soccerspawn

Hey guys,
I am going to be graduating in the next 6 months or so and will finaly be able to afford an fd. I have a pretty decent knowledge base when it comes to the fc, but I dont know enough about the fd to make a good decision. Here are my wants/needs in an fd, what do you guys think and is there any major things I need to look for or avoid?
- Preffer black paint
- Preffer single turbo
- Emmisions are not an issue
- Price not firm but 15-20K
- Preffer a rebuilt and Street port (I love mine on the fc) or I would likely have it done so cost would have to be lower
- Body kit (if tastefull)
- 275-325 HP preffered

So guys essentially thats what I am looking for, a tastefully modified FD. I would preffer not to be the one to dump the 20 grand to obtain the above desireables. I have seen some that I loved in the past that met these criteria but I would like to hear what you fd owners would do if you had to do it again. Also my fc is on it's 4th motor since I have owned it, not my fault or that of my mechanic, just two non rotary mechs that did dumb **** VERY dumb (like running the car for 10 mins with no coolant in it dumb) so anyway, reliability is an issue. Do you guys thinkI am being realistic?

KaiFD3S

iTrader: (37)

make sure suspension is in good condition and that it is tuned and set up properly for the single turbo

California Dreaming

Men, arm your blow torches... Questions like these have been asked numerous times. The first good bit fo advice I received apon posting on this forum was to use the search feature. Odds are, most every question you have has already been answered more than once.

-Neal

P.S.- if reliability is really an issue for you and you don't want to invest in a never ending money pit I wouldn't advise purchasing a FD in the first place, I love mine, but with all the money I put into it I could have purchased two

moconnor

iTrader: (14)

Wrong car then. Period.

soccerspawn

Another car is not an option, the fd is in my opinion the best looking car out there. I have no doubt that it's performance will meet my expectations.
Performace is a relative term guys, obviously if I am on my 4th motor in as many years I am willing to put up with a little mechanicle touble. I am not looking for a civic, just wondering what you guys would do to maximize the reliability of your fd?
I have been searching the forum as well and havent found the answers yet. I will keep looking though, I have 6 months to figure everything out.

Sgtblue

iTrader: (16)

http://www.epinions.com/content_92709097092
There's more under the FAQs under 'B' for "Buying". Good luck either way.

Montego

iTrader: (1)

if you want reliability I'd say get that single turbo out of there, especially since you are shooting for 275-325 HP. Remember the more that the car is modded the more that can go wrong.

If you buy a premmodded car you never know if they cut any corners. IMO just get the cleanest FD you can find and mod it yourself.

By your criteria I think that you would be happy with the followinng:
Buy a clean low miles black FD:

1)Replace stock AST with a pettit one

2) get boost gauge and make sure that you are seeing 10-8-10 in stock twins are in seqmode. If not find out why.

3)DP. Make sure boost is still 10 psi

4) boost controller

5) CAI, make sure it's a true cold air, like M2, PFS or adamc's cheap bastard intake kit.

6) Remove airpump. No more moo sound

7) MP. If you creep, port wastegate. always maintain boost at 10 psi no more. Not even 10.5

8) SMIC, front mounts are debatable due to blocking radiator

9)exhaust. Like I said earlier make sure boost is never past 10...

With those mods you should be anywhere in the 260 - 280 RWHP range at 10 psi. It all depends on how efficient your components are how healthy is the engine.

Now if you want more actually put the components to good use:

10) upgrade fuel pump

11) 1600 injectors and fuel rail

12) PFC and tune. with the stock twins you should be good to 14 psi -15 psi without anyone arguing about maximizing the twins. You should be set for 330 -350 RWHP at 15 psi.

13) you may want to upgrade the radiator at some point. Notice that koyos have had fitment issues especially with an upgraded SMIC. Do a search under PFS SIMC and koyo and you will see.

People are gonna come in here and try to tell you to purchase an ECU before adding a mid pipe but I tell you from EXPERIENCE that as long as you stay at 10 psi you will be fine.

I ran with a CAI, PFS SMIC, DP, MP, stock muffler and stock ECU for a year and I WOT without any fear, but I controlled the boost to 10. Then I got a magnaflow exhaust, ran that for about a month with the stock ECU. Still fine. Not too long ago I got my PFC, still need my injectors and fuel rail though.

Why did I wait till the last minute? I didn't want to retune my ECU everytime I added a component.

Sgtblue

iTrader: (16)

IMHO to maximize reliability find a good low-mileage stock car and leave it that way. Perform all the reliability mods (also in the FAQs). After that, reliability is a function of how well you maintain it and how hard you drive it.