Hi, Im thinking of buying either a FD, a C5 or a 2.8 Z3 (gotta love the short forms). Given that what I want in a car is looks, handling, acceleration, nice interior, cheapness(relative) and the ability to drive it seven days a week (in good weather only of course) which car would be best for all these?? The FD breaks down alot (I hear) but is cheap and fast, the C5 is good all around but kinda expensive (and bulky) and the Z3 is really slow but cheap and dependable with good handling and its a convertible (big plus!) Which would be best? I want an FD but I dont have the time or knowledge to fix it every week to keep it running. Please help, I want to buy before summer.

 

I think these exact words tell you what NOT to get. An RX-7 requires much more maintenance (AKA attention) than other cars and/or women. I'll let everyone else post their opinions.

 

Is that really true, you have to fix something on an FD almost every week!??

 

Where do you get your info from? For some,...there are many things to fix...for others, their cars are almost carefree.

 

not every week. Do a search on reliability mods

 

lets just say FD got lot of problems to fix if you don't take car of it.

 

FD's dont have more problems than any other sportcar.
Sportcars need care otherwise they will break no matter what car it is.

 

C'mon, you cant tell me an FD is just as reliable as a C5, cause its not, I know that for a fact.

 

The FD may or may not give you problems every week but that possibility is there... and if it does give you problems you can't perform any of the work yourself, you'll very quickly rack up a very costly repair bill. The C5 or the Z3 is probably better for you.

 

So go buy the C5. pretty simple if you ask me.

 

Okay, its a lot more, but I think i'll get a C5, but one last thing, for anyone who has driven/driven in both the FD and the C5, which one has a more sprung, nimble, tight feeling steering that is nice and lights and provides good road feedback, that is pretty important to me to. By the way, thanks alot for all the help guys.

 

how about a FD with a C5 engine and Z3 fenders lol?

 

dont forget about the drop top

 

I have never driven an FD but I driven a C5 and they are awsome cars, they are a totally differnt breed of corvette....I dont know why they even called it a vette. The corvette is probably a more realiable car so I would go with that but its a little bulky like you said. They handle awsome.

 

Allright, fine im getting a C5, thats final, thanks guys

 

Who told you the FD is cheap? Then again, I guess "cheap" is a relative term. Anytime you buy a sports car, expect to shell out a lot more than just the estimated fuel cost listed on the window sticker. Maintenance and parts alone are not cheap items on an FD. That's not even counting modifications to the car which usually result in even more cost than what you pay for mods themselves. And we all know that once you get a fast car, you will want to make it faster. I hate to choose against the 7 but it sounds like the Z3 would be your best choice (IMO). I have never been a fan of GM engineering quality either. They produce a car that looks good but lacks so many of the technical aspects of European and Japanese sports cars. The Z3 has reliability, efficiency, good looks and a drop-top!

 

Just be careful to never test drive an FD, or you'll be hooked.

 

Offcourse an fd isn as reliable as a c5, you gotta remeber that if you buy an rx-7 you get a 7-9 years ood car and the C5 is about 3 years old.

 

so true!!!

P.S. hope you got the money for a C5! by my calculations you can get 2-3 fd's for the price of 1 C5.

 

Yeah, where I live you can get two FD's for one C5, but oh well, ive got the money, its just a matter of what car is best for me, although trust me it is tempting to spend half as much for an almost equal car.

 

I have not done anything to my FD since I got it back from its rebuild last July, except 7 Oil and Filter changes and a couple sets of brake pads (burn a set in 1 day at the track) it is my daily driver and I have put 17k+ miles on it since the rebuild - Prior to the rebuild I had put 20k+ miles on it (83k>103k) with only minor maint.

 

did you consider a supra tt? i am looking hard at the fd's cause it is impossible to find a supra for a reasonable price and i love their style. if you can find one and afford the mark up get one. i prefer the supra because the initial "base performance upgrade" is about $1300 and take you from 320hp to 420-430hp. after that it's fmic, fuel, cams, etc.. taking you maybe to the high 400hp range. then you can go single turbo. depending on the turbo you can get 650-900+hp. and the 2jz-gte engine can handle all the abuse you can give it without major issues. these are bulky cars like the c5 but with the right suspension it can handle very well.

i have friends with rx-7s and supras and both are fast. the supras seem to be the highway roll monster taking out almost anything when you go single turb.

 

I don't want a Supra, they just aren't as awesome as C5's, they look pretty plain and perform a bit worse than the C5, and more importantly, they are exactly the same price as C5's where I live. Anyway, a small engine with a turbo can never be as heart stirring for the pure power of a 5.7 litre V8 and also, with about $1400 the C5 can boost hp to over 400 I hear.

Oh, and by the way....................... I BOUGHT THE C5!!!!!!!

Its a red 2000 coupe with black sport seats, HUD and six speed!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is the best day of my life!! (So far, Im only 17!) The thing is incredible to drive! The best car I had driven before was a 94 Jetta GL so you know how incredible it is to me!!

 

Funny you should mention this. I was almost tempted to change cars a couple of months ago...I was thinking about getting rid of my FD and getting a new Z06. I had basically made up my mind to get the Z, but then I had the opportunity to test drive one. While I know it will hold it's own against the RX-7 as far as ultimate grip was concerned, I was less than impressed with the handling FEEL of the car, and that was a major factor in my deciding to keep the 7. I'm not saying the handling feel was bad in the Z...no, it was good, but compared to the RX-7 it just didn't have that crisp feeling. The FD feels much more precise in comparison. I concluded that with the handling performance between the two cars being relatively equal, that the FD with it's better feeling would just be more fun to drive.

I see that you've already gone and purchased your C5, though, so this comes a little late....oh well, no big loss. The C5 is an awesome car and what you'll miss in feel, you'll gain in reliability. Congrats on the purchase, I'm sure you're going to love it!

 

Hey Gordon,

I agree with everything you have said, except your statement above. The FD, with reliability mods and not abused is not guaranteed to be reliable. I say this based solely on my experience, owning the car for 3.5 years and using it as a daily driver. My car has spent most of it's life in a relatively unmodded state, except the "standard" reliability mods: Ceramic coated DP, AST eliminated, a comp radiator, and a silicone hose job. I never make drag style launches...(heck, I shift so easy that I don't even chirp the tires between gears ) But there are still many failures that occur on my FD which can't be prevented by the standard batch of reliability mods. Leaky fuel pulsation dampers, leaky injectors, leaky fuel lines, leaking rear main seals, leaking oil pans, worn out suspension pieces (pillow *****, bushings, toe links), broken clutch release forks, worn out motor mounts, dead solenoids...the list goes on and on. I know that I am not alone in having these problems...I have heard many people experience the same issues on their cars. None of the reliability mods addresses these issues, except maybe the solenoids which are helped by the lower engine bay temps provided by the DP, but even then they still fail, just not as frequently. In any case, the car is far from reliable.

Of course, none of these failures will leave you stranded in the middle of nowhere, so perhaps that is what people mean when they say "it's reliable"... is my definition of reliablilty different from everyone elses?

Sure, all parts eventually wear out on all cars, but what wears out in 150K miles on other cars wears out in 60K miles on the FD. I think it is really unreasonable to expect reliablilty from these cars, regardless of the level of mods or the amount of abuse the car sees. A honda is reliable, an FD is not. But an FD offers so much more driving pleasure than a honda...damn I hate compromises