Im selling my EVO, I think. and I've been thinking about picking up an FD, i've read through alot of the FAQ's and through most of the how-to site's etc.. and I've been looking into buying a FD with a blown motor, and having it rebuilt.. however, after dropping my money into the FD.. it will also become a daily driver, about 15-20k a year.. through a chicago winter aswell.. garaged however. I dont mind the winter driving though.

Now, assuming I dont push the **** out of it daily, take care of it, and im assuming maybe 2-3 track days a year..

What am I looking at in reliability? Will this thing last atleast 70-80k without major problems, assuming my rebuild is done well?

Not sure what kind of power I wanna pull out of it, but im shooting for the 320-350 range.

My major concern is just not having to drop 2-3k a year fixing/rebuilding the motor, on that note what is the average mainteance cost a year..oh and also, what kind of gas mileage is on average on stock twins? 18-22?

 

Guess you don't read alot :p

The concensus for the stock engine typically is to live around til 100k, then after that it's a crapshoot. People complain of more or less, but of course at that point it becomes a driving habit question.

As always, with more track days and more power, you are always sacrificing reliability.

If you are going to go with a reman, then from what I hear its somewhat a complete crapshoot, some go well, while some others just go out
With a rebuild though i'd be more concerned with the experience of the builder

 

Well..

15k-20k/year is a hell of a lot, IMO. I would budget over $1000/year since I keep my cars running as well as I can, but that will be stuff other than the motor. I would never rely on it as my only winter car, and you'll NEED a set of winter tires. 320-350hp is going to lose some reliability over stock, and track days will beat on it HARD. You will not see 18mpg probably, maybe 13-18 for city-highway. Mine is all stock and I generally don't hammer it and I'm lucky to get better than 16mpg.

Absolutely get an insurance quote. Some people pay big $$ to insure an FD.

Honestly, this sounds like a bad setup for a daily driver.

Dave

 

If you are going to own an FD you will need to have another vehicle (preferably a truck) that is paid for. When (not IF) the FD does break you need to be able to tow it home, and parts are not available from your local Autozone so it will be down for a few days.
They are incredible cars but never meant to be daily drivers.

 

I have driven a FD in the snow and it is not verry fun. I do see a couple on the road around here in the winter though. I would definetly consider a dedicated winter car, like a cheap older honda.

 

an FD for a daily driver is just plain silly, mine's been a PITA with only 60k original miles and tons of previous service

and keep on reading, the professionals whom do work on these cars charge healthy to do so, best off to do everything yourself

 

A mildly modded FD can be a good daily driver, provided the roads in your town are smooth enough, and you keep up on maintenance. I wouldn't drive the car in snow, however. Pick up a cheap old AWD Subaru for a daily driver if you're ever going to encounter ice on the ground. $1000 will save you a lot of heartache.

-s-