Wait till you get married. Your significant other will have other ideas. I remember saying that at one time. Still got mine (for who knows how long though).

 

miata is the way to go

 

Haha, or wait till you have kids and need a car w/ back seats. Or it's time to buy a house and unloading the FD will help out w/ the down payment (see "twinturboteddy's" CYM for sale post in the classifieds section as proof). Priorities *will* change.

 

I was considering a sti for a while, but I test drove an Evo, and hated it. I dunno, maybe its because I test drove a 350z and an RX-8 that day, but it just felt bouncy and the body roll was pretty bad... It didnt feel as much like a drivers car as the 8 or even the 350. I just love that low stance, and the sitting position of sports cars that just isnt the same as buying what was originally designed as a family sedan then modified for rally purposes.. Granted, the STI has better performance numbers than the RX-7, but if it feels anything like the Evo did driving wise, it just cant compare with being behind the wheel of a rotary. I'll take your advice into consideration.

On a side note, just to make everything clear. I have another car. It's a volvo s40, so, reliable, mostly indestructable, and 4 doors. Heavy as hell, pronounced understeer, but hey, thats why I'm getting a different car. The volvo will remain my daily driver, so that is not my concern.

Perhaps I didnt express this enough, but I am not in the usual financial situation as most college students are. I have a free ride through college, my family set up a fund so they can basically pay for whatever education I choose, AND in addition, my father is considering buying a second house in the bay area for real estate purposes, meaning, while I'm in college, I will have a house. Yeah... you could say I'm spoiled.. but you can at least be happy that I will be paying for the car on my own, which is the main purpose that I made this thread in the first place, to make sure I can handle it.

In the next few weeks I'll make a point of it to test drive all the cars you guys put fourth that I have yet to try including the miata, mr2, 944 turbo, and wrx. Any others I should be considering?

 

^ It's not just money, but the time you'll invest in the FD. If school is at the top of your priority list, avoid the FD. While the FD, like any good sportscar, is a diversion from the monotony of life, I'd argue that it's too much for someone in college (that cares about doing well). The FD is needy - very needy - which is what a college student doesn't need. Get something fast fun, and reliable - not something you'll be fretting about all the time. Nobody is saying that you shouldn't have a fun car in college. Look at used NSXs if you have money. That, or put a LS1 in a FD.

Free ride you might have, but know that at some point it's going to end or get cut back. Even if your parents are weak enough to want continue supporting you after college, would you want to be 30 and still getting handouts from mom and dad? Put yourself in a position that when you finish school, you'll be able to properly enjoy things like needy sports cars, needy women, etc. When you get into a situation where you become a provider for your family, and you realize that your not making your potential, it's a little hard to get back into school. I should have had a MBA by now, so I'm speaking from experience.

 

I am planning on undergoing many years of school. I'm pretty ambitious I guess. I'm currently shooting for a major in Mechanical Engineering, and I would hope to either get a job out of college that would pay for my masters in automotive engineering, or simply continue study until I have my masters. I will definately take your advice into consideration, seeing as my ultimate goal is to design cars (hopefully with an auto racing background), not just drive them for fun.

As for the LS1 FD, I was thinking along the lines of buying an FD, seeing how reliable it was under the unique conditions that only I will have, and if it the engine died, swapping a LS1 or a 20b, at some point. I would prefer to stick with rotary, simply based on the feeling that one recieves while driving one, but if the rotary proves too unreliable, I will most likely do an LS1 swap.

I'm not completely decided on the FD, and I wont be until I have test driven every car that I mentioned, but I am leaning that way. If I feel that the FD is too much of a far shot, I might just get a TII (My other teammate has a TII, and if I get one, theres a girl on our team who would also get one), and we'd be a team of TII's. I was also considering this so that if the new 7 comes out then I'd be able to afford it :-D.

Anyone know about Auto X? I was doing some research, and I found out that a stock FD will run in the SS class with the new vettes, 996, viper, etc... the FC is in the B stock class, meaning our team would be racing in different classes when we practice. Just another thing that I will be considering.

Thanks to all you guys for your opinions. I'll let you know when I make a decision. Feel free to leave more opinions if you are so inclined.

 

Why not consider an older NSX? That's probably the most forgiving car I've ridden in on a track. You really have to try to mess up in that car to have an offroad trip.

I'm actually considering selling my RX-7 for one after mine is back assembled and running.

 

Dave and DG,

I'll take a look at the receipts over the weekend. I wasn't the owner back then. I have all the maintenance records since new for my car.

 

I considered an older NSX also before deciding to buy an FD. The NSX does drive very well, but I like the FD better from a looks perspective and think the FD will do just as well on track/off. FDs are still cheaper and easier on the wallet to fix compared to the NSX. Plus I do like the rotary

 

The TIIs are nice also. I had 3 over the course of 10 years or so of rotary ownership. With some money they can be made to go pretty fast and handle well. Interior driver controls are nice. Gauges look dated. Seats are good. Brakes are good. Nice steering especially with the manual box. Handles well, but I prefer the way the FD feels.

I think you'll find the other cars are nice and shiny and new and fast, but they don't have the steering feel and overall driving feel that the FD and other more sports car oriented chassis do. I owned an e36 BMW with some work for a while and I hated that car on track. It felt so heavy and slow to react compared to the various 7s and Miatas I've driven.

Check out SCCA.com for autox classing. DamonB who mods the suspension forum runs one in SS I think. Check the results posted on SCCA or NASA to see where FC typically wind up in the rankings and then visit your local autoX to get an idea of the competition locally. If I were looking to get a winning autox car, I'd probably look at a Miata.

 

After riding in a stock (suspension wise, it did have a S/C) NSX on the track with the worlds best GT4 driver (translates to "soon to be marks on the wall" driver), I'd have to say the NSX is worth it's money in the handling department. A stock FD is not really that close, but as it shouldn't be due to the price difference.

Had this person been driving the same way a stock FD, he wouldn't have made it home. Granted it's cheaper to modify an FD, but if I had an NSX; there wouldn't be a whole lot I'd be doing to it in the first place. A little suspension work, track tires/rims and safety equipment would be all I needed.

 

I was under the impression that the FD was better than the NSX, Road and Track lapped the two against each other, the FD did a time of 1:05.64 and the NSX did a time of 1:07.14. The 7 also had better numbers in the Slalom and sightly higher in the lateral accelleration. It understeered less than the 7 however. You probably already know what I'm referring to because I found the link on this forum so I probably dont need to post it. (also this is my first forum and I'm not sure how...) Anyways, I think the NSX is a bit out of the price range, considering what I've found online etc. Does the NSX have any reliability issues that you know of? The ones in the price range I am planning on paying initally were relatively high miles... Anyways, thanks for the advice, I'll add it to my list of considerations.

 

The earlier NSX's had a few problems (i.e. some suspension problems with the front dipping too much under breaking IIRC). Those were addressed later (as with increase in horse power). I wouldn't take the magazine article to heart all that much. The Supra also beats the FD is most of the test as well if you go by those magazine tests. However, to be completely honest, I'd take an NSX over my FD any day. After you have owned one for a while and end up like this:

https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generation-specific-1993-2002-16/when-engines-break-pics-411874/

you begin to wonder.... It really depends on what you want to do with the car. The FD is not a track car in stock form. It can be turned into one, but it does take money, knowledge and dedication.

As far as NSX reliability issues? It's a freaking handmade Honda.

What you need to decide is:

1. What are you planning to do with the car
2. How much money can/will you spend on the car yearly
3. How much power are you expecting to utimately get out of the car
4. Does the thought of blowing a motor scare you

Once you answer those questions, it will be easier for you to pick a car which will best suit your needs.

 

AHHH HONDA! (runs away..) Jk :-P. Thanks a lot for the info Mahjik. I have heard a lot of good things about the NSX, so I'll have to try it and see. Thing is, like I said earlier, I will have to go with an earlier NSX simply because they are priced at a higher initial price. I'll do some research on the nsx though, definately if a Moderator of the rx7 club says theyre good :-P.

 

Yep. That makes all the difference on just about any car.

Although after tracking on/off for many of the last 16 or so years or so (damn i'm getting old ), I wouldn't want to have all that much money into a dual purpose street/track car. I've seen my fair share of expensive cars get totalled on track. I started racing karts a few years ago and stopped tracking my street cars.

My FD is mostly street and I had hoped to do a few track days a year (hasn't happened in the last 3 years of ownership though). Here in the North East it can be difficult to get track time b/c the BMW and Porsche clubs have a lock down on Lime Rock which is on the only track within a 4 hour drive and most of those clubs are too prissy to allow other marques. that was why I got an e36, but didn't like that car on track. I'm too busy to get to Watkins Glen or VIR regularly.

If I knew I was going to be able to hit the track at least once a month, I'd start with a cheaper car and make it more track than street oriented so that I wouldn't loose too much money if/when I wrecked it. I had an incident once at Lime Rock that I don't care to repeat.

Although if all I were looking to do is autoX, I definitely wouldn't waste the money on a dedicated car. A dual purpose car is fine. The risk is just about negligible for autoX.

 

I was considering asking this in the FC section, but since I have an FD bias, which I'm sure most of you do as well...

If you were to choose between an FC or an MR2 to replace your FD, which would it be? Ive been researching. I'm still looking into FD's simply because if somehow I find a perfect one I will buy it no matter what, but I am leaning towards the MR2 or FC as an alternative, since they are more realistic to me than the nsx. Which one is more "compareable" to the FD.

My current thinking is that they both have these going for them:
MR2: reliable, lightweight, 5050 weight ratio, turbo version = stock 200hp
FC: more reliable than FD, lightweight, 5050 weight ratio, turbo version stock 200hp

The MR2 goes for slightly higher price wise. How do they compare handling wise? How would they compare when suspension is modified? As far as I understand it, the MR2 is more reliable and gas efficient, and the FC gets more power with each mod than does the MR2 due to the rotary. Is this true?

I stated earlier that if I bought an FD I would leave it stock, howerver, if i buy an mr2 or an FC then I would modify, using whatever money I would have saved from buying a pristine FD. Which do you think gives more for the money, handling, performance, and reliablity wise?

Looks wise, I like the mr2 more, but when they have kits they both can look good, so I dont care about that.

Thanks for your input.

on a side note, I just realized that almost every car I am considering has flip up lights.. but they're now illegal ... sadness

 

Another question comes to mind. What do you think about having a team where everyone has the same car, vs a team where there is more reliablity? Would an entire team of FC's be more marketable? or an entire team of rotaries? It looks as though we have yet another member going the FC route, so thats two fc's and me, depending on what I get. Just something that came to mind.

 

They are all good cars. Drive examples of both Buy whichever one you enjoyed more.

If you are looking to race for points, you might want to consider making your decision based on what car is competitive in it's class. Do some research on SCCA about what cars are competive in what classes.

Marketability is another topic altogether. No comment there except that in order to be marketable, you have to win.

 

Here what we are talking about is say we get sponsorship from Mazda or something (I wish). I was thinking it would be more advantagous for us to have similar cars that can benifit more from something like this. Having 3 FCs we would all be able to profit directly, but say there was an MR2 in the mix, he would probably not be able to have the same team sponsor/ benifit directly as much. Just a thought.

The counterpoint is that with say an MR2 and if the other FC member of our team instead goes for the 944Turbo that she was in love with then we would be more diversified. where could this help say in points and sponsors? which is better from your opnions?

P.S. I am the guy with the FC that Drunkin was talking about. Started the team sometime in late november but so far trying to get the team set up car wise has been our main focus, building a basis on which each member ( we have 4 right now plus support staff =P ) can learn to race on and build skills. so yeah =)

 

I'll chime in..since I haved owned the following. 87 MR2, 91MR2, 85 Rx-7, 93 Rx-7.

87 MR2, exellent handling, great on gas, not so fast, high build quality
91 MR2 good handling, good on gas, looks awesome, okay build quality
85 Rx-7 okay handling, so-so looks, okay on gas, fair build quality, okay acceleration
93 Rx-7 excellent handling and acceleration, gas hog, poor build quality

Thats only my opinion, so take it for whats it's worth...

 

Ok I just got off the phone with a man from Tri-point Engineering. He actually told me some more things about the reliablity of the FD. He said one of the main reasons why the FD is less reliable is that even though the turbos drop boost after 6krpm, many people rev the car past 7krpm, which can cause the car to overheat. This of course kills the reliablity of the car. I cant describe what he said any better than that, its easier to remember things that are written down than what you get out of a 15 minute phone conversation lol... Anyways, he said that the FD should be reliable enough for my purposes.
This is of course, not to say that I wont take your opinions into consideration, I just thought it would be interesting to hear what a professional has to say.

He also compared the FC to the FD handling wise. He had a FC himself, with a widebodykit, full coilovers, etc, and he said, while it did handle amazingly, the car could never live up to the handling characteristics that the FD was capable of.

Also, a special case in regards to modifying cars in California, he said that the gas sold here is at 91 octane whereas the east coast you can still get ahold of 93 octane gas. Basically, any modifications done to a california car is very difficult to deal with if the octane is not taken into consideration. So basically I'll need to be running octane booster if not race fuel to avoid detonation if I modify.

You guys probably already know all this stuff, but seeing as I'm a newbie I figured I'd share what I learned.
Thanks for all of your help and opinions.

 

You only got a small piece of the picture there. Start reading the FAQs and searching and reading some more on this forum.

if you really want to learn a few extra tidbits about the FD, FC, suspensions and racing search for posts where howard coleman contributed. Read them all. Then read them again. DamonB also.

Sponsorship isn't easy. Lots of us had tried to get it. You have to prove yourself first. Nobody will give you anything unless you are winning and ranking high consistently. I doubt sponsors care if you are a team or solo. Do some research on getting sponsored on Google. Lots of articles have been written on the subject.

btw - last i checked, only drivers accumulate points and car companies are usually interested in racing to enhance sales of new models. Selling old parts for FCs, FDs etc doesn't keep them in business...

Either buy a car you like or buy a car that can win.

 

I'm hoping an FD can do both

 

There's the best idea yet. DrunkenGimp, find a kart place local to you a give it a try. If you like that, find out how the local kart scene is (should be big in your area), and put some of your money in a kart. Put the rest of it in semi-aggressive investments, and cash in a few years after you graduate.

 

Check out DamonB's posts