Is the FD the car for me?
 

Hey everyone, I'm new to the forum and I am in need of some advice. I am a soldier in the Army, and I want to buy a car. One of my choices is the FD, but I have read/heard that they require careful maintenence and mechanical skills in order to keep them running smoothly. Money is not a problem since I have little else to spend it on, but I know nothing about mechanics. I am going to be a casual driver/wannabe racer, mainly going out for a spin on the weekends, so am I going to be OK with one, or should I look elsewhere? If not an FD, any other fun, sporty suggestions? Thanks in advance, I look forward to reading your comments!

IMO, you should look at an S2000.

i say go with an fd .. but know itll be a love/hate relationship

For the money a stock FD will probhably do you well, keep it stock and do some reliability upgrades, and you should have something for quite some time. Look carefully and read up on it as much as time permits, the more you know before going into the purchase the more you can avoid disaster...

Other than that, maybe a Classic Corvette, but those are either in poor repair, or really expensive... and mechanical curiosity would be a requirement on my top 10 list of skills for a sportscar owner... you don't need to know how everything works, but you should be curious enough to want to learn.

are you friends with any tow truck drivers?

if you dont mod the fd a lot it will be totally fine. Honestly no matter what anyone tells you a heavily modded fd is like my friends like to say when they make fun of me "a ticking timebomb"
If I had to do it all over again starting with my last fd I would have gotten a stock reman engine with a 1 year warranty for 2200 put an intake and full exhuast on the car with a pettit ecu and run it at 12psi. That is a mid 12 second car very fun reliable and streetable. When you get into ported/rebuilt motors by shops and a tunable ecu is where you get into trouble. There arent many guys that know what they are doing so it usually doenst work out that you picked the right places to go to and you pay big money for your mistake. No matter how much you read and even know it wont help if your car isnt setup perfect and safe. For instance engine builders themselves blow up engines all the time so now imagine a normal person. Keep it mild on the mods and work on the body and suspension and maitain it and keep it looking like a new car. Theres hardly any left out there!!

the fd is very very fun and you will fall in love with it. When you start to have problems you will hate it and want to get out of it. So just dont get to that point. Im wondering WHEN people will figure these engines out and it wont be so hard to modify them safely.

good luck.

If you have time to learn to fix it (i.e. don't rely on this car for your transportation), then an FD may be for you. I had little mechanical experience before working on my FD and I feel I've come a long way and the car has been fine. However, my car is mostly stock and has on 58k (12k on motor). So if you get a similar setup, it's quite do-able.

Dave

if you want an FD as a daily driver....

i would suggest getting something else. i find it difficult to find an FD in stock form without tons of miles and no problems. but if you do find one, remember they are about 10 years old and parts start failing.

also, since you admit to not being very mechanicaly inclined, finding a person in your area that can work on a rotory and do a good job may be difficult as well. and the cost of parts and labor will add up quick.

personally, i could never afford an FD if i didnt know how to work on it, and mine is not heavily modded.

like rescueranger said, its a love/hate relationship. good luck.

dude, whatever!

you dont need mechanical skills to own an FD,

you have the money, so use it to pay a qualified mechanic to take care of that stuff for you.

the only problem is that you need to find a QUALIFIED mechanic, not any will do. you need someone who knows rotaries.

Also listen to what the mechanic says.

I didnt listen to mine when he said "i highly HIGHLY recommend you get a new radiator"

not that my radiator was broken.. he just highly recommended it..

so sure enough, I cheaped out and didnt get a new radiator.. and my engine blew a few weeks later due to overheating :redface:

Wow thanks for all of the quick replies...
As far as mechanical curiosity goes, I am definitely starting to develop some as I look around at prospective cars online, and being a quick learner, I'm sure I could figure the important stuff out as I shop around. I like the FD for its amazing potential and its 'unique factor'; its a car that is rarely seen on the roads. (at least, where I live)
The FD would be my daily driver, but I have a bike as a backup means of transport so I could let the car sit in a shop for awhile and not worry about getting around.
Regarding the S2000 suggestion, I test drove it but did not like it. Hard to say why, just didn't like the way it felt. I have heard some good things about the STi and the LanEvo 8, anyone here know about those?
Back to the FD, if I were to buy one, how hard would it be to find mechanics that know enough to service them? As mentioned before, I am a soldier, so I move frequently...If not for that one important concern I would buy an FD with no hesitation =/

if you decide the FD is not the car for you and you can do it I would say go with the STI, they are fabulous cars, very fast stock and they have tons of potential, not to mention warrenty, my good friend has one and has had zero problems with it.

ps. the handling on the STI is insane! especially once simple suspension mods come

I do have to be a little biased though..... the FD looks better:D

Go through the archives and read about the reliability concerns related to the fd. Also if you do a search or ask the people in your region about mechanics, that would help you with that answer. I would definitely look into reading more about the car BEFORE buying one so that you are more educated about what you are getting yourself into. In the SE region forum there is a rotary club in north carolina. Those guys should be able to help you out a lot with finding knowledgable people.

dgreesman and I are in the same boat. little/no previous experience w/ true engine work.

w/ the help of this forum, you can do just about anything. there are some very smart and talented people who are here to support you.

i bought mine in october as a DD (currently looking for a new DD so i can start some of the longer projects on my FD) and it has been great.

It didnt hurt that i have wanted to car since i was 13 so when i found the right one, i jumped it quick.

FD all the way. even when she breaks, she's better than everything else out there... and you'll learn something fixing her.

since you do have a job (unlike many of us here hehe) id say go ahead and get one. you can always pay someone to do the work for you and if you really think about it, 5k for a brand new engine+2k for a new turbo+car=cheaper then a new civic and one hella fast and nice looking car.

yeah i agree, im a minor but not a noob to mechanic skills so i can do some work on my own fd.. and there is a shop about 8 miles from my house that specialize in rx7s, i mean they're good..check it out at www.acostamotorsports.com

anyway, my fd is not a daily driver, i have a honda for that..

i'd say if you're not financially, mentally, nor physically ready, dont get one..

i hate to see another fd in the junkyard

Hi Guys,

I am in the market for a FD also. I currently own a 1991 Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4. I want to sell that car and buy a FD. Couple of my friends drive FCs. I want to sell off my 3000GT because I want something that is good all around, meaning that it handles good and has great power. Don't get me wrong, I love my 3000GT, its got great power and I love the way it looks, but the car will never be able to handle like the FD. Currently I found a FD in my area that has a new motor with 13XXX mile on new motor and 95XXX mile on the car. I will be test driving the car this weekend. What should I look/listen for while I'm test driving? Any help would be great! Thank you!

Aaron

im glad i found this thread. im also looking to buy an FD in the near future.... in fact im going to Daly City near San Francisco friday to look at one...... and ive been reading all over the 3rd gen forum and other sites about the car. the FD is literally my dream car (attainable dream car:D ). this thread helps with my concerns.

movin up from the good ol FC

just look for the normal stuff, make sure vaccum is above 16in/hg and it boost 10-8-10 and your good

have fun, i always do when i test drive a car

doood... you remind me of me!!! we even have the same name..... freaky.......

hahaha, good luck hunting down your FD!

Aaron

same to you...

I suggest you guys read the newbie links. Lots of good info and a tutorial about what to look for in a used FD.

As for Climhazzard - I'd say the FD ain't for you. Its a lot of work to keep it driving well. Sounds like you want something to get into drive around for the weekend and enjoy. You can do that with an FD AFTER you spend a few months to a year fixing all the little stuff that is wrong on a 10 year old car.

Even if you get one with a new motor, the suspension will need to be completely gone through (pillowballs), diff bushings will probably be needed (mucho $$), passing smog will always be a biatch, and you will never find the elusive good mechanic that you can pay to fix the thing no matter how much money you have. Unless you truly enjoy wrenching and HAVE the time to spend a day every month or so fixing something, this is not the car for you. Even if the motor is new, you gotta worry about the tranny, diff, turbos etc etc.

It is a commitment.

Here is the link for a buying a used one:
http://www.rx7turboturbo.com/robrobinette/buyaused.htm

Can't improve on this advice.;) I bought mine a little over a year ago. This is where I started my education.... http://www.scuderiaciriani.com/rx7/

Sorry to revive this long dead thread, but after reading the replies awhile back, I considered the advice given to me and decided not to go with the FD after all. I bought myself an 03' Acura CL type-S (dealer was friend, gave me a price I just couldn't pass up). Well, it's 9 months later now, and everytime I start up the CL I keep thinking to myself 'man, I really should have gotten that FD!' I just can't ignore that voice anymore, and am in the process of hunting one down.

I guess this really isn't a new post pertaining to the subject, I just wanted to let you guys know that I am choosing the difficult path and will hopefully be joining everyone on the boards as an official 7 driver soon!!! Big thanks to all who originally replied to my post, especially for those who provided the helpful links.