FD Safety
 

Supposed to be getting a CYM FD for X-mas, but mom is convinced that it's not safe.... anyone know a site where i can show her safety ratings on the FD's?
Thanks,
Mark

your mom is right... especially for someone who was born in '86 ;).

This car requires a lot of skill to drive fast -- the average 17 year old is in way over their head. Hell, the average 30 year old is in over their head. Drive it safely.

Safety ratings are fluff anyway. The car has good crush zones and airbags. If you get into it with a SUV, you're toast. If you drove a Civic, you'd be toast too.

You gotta be a damn good defensive driving when cruising around in an FD since you practically sit on the ground and no one ever checks their blind spots. I gotta ride in 4th sometimes on the highway just so the dumbasses know I'm there as I'll resonate off their cars so I guess they'll look and realize I'm there. I've had idiots start pulling into my lane like almost onto my car without checking and usually they won't stop even if you honk....drop to third pass aggressively with middle finger out the window....they usually understand after that that they have cut you off. hahaha. If you do end up getting the FD, don't think you're gonna be macho man the first day out. I guarantee if you've never driven anything that'll kick, you're in for a rough ride. Never punch it around a turn as you'll soon find yourself sideways with the tires ablaze and possibly against a curb. I'm a 17 year old FD owner, but I am responsible and know my limits. Yeah sure it's great to have a fast car, but if you can't drive you won't have that fast car for long..... it'll be added to the list of totalled FDs thus making everyone else's FD that much more desirable and valuable. For the love of god, if you have leadfoot syndrome as I do have a slight case I hope you don't have an R1.. that was the reason I bought a touring so I could get cruise control. The car is not safe. You get a in a wreck and you'll probably fly out the rear hatch as I have heard cases of such. 10 year old seat belts won't grab you like brand new off the lot shit. Also if you're poor in any way, shape, or form... DO NOT get an FD as you will be in debt very soon if and when your car starts pooling money for repairs and maintainence. 5th gear is your friend, hell I even go into 5th at 25-30mph with the idea of getting the best damn gas mileage I can possibly get. This car guzzles gas...even more so with mods. Sorry for the novel, but you do need to understand what you're getting into and being 17 owning an FD will get you alot of insults and laughs thrown your way so be prepared and do as I do, act more responsible that most of the guys on here so you can get at least half the credit they do....

Anyone under the age of 20 who is getting an FD is a statistic waiting to happen. I know the gen-y/z's think "oh but I'm safe." there are WAY more cases of wrecked rides from young drivers than anything else.

Well an FD for a 17year old is a bad idea. Get an FC. LOL

The FD is a very expensive car to maintain. Not a great car as a dayly driver eather. But very fun.

Like ROtary Magic said abouve. You have to be VERY carful with the car. Its easy to loose the rear end. Going around a nice sweeping corner and then the boost hits, you way loose the rear end and the car.

Id sugest you start off with something a little more practical. The FD requires alot of skill to drive. And you have yet to aquire the skill that only time can bring.

But if you get it. Good luck, and visit the forum often its a great resource. PS the FD did not fair to well in crash tests against SUV's Trucks, Minivans. You end up wedged under neath the other vehicle. So be safe.

You're probably right but... knock on wood.... I hope not to become a statistic... I'd hate to prove you right.. HAHA. Then again midlifers with ultra egos also crash FDs too, but you're still right about the teens that have never driven a quick car getting on it and hitting a curb more so prevalent when turning and them flooring it and suddenly they're sideways with the nose against a curb lol. I will admit, I'm not the master of the FD, but I do have pretty damn good control over my car as I admit limitations and don't drive like a nut(hauling ass through traffic, high speed corners, etc.) but yeah I'll run it but only at times with minimized risk. I've wrecked a car before, I'm not invincible and I admit it. Once you get over that invincibility ego stage you tend to become more responsible and appreciate what you have. I'm not trying to disprove the statistics, but I'm trying to make you aware that not every "teenie bopper" out there is an incompetent driver.

89, off the current topic, is it very possible to get a 96+ Rx-7 from canada to bring back to the states? My friend popped the question as he recently sold his lemon supra that kept having misc. issues with just about everything. I don't wish to sound like a n00b but I find the question somewhat important.

Ok I am 18 and have had my car for almost 2 years and have had not had anything happen to my car because of me. I did get t-boned one time at about 15-20 mph in the passenger door by a C4 Corvette (about 15 months ago) and let me just put it this way. I was hit in the door with the window down and the window not only didn't break, but also still functioned flawlessly. They have some crazy reinforcements.

See if you can find the picture that was in the original factory brochures of the safety cut-away. Pretty amazing.

I agree that the average 16 year old should not get an FD as there first car. I don't know if I was just lucky then, but I have looked back to when I bought my car and realized that the car then was too much for me. Drive slow and get use to it before you open it up.
M-P

My comment was not directed to you RotaryMagic, you seemed to have an understanding of what it takes to own and operate such a vehicle. Hell im only 19, i have yet to have an accident, but its possible. I baby my FD to death. I hate it when the back end breaks loose, means more monwy for tires:(

I was directing my comments toward marix1521 who is getting an FD for christmas.

Also something that i think happens to kids who are given cars. They are beat on untill the car or driver dies. Alot of the time its the driver who dies before the car doea. But there is less respect for the car because it was not their own investment that they are driving. When its your own money you re-think things. Such as, should i do that burn out?? Y not i didnt pay for the tires, no big deal.

I think that marix1521 should eather save up his own money and buy the car himself or get something that dosent have a history of visious crashes at the hands of experanced drivers. Try a Civic, (safer cause you cant go so fast)

Well, my parents gave me my car... but(even though it won't make a difference in others' opinions) I do have to pay for gas, oil changes, random bullshit. I have to replace my tires so I don't intentionally light them up. It does happen on occasion though. I tell my friends if they want to see me light them up to get out their wallets and put on a seatbelt and wipe that damn smile off their face. If someone wants to get scared I'll go to a big open parking lot and throw down 360s which will scare the shit out of them. I'll collect my 30 bucks for the scare session and then we go back to normal and they shut up with that "omfg look on their face." Yeah if someone pays for the thrill, I'll give it to them. I help pay for my car's expenses like an amusement ride. It's crude I know, but it does pay the bills. Also if someone is unlucky enough to be in the car when I'm at a 1/4... guess what... that fill up is on them. My friends all know the rules of my car and I will not tell them where I'm at on the gas gauge but they have been pretty cool about it. It is the only FD at my school and neighborhood.

It doesn't really matter what age anyone here got their FD or how well(or not) they have handled it. Why? Because his parents are the ones with the money, not him. And if his mom says no, well thats how it's going to work. ;)

Personally, if someone has to ask their mother which cars they are allowed to drive, in my opinion an RX-7 is not the car for them.

:werd:

I got hit in the front by a 16 year old that ran a stop sign, I was going about 40 and he was going 30 he said. He was the statistic in a civic DX. The hood crumpled in the crumple zones just like it was supposed to. I would say its fairly safe to drive as in getting in an accident. Everyone else is talking about defensive driving and driving safety. I'm just telling my story as to what happened to me in an accident to let you know how safe it is in an accident as thats what I think your looking for. I'm perfectly fine except for a possible surgery in my left shoulder for a slap lesion.

Let mom and dad know that they are complete fools. They don't pay much attention to their kids now, do they?

Not only is your defensive driving underdeveloped, but your inability to handle a sports car of that calibre COULD kill you.

BTW: So who pays for your insurance?

That must be nice to have an FD *given* to you and all you have to do is pay for gas and oil.

I agree with 89Turbo944...I think that having to buy your own vehicle makes you as a responsible driver as anything when you are young because money is such an issue. I ran the living dogshit out my civic which my parents bought me. All the while I was working and after 1.5 years I bought a used Z3...I hated it, but I drove it with much more prudence because I had payed for it. and now I own an FD which I paid for (8K with a blown motor). Maintenence and any mods are on me. I do get my insurance paid for until I get a ticket or wreck, which serves as even more inscentive to drive extremely responsibly because I'll go back to a Honda if I'm paying the insurance on this beast...and I'm only about to turn 18; with a clean driving record, (except for a ticket for flashing my lights at a cop to warn her of the cop that was up the road taking radar...it was an accident.) But the reality of the situation is that experience is the best teacher for anything and us young drivers just don't have it...I admit that, but I don't try and drive like I am 35 and have owned 3 vettes and whatnot...I stay in my limits.
Ryan

You're better off asking a person that actually owns the cars they claim to have.

Oh yeah, and RotaryMagic...you're not painting the kind of picture I want painted of young drivers. I did one 360 in my Z3 and that was at a track...Zero burnouts in the FD, zero 360's tires are just too damn much. I just work 35 hours a week all while being #2 in my class instead of the amusement park idea of paying for things.

Yes, i do supose you could have a 96 brought over from canada. I dont see why not. You will have to have a vehicle inspection doen but as long as the car is relitivly stock, with cats, and all proper smog equipment hooked up it should be no problem.

Diablone i own 4 of the cars that i had previously in my sig, the 55 is a company car which means the company owns it i drive it. The 944 was a gift and the sig explains the rest. Do you have some sort of problem with me?

What have i done to you. I removed the 944 and 55 because its not relitive to the topics being talked about on the board.

There were no 96 RX7s imported to North America, therefore, there are none in Canada either, contrary to popular belief there is more than one country in north america. you cant just import a car from Japan into canada, then drive it across the border. For importing of a 96+ FD, you need to do crash tests. There is no practical way to get a 96 fd into the united states and have it be street legal, without committing VIN fraud. May or may not be practical, depending on how you view prison time. Do you think that when you pull up to the toll at the border, the customs agent isnt gonna go 'why the f*** are you on the right hand side?' and maybe investigate a little? There are so many threads on this, search. Although a japanese car can be brought into canada once it is 15 years old with no crash testing.

edit: just curious as to how an 18 year old apprentice would get an SL55 AMG as a company car?

north america isn't just a short name for United States of America??? Dammit, all this time I thought we were alone on the continent... :)

production date on door, 01/96, so its delcaired as a 95 model year but made in 96. Thats what the fellow in Kelowna told me. So is it a 96 or 95 then?

PS last original sale by dealer was made in April 1996, but the Us stoped reciving cars in Jan 1996. So is it a 96 or 95 if recieved in Jan 96?

Bio-Weapon, i posted the details in another thread but it was because i work in North Vancouver, next to West Vancouver. They want the company cars to be the best mercedes offers. And besids that, my dad is the service manager, so im spoiled.

I assume you got some sort of paperwork with the car when it was purchased. You tell us...