I do have a truck and the FC the FD will see winter but it wont see snow...

 

You remind me of a roommate I had when I was 19. He got a $50k settlement for breaking his back in a car wreck. He recovered w/o being paralyzed. The lawyer took $23K so he was left with $27K, within a year he was broke like the rest of us and he even sold his car.

The insurance on the FD and STi make them the WORST of cars to get for an 18yr old. Pretty much no matter how big the settlement is you'll blow it all if you buy either of the cars. I bet you'll pay $200-300/mo for insurance on one of the cars. Of course if you own it outright you won't have to pay for full coverage insurance. The risk to that is that you are only 18 and have a good chance of totalling the thing and ending up with nothing.

You probably think I sound like your dad but trust me on this, don't buy either car. If the settlement is THAT big then buy a house cash and rent it to your friends as roommates, the money they pay in rent will buy the car. Investment 101 concept is the time value of money. Invest when your 18 and by the time your 35 or so that investment will be huge. If you wait until your 35 you won't see the benefits of the investment (given the same time period) until you are in your 50s!

 

Both cars are nice but I rather have a FD over an STi.

 

I think the choice here is going to be a little one sided since your in FD forum page. IMO the STi was a awesome car to drive. It is truely thrilling to grip the road the way the STi does. I really think as a daily driver the STi, but I get a rush every time I even sit in my FD . It's all in what you want to do, or will do, with the car.

Daily=STi
Fun kick *** car=FD

 

I enjoy DD'ing my FD. if i drive like a normal person i get 20-22 mix hwy and city MPG. with a topspeed D/P and Cat back. Ast Elim. blah blah. if i drive it "spiritidly" i get 14-18. depending how many times i floor it.


i like 03 down sti's/wrx. but i'd choose a sti over wrx for the tranny problem. between sti and fd. hrmmm.... dunno. if i lived up north i'd take an sti. southern prolly fd. i'm in texas so no point in 4wd specially in houston hahahah... good lucka nd enjoy!


carlos

 

I currently own an STi / Supra and just sold my FD but getting another one (black this time).

Like everyone else , its a really bad choice to come on the rx7 forums and if they like FDs or STis , its defiantly going to be biased. But ill try and give you an unbiased suggestion.
With my 04 STi , the only thing I have had to pay for was oil changes and break pads , I was one of the first to preorder the STi and it is still running very strong. With my FD , i started her stock and then spent will over $30,000 CAN in modding her... Now it wasnt breaking down at the time , but with the FD I just felt like I had to make her cooler or more bad ***, with the STi it was more of a "meh" attitude.

So if your not looking to spend a crap load in the long run go with the STi , if you dont mind throwing in some money here and there go with the FD , both great cars. I drove both as daily drivers and both kicked some serious *** , but when driving the FD I had to take so many precautions from shity drivers and also parking a million miles away from the mall/theatre entrence =)... The Sti i just parked it anywhere LOL.

 

Having owned both stock, and both modded....definately STi.

 

Decent FC. And invest the rest of the money.

The market is on a bull run (Santa Clause rally?).

 

Having not driven either of the choices, i say FC they handle quite well with some small upgrades and building a nice motor for them isnt too bad. For how much cash you STILL have to poop out for an FD compared to the quality ive seen them in id say go STI. FD's are dead sexy but i'm damn sick of the ******* prices. Do you like driving around with more than one friend? Are you allergic to shellfish? STI or Restored and Built FC3S.

 

RIGHT!!!! I would have about $21,000 more for my down payment on a house if I hadn't bought, and went nutty with my FD. Do I regret it? No, but I am aware of the fact that my priorities were out of order. You could sleep in your FD or STI, but would you want to? Where would you put a pool table, or aquarium- catch my drift?

 

R&T said the Evo is better than the STI. They're both amazing sedans. I prefer sports cars.
Invest the money. Retire early, move to the Caribbean, ride a bicycle.

 

And so the newbie FAQ was just something written off the top of someone's head without any experienced input from anyone in the subjects discussed whatsoever?

 

I have 29K miles on my right now. Runs awesome!

If you are single and have the money get the FD. If you need reliable transpo get the STI. The STI will have a warranty. But I see them quite often. They are not "sexy" or have the "curves" like and FD.

I think the STI is a killer car but no all that to look at. I get some serious gawking when I drive my FD. Obvioulsy I only drive it once in a while.

MY FD



If you have the money, buy a cheap Civic for daily driving and a BAD A$$ FD.

 

I got a 2004 Civic that is already smashed up and dirty all the time. And this fd not even close to 99% of the fd's on this forum but I am still proud.

 

There's only one criteria I have for 'cars' and 'super cars'.
Round doors.

FD = round doors = super car. The rest = square doors.

Buy the FD. (The STI has square doors).

 

I have alot of respect for the advice geff provides on this forum, because 90% of the time i couldnt agree more.

As far as cars go, the FD is more fun to drive, and gets more looks from people who are in the know about cars (little kids are always gonna jump around when they see a scooby, because they love them - but when they see an FD, they stop, point and their mouths drop)

There are differences between the FD and the subaru so its hard to say which is "faster". I've raced an STi RA before (import, lightened chassis no sound deadening, adjustable centre diff, lowered, intercooler water spray etc as standard) and the differences were negligable in acceleration - more differences in where in the rev range the car is faster as opposed to all out speed.

Chasing him around corners (i stayed behind and went at his pace as he was driving a bit nutty) it was totally noticeable that he was slowing down alot more than i needed to, and i could see his car losing grip - even though i was just cruising round them on stock wheels and apexi lowered suspension - no other mods.

The subaru WILL cost you less money, period. It gets better fuel economy, doesnt require a rebuild every 80k or so (unless you use low octane fuel and the rear left piston drops out, common problem) and is built to last.

The FD is a pure sports car, built for out and out performance. Compromises have been made in the durability, comfort and practicality areas in favour of performance.

If you want something to blast around it with a huge smile on your face, have lots of people come up to you asking you "what is that?" and a car to care about as much as your own child, get the FD. I use my FD as a daily driver but i DO have access to another car, and i will NOT drive my FD if something needs fixing. Hell, im not driving my FD to work today because its dirty and i wont let myself drive it till i clean it.

If you want a car to use as a daily driver, be fairly quick, practical and minimum hassle, get the WRX/STi.

If your sensible, SAVE YOUR MONEY. I agree totally with geff on this point. When i turned 18, i inherited £21,000 from my grandad. I built a car, then i blew the lot on the car. Then i was so used to having so much money available, i got into debt (and still am) it isnt uncontrollable debt, but its more than i'd like to be. The car i built was great, it was 350bhp in a 700kg chassis, handled like a dream and was a right sleeper. Not alot on the roads could even look at me in a straight line, let alone keep up.

At the end of the day though, had i have taken that £21,000 and used it as a deposit for a house or similar, i would now have an investment. A concrete investment. Instead, the car i built is now sitting in a scrapyard somewhere, and ive nothing left to show for my money (Except a few laptops and DV cameras)

If id have invested the 21k, i could have afforded to buy all the parts that ive now bought for my FD (New engine, new headlights, new wheels, new rad, single turbo, new exhaust system, new pillow ball mounts etc etc) and still be flush, rather than having £4000 debts on credit cards and an £1800 overdraft on my bank account.

The debt is not uncontrollable, and i am perfectly happy living like this - i can pay it off no problems. But had i have managed my money better four years ago, i wouldnt be in this situation - i could have had my dream FD, a second car to drive round in AND be flush for cash.

listen to jeff.

 

Get the FD, It's the most fearsome Up-hill killer machine in Gunma :p

 

I already pay that for my fc I already looked into it all and I can afford

 

I already have a worked out FC... I want something that will look better and drive better I cant say perform better because theres nothin else to do to my fc but grab a bigger turbo

 

My plans where as follows..... Buy a nice white or black 5spd FD, invest the rest into retirement. Insurance will be the same for the FD except I shall be puttin full coverage on it, I have a FC and a Ranger... The FC will be for sale shortly and the ranger will be driven when road conditions allow. I have a garage and everything to keep the FD in I believe I have the knowledge and expierence from my last FC to help me maintain this one. As for engine repairs, when I go to look at a FD and im really interested ill get it comp tested just to make sure it will last at least 2 years. I usually shift around 2k I dont need or want to get on the throttle where I live unless if im on the parkway or a main road. I believe these cars can last many years as long as you dont pull your foot to the floor everytime you go out.

 

to hell with the sti cool car but the evo is so much better for a dd you cant go wrong good luck with what ever u do

 

haha ya evo. looks better than sti too

 

Evo’s? man... DSM (don't start much)
I've had my fair share of both worlds. My DD is a 05 STI. My summer car is my 7. The STI is nice and I love to drive it don’t get me wrong, but it’s just not as exotic as my 7. I get way more attention in my 7 than my STI. But for reliability I’d go with the STI.

As for the evo yea it looks more aggressive than an STI, but IMO and other people I know that have owned them, they aren't reliable at all. @ factory they run around 20 psi while the STI is about 14. More boost usually leads to more wear. And I wouldn’t want a DD to be laggy since as the evo is under 3500 rpm.

 

Yea thats why I didnt say EVO my friend has one that only has intake and exhaust hes already spinning the clutch on it horribly

 

i don't really agree with your philosiphy on the car lasting longer if you don't give it full throttle, i've heard different. Carbon build up can occur if you don't wind the engine out ever now and then, shifting at 2k constantly wont do that, the life of these cars really depends on the owner and how they choose to maintain them, everyone knows rotaries aren't as forgiving as pistons, doesnt make them fragile to the point where you have to baby it, you just have to be on top of the routine maintenance (oil, coolant, vacuum hoses.. blah blah). I say RX-7, especially if you already have a DD, there are so many STi's around, they're rarity isn't going to get like the 7, neither will they're exoticism, your going to have a collectors item.