement is they don't have the endless headaches of the FD, the boost issues, the random oil leaks, weird idle, all the annoying stuff that can take forever to figure out even if its not necessarily expensive to fix. Mainly with the 3kgt you have the driveline and when something goes wrong, you bite the bullet, shell out the bucks, get it fixed, but then you don't have to worry about it anymore and you know you fixed it. The FD is one of those cars you have to really give a lot of love to, so thats why you really have to be a driving fanatic to own one, cause driving one around on the street like grandma isn't worth the headache. However, with the 3kgt, if you just drive it nice and gentle, it'll probably last forever (the FD will break no matter what you do...), but at the same time, its nowhere near as rewarding when driven hard (I have to admit I've never driven the VR-4 though so this may not be totally valid). Does that kind of give you the idea?

 

im a 1999 vr addict.....

the tails of those are so amazing...

 

Amen to that, but I'm dumping mine for an FD!

 

3000 = pontiac

total pos IMHO. I rather have a 97 model eclipse gsx

I've personally owned all the japaneese twin turbo domestically available imports EXCEPT the 3000 vr4.

It has the american equivalent of a Pontiac firebird

 

FD all the way

 

i use to own a 93 300 zx..... even though it's a little more agile then the 3000gt... it does not compare to a FD when you say "fun".... there is no "funner" car then the FD... hands down

 

ive owned 2 vr4's both had tranny issues, EXPENSIVE trannies to fix

 

Oh crap, Da pic man may not pic a FD. I supose next I'll learn the meaning of life has changed.

 

HELL NO MAN, this is just "WHAT IF"....lol

but guys all of you who responded i thank dearly for the info. I remember reading sumwhere that they can be pretty expensive cars to fix to but just wanted to make sure. But dont worry guys im still gunna stick with the FD reardless of what anyone says. But the thing that pisses me off the most is when ppl say "Rotary, pos, always breaks" or ill be talking to my dad or sumthin and ill be like hey look there are a couple FDs for sale and hell say a smartass remark like "But they all have no engines right"..."why do you think they stopped making them in 95"......but thats when i bust out the rotary knowlege and blow him outta the water......
Just thanks again guys.

 

i had a 99 3000GT (non turbo)

base/sl is only a factor when it's 97+, the SOHC engines are in the base models and the SL's retain the DOHC that appear in both base/SL pre 97

i had the SOHC, it was not fast

i've driven the DOHC's, they are not fast

a BPU VR-4, now that's some fun...only problem is, going from BPU to seriously modded is a HUGE undertaking

and you will almost certainly never break into the 10's with a VR-4....but you'll have wicked awesome 0-60 times

in short, RX-7 is where it's at

also, insurance on 3000GT>insurance on FD

 

thanks the insurance was also i factor i was going to ask about.

 

I've known 2 3000GT owners and both had tranny problems....I know nothing else...thank you