my FD got hit by a drunk driver back in april and i still dont have her back on the road(mainly just money problems). but i know its gonna be awhile before i get it all finished but i cant wait that long to get back behind a rotary!! so im thinking about buying a FB or FC to drive in the meantime. i work at pep boys right now at nights cause i go to school and last week a FC manual trans came in for an alternator. so i put it in, recharged the battery and then got inside the car. i started that thing up and then this weird feeling came over me just cuase it has been a long time since the last time i started up a rotary. i went over to the master tech of the shop and he knew that i have a FD and i asked him if i could take it for a "test drive", i told him why and he was like "take it, i totally understand". even though it didnt run to well and was poorly taken care of i loved it. so now im thinking of buying a first gen or second gen until my pride and joy is all put back together. anyone else buy another rotary just to have cuase you truly love driving one and cant stand the feel behind a piston powered car????

 

I'm thinking about getting a 2nd gen for daily driver...

 

I understand your need to drive a rotary becasue I have become an adict as well but would it not be better to invest the money for buying an FC in your FD if it is reparible. Your monely problem would grow if you did so. It is already hard to keep one rotary so if money is your problem your FD will wait even longer to see the road.

 

I am actually looking to getting an s5 FC for a daily driver

 

good job on taking out another persons car (much less a rotary) for a joy ride! im sure they will really appreciate it. hmmm i remember another post a while back where a guy took a womans car our for a test/joy ride (i think it was a cobra or some kinda ford) and he posted it up on the forums and he got fired. that was a hoot! its great to know that you as well as your supposed master tech are pretty much scum bags! thanks for making every one feel good about taking their cars in for service...


BTW: which pep boys do you work at?

 

wow!! Easy skunks!! he took it for a test drive not a race lap
I take all customers cars for a test drive before giving it back to them. even if it just came in for a oil change or tire air check. I don't feel that i am trashing anyones car.. You sometimes save lives by having a knowledgable person drive and feel anything wrong. The owner may not know their head from their butt. It didn't sound like they were a "car oriented owner"

Anyways, We have a FC for our daily driver. 90' viper yellow n/a. Very nice if i do say so. It runs very well and is a blast to drive in the twisties. just doesn't have the giity-up the old single FD has

 

haha true enough. rant mode off

 

I had an FC for a daily driver unti about a year ago when I sold it due to recently acquiring an rx8. I couldn't bear to see the FC sitting around having more paint flake off it. I do regret selling it though, each car has a different character and you get to like each one in a different way. I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have a rotary car to drive...

 

I still have the S5 Vert that I bought over two years ago before the FD. I usually leave it at the shop so that when (not if ) the FD breaks or needs some work done, I can just switch cars. I've been driving the Vert this week loving the "cool" fall weather in Florida.

 

i have loved rx7's since i was about 5 years old *im 17 now*. my dad used to have a BEAUTIFUL fb. that nice metallic blue, perfect condition. i loved it. well he had to sell it, and i lost some intrest in them. but when i was around 15 *right before getting liscence* i started to get back into rotaries. i read forums, papers, books, magazines, everything i could find on rx7's. I wanted a 3rd gen, but that was unrealistic. so i had to settle for a S5 turbo II. i love this car, and i just paid it off. then just a few weeks ago, my dad supprised me by getting a red 93 TT with tan interior. i was ecsatic. i just about hypervenolated! it was so awesome, but now i have to part with my S5 to help pay for the fd *my dad paid for half* ahh...so sad. i absolutly love the fd, but the fc has been so nice to me, and lots of fun. i learned how to drift in my fc! haha.

 

both FB and FC are fun cars. stick to the non-turbos on these for cheap, daily driving, low maitenance fun. i had an 88 GTU for 4 years and it was fun to drive and never broke.

 

First car was a 79 Rx-7, then a 76 cosmo, then a 81 Rx-7, picked up a repu for a daily driver, then a 90 GTU, then a 93 Rx-7, then anouther 90 GTU, and now a Rx-8. All have been daily drivers except the 93. It was a daily driver for around 2 weeks, then was put into weekend toy mode. Hands down the nicest daily driver is the Rx-8 though. CJ

 

If you play your cards right, you can find an FC or FB DIRT cheap. I bought a grey '86 base for $500 with bad oil seals in the motor. Rebuilt the motor for about $500, sucker ran GREAT. Put a cheap stereo in it, and it was my daily driver for some time.

The trick is, get a car that's cheap and gonna stay cheap. If you get a $5000 FC that's super clean, low miles, etc. then you'll probably want to upgrade it as well . The $500 grey car I owned had a crappy paint job and so-so interior. It was all one color and the body was straight, so it wasn't embarrassing or anything.

Most FD guys would probably be more comfortable with an FC - there's more similarities, and the fuel injection system and the electronics are actually VERY similar. Not to mention you can actually haul a lot of crap in an FC .

Personally, I'd go with an '86-88 NA. They're VERY plentiful, very reliable, and parts are a dime a dozen. There's lots of '89-91 parts that are harder to get or more expensive, and in my experience the '89-91's haven't had the engine reliability of the '86-88s. Not to mention I HATE the automatic seat belts in the '89-91s - VERY bad design.

Dale

 

man i took the car out for 10 miuntes, FOR A TEST DRIVE!!! found a couple things wrong with the car that the owner of the car came back the next day to get fixed! i REALLY dont appriciate being called a scumbag. see the only way you will beable to find out whats wrong with a car other then going off what the customer says is to take it for a drive, sorry if you didnt know that. and what the hell does it matter which pep boys i work at???

 

good point, espically since the reason it came in was to get a new alternator put in, and seriously the R&R on an alternator on a FC takes like 5 minutes, if that

 

In addition to my FD, I have an 85 12a which is a fully prepped racecar. I club race in ITA with it. Sucker has over 202,000 miles on it, and it's still pulling strong (and destroying a good portion of the other cars in it's class). FB's and FC's are great platforms for racecars (they're cheap, and parts are readily available).

 

you make some good points. i was definitely thinkin the 86-88 na and i see them at the junk yards often so parts is nothing. i went to a junk yard this past monday, and as soon as i walked in i see this red oldsmobile and sitting on the hood is a 13b slightly taken apart. everything was all still there except the front cover and i wanted to buy it but they wanted $150 for it, in the condition it was in and the way it looked it wasnt worth that much.

 

I have owed several FB's and FC's. Currently have an FD, S5 vert and an S4 GXL. Each have their own characteristics that I like. An FD is not the best daily driver, you need to own another vehicle preferably a truck (that is paid off) so that you can tow it when you break it. Then it is always good to have another rotary for the long downtimes of rebuilds, paintjobs, etc.

 

I owned a 88 Turbo II prior to owning my first FD. I can honestly say that I would like to own another and a SA. But currently I can't afford having 3 rotary cars in the driveway.. but soon enough i shall!

Guess once you have had rotary powered cars, you just can't get away from them.

 

I have owned a 79 base model, which I built into a very competitive CSP autocross car, and an 82 GSL with a streetported 13B. The 82 was a daily driver, and was very reliable....... and very fast I miss that car sometimes ......... when I'm not driving the FD

 

Had a 81 FB that I bought new. Great car, but, as I recall, even with all-seasons and alot of weight, it still didn't get around too good in snow. And mine was hard to start at anything below about 15 degrees. Flood every time.

 

Had the silver gsl-se thats in my avatar up untill 3-4 months ago.. great car fully built suspension and was a great car to have.. Only reason I sold it was because I felt guilty letting the FD have the garage while it sat outside. If you want another rx7 for a daily driver still to na like others have said before.. they last forever. And don't dis the 12a's. I had an 85 gsl and OMG I tried to murder it like 50 times but it didn't care. Kept going hard. na on a rotary is the way to go. Thats why I know these rx8's are going to do so well.

 

I want another 83 limited becasue that was my first rx7. And the car handle great and I never had a problem with it.

 

yea just gonna try to find one that is in good running condition for around 1000-1500. i dont want to spend any more money then that, just cause if i spend a good amount on it and i really get in to it, im gonna start dropping money into it and my FD will never get back on the road. but like someone said earlier in the thread, once you get a rotary its really hard to get away from it, at least thats how i feel. i cant wait till i get back in one!

 

i bought an S5 T2 that i parted out..... needed some cash so i figured i'd make some while helping some FC owners out....

thinking about buying an FB with a friend and setting it up for rally....