mslayden

Am planning on this being my next car. Got kids going off to college soon so I need to downsize my car budget. Will be looking to sell my Lexus is350 in the spring. Am doing some research now. I've read the faq's but have some more questions.

of the FD, is there any year that is more desireable, more bullet proof, less prone to problems? Did Mazda work out the kinks from early FD's or are they all just as well nailed together regardless of year?

This car will be almost as old as my daughter and I want to make sure I know how to find the best possible one I can get. I've seen a few on the FS boards on this site that look pretty clean and well maintained. But, you just never know by looking. Almost everyone looks great after a good bath and decked out in a new suit. If you know what I mean.

Any tips from any of you 'ole pro's would be very well received.

Thanks.
-MS

Ceylon

iTrader: (3)

Welcome to the forum.

All your questions are already answered in the FAQ section of this forum, see link:

https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generation-specific-1993-2002-16/faq-3rd-gen-other-useful-links-68640/

Davin

iTrader: (14)

Your best bet is to get any FD and do all the reliability mods. Any stock trim FD is going to be limited by the ECM, intercooler, vacuum hoses, DP and a slew of other things.

Sgtblue

iTrader: (16)

With the exception of a couple of things like the finish on the interior plastics, not much changed in the three years the car was imported to North America. At least none that would make alot of difference to me if I was in the market again.
No offense meant to the PEP and Touring owners, but personally I'm glad I waited for an 'R' model for the seats and dual oil coolers. Can't remember if it's mentioned in the links, but if your tall the lack of a sun-roof provides marginally more head-room.

mslayden

Thats the kind of thing I was after, what model variants are more desireable than others. Good seats are a must. 2 oil coolers sound better than 1. I am an average height guy, but sunroof can be taken or left. I am mostly looking for a car that is in as good of shape as possible without breaking the bank. My girls will soon be doing that with the college bill. Uhg!

Oh, I did read the faqs and understand the puropose of the reilability mods. I was more concerned with model year tweaks that made one year potentially a better buy than any other year. That sort of thing was not in the faqs.

thanks guys. Look forward to learn lots of cools stuff here.

93rx74lyfe

iTrader: (1)

I would wait out for an R1 or R2 model. Like stated, they do have the dual oil coolers and a few other nice bits that make the car more desirable. Since most of these cars are pretty old even the "low mileage" ones are still 16 year old cars at heart. The best you can really hope for is to find one that will take the least amount of money and time to make it road worthy.

Hotwheelz

iTrader: (18)

Once the reliability are knocked out then its a great car. I found mine on autotrader.com and did a 500 mile search for the biggest selection within reasonable driving distance.

Good luck

Sgtblue

iTrader: (16)

Just to be clear, I would weigh all things and not center just on one model over another. If you found a clean low-mile Touring, PEP or Base, I wouldn't pass on it for an R model with significantly more miles. Be prepared to jump, but also be patient. You'll likely see alot of dogs, but there are nice cars out there.

no_more_rice

You can always add another stock oil cooler, it's really not a big deal (at the same time, be sure you install a drain valve in the cross-over line, you can drain alot of extra oil out during an oil change).

The '94s seem to have better interior plastics and a little better paint, but any car this old will have squeaks and rattles.

These cars are night and day from an IS350. You can beat an IS350 in a street race, but they are hard to beat off the line with the paddle shifters, those cars can move. Once up to speed you will pull them cleanly if you have a modded FD.

arghx

iTrader: (3)

First off, you need to have the mentality that this will be a weekend toy that could be daily driven in a pinch. Don't put yourself in a position where you need to depend on a twin turbo 15+ year old sports car for any amount of time. You will also need to have some money in the bank to fix things that may pop up.

As for the oil cooler thing: yes the dual oil coolers are a big improvement, in fact there's been a recent thread comparing measured oil and coolant temperatures between the two. The R1/R2 models did not have cruise control though. The leather does fade and crack on touring and Popular Equipment Package models like any other old car. Also, NONE of these cars have tilt steering. For whatever reason Mazda chose not to make it even an option on the 3rd generation cars. The factory suspension will feel STIFF unless you are already used to that type of thing.

You really should drive one for a little while to get a feel for it. For some people they are too uncomfortable.

mslayden

I really like my IS. but to be fair it is not even a compareable vehicle. It is more luxury aimed with lots of power. But it is quite overwieght. I had an 04 350zr a couple of years ago and it was great. High power, low weight tight suspension.

I miss the low weight, and I really love the look of the Rex, not to mention the toxifying effect of the drive train. My dad had an 84 GSL when I was in highschool. Man what a great car!

Anyway, I digress. I am on a quest to find a good one. Looking to get in sometime next spring. I am doing my diligence so I will know the right one when i see it and can act (jump, as you say). It will be a long term love affair. I will miss the luxury, but can modify and add cools stuff like that over time. I am trying to figure out how I might go about adding heated and cooled seats... one luxury I have really grown to like alot about my IS.

no_more_rice

You're never going to make an FD anywhere close to an IS in terms of luxury and refinement, the FD is a basically a lightweight track car for the street. It feels like a noisy beer can compared to an IS.

I seriously considered an IS350 before getting the S2000. If you want light weight, quick handling AND rock solid daily driver reliability, you should consider an S2000, but you can forget about big power. Let me know if you want to trade haha

prew

iTrader: (9)

Do you like the s2000? I don't consider them nearly as special as a RX-7 but it would be a lot better to drive everyday and you'd have a hell of an easier time finding a clean one.

I know some guys on here have both and some have replaced their RX-7 with one which I think says a lot about the car.

no_more_rice

I would never even consider replacing the FD with an S2000, but they make great daily drivers: sharp handling, decent mileage if you stay out of VTEC, and enough power to be somewhat entertaining (just don't try racing anything except a Civic - well actually I raced an IS300 and won, haha). But best of all, you rarely hear of any serious problems with them well beyond 100k miles. Don't try that with an FD.

mslayden

No plans to turn this into a luxo car. I just find the heated and cooled seats to be the next best thing to sliced bread.

I am interested in a DD. That is why I am researching the car. I want to be able to spot a good one when I see one.

Eventually thi swill become a toy. I certainly plan on making this a long term toy.

the IS is nice, but I dont like the pork. It is a very heavy car and I want to get back to the nice light car. I like to feel connected to the road.

purerx7

iTrader: (61)

Save yourself the agony, the FD is not a DD car. Seriously. For a little bit more money I would get the NA1 NSX and you have a much better car that you can DD. If I could do it all over again, I 100% would be in a NSX. Perhaps I would than own NSX Boutique instead.

no_more_rice

The NSX is a great car if you can get past the stuck-in-the early-90s-Knight-Rider looks the car immediately evokes (imo)

I may be biased, but the sexy lines of an FD with a nice set of wheels ARE timeless - and I've heard that from many car buffs

wstrohm

mslayden,

From what you have written so far, I think you should consider an NC generation Mazda MX-5 PRHT. But then I'm just spinning your apparent desire for reliability.

Our '94 FD is now quite reliable, but it took a lot of DIY effort to get me comfortable, knowing its built-in time bombs. We bought it new in 1994, and at its first smog test in 1996, it was a "gross polluter." That was caused by a goof-up either at the factory or (unknown to us) at a dealer before we bought it. (Vacuum hoses crossed, wire shorted.)

There was a lot of trouble initially with the EGR valve... replaced twice under warranty, finally had the "pinhole" gasket installed. I eventually removed it altogether.

There are 68 rubber vacuum hoses, of two different sizes; many are exposed to extremely high underhood temperatures which harden them and cause vacuum leaks. I replaced all those with Viton hoses.

The original Lower Intake Manifold had a fiberboard gasket at its bottom interface with the rotor housings. It gradually deteriorated and "blew out." I replaced that with Mazda's upgraded stainless steel part.

The Fuel Pulsation Dampener began leaking... this was very dangerous, and replacement required digging down to the bare engine/fuel rail area to get at it.

The "fuel recall" added circuitry to the cooling fan system which causes the fans to run after ignition turn-off, to reduce hot-soak temperatures, but Mazda allowed the coolant temps to go up to 107°C or so before activating them. Dale Clark and others recommend changing the Fan Thermoswitch to the previous (FC) type, to reduce its threshold to 97°C, which I did.

The stock pre-catalytic converter was a heat generator contributing to the high under-hood temperature, so I replaced that with a Bonez stainless-steel downpipe wrapped with thermal tape. (The pre-cat is also known for clogging, which can damage the engine.)

The "Accelerated Warmup System" was mostly an annoyance, i.e. I did not like the 3000 rpm "idle" of the stock cold engine, so I removed it. The normal fast idle works just fine.

Other, normal maintenance items pretty much follow other cars in frequency. Mazda recommends against using synthetic engine oils, saying that the rotor side seals are vulnerable to deterioration from them. I have always used Castrol GTX 10W-30 and changed at 3K mile intervals, which works out well.

Our car has gone 101,800 miles to date, and it probably runs better than it did when new. But unless you have the time, energy, and motivation to stay on top of potential problems, and are aware of those problems, I would have to recommend against an FD.

(But, it's so damned beautiful... and it runs so beautifully...)

mslayden

Great info. When you are ready to sell, let me know.

ksu-chewie

iTrader: (14)

I bought my FD 2 weeks ago. Found it on eBay.

I flew out, inspected it, and drove it 1100 miles home. No problems, other than the AC needed to be tweaked.

mslayden

which one? I've been watching. post pic's or email me. I'de love to see.

no_more_rice

If that's on a stock motor, it must be close to a record. Mine probably would have made it that far before I started making exhaust changes.

ksu-chewie

iTrader: (14)

The only pics I've got so far.

https://www.rx7club.com/showpost.php...ostcount=21186

Been too much rain / heat (105+ heat indexes) lately to go outside and enjoy it.

Greddy SMIC on the way

hades

iTrader: (4)

I would never DD mine. It not that its totally unreliable, but you can't really get anything at Autozone for these cars - except oil and a filter. Malloy Mazda is great, but it still takes day or too for parts to show up at your door.

These cars like to be warmed up and cooled down properly - do you ever have to use valets? Not that this is a huge deal day to day, but I hate handing over the keys and not watching where my car went.

I love my car - but I always compare it to a dating a model. She is going to be high maintenance and will go after your checkbook, but everyone looks and the ride is great when she will let you.

Captain_Panic

iTrader: (15)

+1 ... Listen to this man, he knows what he speaks.

I too bought an FD, only mine was 2500 miles away in Washington State. It is by far one of the cleanest FDs I have ever seen and had a great history or reliability modes done early in its life (Sub 10K miles) and I had an owner that was ALMOST as **** as I. I drove it home and it has yet to dissappoint.

On the R1/R2 comparison... yes it is nice with the stiffer stock suspension, dual Oil Coolers and cloth seats, but in my opinon, the suspension should be changed out (especially if you put larger rims on - other wise you will look like a AMC or some sort of RX monster truck with the huge gap). Second, I put in the dual oil cooler for all of about 200 dollars, not an expensive upgrade. And third the seats, I guess I just love the leather, but I know of many ppl who swap those out as well for more leg room.

Do not DD this car. You will be better off buying a cheap 4K Beater and storing this as a fun car. My FD has 37K miles on it now and has been more toruble free than my CTSv or my wifes GMC Truck. That is because I stretch the FD legs and RPMS frequently and I religously change the fluids. It rarely has to sit in traffic or bake in the super hot sun.

Owning an FD is like Religion, either follow the right path, or you AND your car go to hell.