Whats possible with 20k?
 

I have been on the verge of getting a fd for the last few years, and the main reason i havent is cause it would be a dialy driver and I dont trust the reliability of them. Now that i am able to have multiple vehicles I think I am going to take the plung. So the question is, what would you do if you had 20 grand cash to spend? No loan, no dept and the rest of your bills are situated. I have been playing it out in my head but cant come to a conclussion on what the best plan of attack is. i want a all around nice reliable fast car, but CA emissions and gas make it a little harder. Should I buy a high miles beater and start the process with a rebuild, or just buy something thats in great shape for a high price? One of my close friends has a bpu supra, and it would be nice to be able to hang with him in the top end, and I also have a friend that has a 03 z06 that says a fd cant hang with his car even if I spent the same amount as he did, which was 27,500. Eventually down the road I want a fd that will out perform him in every way, handling, stopping and accelerating.

What's possible
 

Don't we all wish we could have it all? I was in the same situation as you 2.5 years ago. ALways wanted an FD, could finally have two cars....
The goals that you have are very steep and the questions you ask only spawn more questions. Hanging with a Supra on the top end is no joke. Outperforming an 03 Z06 is also an incredible challenge.

Some things to consider: how mechanically inclined and patient are you? do you have a shop to take care of major issues yourself? Do you enjoy working on cars (while your friends are out partying) and having dirty funky fingernails? If so, get a cheaper car and start "restoring" it.

If not, spend the money for a good one AND be prepared to rebuild it.

You may not like the pathway that I chose and I wouldn't blame you. I'll tell you anyway for at least some input.

i bought a 94 auto touring in pretty bad shape. I redid the leather seats myself, took apart the entire interior and glued it back together so it would be nice (spending way too much time on the club to find some parts for it). I decided to go LS/T56 6 speed out of a Trans Am (to hang with the Supra top end). I changed every suspension bushing, shocks, springs, sways, wheels and tires (to attempt to hang with z06) and I am still not finished with this car.

I have probably $16-17K into it because I did a lot of things on the super cheap but I really love this car. Sometimes I am sad that I stole the soul but overall, it was definitely worth it. I drive it hard every day and it just keeps begging for more. If you're die-hard rotory (and want the power to hang with the Supra), I think things will get expensive fast.

Also, to outperform the z06 in every way, don't forget the vast difference in creature comforts and the fact that the FD will be almost a decade older. I am sure you already thought of that and like me said "I don't care, I HAVE to have an FD!"

Good luck with your decision.
Dan

I'm also very interested in this question. I'd probubly be doing the same thng but with a min of 20 - 22K. Some kind of feedback would be nice way to widen up my options. Good looking out.

Thanks danwrx. I do enjoy working on my car especialy when it comes to things that improve the performance of it. I love the feel of the 7 and would hate to mess that up with a ls1 swap. Not saying that it does, just that it would seem like it would, but I dont really know anything about them. I was highly considering buying a roller and doing a swap but I dont know how I would deal with CA smog...??????

If you want to get the car only to try to make it outperform another car, you are going to be in for an unhappy and expensive ride.

Can you make an FD outperform a '03 Z06? Sure. However, that only last until the Z06 owner spends some money on his car to make it faster. Modding a car to make it faster than another car only works when you are the only one spending money. Because in the end, it all comes down to who spent the most money will most likely be the faster.

If you get a RX-7, get it because you like it. Be happy with it for what it is. If you do, you'll be a much happier owner in the long run.

I never said i was getting it to out perform hiz z06 regardless of what he does. He made the comment that a 7 couldnt perform the same or better then his car does for the same amount of money. So basicly if I spent 28k it wouldnt out perform a stock Z06. I realize that I wont be able to always keep up if he starts spending some money and paticularly with my friends supra when he goes single.

If you didn't buy a CYM in super condition with 28k for an Rx-7 you could rape and pillage a stock '03 Z06.

20 g's on an FD?
Of course 20 g's on a fc3s could accomplish a lot more performance. And why not since you have a Daily driver. But if it has to be an FD and your more into looks than performance- then go for it.
So you really gotta ask yourself what the purpose of this car will be.
Remember this.
Jdm fc3s motors are 750+shipping
I bought used JIC FLAT-2'S coilover for my 88, that were in great condition for 650$
Just about everything is cheaper.

Oh and i found my beatup TII for 1000 dollars. all it needed was a clutch. It already had downpipe, cone filter, muffler shop exhaust from d/p back. and 720 secondariewith FCD.
all that for 1000 dollar and 160 for a clutch. It was on the road.
I found a timeslip in the car. and it ran an 8.6 in the 1/8th mile. on some nice nitto tires.
The body.... is crap and the guys abused the hell out the car but for a 1000$ i would of never passed up that chance. and thats how i got my first rotary =D FC3s all the way baby!
But i do have some expensive electrical issues i have to get fixed=(

I second that. With alittle over 300whp you could keep up and maybe out run him if he can't drive it, and you could get that with 15k. And with that money out handling a stock z06 wouldn't be a problem either.

Now keeping up with a 600+hp Supra on top end is another story.

You could put down 300whp for well less than 15k. with 20k you could probably hunt bolt on vettes. But like mahjik said i think it's foolish to set him as your target. Because if you beat him what's to say he won't drop some money on the vette.

Being realistic here he could drop $1k and spray a 100-150shot.

Tune the car your way and eventually you will be able to smoke him.

even the older z06's are no joke, i have about 330 whp and he had long tube headers, intake full exhaust and a tune, i stayed with him till about 100mph and then he was pretty far ahead of me till we let off at 140. although i am still runnning twins and with a single turbo i would be in a much better position, but it seems you have more money to play with than i do, so im sure you will be able to make your car faster than mine.

I bought my car for 12k, pretty much the way it is. it had a bad tune and i blew the motor within a month of ownership. if i had to do it over again and had 20k to spend. id buy a cheaper modded one (aftermarket parts are not cheep, so might as well buy them with the car) for around 10-12k, save $3500 (for when it blows) in the bank, and spend the rest on a single turbo and supporting mods. that way when your tired motor goes, you have the money to get a rebuild.

they say a single turbo is more reliable then the twins, there are far less vac lines and selonids to break and fall off.

You did say "Eventually down the road I want a fd that will out perform him in every way, handling, stopping and accelerating."

The Z06 is a newer and better car all around. That's just the truth. Can you make the FD faster? Sure. You can also make a Civic faster than a Z06. ;)

You have to think about what it is you want out of a car. If you want a car to perform like a Z06, just get a Z06. If you want a car to hang with a Supra on a high, just get a Supra. There is nothing harder than getting a car and trying to turn it into something its not.

The FD is a high strung small engine car with turbos. That means making power can happen, but at the cost of reliability. You will blow engines, and you will break parts. The car was designed around being 255 HP. Making the car faster has an impact everywhere.

Can you make an FD just as capable as a Z06? Yes, but it's not cheap and in the end it will cost more than the $27k that your friend spent on his Z06 (especially if you plan to take the car on the road course with that kind of power).

Getting an FD to the performance of something like a Z06 is easy. Keeping it there is the problem.

like what mahjik said, you should get a rx7 if you like it for what it is. i think its pretty safe to say that on any car, +horsepower = -reliability (with a slight exception for supras, skylines, etc. which have such a strong engine it probably wont make much of a difference). on the other hand, you have rx7's which seem like +horsepower= -10x reliability. if you have a rx7 only to make it beat other cars, would you really be happy working 10x harder to keep it running in good shape? personally, the reason i have my FD is because this is the car which got me into cars in the first place.

For about 20,000- 22,00 we can do a single turbo 20b ported motor with all the mods you will need. www.rx7store.net

Judging from the initial post, he's talking $20k from the start of the purchase; not $20k after you have the car.

Ya thats true....im startin with 20 - 22k to buy the car and add upgrades after. I guess i shoulda been more specific....my fault. But good lookin out on the input.....keep it comin.

I have 20k cash to spend. Any supra for that price would be crap and you cant touch a z06 for that. I am not looking to keep up with my friends z06, thats not my focus. What I would like to do is prove to him that a rx7 can "match" the performance of a stock z06 for less then 28k. I realize that I will blow motors and yada yada, but the fact is that the fd is the closest thing for the price that I can think of that I like. For the people that looks doesnt matter, that is great for you and Im sure your very happy with your cars, but for me thats not the case. I want the complete package for a reasonable price, and yes I am willing to work on it. I have no problem doing so, since its a car that I am buying for a hobbie not transportation.

Hmm, yes, i agree. Also if you want to make it faster, i think that you should begin,
with an investement at Skip Barber racing school, (its in montery, CA, at the laguna seca curcuit)

THAT in itself, will make it faster than any upgrade you do, trust this advice, for a LOT of others who actualy went to one, will second... third.... and sixth it!

Yeah, anyway, reading also helps a lot, on everything from driving tips, to how to change your vaccum hosesm since, at least some info will ALWAYS stay in your head, and that helps a lot! Well, good luck dude!

The difference will be that he will have spent 28k, and in a few years, you'll be far beyond that number and he'll still be at 28k. So who will be the winner?

The question is, if you have already made up your mind, why are you posting a question? Your question has really already been answer and by someone who has own a RX-7 for many years (almost 10).

IMO, the RX-7 is just a car you buy. If you have to justify it, then you are buying the wrong car and you will not be happy with it. Smart man's money is on a Vette. Us crazy guys who like to burn money with lighters keep our RX-7's regardless of the fact that there are newer and better cars on the roads.

So first off I would say buy with the intensions of having a rare and wonderfully balanced driving machine. As far as all these people come on now done right 20k can go a long way. I would say you can outperforme the supra and z06 easilly, but this is not the case for you. One thing you mentioned was califonria smog, if your going to try and keep it smog legal you will never be able to compete. On the other hand if you decide thats not going to be an issue for you here you go...

I roller with blown motor....$5000
Rebiult bridge ported motor....$3000 found on forum
GT35/40r turbo kit....$2800
Fuel kit...$900
Fuel pump...$100
Exhaust...$450
Twin Power...$350
PFC w/ commander...$700
Dataloggit...$350
Wideband kit...$350
Clutch...$500
Vacuum hose job...$80
Intercooler set up...$700
New plugs and wires...$100
Radiator and AST...$450
Pulley kit...$100
Greddy elbow...$100
BOV...$250
Boost controller...$300
Suspension...$1000

So far this is around 18k as long as you do all the work yourself your good. You can also find slightly used parts on this forum for a little cheaper or on group buys. IM sure there are other little things youll want to do change fuel filter, oil filter all oils but with all the stuff mentioned above you should be able to hang with your boys supra even if its got some bawlz and spank the crap out of the z06.

And hell if you want to get stupid with it...

Buy a roller...$5000
Seller everthing that has to do withthe motor...+1300
20b turbo motor... $4000
Stand alone...$1500
Turbo Upgrade...$4000
Suspension...$1000
Exhaust...$500
Radiator ast...$450
Fuel pump and lines...$300

Just depend on your know how and what your final outcome your looking for, then again you could go ls7..

Well thats my 2 sense.

No one said it couldn't be done:

As I said before, I am not competing against my friends z06. I just want to show him that a fd can match the performance of a stock z06. I would like to see at least 20-25,000 miles out of it though. Which would be roughly 2-3years with the amount of time I drive. So it sounds like my best bet would be buying a roller instead of something thats already modded?

Here i'd take a look at this.... https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...3&page=1&pp=15 not sure if its still for sale but with stock wheels he wants 20k for it, and im pretty sure it would crap on zo6's

That is one of the best lines I have ever read on this forum. When you buy an FD reasons infact do not matter and selling it is almost impossible (If you really love them). It is an addiction that is very hard to part with heck I was off the FD pill for 6 months before I got on it again and it seemed like years.

Alex

Thats to far away from me, but it is deff a sweet car.