i have been reaaaally contemplating an FD. Brother owned one for years, but he turned his into a fully show car. I have always wanted one as my daily/weekend car. I understand that the car can have reliability issues. My thing is that i can never drive a stock car. Knowing that i would be buying parts for the engine, im worried about the repercussions of smog, and cops.

How have you guys with modded rx7's done daily driving. I live in california, and with my other car i have delt with many smog/fix it tickets. I have the confidence to fix/remove parts that i have on cars to get the issue taken care of, but not so much with a rotary.

 

FD, once dialed in, can be great daily driver street cars. If you are worried about getting pulled over and getting ref tickets or what not, just make sure everything you do is easily reversible.

 

Really big power is ruled out by the need for some smog control. But you can modify the car quite nicely and still pass Cali smog laws. I believe that a functioning cat and air pump, plus a not-so-insanely loud muffler are required. You can still do a single turbo of moderate size.

Not sure about the EGR - some model years had them and others did not. Cali might require it to stay there if it was originally equipped.

Of course there is the other angle - the right mechanic with the right motivation might not put you through all of that. Then you have to take care to not attract unwanted attention on the roads.

 

Does California have visual inspections?

When your able you might want to search/network with some of the other California owners in the West regional section ---> https://www.rx7club.com/west-rx-7-forum-193/

 

Just search "cali smog" in the 3rd gen forum. There are a ton of fully detailed discussions to be read. Use google if you're having trouble using the forum search.

 

There are 3 parts to a CA smog check

1. Visual - this includes making sure every emissions component (vacuum lines, egr, air pump, etc..) is on the vehicle, in the right spot, and that the vehicle doesn't have any after market performance part on it that isn't CARB approved.

2. Functional - this includes making sure emissions components are working as required by law. From the testing the EGR, to checking to see if the check engine light operates correctly, etc..

3. Emissions - this includes sampling the exhaust emissions either during an Accelerated Simulation Mode (ASM) test or a Two Speed Idle (TSI) test, and making sure it is within specifications.

 

I hate this state so much for the ridiculous smog laws.
BUT seeing as the car came with turbos and an intercooler stock there is a lot you can get away with, I used to dd a 240sx with an sr20 swap which isn't even close to legal and never had any problems.

Just keep it quiet and not too flashy, as long as the car looks nice and isn't loud you will be fine.

As far as legally passing smog, that's a whole 'nother story, it comes down to how much of a dick the smog tech wants to be since technically no engine mods are legal here without a carb exemption number which most parts never had issued.

Heres a link to all the stupid laws that are subject to the police officer, judge, and smog tech's interpretation and totally biased towards their mood lol http://www.arb.ca.gov/html/lawsregs.htm

 

sounds about right...

 

This is why I became a smog technician, seriously no other reason other than being able to smog my own cars and build them how I want.

 

wow you guys have smog laws! that sucks dude, come to Canada we pretty much just have noise tickets lol... but yeah an FD might be hard to have street legal...

 

Alright, so knowing what im getting into i found a potential buy. Car is a 95 rx7 r2, 113k on chassis, 5k on rebuild, black on black, shocks and springs, no name18in wheel. Looks like it is in great condition. Buyer is asking $19500. I know the car is rare, but isnt that still pretty steep?

 

And.... I dont have 5 post so i cant even check the member classifieds. :-\ smh

 

Yes, very steep from what you've listed imho.

 

$19500 will buy you a CYM with lower miles.

95 R2's aren't common but it's basically the same as a 94 R2 or a 93 R1.

David

 

Cym? Guessing its a color.

 

^Yes. CYM = Competition Yellow Mica

 

I guess it depends on the shape of the car. If it is flawless, and you really want a 95 which are pretty dang rare then go for it. I mean the internet claims Mazda only made 500 95s total and only 18 Brilliant Black R2s.

 

I mean that car is pretty much everything i want. Last year, r2, black. but at the same time i dont want to get ripped off.

 

That ain't that bad.. I mean I seen TT Supras go for like 60k.. now that is a rip off.

 

Shoot, that's the same type of car I wanted when I bought mine. I paid less than that in 2002 for with less miles and I paid too much. Prices have only gone down since then.

Just be patient. Find other better options and give this guy the chance to bring his price down. Sadly, there are just enough uninformed buyers out there who will pay too much and some sellers will try to find them. Especially if the seller paid too much when they bought it.

David