LOL, a FD is like a brat teenage daughter, eveytime you save up some money to put into...oh, say, a house, it needs a new accessory or something that just drains the money back out. And, its not like you can give up your daughter, she is family after all, just like the FD

 

When I bought my RX-7 I had a daily-driver Toyota Corolla, which broke on my a few months ago (go figure, I spent so much time maintaining the RX-7 that I neglected the Toyota).

So I've been driving my 3rd Gen daily for a few months, commuting about 300-400 miles / week with no problems so far. It's a great touring car, high-speed commutes are a blast. City-speed driving is not fun, sportscars don't have quite the same manners as family sedans when it comes to low-speeds, stop and go, and crappy roads..

Just be sure to maintain it like a Ducati, not like a Honda. It should treat you well. BTW mine's bone stock.

-scott-

 

Off-topic, but I've owned two Ducatis ('98 SS SP, '00 Monster) and have never had reliability issues with either. The maintenance schedule was no different than the Japanese bikes, and I've owned a bunch of those. You must be thinking about the pre-'96 models before they were bought out by Texas Pacific Group and they instituted a manufacturing assembly line.

 

Like I said, I don't consider the RX-7 to be an unreliable car, it simply needs more attention than most other cars. Look at sportbikes, they require a much more diligent maintenance schedule than automobiles. I sold my ninja a year or two ago, but don't the modern ones still need the chain lubed every 500-1000 miles or so? Ducati was the first one to pop into my head, with their desmodromic valve system and all. Adjust the valves every 10-15k, right?


Bottom line: If you're not performing some sort of maintenance on your baby (whether it be a sportbike or an RX-7) once a month, you're neglecting it IMHO.

-s-

 

With the mods listed below, I put ~10k miles over the period of one college year. It never gave me problems (with the exception of an old coolant level sensor and a flying piece of tire debris which hit the radiator harder than I could kick it). The only problems it ever had were problems that weren't really the car's fault, but they were just due to cheap plastics (which can be prevented).

 

The simple fact is most vehicles say 99.9% of them use a piston driven engine, so the piston for years and through many major manufactures has been developed with precision and is far more reliable than the turbo rotary because of the amount of time and number of people dealing with them.

VS the Rotary

Only one company ever produced vehicles for sale with rotary engines, Mazda. Amount of time and people invested in them, significantly less. Mazda did invest the time and money to engineer these cars, but how much can you do only being one. Mazda took a big leap to go in a different direction, when not many people would.
The rotary is reliable, minus the turbos. Infact I have heard of many first gens hit up to 200,000 miles with ease. But when boosted, and when more power from the little engine is asked for, things tend to break easier too. Why do you think mazda went turboless in the Rx8's?, because of this. So with the information above, and the fact that it is not uncommon for turboless rotaries to reach such high mileage, would assume that yes the engine has not been explored enough and hasn't had the time it's needed on the disection table to make it as reliable as I believe it could be. And perhaps it could be the most reliable thing we have ever seen.

 

and NSU...

http://www.monito.com/wankel/nsu.html

 

Lada has produced rotary-powered vehicles as well.

 

And Citroen also...

 

Oh, and back on topic, a good daily driver, IMO, is a car that is:

1. reliable
2. fuel-efficient
3. cheap to repair if something does go wrong

So, in my opinion, a Toyota Corolla is a good daily driver.

 

My Honda Civic Si is also a good daily driver

 

i personally cant see myself using the fd as a daily driver, even though it may or may not keep up with an average person's daily errands.

regardless if an fd is reliable or not, depending on whats done, gonna be done etc etc, its a weekend car.

 

Amen to that.
And its a money pit

 

Or sometimes, the apex seal fails from hard use (like open tracking/daily driving/autocross/drag racing), despite diligent maintenance, fine-tuning of the air-fuel-ratios (with Power FC tuning and appropriate fuel enrichment), proper upgrade paths, etc.

 

I see your point, and I agree w/ it. But that's besides the point. Yes, Mazda took a big leap of faith to develop the rotary - an engine that I believe even GM and Mercedes were interested in at one point, but everyone dropped after the oil crisis of '73.

BUT, my point still stands, IMO. And I guess I'm talking more specifically about the FD, because, like you said, NA rotaries pretty much last forever.

The FD was made to meet and beat the best of the best sports cars of it's time, yet still be dirt cheap. Everything has it's cost, and we all know that. And because of that...because the FD was to be an affordable sports car, Mazda HAD to skimp somewhere. Performance definitely wasn't an option...so reliability was. These things are quite obvious I believe...just look at the parts section, and see the most often bought parts, because they consistantly break and go bad.

I believe that's simply a fact we gotta deal with. If the FD was a $50K base price car to begin w/, I think the story would be a little different. Notice tho, I'm not just talking about the rotary engine. I'm talking about crappy door handles (the passenger one), weak exterior door handles (that break on everyone), plastic clips that I don't believe they actually thought would hold ANYTHING in place lol because they break like no other, etc etc. I'm sure you can count the countless small parts that fall apart and break over time - a relatively short time.

My 86 accord was in much better shape bodywise than most FDs I see today, and it had 208K miles on it. So I hope you see my point. Yes, it's not like a Ford Explorer, which literally falls apart after the 3 year mark lol...but it's no Honda or Toyota either.

I'm not trying to rag on Mazda. No way. I freakin LOVE Mazda for making what I believe is the best car ever...the FD. BUT, lets not kid ourselves and think that the FD is a toyota w/ a rotary engine...reliable and top notch craftsmanship & durability, cuz it's not.

 

Agree with FDNewbie.

 

Thanks. There's a reason why ppl laughed at the post in the "you know you own an RX7 if" thread that said "everytime you clean your car you find random bolts and nuts, the origins of which are unknown..."

The interior freakin falls apart on you! lol But hey...I still love her...like crazy, and wouldn't have it any other way.

 

Your list mainly applies to 93 models. You could have added about Paint and interior coating on the dash, but then there's the idea that the 94 and 95 models had these problems fixed

 

well, to the point, the RX-7 was NEVER intended to be a daily driver. Its a sports car pure and true....and of course, everything that goes along with that little tag. The best thing we can do as owners is spring for a step up in quality when something breaks (if available)....like going to a MAF (hint hint hint)

 

i have my FD as a daily driver. i love it. its fun and i look forward to EVERY day that i get to drive it anywhere... work, grocery store, mall, theatre, etc. i got mine in January with 32k miles on it. its about to turn over to 40k now (lots of long trips were necessary this spring unfortunately... 600miles round trip multiple times). i've not had any issues with it other than routine maintenance. new tires, plugs, plug wires, and fluids when i bought her. just stayed ontop of the regular maintenance. oil every 2.5k, plugs are gonna be ever 10k, etc. i dunno... maybe i've been one of the lucky ones. my car has been babied its whole life. perhaps it will start to break alot more when it gets older oh well, i love it!

 

Sometimes I just wish I could use it as a daily driver. But I drive to much, my gas/maintenance expenses would be just too much. That's why I only enjoy it on weekends and at track events.

 

Quick question. How long do FD motors usually last before needing rebuild or replacement? 50k? 100k mi?
Also, I'm assuming turbos need to be replaced at the same time, or soon after? I hear alot about the turbos needing a cool down period and warm up before driving. Will a turbo timer solve this , if you want to call it one, problem? I'm not worried about the warm up part, I always warm up my car before driving, no matter what it is. But sitting in a car for 5 min to allow the turbo to cool, that seems a bit of an annoyance. Just so you all know, which I'm sure you can tell, I'm a newb to the forum, and rotaries for that matter. I'm like many other people I'm sure, I'm getting interested in FDs but have heard many problems of em. I usually only put 10k on my car (an 88 mustang GT) in a year. I usually drive only 10 miles or less a day. Yeah, I know, I don't have to commute very far. I'm goin in the air force soon and wanted an FD, but again, reliability is an issue in a car and so is maintenance cost. Anyways, any feedback or comments on FDs will be appreciated.

 

redsuns_fd, mines got 103k miles on it and is still running strong. Original engine and turbos. In terms of warmup and cool down here's what I've found to work. I drive out of my driveway the second after I start the car in the morning, but I keep the car out of boost until the water temp (as read from an aftermarket gauge/sensor) is around 170-180C, which takes about 2-3 minutes or so in the summer (unless you've got a bad thermostat), a couple more in the spring/fall. I don't think that the turbo temps have anything to do with it, it's the engine operating temp. Turbos should spin freely regardless of their temp, but most rotaries balk some if you get on the gas hard prior to the engine warming up, turbo or NA. In terms of cooling the turbos down. Yes you can use a turbo timer, but my rule of thumb is to drive out of boost (aka in vacuum) for at least 5 blocks on the way home. During this time I also keep the fans on using the manual fan mod I've got (keeps the water temps at a steady 180C even if I'd been driving hard prior to this). I've got my turbo timer set to keep the car running for only 30 seconds after pulling out the key. I keep the fans on for a good 5 minutes or so after stopping the car. This routine seems to keep the car happy.

 

In my experience, 102543 miles stock with hard use; 18000 miles with heavy mods and hard use. Ask someone else, and they'll give you a different answer. The FD is a deep dark hole that you throw money into.

 

Alright, thanx for the input guys. Now onto question # 2.
FD vs MR2. Given this is a forum dedicated to all that is rotary, I'm sure most will go with the 7, but has anyone heard good word on the 91-95 MR2 turbos? I'm kinda at a crossroad and I am trying to figure out which path is for me. I freakin love FDs, but MR2s have caught my eye as well. I know the FD has "reliability issues" so I've heard, but with reliabilty, I've heard the MR2 will take the trophy. I want a 2 seater thats unique and fun (both MR2 and FD fit in this category). I know both are very capable and have potential. And I consider myself somewhat mechanically inclined. I'm not a tech though, nothing like that at all, but I take very good care of my car. Any feedback will be appreciated.