SayNoToPistons

iTrader: (8)

i plan on buying a RX-7 FC to start off in rotary first and learn more about it, then i might get a RX-7 FD after the FC (2-3 years). i know its crazy hard to maintain a RX-7 FD and its especially hard for me since im not a mechanic at all (just basic stuff like changing fuilds and detailing). Or should i go with the rx-8? is the new RX-8 easier to maintian than the old RX-7s? i dont plan on modding unless i really know what im doing with a rotary. i really dont want to dump a few thousand dollars on a car every month to keep it running (rebuilds, turbos, ETC). also i dont plan on driving this as a daily driver (going to be driving parents MPV or Infiniti QX4). oh yeah and BTW this is going to be my first car.

Rupes

I think a lot of people are going to get on your case about this being your first car, but yes, the RX-8 is easier to maintain than an Rx7.

djgiron

And good luck finding a decent FD (not been raced or blown-up) in 2-3 years, they are scarce as it is now.

Mugatu

iTrader: (1)

yeah, most of the FDs have new engines because of blown seals or something. A search on ebay shows 90% of the FDs for sale to have very low miles, but upon further reading you'll see that those low miles are on the new engine they replaced...but there's still something like 100k miles on the car.

I'd say get the RX8.

Nemesis8

iTrader: (3)

My first car was a '70 Olds Cutlass.... Bought it for $1500. You are getting ready to buy a $30,000+ sports car as your first car??

The RX7's of old are all now project cars. The RX8 is the car you should buy based on your own questions.

BlueEyes

Poor you nemesis, I really don't think that saynotopistons wants to hear your crap. I certainly don't as it's the same old **** every young person gets on this site.

Nemesis8

iTrader: (3)

WOAH... And just what crap are you talking about? I was making a comparison of my first car to his first choices.

DARKMAZ8

I think it's good advice. Most accidents happen within the first year of driving. I think a base fc is a good first car to start with. After a year or so he could move up to the rx8. I'm sure some families are willing to get their kids a $30,000 first car but it really isn't the best idea. I also wouldn't recommend a rotary car for a first car unless they plan on learning more about the car then looks. Rotaries need more TLC and most 16 year olds can't grasp this concept. At least saynotopistons seems like he wants to learn more then most and if he doesn't mind driving an older car then most definately go with the FC.

SayNoToPistons

iTrader: (8)

this is going to be an award car if i get into a good college with scholarship though. im going to have to pay for half the price of the car and any other repairs myself. the reason i would want to start off with a RX7 FC non-turbo or a RX8 is because they arent as fast as the FD. i want to get used to driving a rotary RWD car before i move up to something faster (the FD). yes i diffenitly expect/want to learn more about rotaries, im planning on maybe going to rotary shops (weekends) and watch them work on the rotaries. someone on rx7club has the samething in mind as me (also around my age) so we plan on learning about the RXs more and we can maybe share what we know with eachother. im not here to thread crap around, im seriously thinking about getting a RX of some kind in the future. i know that most FDs need rebuilding every 50k or less, and they are easily overheated when driven hard which can cause a blown motor. this is why im considering buying the older FC nonturbo or a RX8 so i wont get bankrupt trying to keep a FD in drivable condition. you guys have any ideas where i can learn more about rotary so i can prepare?

ZoomZoomH

iTrader: (1)

www.teamfc3s.org

and i think a NA FC in good condition is a great first car.... good luck finding a good FC

KYLiquid

i dunno where you heard that, i have friends that autox thier FD's every weekend, they run the stock twins and run a little more boost than stock, the cars dont need that much more attention than any sports car, at least not in money. I would say thats hard driving, with the overheating issue, you can change out some parts to help with that. Ive never owned a rx car, just worked on/driven my friends. For a while i was looking at getting an old TurboII to run as a track car, he was telling me (owned 4 FD's at the time) that with the FD's if you find a stock turbo to buy, youve got a couple thousand dollors of work you SHOULD do to get it in shape to be a reliable daily driver. You've said that the RX8 or whatever you get isnt going to be your daily driver, so maby that doesnt mater as much to you.

Some people are say your gonna 'shoot your eye out kidd' others will tell you to go for it.

Ill throw in my .02 since thats what most of the members will do.

I didnt know much about cars as a kidd, I started out ridding go-karts, then moved to shifter karts, never really did anything major with it, just weekend fun once in a while. I feel that gave me a big edge as far as learning how to work on cars and how to drive them when the work is done. I then got a suv i bought off my parents ( the car had a bad auto trany, so i paid to fix it and the car was mine) I later sold that and bought a used 99 Miata, with money i had saved up when i got out of high school. I started to autox with and do track days with It and it's the car I still drive and plan to sell and get an rx8 with. I knew the basics of cars from working on the go-karts and the suv i had over ther years, working on the Miata taught me a lot more.

Im getting off topic, if you want to learn to work on cars, there are 2 ways IMO :
1) get a car you can drive all the time, and then spend a little cash on a project car, work on that in your spare time, read books and then put the new knowledge to use on the project car.
2) get a car, read books, and put the knowledge to work on your car.

You can see the obvious downsides/upsides to each, at least i hope. I think its clear.

As far as being young and having a $30K car... It doesnt affect me in any way. As long as you dont buy the last 05 Wining Blue Metalic RX8 Touring

I will just say that I bought my Miata used with 30K miles on it and it was 4 years old, the car was in perfect shape. It still has never been crashed, although i have done the typical stuff like been backing up in a parking lot and mis-judge a distance and bump a car, casing a small ding or a paint scuff, or opend my door into one of those shopping car cages in a parking lot, or gotten a little curb rash on a car, ect...ect. I love my Miata and sure I was mad about that stuff happening, but I think I would be even more pissed over it if it happend in a brand new car.

Im just saying that even with if you dont crash it or get into anything major, there are just some things you learn with your first car, so if you have the ability to get a car in the 30K price range right off the bat, why not get a different fun car, for a few grand (or even a few hundred) something to get you around your first year, something to learn on/work on. After a year you can trade it in and get an rx8, or sell it and get a rx7 or whatever you want. Thats what I would do if I were in your shoes. But whatever you do, have fun and welcome to the car addition

KYLiquid

sorry if the above was totaly off topic........i swear i had a point !!!!

:-)

Ike

Honestly if your parents are going to pay for a good chunk of the car for you but repairs will be more up to you I'd avoid an FC. Not that they can't be reliable but they're getting pretty long in the tooth at this point. I'd suggest getting something reliable and newer then move on to an RX-8 a few years down the road.

Ike

I've been casually shopping for FDs for a few years now, of the 100+ I've seen maybe a couple of them didn't have new engines. It's a problem car unless you fully realize that there's a good chance you will have to drop a few grand at some point to replace the engine. In addition to that there are all the other maintenance things that come with cars that are 10+ years old.

I agree with you about karts, it helped me a ton when I satrted driving and in 14 years have never been in an accident despite being a pretty aggressive driver and owning fast cars from a very young age.

SayNoToPistons

iTrader: (8)

KYLiquid- how much would you think it would cost someone (annually) to maintain a FD in drivable condition, a FD that is pretty much stock and isnt pushed to its limits often (remember, i dont really want to race this car (not into the whole street racing thing) or drive it as a daily driver, maybe go to a friends house with it on the weekends to "showoff").

Ike

If you don't have an extra 5 grand laying around in your bank acount at most times an FD is just a bad choice. You're also going to have a very hard time finding one that isn't modded.

SayNoToPistons

iTrader: (8)

is it for the reliability mods and for anything that breaks down?

Ike

It's for a new engine in addition to other stuff...

ZoomZoomH

iTrader: (1)

i really think you should avoid the FD as a first car. People that have well maintained FDs are either a) paid lots of money to have work done for them, or b) *really* handy around the car to fix all the age-related problems with the car themselves.

remember, even the 'newest' FDs are 10 years old now. things start to fail on a 10 year old car regardless if it's rotary or not.

Clin10

Hello, I am SayNoToPiston's friend and after also being on the RX-7 Owners Club Forum, I may get a FC3S GT-X or Turbo II due to it being a good Entry into the Turbo Rotary. I want to start to get into the 13B's and 20B's even though I read up on it for a very long time. I know that the 13B's are pretty hard to maintain and one of the 1st things to do is to check Compression in each rotor. I do not have enough for a new or used RX-8 but I do want to get one of them also, but after I also get a FD3S, which may be when I am around 20 or 25 years of age. and some were telling me to get a Civic but I still have enough knowledge to know how do keep the 13B running. all the RX's are amazing cars and I like their good power/weight ratio, amazing acceleration due to its light weight, and good weight balance.

Clin10

EDIT: Also, I am not going to street race, as I am planning to join the SCCA, so I would like this car to do the Road Courses

m477

If you are really serious about it, the path you should go is

Non-turbo FC --> Turbo FC --> FD

Honestly, if you get everything checked out before you buy, and you do a good job keeping up on the maintenance, there's no reason any of these cars should be a problem. I've talked with several rotary shops, and the concensus is that the vast majority of FD rebuilds they do are simply from people doing really, really stupid things, like boosing 18psi on the stock ECU/fuel system which can only handle 10-12psi. The majority of problems you'll have will be with the twin turbo system, like exhaust leaks, solenoid failures, etc. Seriously, there's so much hate and ignorance towards the rotary on this site sometimes, I could swear I accidentally logged on to nasioc or something. :p

Clin10

I hate to say this but some people that I talk to about the 13B's try to almost stray me away but it never works due to me already knowing that they also did what you mentioned m477. that is the truth, and it is worse enough that some people who own it stray others away from it. I also think I may go Turbo II~~~>FD3S due to the GTU's and GTUs and other N/A 13B's not having the torque I need here in Jersey. most of my family lives in hills and my doctor's office in up a hill and I don't want to have to hold the redline to do it. I know the TurboII runs about 6-6.5psi stock and that is good enough, but I will mod it lightly so I can race in the road courses and carry my family when I turn 15 (as my grandfather lives in south jersey and we here in north Jersey carpool to save on gas, well, my family anyway) and I already know the regular maintenance of a Turbo car (Oil change around every 2,000 miles, check on boost pressure and hoses before and after a long trip) and I will add a Turbo timer for more safety. I always keep everything immaculate and I will keep my car clean and running strong, no matter how old. even if I get a FB it will be as clean and strong running as any vehicle I may own.

ZoomZoomH

iTrader: (1)

i had a S5 NA FC, it had PLENTY of torque to go up any hill i ask it to, WITHOUT redlining...

who in the hell would do a redline drop to climb a hill

goddamn high school forum...

SayNoToPistons

iTrader: (8)

yeah. same here. i might do the samething also. ive decided to get a cheap FC n/a or a turbo II if i learn enough. i might get one next year if i find one cheap and if i get good grades. Clin10 and I will work on our cars together and explore the world of rotary sharing info with eachother. im not a big fan of street racing, but i will admit that i will try to smoke a fart can civic out if he picks on my FC. before i do any stupid things like over boosting when the stock ecu/fual system can handle so much, i will go to a professional rotary car shop ask around then i would do some modding. hopfully i can find a decent drivable FC for under $6000 (its going to be hard to find).
edit: anyone in the NY, NJ, LI area want to give lessons on RX's??? over the summer maybe??

tuj

Seriously, get a used Miata. Its RWD, it handles great, its incredibly cheap, its holds its value, its easy to work on, they are tons of them. I think its a great first sportscar because its is underpowered somewhat, but it still has a better power-to-weight than alot of classic roadsers, like the T-3 and T-4. The pre 99 cars basically hold their value very well right now. I bought a 96 miata a few years ago, it got totalled 2 years later, and I got $1000 more than I paid for it back from the insurance company. Since its underpowered, it will force you to learn to be a smooth driver and focus on handling to make the car fast. If you have any stretch of twisty road near your house, the miata is a car that will have you thinking 'man I can't believe this little car is this quick.' Its also a car that you can actually drive on the street (in the right conditions, ie no traffic) right up to its limits. Its very progressive, and very forgiving. Easy to toss and catch. No ABS on most, so you can't rely on pedal-mashing. Parts are pretty cheap for these, given there are more than 700k of them worldwide and most things interchange between all of the years (90-05)! (more or less).

Of course, the Miata is not a rotary. Due to the relative rarity of FC's to Miatas, and the need for you to get a solid car, I would strongly suggest avoiding the FC unless you are very confident that you can identify a solid car. This is where having an excellent FC mechanic friend can help alot. Whatever you do, make sure you drive at least 2 examples of the car BEFORE you drive the one you want to buy. I have driven some cars for sale by both dealers and PO's and you would not believe how sketchy some of them can be. I'll never forget the miata I drove that had a very leaky master cylinder and a bent steering rack; this was a car a dealer was trying to pass off!

The FC non-turbo is a great car, potentially faster than a Miata in autox, definetly faster on the track. These cars ARE de facto classics in my book, in the same way as a AE86.

Finally, whatever you get, make sure you get it well-sorted by a pro first before you start taking on repairs. I fried 3 coilpacks in my miata before I realized the large problem wasn't grouding or ECU related at all, but rather timing related.