jimlab

No, it's a valid point, and the subject of "rarity" and "collectability" has always been point of contention for me. The FD is "rare" for several reasons, and none of them are anything to be proud of. It's not like Mazda intended to make a limited run of FDs and you were lucky to get one of them.

You can easily find an FD if you want one, and the prices are very low because there's not significant demand. The only reason people have trouble finding one to buy is because many are in poor condition these days, and a lot of people seem to have semi-unreasonable hang-ups about color/package combinations. If you just wanted to buy an FD, any FD, it's not that difficult to find one for sale. Now, try finding a 1953 Corvette for sale. Are you starting to get the picture?

In other words, there's a big difference between the rarity of the FD and the rarity of an original AC Shelby Cobra, a Yenko Camaro, or an L88 Corvette. They all had very limited production to begin with, and prices are astronomical as a result. ~13,800 FDs is not a limited production run, and that's just the U.S. sales. The only reason there are so relatively few FDs left in the U.S. today is because of the reasons I listed. Ask Mazda if they would have been bothered by the FD being as popular and "common" as the Z06 Corvette... they wish it had sold that well in the U.S.

Bottom line, "rare" is not something that you can see in a high school parking lot. If that makes me a jackass, so be it. I don't have any delusions of grandeur about my car.

Montego

iTrader: (1)

Well I think we should clarify that rare does not = prestige. With that being said the FD is a rare car. Prestigious? Well I'm with you on that one.


Nah, your point does not make you a jackass. It was how you worded it. But whatever I thought it was rather funny.

particleeffect

if i could afford it, there would be a z in my driveway right now, not a 7. the 7 is great and all, but it's getting old and i'd rather be driving than restoring my car at this point in my life.

02+ black z.

gfelber

I do, thank you very much.

Gene

GoodfellaFD3S

iTrader: (213)

Lol, good for you gene. Don't let the keyboard commandoes get to ya

turbojeff

iTrader: (30)

I love the Z06 and I'm quite aware of the awesome performance potential. The FD and Z06 are not comparible cars. Much like the TII and the FD, both fun but not comparible in terms of performance.

The thing I like about the FD is that no matter what the power or handling #'s the car posesses there is something that a smaller car gives the driver that a larger car just can't match, it is feel. The Vette looks big, is big and feels big. Big tires, big engine, big deal.

There is also something cool in owning something not everyone has.

There are lots of cool older sports cars out there that people restore and modify, they aren't trying to be the absolute fastest on the block, they just enjoy the project as much as the performance.

The FD is not slow by modern day standards. Go back 13 yrs before the FD was built (1979) and you were looking at a pathetic ~180 HP vette. The fastest car in the country was the Porsche 928 that topped out at a then amazing 144mph.

The FD enjoys a huge aftermarket support for a low volume japanese sports car. The average FD owner does not post regularly on this forum IMHO. I've sold many FDs, most customers have not joined. Many just enjoy nearly modern day supercar performance for ~$15K.

ronarndt

I love it when this topic comes around again- and again- and again.

Most people recognize a corvette and know that it is fast.

Most people do not even know what a FD is, much less how fast a modded one is.

It's the "surprise" factor in action. Like when I drive my wife's GMC 2500HD with the 8.1L big block V-8 and some little ricer wants to show how fast he is. Like I said- surprise.
Ron A.

tt2323

Ironically i was just researching Z06's on the net minutes ago. I'm looking at selling my FD, and buying something else come spring. I'm seeing 2001 Z06s with < 30k miles going for < $30k on ebay. I'm looking at 2002+ which have the bump in HP/TQ, along with upgraded oil rings because the 2001's were burning oil by the quart. If anyone owns their FD outright like myself can sell it, finance $15K+ for the vette and have a $300 payment. Very tempting...

blackkiller7

WELL! let me get you a cookie

gfelber

OK. I'll be sure to get it from you when I'm back in GA.

Gene

RX7UP

I'd rather have an 04 Z06.
I then can sell it and buy a 93,94,95FDs and then still have money left over to buy a vintage 71 RX2!

Yeah.... That's what I rather have.......

RXASSASIN7

okay if you where to say the 2005 style corvette i would have thought about it for two seconds them still went with f that. 1200 a month who are you financing through? and what part of any town in any city in any state doesnt have a billion corvettes as it is . DONT BE A STATISTIC, KEEP THE LEGACY ALIVE... DRIVE ROTORIES TILL YOU DIE .... AHHAHAAHA THAT RHYMES (okay okay little corny i know)

skunks

personnaly yes i would sell my fd for a z06 but I cant come close to affording it and even though i sold my fd, it wouldnt even be a drop in the bucket for a new/used z06. my fd is still fun though and it serves its purposes. I still like it a lot and have not even really began to use it anywhere near 1/2 its potential. I think if you want a z06, you should not need to ask others what they think. just do it if you got the cash. if you cant afford it, there is no real point in asking now is there :p

ghowell13

I have to agree 100%. I drove a z06 at a GM day affair, and the bottom end felt GOOD, but the handling and brakes are what the z06 package was intended for more than the slight power increase. I just was not sold on that aspect....

John Magnuson

I've driven both the Z06 and the FD. Yes, the Z06 is faster and you gotta love the V8 torque. But the FD feel more likes a sports car to me. As has been stated before the vette feels big (although the C5 is SUCH a huge improvement on the C4).

Personally I'd rather dump a couple grand a year into my FD to keep it going strong.

Also, REGARDLESS OF THE REASONS CAUSING IT the FD is a RARE car and it's nice to drive something different. I see a billion vettes on the road.

855m0n0

iTrader: (1)

I like my FD and I could have purchased a Vette. I looked into the newest model recently and really liked what I saw. Having a "presigeous" (sp) car does very little for me. All that it really means is that I have to take women out to more exspensive dinners and what not.

The FD is an awesome car and so is the Vette. Where I live I have not seen a FD on the road in years. I rarely even see FCs. I do however see Vettes on a daily basis. Does that matter to me.... not really. I did not choose the FD because I cared what other people thought about it. If I did, I would not have purchased it. My cohorts at work think it is a kids car and that I should have got a Lotus, Vette, or a 911 rather than the FD. They all poke fun at me for it and ask me about the Fast and Furious movie and when I am going to "grow up" and get an "adult car".

In the end I have my FD because I happen to really like them. It is fast enought (497.7rwhp) and does what I want. It does not score points with the chicks, nor the co-workers, nor anyone else I can think of.

OBTW, to the guy that said that he would trade it FD in for an Italian bike. One word, DONT. I have a Ducati and RX-7 people know nothing of realibility issues in compairison. My Ducati has to go to the shop about every 2000 miles for $1500.00 in service. (Average over 12K miles on it). Now that is UNRELIABLE. When I started racing in WERA I was told by a Ducati race team mech. that it would be cheaper to purchase a NEW R6, prep it, and race it then to race my Ducati (which is already prepped).

ptrhahn

iTrader: (9)

I don't think the C5 Z06 is enough of an improvemt for me to replace my RX7 with it... it's a great car, with lots of potential, great on track... but so is my car... and it's smaller, lighter, sharper, more exclusive, and better looking.

blackkiller7

sounds good to me

jimlab

I see a lot of people saying that the Corvette feels big. Of course the Corvette feels big... most of you drive FDs, many on a daily basis. Almost any car feels big by comparison when you don't have the driver's door panel touching one leg and the center console touching the other.

Spend more than a 30-minute test drive in a Corvette and you'll eventually figure out that they're not big. They're normal sized sports cars, and as a result, they're more comfortable and carry a hell of a lot more than the FD, so they're more practical... and yet still sports cars. Amazing. Sure, the FD is a purist's sports car, but that doesn't mean that it's the norm that everything else should be measured by. That means it's the extreme that other cars are not likely to achieve without sacrificing the same thing the FD does... interior space and comfort.

The FD is tiny, and if you can't figure that out, put a helmet on and see what kind of contortions you have to go through to fit in the car unless you happen to be about 5' 9" or shorter. Try to put a full size suitcase in the hatch. Riiiight. Now, repeat after me... you've become acclimatized to your FD, so every car where you're not in direct contact with an interior panel feels big in comparison. If you lived in a 4' x 4' square box for several months, your apartment/house/whatever would feel huge too.

turbojeff

iTrader: (30)

That is the beauty of it, almost anything feels big compared to the FD. The feel is great, like a go-cart for the street.

I'm 6' and my helmet wearing head fits in my R1 just fine.

What sports car is bigger than the Vette? The Viper? Any others?

ptrhahn

iTrader: (9)

Exactly, I LIKE it that way. I want to "wear" the car. On this note, I had a ride in a friends new Elise this weekend, and in my thinking, THAT is where the "too small" envelope starts, not at the FD. I can still pack all of my track crap and enough other luggage for a weeks vacation in the FD (provided I don't have a passenger). I don't think you could do that in an Elise.

gfelber

Good point. The "feel" of the 'Vette is probably exacerbated by the fact that one also sits very low, but there's much more headroom and the interior is more expansive. At first, the front of the car feels much larger too as it's difficult or nearly impossible to see the hood beyond the cowl. A fair amount of seat time will mitigate this effect and you'll gasp when you have climb back into an FD.

FD leg room for folks with larger thighs is a huge problem with the stock seat, particularly on the track. And if you happen to have big shoulders or play with weights every now and then it's gets treally tricky. I actually have more room in my Miata as my left shoulder hits the FD's door panel. My back will begin cramping after 20 minutes or so due to leaning toward the passenger side/console. Two big guys in an FD is a joke: door-to-shoulder to shoulder-to-door.

Gene

gfelber

Bigger, heavier or both? If it's the latter, then a hell of a lot.

There are no doubt more "sports cars" that are smaller, but there are several cars I can think of that have similar or larger dimensions (and/or feel large): Viper; Lambo Diablo, Murcielago; Aston Vanquish, DBx; Panoz; Saleen S7; Ferrari 575; Ford GT, 300ZX; Lister.

Of course, this depends upon where we draw the line with regard to the definition of a sports car. If we include 2+2's and GTs, the list grows considerably, e.g. Porsche 928; Mustang; Camaro; Supra; Jaguar XK; BMW M3, M5, 6; Merc CL55, CLxx; Bentley GT; etc.

Gene

turbojeff

iTrader: (30)

There is an "age old" arguement of what a "sports car" is. Some say it must have only 2 seats, some say it has to have a soft top (did this start with British sports cars, MG, Triumph, etc?).

For sure I think we can eliminate sports sedans and muscle cars, Camaro, Mustang, M3, M5, Mercedes, etc...

Many of the "bigger" sports cars you list are very, very low volume and in a complete different price catagory than the even the Vette. Practically speaking no one here will have experience with those exotic cars, prices are 10X FD values.

No one is debating that the FD is small and not as functional as a "big" sports car. What I'm saying is the big car does not have the "go-kart" feel that the FD has, even if they are faster. Much like the FD does not have the go-kart feel the Elise has.

gfelber

Yeah, I didn't really want to go there.

Fair enough.


Probably true with the exception of the Viper, 300ZX (or course), Panoz and perhaps the new Aston (~$115K). One interesting thing to note is the trend toward increasingly heavy cars. I'm amazed that 911s are well over 3,000 lbs (new Carerra S is 3,230) now and 911 Turbos are close to 3,500!

Right on...and the Elise does not have the go-kart feel of a Caterham...

**** it, let's all buy go-karts

Gene