SLOASFK

iTrader: (5)

I'm going to have to disagree with this one, I've seen some guys on these forums survive horrendous crashes in their FDs, so bad that you can't even tell it was an FD after the wreck.
You've owned an FD for two months, you had an N/A FC before that. It's safe to say you don't know what you're talking about.

IRPerformance

iTrader: (41)

I never daily drove any of my fds. Like said above, poor gas mileage, not enough cargo space, difficult to get in and out of, and horrible in poor weather. I have been to many performance driving schools and no matter how good of a driver you are, its just no fun in poor weather. As with the excessive warm up times; when people blindly delete functions such as the throttle body coolant and idle air control valve, the car will run like crap when cold. Running colder spark plugs as needed for additional boost levels further complicate the problem. As long as you drive easy for the last few minutes of your drive, there is no reason for a cool down period. Think about it: when the car isn't moving there is no airflow to the oil cooler/coolers. Oil temperatures will go up. Coolant temperatures will rise as well because the fans cannot move as much air as a moving vehicle passes over the radiator. All you are doing by letting it sit and idle is heat soak and waste gas. Also, I have NEVER seen a turbo fail from oil coking due to improper cool down. In my opinion turbo times are annoying, dangerous, and a waste of money. If anything, do the fan mod to allow the fans to run for 10 min after shut down and consider a vented hood. Hope this advice saves people some gas

dgeesaman

iTrader: (7)

I'm glad you brought this up.

FDs have window glass where every SUV and pickup have bumpers. While FD drivers have survived some pretty nasty crashes, it all depends on what you hit. All you need is an SUV or pickup to t-bone you at a red light and your head is watermelon juice. I'd much rather take my chances against that in a newer car with side curtain airbags and stuff.

Dave

DigDug

Yeah this is what bothers me the most about driving my FD on the street. At stop lights just look at the truck/SUV next to you at eye-level, and what do you see? Heck I see a door handle even on an average sedan. It makes me a much more defensive driver when driving this car.

2wheelsmoker

I daily drive my FD. I can afford the luxury of paying for the extra gas, having no back seats, and having a small trunk. I take the gf's car when I need to go to Costco or shopping. If my car breaks down, I pay to fix it.

In summary, I can afford the luxury of owning/driving this car as often as I want. I've thought about picking up another car as a DD but what's the point? All that money I would use for the other car is better spent on gas money and an engine rebuild years out.

I get 100% satisfaction from my car all the time. If I get bored of it I'll sell it and DD my next absurd, impractical car. I'll leave the pristine, garage queen FDs to other people who appreciate them as show pieces. You guys can keep them safe and clean for me until I decide I want another one.

RiceFx306

iTrader: (7)

I daily my car. It is kind of a pain at times...usually you have the jack *** in his truck or SUV that pulls so far up that you can't turn right on red (also thanks to the long front end) but with the RX7 a simpel sedan can do this to you. I'm completely focused on reliability and keeping the car in good mechanical shape.

~6K on the rebuild. So far I've collected and M2 intake, getting rid of the FMIC for a PFS, ditching the stock twins hopefully for an a small single. Got a PFC, lots of guages. So I still have a radiator, elbow, new fuel system, and lots of ceramic coating to go. I just replaced a laundery list of parts that you can expect with a 15 year old car.

1 OEM Stabilizer End Link, Pass Side

1 OEM Stabilizer End Link, Driver’s Side

1 Bracket, Radiator/Swap Bar,Passger

1 Bracket radiator/sway bar, driver

1 FD3S Black Hose Techniques Kit

1 Low Pressure Hose for Power Steering

1 Gotham Racing Urethane Motor Mounts for FD3S

1 Gotham Racing Oil Pan Brace for FD3S

1 Oil Pan Brace Hardware Kit

1 3rd Gen Rear Main Seal

1 Real Seal O-Ring

1 Gotham Racing Toe links for FD3S blue

1 3rd gen Map sensor filter

1 BALL,PILLO

2 Rubber Seal

4 NGK BUR9EQ (5483) Spark Plug

1 NGK Spark Plug Wire Set for FD3S

1 Oil level sensor O-Ring

2 3rd Gen Check Valve, green/black

1 PCV Valve, Metal

2 3rd Gen Check Valve, green/white

1 Oil Filler Base Gasket for 94-95 Rx7

1 PCV Valve for 93-95 Rx7

1 AST Tank

1 Water Neck Cap

1.5 Coolant

1.5 Distilled Water

5 20w50 Series 2000 Amsoil

1 Oil Filter for FD3S

6 75w90 Series 2000 Amsoil Gear Lube

1 3rd Gen Rx7 Power Steering Belt

1 P/S Fluid

8 Zebra CL 10-16 6mm hex dr clamp

1 RE Amemiya Replacement Filter Element

1 Perform Compression Test

1 Replace Low Pressure Power Steering Hose

2.5 Replace Pillow Ball Bushing (Drvr Upper)

0.5 Replace AST

5.1 Re-Seal Oil Pan, Install Engine Mounts

5.2 Replace Rear Main Seal & O-Rings

4 Hose Kit Install

1 Install Gotham Racing Toe Links

1.5 Install Sway bar Endlinks and Mounts

1 Transmission & Diff Fluid R&R

3 R/R Engine wire harness

1 Four Wheel Alignment

1 Engine wiring harness,FD3S Manual trans

1 Shop Supplies (chemicals, fasteners, supplies, etc...)


That's what my invoice looked like. It's a lot of fun but there's always something to chase around on older cars. I was going to buy a little Civic hatch to daily, but decided to go single instead. Afterwards I'll probably pick a Civic hatch...D-series gas mileage for the price is unbeatable. Jetta TDIs are another one I'd look at.

wb123

Why would the car be so harsh stock?

and does aftermarket suspension make the car even more harsher?

SLOASFK

iTrader: (5)

because it's a sport/touring car that was designed to be a track/weekend warior, not a grocery getter.

The touring suspension is a bit softer than the R1 suspension, but it will still rattle your fillings loose.

Most aftermarket suspensions are stiffer than stock.

ahad

dude look...the rx7 has tons o lil issues but at the end o the day it is SO worth it! amazing car...if ur a real fan o the fd then all the probs u face wont be a prob...

Archie

iTrader: (-1)

Somebody needs to call the waaaaambulance...

Choices:
1. Maintain and drive the bastard
2. Neglect and ****/moan about it
3. STFU and GTFO

Davin

iTrader: (14)

how about if you buy an FD, blow it up, complain that you broke it, then find no one in your area to fix it and be forced to sell it for cheap

s-thetikz

iTrader: (1)

better gas than prius, more spacious than astro van, and i put my kayak on it during summers. ac blows cold and rides better than an s500 on 16s.

spekdah

like most good things in - MODERATION

we all like pizza, but too much makes you fat

Hitokiri_Gensai

iTrader: (2)

yeah i gotta point out that your in VA, where snow is somewhat of a rarity and hes in MA where snow is a curse xD i dunno if you've ever driven an FD in ANY amount of snow, but its TERRIFYING. NOT something id recommened here... yeah maybe if you have to a couple times, but when you have to go through 4 or 5 months of it? yeah best to steer clear.

IRPerformance

iTrader: (41)

The soda can thin body panels, minimal sound deadening material, and the fact that the subframes are bolted directly to the chassis instead of isolated by bushings like on most cars contribute to the harshness. A quality set of coilovers will ride better than stock if properly adjusted. These cars definitely were not intended to provide a plush ride.

Hitokiri_Gensai

iTrader: (2)

yeah well it should be noted that its a SPORTS car and was designed from step one to be an all out sports car to differ from the previous generation that set into the sport touring category that fit with the trends of the time, hence the FC3S design being based upon Porsches of the time, aka 944 and 924.

So, if you want a nice ride thats quiet? buy a Lexus or something... the FD RX-7 isnt meant to give a nice ride it was meant to out handle and out perform anything on the market at the time.

trickshot

The standard suspension on the 94's and 95's is not harsh. (I can't speak for the 93's.) I had a 3 series BMW with aftermarket shocks that rode firmer than my standard suspension FD.

The R model suspensions could be described as being on the harsh side.
The aftermarket suspensions are a mixed bag. While many are harsh, there are some cars driving around with progressive rate coil springs that are said to ride even more smoothly than a standard suspension FD.

7_rocket

iTrader: (6)

15-20 minute warm up? I think that is a little over board

You don't need to let it sit for that long, its just a car. Start it take it easy for the first few mins and its fine

Sarusanj

iTrader: (9)

I haven't got my FD yet but when I do I'm going to DD the crap out of it. Maybe later I'll pick something else up, but I like to drive my cars. I daily drove a Z06, a GT30R'd 240SX with all race suspension, etc. I loved every minute of it.

stage3_rx7

Im thinking of getting a fd to dd. My current dd is my Bp'd w/ carb swap fc. could it get worse

BlackSnow21T

ive been hearing that the FD gets horrible mpg...but what i saw from the specs, it said 24 highway and 17 city. IMO thats not soo bad for a sports car. what are u guys geting for ur rx7? i want to know because i am planning to get one sooner or later and the only reason thats keeps me from getting it is the darn gas prices here in california. although cali's gas prices arent as bad as some of the other states, but i think everyone can agree with me that its still ridiculous.

Hitokiri_Gensai

iTrader: (2)

as soon as you mod... gas mileage is gone. that said you CAN tune for gas mileage. But you have to remember, its a sports car, whats more its a ROTARY sports car... its not really designed for gas mileage.

as for those figures, they're not really accurate. im seeing like... 15 mpg around town... although last year on an almost completely stock engine i saw 25 mpg on the highway.

BlackSnow21T

lets say the rx7 was bone stock with no mods whatsoever would it still be 17/24? talking about twin turbo btw, sry for the confusion

blueduce94

If I am easy on mine I can get 24 mpg average but most other people on here don't get that, I wouldn't hope for more than 20 on a stock one.

dhays

iTrader: (1)

Not sure what specs you saw. If the 17/24 was the EPA mileage estimate, remember that they were notoriously overly optimistic. The new EPA standards are much more accurate. So, I don't think that you would be able to see those numbers, but if you drove really easy you might get close. The best I saw on mine was 22 mpg freeway. Of course, that was driving at an average speed of 80-85 mph. If you drove at 65 mph and never got on the boost you would do better.

BTW, "bone stock" in an FD means twin turbo.