Neon01

Hello all, first let me introduce myself as I'm somewhat new to the forum. My name is Chris Campbell, and I'm a graduating aero engineer here at Virginia Tech. I used to own a 10th AE T2 and loved it to death, but had to sell it a year ago because a deal came along that I couldn't pass up. I now drive a very nice (but slow) 4-banger '96 Accord. In a month I'll be starting my new job with an engineering firm in DC.

Now I'll get to the point: I want a new car. I was initially dead set on a new Audi S4, but have recently rethought that in favor of owning either an FD or a Supra. Now, cost isn't really an issue, but I'd like to pay no more than $30,000. Additionally, I will be keeping my Accord for my daily driver, so I'm certainly not afraid to put in some wrench time on whatever I buy. My main requirement is something that is GENERALLY reliable (not putting new engines or turbos in all the time). This car will be almost exclusively for street use (I don't race em), but still needs to churn out low 12s to high 11s. Ideally, I'd like to just buy someone's modded Rx, but am leary of grenades. Upon doing some research, it seems that about $25000 will buy a heavily modded RX, but only an older stock Supra TT. To get the kind of performance i'm looking for out of the supra, it seems the price shoots squarely into the upper 30s (I guess that's the price you pay for reliability). My question to you all is: are there reliable RX monsters out there in my price range (and i'm not talking about NO maintenence here, just not replacing motors every 5k miles)? Would it be better to buy a stock RX and mod it myself? Would I be just better off going with the Supra anyway? Any recommendations or comments are greatly appreciated.

Quik 93 FD

I bought a modded RX-7 and its been great. Mechanically, it has run near perfect with only a clutch switch needing to be replaced, but when u buy a modded car, u sometimes dont know what your getting into. You dont know what kinda work they have had in the past usually and u can end up paying for their mistakes. Ive had to replace the A/C and the clutch(had a race clutch but wore out) the drivers side door handle (was a Miami car, lol) and thats about it and total i spent far less than your $30000 price range, around $17000 is what i have spent so far(car and repairs). The car came pretty nicely modded with intake, midpipe, down pipe, exhaust, new ported motor, new turbos, intercooler, new vacuum lines, and some other things. Im projecting mid-low 12's in the 1/4 and around ~330 hp at the wheel. Just read up on them and realize that these cars can be very finicky at times and patience is needed when maintaining them so you can have more fun in the long run. Good luck with your hunt!

Edit- Ohh, and about the Audi $4's, they are monsters!! But some parts for them are rare or extremely expensive(thats why theyre called $4's, lol) or not even made yet, its hard to find a good aftermarket intercooler for them, you need pretty much 2 of anything(diverter valves, downpipes, etc) and you need to pull the motor to install downpipes!!!

R1Outcast

I see the Supra as Japan's musclecar (big, bulky, with high horsepower). I'm not much of a musclecar fan so I don't care much for the Supra. IMO the RX-7 looks way better than the Supra and the reliability depends mainly on how the previous owner treated it. My FD has given me only minor problems that were easy to fix. Probably the most important thing is to find a competent FD mechanic because the Mazda dealerships don't have a clue.

maxpesce

Since you are reasonable near KD Rotary (PA) I would say your best bet would be to find a clean but high milage 93-94 Fd for $10-11k and, send it up to KD have them build it right the way YOU want it rather than buy an already modded car of unknown quality. They should be able to do all the performance & reliability mods you need for a low 12s car for less than $14k and within your $25k total budget

Rogue

well since you can goto the 30k range you might wanna go check out ErnieT's car. 500hp beast. looks very nice too. go check out the for sale section should still be towards the top.

Neon01

Thanks to all for the replies. Some interesting points.

Rogue: I have actually been corresponding with Ernie about his RX. It looks like a wonderful machine. He seems like the type that keeps his car immaculate. Probably well worth the money. I just want to make damn sure i'm not going to be popping engines left and right.

Rookie84

There is a 500rwhp rx-7 for sale in MD... you might want to check it out. I believe it's in For Sale forum.

Rookie84

oh... nevermind... didn't read the replys... :P