FD RX7 vs SW20?
 

Im thinking of giving up on MR2's, my last one left a really bad taste in my mouth, something like dumping $5 grand into getting it to be not reliable at all (Ontop of the first 10-15k I had already put into it) and then the new motor only lasting about 8 months before it got Rod Knock.

Between the repairs and the legal fees it caused me, It broke the bank

With a car that horribly unreliable and an engine that competes with the oilfilter in terms of how often I need to replace it, I fail to see how much worse an FD could be with its rotary engine.

I dont like working on cars though, but I know some cheap Mechanics that I can pay slave wages to work on my next import, Im putting it off til I develop 100k or so in wealth in the stock market to help finance this expensive hobby. Im also a criminal justice major and live in a major US city that is highly fragmented with 65 police departments out of 93 municipalities that pull imports over for minor infractions for revenue generation rather than public safety. Im thinking I will have a badge backing my car up for those situations, before I buy my next import, as I am looking towards a career in probation and parole.

Anyways, Im thinking FD this time around, although I can pick up a fast SW20 for a little cheaper than most FD's, I think the FD is a bit better looking than most MR2's except 94+'s.

Anyways Ill get off my soapbox, just curious what the FD owners thought of which car I might go with if they were in my situation. I would prefer that it run low 11's or high 10's.

it sounds like you need to get a newer car that is simpler to maintain and work on (front engine, rear wheel drive, naturally aspirated). like an s2000. After what you've been through with MR2's I think you won't have the patience for an FD.

1. Buy S2000

2. Enjoy the fuel economy, handling, and reliability (relatively speaking)

3. Don't mod it and put all the money you would have spent on an FD in the bank

Yea that is one thing that annoys me about turbo cars is everything has to be in perfect working order for it to run right.

Again, with my history of owning turbo imports for 5 years, and not making the mistake of buying a poorly maintained one on the cheap, I think I will have a more fullfilling experience next time around with a nice FD, and I should have a lot more wealth and income backing it up than when I got my first MR2 Turbo.

I got a friend who works on turbo imports all the time, he probably won't have much trouble keeping it maintained good so I can drive it, and of course I can do basics like check the oil at every fill up and keep it topped off.

As for putting money in the bank, um I just put $2872 into 100 shares of AGNC stock last week and should make a $3000 or so installment in more shares of a diversified stock portfolion every 4-6 months, maybe less time as my dividend payments build up. I wont make the same mistake with my next import, Im gonna have some serious cash backing it up incase the worst happens.

Sounds like the FD is not for you, and personally I wouldn't let your friend touch it unless he knows about rotaries. As for the 94+ MR2 looking better, I know its subjective but I think those are so ugly. Never was a fan of the MR2 though.

94+ got a restyle that looks a lot better than the 91-93's. Your probably thinking of a 91-93.

Eh, I can pay a proffessional to work on the engine thats not the problem. If my ducks line up in a row, I should be well prepared to give an FD a good home.

edit: Also I live in a major US city that probably has some RX7 owners that can help me.

Honestly I have had many car's as new as 2010, and as old as 1969. Im not going to list them, but I will say my FD has been the most reliable. I have had imports, domestic, and german cars. The FD has been my race car, and I would have to drive it when my daily would fail. I also put a decent amount of miles on my FD, mostly circuit racing miles. My FD never gave me any problem even when it was single turbo making 400 wheel. It all depends on your willingness to find the right person to work on your car, tune your car, then pay for it. You get what you pay for with these cars.

Love the SW20. Had a 91 turbo right out of HS cause I couldn't afford the FD. The MR2 and FD are both great cars but you're looking down the wrong alley if you're looking for true reliability compared to more current cars.

Well thanks for the support, Im not an 18 year old kid looking for a street racer, im a 25 1/2 year old man who is past his days as a street racer and am looking for a nice, clean looking car, that I might use at the quartermile every now and then, as well as auto-x and track and I have an extensive enough background with the MR2 Turbo that I think an FD is not such the huge leap some have made it out to be (I was thinking that if I am not an ideal candidate for an FD RX7, who is, perhaps a certified Mazda mechanic with a lift in his garage?).

Im not completely incapable of turning a wrench, I just don't like doing it but I have a few friends quite adept at it and a local sports car garage, and I was thinking that if I buy a well taken care of one, and keep taking good care of it, I should have a halfway decent car. Unlike my last car, where money was an issue, with the Criminal Justice system clearing out prisons for probation and parole, I should have a career that can afford me my one true passion in life, fast japanese cars.

As for a reliable car, I learned my lesson from the MR2 not to make your turbo import your daily driver. I putt around in a very reliable 95 miata in the meantime, and will always have an NA car for my DD. Come to think of it, every car Ive ever owned has been a 2 seater, japanese, RWD, manual, hence why the FD RX7 has caught my eye. The newest car Ive ever owned is my current 95 miata, Ive owned as old as an 85 MK1 MR2.

i love how SW20 look as well. btw the 94+ look pretty much the same for me. except the tailights....wat other ext things?

:nod:

95 had a solid one piece spoiler.

Well you should do fine, it's really not any different than other turbo cars. All turbo cars hate detonation, all turbo car's get hot faster, all turbo cars have a shorter life expectancy. Honestly the only car I had that compared to my fd was my e46 m3. I like the fd more because it was smaller. Just buy one, don't over think it. The fd is no different than any other small displacement turbo import. I have seen a million blown sr's, rb's, f20/22, or any other's from the long list.

buy a roller. put a v8 in it. call it a day.

Since you have an import mechanic that will work for slave pay I say stay with the Mr2. You wont get an fd worked on without spending $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

I've owned, modified, and daily drove an SW20 for 6 years. The original poster's experience has been completely opposite of mine.

I started off buying a 1991 non-turbo hardtop with no power options back in high school. By the time I graduated, I had saved enough to buy a JDM engine clip from a 1993 GT-S model and did the swap with a friend in our garage over the summer (came with the updated rear suspension, OEM Viscous LSD, revised exhaust manifold, etc.).

I believe that the 3SGTE is one of the most under-rated engines out there. Mine was hugely reliable and took a lot of hard abuse over the many years I had it.

Engine parts are cheap compared to FD (and many other car) prices. The cast-iron block is very stout and the car has similar weight to the FD. The last time I had my SW20 corner balanced, it came in around 2680lbs with full interior and about 1/3 tank of gas.

The traction and braking are excellent. I had upgraded to the 1993+ brakes, which helped shave the 60-0 distance to less than 110 ft. At Battle of The Imports in 2006, I ran a 12.9 @ 106 pass with a 1.8 60' on 225 Kumho MX tires.

Only engine mods that I had were a MBC @ 20 PSI, SARD ECU, 12lb flywheel, Trust IC, 3" turboback exhaust, water injection, and a CT20B off of the JDM 1994+ 3SGTE's.

I changed the oil every 3k, did the timing belt at suggested intervals, and kept tabs on other regular maintenance items throughout my ownership. These engines are hard to kill. Note that the 3SGTE is a non-interference motor with the OEM cams/pistons.

I've had many friends who've run similar setups on their MR2's to much success. Over the years, we've all sold our 2's and moved on to other cars. I've seen the new owners trash these SW20's in short order due to neglect and mis-guided modifications/tweaking. Not too different from what happens to FD's in the wrong hands.

I love my FD; it's a great car that's been more reliable than others make it out to be.

Given all of the above and your own background, I would recommend that you do not buy an FD or any other used turbocharged car.

I think that the person who suggested the S2000 is spot on. Another Miata would also be great for you. Good luck and I hope that you find what you're looking for.

IIRC, the 94+ also had color-matched side trim and lower valences.

It's a 16+ year old car that was finicky new and requires YOU or a specialty mechanic to work on. Your going on 26 and still looking to start a career in CJ in parole/probation...a job that historically doesn't pay much and where (in my area) a career lasting more than 5 years is statistically rare. But you THINK it will give you some advantage for bad driving.
But enough of the soapbox talk. Get the Honda.

+1

I owned a MR2 NA and a MR2 Turbo (modified) before the RX7 and they have been very reliable like all other Toyotas I've owned. Obviously the OP had a lemon but even then, if he's complaining about the reliability of a MR2, he won't like the RX7 in the long run.

I also agree, 3sgte is underrated but only because it came in the wrong cars (rare, expensive, difficult to cool without butchering) so aftermarket support did not follow through as much as a SR20DET or 4g63 etc.

I wouldn't recommend an FD to anyone who doesn't like working on cars themselves. The FD requires a fair bit of work to get it into a nice reliable state, and when its there...Needs to be kept an eye on by someone who understands the car. That being said..If it IS looked after properly, they are generally pretty reliable...I used mine as my DD for two years without any serious issues.

I think an S2k may be better for you & your wallet :)

Smell troll

Well actually I was commenting on the legalistic approach some of the 65 departments in my municipality take when it comes to law enforcement, and unlike a lot of major US City's, the one I live in is highly fragmented and there are some police departments that are more focused on revenue generation that public safety. I would not look for excusing myself to drive poorly and put lives at risk because I own an FD.
For example, I was on a 5 lane road, in a municipality with a 2000 census population of 1598 that had its own police department. They purposefully lower the speed limit to catch people off guard as a half mile up the road the speed limit is up another 5mph, and 2 miles up the road, its 10 mph higher. Its probably the least popular way to enforce the laws amongst the general population as you can catch people on technicalities and still slap them with legal fees the same as if they had been a dangerous driver.

I like to compare my MR2 days, to my current miata I own, in that Ive never gotten pulled over in it, but Im still the same driver.

Anyhoo, if you guys think I am trolling the forum as I have been told I am 2x now, Im sorry, I am not sure what I could have done differently to avoid that label. Perhaps I should take a break from being a member here for another few months.

Unless you have a buddy that specializes in rotarys stay away. I'm not talking about someone who has installed an FMIC on an FD I'm talking about doing quality rebuilds that last. We don't need another person telling everyone that the rotary is unreliable because they have inexperienced slave labor mechanics work on them.

You seem to be putting all of your faith on getting an FD through a gamble. So for you your set IF Your new stock purchases work out(worst idea ever), Your random mechanics ability to work on one of the most finicky Japanese sports car ever brought to the US and if all else fails you can fall back on a low salary career to par for these "cheap" repairs of a 10 sec drag car. To be honest you sound like your in one of the worst situations/mind sets to jump into the FD scene. Try modding your Miata, they can be truly fun with the right suspension upgrades just never any sort of fast.

While your waiting for your 100k return from our booming economy, start with a t2 and learn the rotary a little more. You can get one for really cheap like 4k. Meantime you will still have a very fun/quick car then decide if you want to make that leep into fd, after you realize rotaries are a breed of their own.

looks and reliability. yup

Or go buy a C5 and leave the 7's for the rotary enthusiasts. ;)

Actually my stock is paying me $.19 on the dollar as an annual dividend (which is skyhigh in terms of dividends), has paid that dividend for the past 2 years consistently and I do not foresee it going down anytime soon as Ben Bernanke's 60 minutes interview suggested that he not lower the Fed's interest rates for years to come. In 2 years time I am going to try to get a 2nd job, a professional career that has the potential for promotions or other career oppurtunity's, while I work my first job that pays me a better salary than some sap working at Walmart. I mention all this as I want to give an FD a good home.

Through dividends and wealth accumulation, I can set my own income to what I need it to be prior to purchasing a liability, and I enjoy doing my homework prior to a stock purchase. And if the market goes down, that makes for a great buying oppurtunity more than a huge loss for me.

I was mentioning that as I want to make sure I get my ducks lined up in a row this time, prior to purchasing a finicky automobile, unlike what happened with the MR2, I am well aware what I can get into if I get another turbo japanese import. This time Im gonna try to do things as right as possible, do plenty of research on the car and make sure I have finances to give the car a good home, and I will not cheap by buying one in poor condition, I want one that already runs really good the moment I purchase it, looks great, and give it a thorough inspection.

and there are RX7 owners locally that Im sure would be glad to help out a fellow enthusiast, I doubt they are that elitist to not want to help someone new with their FD. There is a local sports car garage that had an FD, and several speedshops locally that seem to know their way around an FD.

I would also consider a LS6/LS7 swapped FD as a potential candidate since you guys make the motor out to be somewhat of a hastle to get it to run right.

Oh and I don't like C5's, way too common, I prefer rare cars.

They aren't a hassle if you have the right people work on them. Thats what everyone is trying to say.

lol

+1

Eh based on this thread as well as one of my MR2 friends advice, I need to focus my money and time on some serious wealth/income accumulation before creating daydream threads like me buying an FD RX7.

Sorry for wasting your time with my daydreams of someday owning an FD.

Or just buy one and roll with the punches. Learn from the problems. That's how I did it. No biggie. It can get expensive. But when it comes to the love for certain things, you wont let anything stop you from getting it so just go for it.

Obviously you've been a member since 06 so I'm sure you know a bit about the RX7 already.

As a lot of members already posted,

FD's require a lot of time, effort, budget and patience.

If you're not familiar with auto maintenance, I'd stick with something like an s2000.

S2000's are incredibly fun, reliable and fast at the track right out of the box.

Good luck.

I know its just I LOVE the styling of the FD. To me its the best looking car that came out of the 90's. Its a big goal for me to accomplish and I want to be dead positive that I give such a car, a GREAT home and do not cheap out on anything on it, and for that to happen, I really need to focus on wealth and income accumulation first, unlike how I did with my MR2 Turbos'

I would settle for another MR2, but the FD is a dream I have always wanted to acheive. Currently, I putt around in a 95 miata thats had its headunit jacked, on the *cheap* while I figure out what car I want to get. I would also consider a yellow 2002 Miata SE and a 2004 Turbo miata, but I consider the FD RX7 to be one of the ultimate GT cars to ever come out of Japan and to be an ultimate dream car I want to own sometime in my life, unlike the S2000.

Well get an FD man, like everyone else is saying take the leap. First of all we dont need to know about your finacial status or stocks. You can be filthy rich and the FD will still be 17 yrs old so problems will come and go. Its how you go about fixing them.

This isnt a negative reply just though you should know it doesnt take someone with deep pockets to own a fd nowadays.

St Lou has 65 police departments out of 93 municipalities??? Holy EFF!

^Above Post^ that statistic is according to the St. Louis County Police Lieutenant I had for a CRJ teacher in Criminal Justice Policy class I had, and based on my observations of driving through St. Louis area, I am highly inclined to believe him. It is a very fragmented area for police jurisdictions and is unlike most metro areas in the country.

Well I can get this for about $10k, cant say I care for the Lambo doors, but it might keep me happy.

Has a tad less hp than my MR2 when it ran *right* (about a week)

http://stlouis.craigslist.org/cto/2135415964.html

Or this1

http://stlouis.craigslist.org/cto/2130195092.html

As long as you have the finances to take care of an FD and maintain it.

By all means, welcome to the club

If the bottom one runs like they say it does thats a steal. I would be real cautious about buying an fd that is advertised as basically perfect for 6800. Who knows though, it might be as advertised and be a steal. If the bottom one needed an engine rebuild you would still be getting a good deal in my opinion, at least based on the pics.

if its a goal for you to own an FD and you can purchase one then by all means, take the leap. If you can find a well sorted sequential twin turbo car with all the reliability mods that would make a great place to start. They are finicky, but the unreliability has been blown way out of proportion.

When I was 17 I posted a similar question here on the forums and got similar replies as you, "FD is not for you" "FD's will break down a lot" etc etc.

5 years later, granted I bought my FD with 37K miles and now im at 52K, I am increadibly happy that I was stubborn enough to still buy a FD. IF you really want an FD and feel financial stable, why not? Ive had a few mechanical issues here n there but nothing catastrophic. Ive enjoyed my car everyday of its ownership. The positives do outweight the negatives... IF you do things right.

- Make sure you either buy a clean, maintained lower mileage car OR a rolling chassis and get the motor built by a known builder (this I recommend, it will be cheaper)
- Make sure you do all reliability mods, and TUNE it by a known tuner (MOST IMPORTANT)

Im the type that likes to find things out myself and not take peoples word.. People swore that Id be buying apex seals as often as I buy toilet paper but to be honest, I am still on my original motor making 330whp; and I track my car a lot with a very heavy foot.
My .02cents

My opinion is if you want one then get one, but make sure your prepared to do some work on it yourself if there isn't a rotary shop near you. If I compare my FD to my FC my FD likes to suck up more money, there's always a part out there I must buy for it cause I want it or doing maintenance work or upgrades and finding something rigged and having to get more parts in order to get it correct. Driving it is a huge blast though and is worth all the hard work I put into it.