FD3S as a commuter car?
 

Hi folks. I'm curious to find out if the RX-7 3rd Gen can handle the wear of driving everyday to and from work? It will be a round trip of 75 miles a day. Please post real world exerpiences of people who have done this and share your experience with me and the rest of this community.

Also, if commuting is feasible wtih this car, what should I do to keep it going for a long time. BTW, I average 18,000 miles a year.

Thanks!!!!!

So in other words, you have no idea what kind of gas mileage an FD gets, do you. :D

Buy a Civic for a commuter car, keep the FD for the weekends. Jimlab is right, it WILL kill you on gas ;)

ALI

wow you average 18,000 miles a year.....thats so freaken much...will as a daily driver..not agood idea...their be some over heating problems that will eventually arise and toast your engine..

I daily drive my 7. Granted, it already has all the reliability mods such as Koyo rad and fan switch. No higher than normal temps. No reliability issues. Only complaint is, as stated above, horrible gas mileage. I really dont have a stock 7 to compare to though, as mine has pfc and is tuned to run a little rich.

I have a Hyundai as a daily driver. Must mention that the Elantra GT is an awesome daily driver. Great gas mileage (33+...that's what is says on my computer) and awesome room (hatchback) BUT I need to sell my Hyundai to get an FD. I can afford both cars but I know I won't be able to make a real dent into my debts. The joys of wanting an FD right now......

I'm thinking 20 MPG for the FD is decent for me to drive as a daily car. Is that an accurate guess what the FD gets for MPG? Most of the driving is freeway driving.

About 15mpg city 25mpg freeway for a stock fd

you can do anything to an FD if you have money....
(commuter, racing, track it, etc..)

I guess that's true but not in my case. I can do the routine stuff like changing and adding fluids, spark plugs, wires and hoses but buying new pieces like engines and turbos would be too expensive for me annually. Maybe every 3 years or so but not every year. What do you think?

I daily drive my FD now and go into the office about 4 days per week down 32 miles of hell each way knowing as I-580 in the Bay Area, CA. It doesn't like sitting idle stuck in traffic very well on 90+ days (of which you luckily don't have too many up there) so I end up driving home on the back roads a lot of the time.

I've been splitting time between the FD and a Toyota Camry and I've decided to dump the Camry as I feel the FD is reliable *enough* (as much so as any other car treated properly, its just a bit more complicated to treat the FD properly) and I have a lot more fun driving up through the mountains so that 45 mins to an hour each way isn't just 'lost time' to me, its a fun drive.

I average about 18.6 mpg with the mods listed in my signature.

You wish... :)

I'm currently daily with my RX but I'm hoping to change that in the next year or so, m FD needs some garage lovin'!

Gas milage is a pain, I only live 16 miles or so from work though so it isnt too bad for me.

~Kris

In short, no, ive learned the hard way.

You want to enjoy an FD by driving it up and down the freeway day in and day out? Stick with the Hyundai.

I want to enjoy an FD only on weekends for pleasure but it's more sensible to keep only one car to pay off other debts. Can't have both or I'll be hurting in the pockets...

I figure just being in the FD day in and day out is still a joy even though most of it is freeway driving. I test drove one a couple days ago and it's awesome!!!! I can see why you guys love rotaries and the turbo!

N/A was fun on the Integra Type-R but turbo is just as fun with a rotary engine!!!!

if your gettign about 13mpg (which is not that bad for a modded fd, actually some of us stock guys are gettign that amount...) and it cost you about 2.50 per gallon of gas like it does here in Hawaii, you will pay about 3.5k per year alone just for gas. now add in the cost of a possible new engine, towing, the cost of labor to put that bad boy in and to actually get it to run and your looking at damn near most of your paycheck. its not impossible but do you really wanna pay that much? i guess it all depends on how much your paycheck is. or if your a professional without a wife a kid, then sure, its easy to afford. hell id buy a vette if i were you haha but then again if your just out of college and your working part time/minimum wage, you had better start saving up! personnaly im in the second catagory but I love driving and a FD will give you what you want at a much cheaper rate (compared to vettes, porsches, BMW's, or any other car 40K and up.)

if it was a decision between a fc and fd and you just want a daily driver, id go for the fc. they cost a fraction of the price and if it dies on you, just chuck it and buy a new one. hell buy 2 or 3 fc's right in the beginning so you got extra cars line up for when your current daily beater dies on you! :) they are also fun cars and you can actually have fun with them without worrying too much. the downside being less performance and less looks. then again, if you want to pull in the chicks... buy/rent a Ferrari or sup the hell out of a civic! :)!

oi, n/a was fun on the Integra Type-R??? you should really try a LS1/V8 variant! 300rwhp, 300ft/lbs of torque n/a, quite a bit more on a shot of nitrous or gasp... boost ;)

I was looking into a C5 as well....maybe later! :)

I was thinking of the C5 but right now a used one is too much for me right now. I still like the looks of the C5 and also the performance (all those wins at Le Mans). Maybe I will get a C5 later when I'm done paying off the Rex..... :)

Go buy one and report back in one year, and tell us how well you've managed to pay off your debts. :)

My experience has actually been that my FD will develop problems at about the same frequency whether I drive it every day or drive it once a month. This summer I have been driving it about 350 miles a week and it makes a pretty nice commuter car believe it or not. A/C is ice cold, stereo sounds good, I even use the cruise control. The main downside is the ride is going to be rougher than just about any other car and the lowness makes it tricky in certain spots. Mileage wise I've averaged 20mpg in mostly freeway driving, so mileage isn't great but its not terrible either. With all that said, I wouldn't count on it to be your only car. Not so much because it breaks down, I've never had the car flat out break down, but its the kind of car where you're going to need to take it into the shop at least once a year ( to fix a leak or investigate a suspension clunk or any other myriad of nagging if not catastrophic problems that can pop up). On top of that, the shop you should be taking it to isn't going to give you a rental car.

I had miata as daily driver but i've sold it. Just because I needed some fun going to work and when I'm on my FD I'm always enjoying the drive...

i just bought my fd...and i love the hell out of it...!!! gas..i average..about 20.22...depends on how much i get on it..^_^.. lol..either way as was stated...tad bit bummpy on the rough roads..but if u can deal with that and the gas...shit go for it..lol

Thats what I was thinking. LOL
I mean most of us use the FD as a toy, not as a daily beater. Like most toys you must pay to play.

Understood....I will take your guys/girls opinions into consideration. If I do decide to wait I hope I can find a good one later on. Thanks for your replies!

TRUE.... You will find out that it is your fault for blowing up the motor, accident or something else.... Because to be honest, if everyone was to just drive it like a baby nothing will happen to the car...

yeah, i dont use my fd as a daily.. i use a crappy civic for that, but i want something more classier so i was thinking of getting an s2000 or something along those lines.. i crave for another sports car but i dont want to use the fd everyday, i want to make it a beast and use it for the weekend..

but i also want to get a bike so we'll see.. hopefully i can get a high mileage s2000 for cheap and a used 98-99 etc bike at the same time and be ONE HAPPY CAMPER!! :)

There is a funny title FD3S and commuter in one sentence. :D j/k I reay don't think this car should br use for "commuting"

Plenty have blown an engine while doing nothing more than the speed limit.

I'm now going on my fourth month of ownership as a daily driver/commuter. No horror stories. In fact, the car is in better condition today than when I bought it (with the exception of one or two new stone chips). It runs smoother, quieter and cooler. I get 18 mpg/city and 26 mpg country - pretty much as advertised. This car gives me nearly as much happiness as my wife and costs a lot less. Yeh, it will probably blow up in my face someday, but so did my Ford Pinto 30 years ago. LOL. Which one do ya think will be putting a smile on my face when they burry me in the ground?

I've had mine for over 7 years as my only car. It's been fine, hasn't been in the shop anymore than the BMW I had before this car. Then again, I baby this car. Doesn't mean I don't occasionally stomp on it.

I drive my FD everyday to work, presently it's my only vehicle, and eveything is ok.

147K. Daily Driven until a couple of years ago and now just mostly weekends. One engine, one turbo, one tranny, one set of suspension bushings... but never been on a tow truck!

-John

I also daily Drive my car. Also hey TracyRx7 A friend of mine always see's u when u drive ur FD. He drives from stockton to Brentwood.

Great, here we go. Now we'll get someone saying he's daily driven his FD since 1942 and never had a single problem. He gets 35 mpg, too. :)

From the replies I notice most of the guys that are all for the daily beater idea havnt been on the forum long, dont post much or its their only car. Makes me wonder.

I havent daily driven my FD, becuse I cant. It hasent ran for about a year. It has 68K on the chassie and blew the first motor at 50k and the second blew a o-ring at 18k.

Word of advice. Before you buy a FD for a daily you need to research some more.

I am not triing to say that you wont get lucky and have a FD that will run for ever. Just read some past post and see what you find.

If you want a reliable FD do a V8 conversion, every body that owns a FD knows what I mean. You can have a reliable rotory FD but it still wont surprise you when she goes without warning. I love the rotory but I dont think it was desighned to handle boost. The avarage 13Brew last 100k, thats avarage mine lasted 50k and 18k. Boy oh boy thats two motors in 68kmiles thats a 34k mile avarage. And you plan to drive 18k a year, thats a new motor every two years. GOOD LUCK.

Like I said if you want reliable daily driven FD do the V8 conversion. At least you will get 150k with sysmtoms of when she is heading for the door.

All that IMHO.

What the heck are you talking about, I just grabbed the first two I found above your post on this page...

RX794
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Looks like both of them have been around quite a bit and John put 143k miles on his. Just like with anything some people will have bad luck and others will have better. If you are commuting in ANY car without a warrenty and can't afford repairs you're just gambling with your ability to get to work which is stupid. If you've purchased a FD as a stretch on your budget and thus can't afford warrenty/repairs you should be driving a less expensive car you can afford to fix.

I'm actually a budgeting geek and ran the numbers and despite some higher costs on the FD it is actually a money savings for me over the next two years to donate the '94 Camry to charity and DD the FD instead (given the probability of catrostophic failure I estimated on engine and turbos [60k miles per engine rebuild at $3500ea and 60k miles per turbo rebuild at $1200ea]).

DUDE!, my car has over 120k miles on it, and I've been on this forum for a long time, what are you talking about?

So how many times has your BMW been in the shop? LOL Actually....I am curious, how many times has it been in the shop?

4FUN: Point well taken with my 3G. But before that I drove a 1983 that I bought new and drive through 1991. It had around 120,000 miles daily driven not only to work, but on assignment as a news photographer. Stop and go non-stop, in city driving. It was autocrossed for three seasons - and one season points title for our regional club. It was replaced with a new 1991 2G coupe. I still own it and it has 154,000 daily driven miles. It's going to be my winter car, set up with Blizzaks and a new suspension setup for icy road conditions, maybe just a little more weight in the rear storage compartments. It's cost me 50 cents a mile to drive over 14 years! These cars can be driven every day if you take care of them and don't try to exceed the engineers' design parameters. I respect you guys who are extracting 400 hp or more out of our tiny engines, but don't cry when you can't drive them to work everyday without something breaking. You are trying to defy the laws of physics and metalurgy.

:rlaugh:

Man, I love Jim's sarcasm :D

I drove mine daily for the first 6 months or so that I owned it... 100+ miles a day with a handfull of business and pleasure trips around the NE (27K in 2.5 years, most of that in the 1st year). If you have to drive through heavy traffic on a semi-regular basis, then you are driving the wrong car... stop and go traffic is, in my opinion, an FD killer... at the very least you're going to end up with a huge, muscular left leg and a toasted clutch. :)

A friend of mine (not on forum) has had his since '94 or '95 I think, daily drove it that whole time, maybe 20 miles round trip to work max and no traffic... modifications were the typical PFS mods. I kept telling him to get a daily beater just in case. he finally did get one... when an apex seal decided to give it up and he was running on one rotor last year, he had the money to pay for the rebuild and everything, but didn't have his car for about a month while the work was being done, good for him he had the cash for the other car too.

If I were you, I'd at the very least, have something else that's cheap/reliable for a backup. Kind of hard to make that money if you can't get to work!

Thats not all I said in that sentence. Its the general feeling that I get from all posts with this subject in it. I had a feeling that I would get this reply but from what I said but oh well.

In my opinion, FD's aren't great for daily.... If you are having financial issue, I say don't buy this thing.. What would happen will be, you get it, engine and other shit happens and you now have to decide either take out a personal loan or max out your credit card to fix the damn thing.. or sell it less than what you paid so now you could go pick up a used beater so you could get around town.. If you are going to do it, Make sure you have money.. By my 3 years owning this car, I've dumped quite a bit of money.. luckily, I was in ok financial situation.. but I've seen some people have to get rid of their baby because they didn't quite think thru from the begining.. Not trying to kill your dream.. just something to consider...

I drive mine daily (40 mi r/t), imho, commuting to/from work is a lot easier when you're in a car you actually want to drive.

Now having said that, I'd also recommend having a little cash set aside for FD-related surprises and religious maintenance. Having a G/F who's willing to carpool when the FD-related surprises do occur also helps.

It's made to be driven, drive it.

I had that BMW for around 4-5 years. It's been in the shop maybe 1-2 times a year, including it's recommended maintenence. It's been a while since I had that car, my numbers may be off a little, but my point was that it didn't seem like the RX7 was in the shop that much more than my BMW. With my RX7, besides replacing the engine, most of my trips to the shop was to fix coolant issues (which evidently was the cause of the engine failure). I have 102,000 on the RX7 and now replacing the original clutch, if that gives you any kind of idea how I baby this car.

I would not recomend the FD for daily driving only because of the cost involved in the maintenance of this car, but you could use it as a daily driver though...

I know you said "most of the guys", not sure if you were grouping me in there. However you are vague in your implication. I'm not going to assume you are accusing anyone of anything unscrupulous; however elaborating on your comment would clarify things a bit.