NoPistons4Chris

Well, I'm a newbie to the forums, but my question is for those who drives their FD daily. Just out of curiousity, how has the car handled everyday driving (specifically turbo's and motor? My uncles 1st gen didn't have much problems being driven everday, but then again it was an stock n/a motor. So what I would like to know is how much wear and tear does force induction produce for this purpose. If you can, please give thorough feed back on any problems, opinions, and hopefully some facts that can help or prolong the life of the motor for daily driving.

meddle

The best mod oyu can do to an FD is seperate daily driver.

jdhuegel1

Did you bring a flame suit? LOL...

I daily drove mine for over a year with no problems. But, that's usually with a lot of luck. I'm 99% sure that if I hadn't taken it off the road, it would have taken itself off. I pulled the motor recently to do some "upgrading" and every gol-darn coolant hose is dry and brittle, along with the wiring harness. These cars run hot stock. I would trust a highly modded car (at reasonable boost) for daily driving than a stock FD. Get yourself a beater. That way, you can be safe!

Justin

SanJoRX7

There are lots of people that drive thier FD's daily. Most of those people have jobs that they drive them to, which helps with fixing the incidentals that happen as a result of normal wear and tear.

While it's certainly possible to drive it daily with no problems, given that our cars are a minimum of 8 years old now, it's pretty unlikely that will be the case. My 94 is a casual vehicle, and I've had no problems, but i'm putting less than 5k on it per year (yes, i have another daily driver). My tranny is in need of a rebuild, my turbos will need replacing within about another 50k miles, and of course, bushings, and other parts that can wear out will need replacing when their time comes. Those aren't your problem. The biggies are the engine and turbos...if those have trouble, you're in for big $$.

*shrug* Dunno what to say...My opinion is that it's not a good car to daily drive, but your mileage may vary.

DaiOni

In stock form they are no problem as a daily driver. Start modifying and the envelope gets thinner.

Fuel consumption, for some, is a far bigger motivator in regards to having a 'beater' daily driver

However, I challenge anyone to enjoy driving an FD in Japanese traffic (I assume some of the larger US metro area would be just as bad)

rpm_pwr

I drove daily for 2.5 years when I first got my FD. It was fine, but I ended up with so many rattles, clunks and **** broken on the passenger side I really wish I hadn't. IMHO your putting miles on parts that are better spent racing. I went through a set of RS-spec adjustable shocks that NEVER saw the racetrack. I can't forgive myself for that.

Now I have a new FD and a beater magna that means the car does 50/50 track/street driving and money spent on the car improves it rather than maintains it.

my 1/50th

-pete

911GT2

I do drive my FD daily, when it isn't dead. I haven't had it for 2 months cus the engine and turbos blew. I was planning on getting a beater because seriously, you need one. Especially if you live in a snowy area. DO NOT drive it in the snow. Anyone will tell you the same thing.

Worcester got 112 inches of snow this past winter, and I got my FD in january, so I got quite a large chunk of the snow. It is not fun. Get a beater. I know I will as soon as I can save up $1000 or so for it.

cpa7man

iTrader: (2)

Also start saving $$$$. You will need an engine, turbo's, and a trany overhall probably sooner than you think. Not to mention go fast stuff.

fritzfry

stock, the engine bay gets pretty hot even when moving..worse in stop and go. maybe fan mod would help. also after getting on boost, try to cool down a couple of minutes before shutdown.

but, yes, daily beater is ideal. get a civic to beat on, just don't let any of your friends see you in it..LOL.

Jasooner

Might get burnt to a crisp for saying this but...

This is the way I see it...

I feel, if I'm going to spend money on a car, I don't care what car, I should be able to drive it everyday. I mean, what's the point in getting a beater to drive in when you got a badass car sitting in the garage. My friend has a 30th SS that he's done extensive modding to, to the point that it's undriveable on the city streets. So he goes out and buys this Toyota Tercel for $800, talk about a beater. Anyways, he drives the beater like 90% of the time, if he had just kept the SS mods to a moderate level, he wouldn't have to do that. I just feel it would be a big waste to not drive it around everyday. I drive my FD to and from work, to and from school, and to and from my 45 minute weekend commute to visit my parents. I haven't had any problems (knock on wood) but then again, I take extra special care of my car and keep closer tabs on all the vital signs. I'm not saying those who have beaters are wrong or whatever, I feel if you make your own money, you should spend it how you see fit. I'm just tossin in my two pennies.

BTW, he's been ragged on because of his beater so much that I suggested he take a picture of his car, laminate it and hang it from his neck by a string. It's kind of embaressing when people stare at him wearing that thing...

skunks

I daily drive my fd (its actually my beater ) I use it for drift as well and it has been holding up for over a year running perfectly! I do a lot of maintainance though such as to keep the engine temp to a cool 180 degrees all the time as well as letting it cool down properly and changing fluids regularly (oil every 500 miles, oilfilter every 1000 miles). I take it to redline very often and she seems to just love it. The only thing I dont like about my FD is that my tranny is going (already lost 5th gear due to the previous owner, the other gears are also going due to the previous owner). I have a engine/tranny swap planned though so I don't really care, I just have to fine a T56 though .

FDjunkie

If you really love driving your FD, what could be better than enjoying it every day? Yes, these cars require more care and maintenance, but so what.

I've had two 3rd gens as daily drivers. Put about 50K miles on a '93 base model before trading it in on my '95 PEP, which now has about 78K miles showing and I still drive it to/from work each day. Only mods are boost gauge, linearized water temp, dp, ast removed, toe links, and lowered suspension. FYI - I use dyno juice in the engine and synthetic in trans and diff.

PS - experienced very few problems. Two batteries, leaking ast, loose toe links, sticking duty control solenoid. Biggest issue has been tire wear; image that...

fritzfry

good points both ways

i do seem to run into the local nsx and supras whenever i'm in my sentra...!#@!

NoPistons4Chris

Well, i already know about changing all the crap stock hoses and stuff, but what size apex seals and what kind of apex seals would be best for daily driving? is 2mm okay?

scratchjunkie

w3rd..
the other day i saw 4 seperate supras withing a half mile radius. i was driving the girlfriends (beater) car.

shoei

yup, good ole darwin at his best... that A L W A Y S happens to me, the crappier the car that i'm in, the nicer the car i see on the road... BUT of course when i'm in my ride, all i see are POS's... it's a conspiracy i tell you...

NoPistons4Chris

Thanks guys, i really appreciate all your input. But, I have a question concerning ceramic coating, not ceramic parts, but coating some parts (i.e.: downpipe exhaust, rotors) with a ceramic layer to help prevent excessive heating. I'm not sure if anyone has heard anything about pro's using this method, but if anyone has any information about using this for daily driving, lemme know. I'm curious to see how it works and how well it works.

Rx-7$4$me

I daily drive mine, and half for the last 2 years. I have 84 k on my original engine and turbos, and im still flying just as fast as when I got it at 68k miles. The only problem I have had was a vacuum leak which I fixed when I did the vacuum line job.

I regularly change the oil every 1-1500 miles just because im really ****. ITs probably not needed QUITE that much ,but thats how I do it.

rajeevx7

iTrader: (11)

hah, im with spider man, i "inconspicuously" turned the girlfriends 97 850 s volvo 5-cylinder into the beater.

"but babe, you know your car gets better mileage"
"mine is the 'night out car'"

raj

Silver bullett

I have driven my car pretty much on a daily basis for the last 3 years. It is essentially stock. I have replaced my cross over tube twice (second time with an Efini Y pipe), replaced the AST with an aluminum one because the stock version cracked and replaced a set of tires.

fritzfry

np4chris,

if you can't find any info on ceramic coating you might want to pm carlos on this forum. his handle is carlos@the-rotary.net

i met him in May and he was talking about ccoating lots of stuff in his car.

fritz

NoPistons4Chris

thanks fritz, i'll e-mail him and then touch up more on the subject

chris

jramosrx7

I bought my FD new in Aug '92, drove it daily for over 8 years, 70-80 miles every day. Had various mods on it throughout the time. The coolant o-rings did go at 78K miles, so had the engine rebuilt. Have 116K miles on the original turbos and chassis now.

I have been running 13 psi boost, 317/337 rear wheel hp (hi flo-cat/midpipe) for several years. The car is still strong.

"Retired" for a few months, and when I decided to go back to work my commute was only 13 miles, so have not driven the car regularly for about 3 years now.

Do normal maintenance, keep an eye on things, DRIVE it!!!