When I go home for x-mas I was planning on driving from Wichita Falls TX to Gig Habor WA, (Total Est. Time: 32 hours, 25 minutes Total Est. Distance: 2014.19 miles ) And was just wondinring if the FD would make it there with no probloems... I know I would have do do and oil change when I got there and back... but other wise I just wanted to see if I would be better off flying there? If the car would make it I would drive just for the fact I want all my freinds to see my new car basterds never thought I'd own a FD, well I'll show them...ah crap Im rambliing..

Thanks

Canfield

 

It's a car for Christ's sake. Drive it.

I'm always amazed at how many people think this car is a fragile, ticking time bomb. Why would you buy a car like that?

I wouldn't feel any less comfortable driving my FD across country than I would with any other 10 year old car with 83k miles on it. As long as the car is being maintained, there shouldn't be any issues.

Any potential issues would most likely be with the cooling system, which should be easy for even a Mazda dealer to handle.....

EDIT: I just noticed you mean to drive the car home at x-mas. In that case, NO, I wouldn't drive it. You sure don't want to be in the middle of Idaho or something in a blizzard, WITH ANY car, let alone an FD. Fly home and bring pictures of your car.

 

yea as I was thinking about it I was like...hmmm....winter....snow.... Rx-7+snow+me=TBD :P

yea drivinig in snow would be a bad idea...damn guess I have to fly

 

When I bought my car, I drove it from Cincy to Seattle, the only thing I did before the trip was an oil change. Great drive, no problems.

Of course that was in the fall, the only problem I see with your drive is the weather. If you hit any snow/icing conditions, traction might be a problem.

 

Yea, bring some photo's and just make up some RWHP #'s and ET's while you're at it...they won't know better! jm

I'd say fly, no matter what car you are in...that's too freaken long...lol

 

FYI, I drove up from Eugene and it's abour 240 miles to Seattle. Well, I forgot to check the oil level before I left but when I got home I checked the level, it was at below E!!!! Now mind you the car was smoking VERY badly and I also forgot to check the oil level before leaving.

But when I added one more quart of oil I checked the level again and it was full???? I think I didn't check the level right the first time. Hope this helps somewhat.

BTW, the drive was long because it was hot and the A/C wasn't working. Also, I have tokiko shocks with fairly high springs and also a Sparco racing seat. It was a rough ride but I don't mind it.....I guess that was the arenaline pumping 'cause of owning an RX-7 and the turbos.

If you are excited as I am abouting owning one, then I think your ride would be fine in comfortability. Just remember to bring extra oil, water, and coolant. You also might want to get AAA with the PLUS upgrade so that AAA can tow your car up to 100 miles you want.

Enjoy!!!

 

[QUOTE=PhoenixDownVII]Yea, bring some photo's and just make up some RWHP #'s and ET's while you're at it...they won't know better! jm

QUOTE]


What do you mean by that? I was told by rx7.com that stock RWHP is 210 and they did a Dyno on the car and it came to 252RWHP, or were you just messin with me? Anywho will be picking the R-1 up this FRIDAY!!!! YEA!!! CANT WAIT!!!!!

 

fly fly fly....

 

The way these FD's eat gas it might be cheaper to fly haha.

 

[QUOTE=Sneak]
LOL, I meant you can tell your friends and buddies any RWHP # and they won't be able to be "proven" it in a ride. That's all

 

Rynberg, I'm one of those ppl lol. Cuz see, it's a weird twist of Murphy's Law. You can have your FD running PERFECTLY all year long, and once you go on that road trip, poof....all reliability goes out the window. OR...everything goes perfect as can be...you get to your destination, pull into the garage, kill the ignition, go inside. Come back out in the morning, try to start her... well, you know how it goes lol. I'm sorry, but my 86 Accord was what...almost 20 years old w/ 208K miles on it. I never doubted it's reliability for a SECOND (until I blew the timing belt, that is LOL). My FD makes me wonder "is today the day" practically EVERY time I drive her.... But you gotta love it!

 

I take lots of long road trips. I mean not quite that length but at least a 15 hour each way drive once a year or more. Add to that countless 6-7 hour trips.

Depending out the route you take you can probably do it without worry of snow. Just head down the coast and take I-40 all the way east. If 40 is forcast to have snow then you can just go further south to 10.


I say go for it if you have enough time. It is definately going to be at least 2 full days of driving each way.

 

I did one 12 hour trip in mine and I got a strange soreness in my shins. Take in mind I'm 5'3...I imagine it'd be worse for a taller person.

I'd take the I-10 around, there is no snow (except for Van horn before elpaso) taking this route, Ive done it 3 times in the winter (Dallas to LA).
Ive heard stories of college mates getting in to winter weather wrecks on the I40 near flagstaff during christmas.

 

drove mine from mass to minnesota...no probs...just watch those temps...all of them.

 

just me and my then new car. 21hr later the Fd and myself were safely back. turned out to be a fun drive along the east coast of Australia

 

Sort of off topic, but I like your avatar there. I love that video - I almost got a tattoo of that girl, too.

 

My kid and i take road trips a lot and we get about 20mpg with his fd. And his fd has 435hp at the wheels. Just cruise and only boost when some ******* pulls up next to you and thinks their car is faster, and then give them a demo of why the fd is one of the best cars on the road.

 

I just drove mine from MD to TX, and averaged 22 mpg at 80-90 mph running the AC the whole way. These cars are strong and you don't need to be paranoid about them. Sure, check the gauges every few minutes, but you should be doing that with any car you drive. I also daily drive mine now in the TX heat and temps are rock solid even sitting in traffic on 95 degree days.

Drive your car.

 

I bought my RX7 in North Carolina and drove to Utah in 2 days---No mods, no problems.

 

You need to fly. Since you are in the military, you know how their leave policy is. If you car breaks somewhere remote you will have to get the car towed to a shop. Then rent a car to drive to the nearest airport, and then fly back to wichita fallls (or keep the car and drive home). Now your beautiful Rx7 is sitting in some shop in rural America getting rained on until you can take leave to get the car towed home. Of course that will take more leave time and a truck.

This situation happened to me when I was travelling from Dallas to Keesler. I was lucky enough to drive my car to an airport and rent a car to drive to Keesler. I was only out $400 for my misfortune.

Dan

 

But....

If you have to drive the car, pad your leave return date by a 4 or 5 days. That way you have an option to get it fixed or rent a car and return home. I remember taking my FD home to my families house 4 and 1/2 years. Good memories.

And the car that broke was a Honda. It was only the second time if ever let me down in 250K miles.

 

thanks
good ol PJ, awersome film clip hey

sorry back to topic

 

I just drove from Fort Worth TX to NJ. Over 1600 miles, and I averaged 21 mpg the whole trip, cruising between 80 and 90 mph. That's really not that bad. Factor in the 20 gallon tank, and you have some serious highway range too.

 

I am getting ready to drive my FD from colorado to california and back again. I hope it does as well as my 79 did. It had 200k on it and still made 6 round trips before the end.

 

drove my FD from Utah to California during the winter with no Problem...
But it sure was Freezin' Cold though...