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I\'m pretty sure CYM was indeed a JDM colour, the only other yellow I can think of is Sunburst Yellow, which was exclusive to the RS-R that was released in October 1997.  If it\'s a factory yellow, I think they are the only options.

In the US CYM was only available on the Type R-1 (Montego Blue Mica and Silver Stone Metallic were not available for this car, so it was only red, black or yellow!).

I think CYM was discontinued upon the release of the Series 2 FD (August 1993) where it was replaced with Chaste White.  Also, I\'m pretty sure that CYM was not offered to European customers - I know it was not in the UK model\'s colour list.

I\'m surprised only 350 made it to the USA, in total around 12,500 Series 1 FDs were exported to countries other than Japan, the majority of those going to the USA.  Then again, I recall the Type R-1 got some stick from press over there on account of its overly hard suspension (something that was rectified in the R-2 version of 1994) so maybe the number\'s correct.  In any case, I\'d say CYM is one of the rarest colours you\'ll find an FD in.  Perhaps the most rare if you discount Sunburst Yellow and other special edition colours such as Snow White Pearl Mica and Titanium Grey Metallic.

Great car, looks very mean indeed.  I\'d personally get the wheels painted a darker colour (anthracite or maybe even black!) to go with the bonnet and wing, but each to their own!  

I remember that black FD for sale.  Think it was up for c.£30k IIRC, although they later decided to sell it for parts.  Looking forward to seeing what you think of the car once the new engine/turbo has gone in and is properly set-up.

Quick question, what boost are you running to hit 345 at the fly?  Oh, and nice Spider-Man blanket!

Beautiful car, I think that\'s probably the most immaculate FD I\'ve ever seen.

Also, I think there is a typo in your ad - the final reading for the rear rotor\'s compression should read 7.9, not 7.4, I believe.  Unless I\'ve gone partially blind from staring at FDs for too long this evening!

Best of luck with the sale.

Adrian

FWIW, the top of the line at the time your car was built was actually the Type R, so congratulations!  A few months later (October, IIRC) the RZ was introduced which then became the range-topping FD.  

However, there is no way it could be an RS as these weren\'t introduced until the 4th Series of FD, which was produced in March 1996.  There were many differences between the Type R and Type RS, as the RS was essentially the same as the RZ minus the BBS alloys and Recaro seats - it had the same upgraded brakes and suspension, the same final drive, even the same driver\'s knee pad and passenger footplate.

Whether this makes any difference to your insurance I don\'t know, but as the Type RS would be worth more (everything else being equal) it can\'t hurt to try!

One last thing, the name Efini doesn\'t denote a limited edition or special model, as such, but was the name Mazda Japan used for its sports models.  They basically split the company into 3 individual brands, one of the others was Eunos (you\'ve no doubt seen an MX-5 described as a Eunos Roadster) but I\'ve forgotten the name of the 3rd division.  I think the car was branded \'Mazda RX-7\' from 1996 onwards, but may be wrong there.  Anyway, if your car is badged Efini then you know for sure it\'s originally from Japan!

The Tuscan\'s reliability is an issue, although the later S2 variant is supposed to be better.  A friend bought a Tuscan new (out of this world back then!) but had nothing but problems with it.  It would be quicker for me to tell you what didn\'t go wrong than to list the problems.  The car was eventually returned.  Also, to be honest, the car never felt good for the claimed power figures.  The 911 GT3 he replaced it with felt quicker in any given situation.  In fairness this might have been down to the problems, but even when it was apparently healthy it didn\'t feel as rapid as you\'d expect.  Finally, don\'t forget that it sports a straight 6, so you don\'t get that traditional TVR sound either.  

The Cerbera would be a better bet IMHO.  I\'ve been taken out in a Griffith 500 that had a fair bit of work done (circa 360bhp) and that was extremely quick.  Power delivery is a bit different to a rotary, more about the torque than the peak power at the high end of the rev range.  I think the 4.5 pushes out a claimed 420bhp and weighs about the same as the Griffith...so by that logic it must really shift!  I don\'t think it\'ll handle quite as nicely as an FD, and remember that you\'re on your own as far as electronic intervention goes!  But if you\'re looking for a rush I can\'t think of much to touch it for the money.  

Have a look on some TVR forums to get an honest appraisal of the cars from people who own them.  I imagine they are incredibly exciting and rewarding but also demanding.

The Monaro would be okay, more practical and reliable than either TVR but ultimately not a true sports car.  It\'s heavy and the handling would likely disappoint after an FD.  I consider it a compromise - the kind of car you buy because you need a car that can take the kids around in relative comfort, do the Tesco shopping as well as scare you on the way home from dropping the kids off at school.  But compared to the TVRs and an FD I think it\'ll fall short in terms of driver involvement and enjoyment.

Merc SL500 is luxurious but not that fast when compared to the other cars on your list.  If you can stretch to an SL55 AMG then that\'s a different picture entirely - they ARE very quick as well as being comfortable, reliable and rather classy.  A great all-rounder and you could drive all over Europe in one without feeling fatigued or fed up.  Which you probably couldn\'t say about the other cars (bar the VXR).  It\'s only shortcoming is it isn\'t as nimble (weighs somewhere in the region of 2 tonnes!) as the pure sports cars and you can\'t drive it as you would, say, an FD on twisty roads.

Some other sports cars to consider that fall roughly within your price range:  Lotus Exige, 911 (996) Carrera 2 S, Radical SR3 (!).

If you plan on keeping the car long term, I\'d thoroughly recommend emailing Peter (RICE RACING) and discussing you requirements.  I did something similar recently and will most likely look for a standard-ish example and turn the wick up by following his advice regarding parts etc.  

Getting an already-sorted single is definitely tempting, but unless you are absolutely certain of the history and current condition of the car you just might be setting yourself up for an expensive fall.  Plus you sound like you\'d enjoy working on the car yourself!

Finally, can I ask what you\'ve done to the Tuscan to get it to the level of tune you\'re at currently?  380bhp/ton would equate to around 420bhp at the fly, given the 1100kg weight of the car unless I\'m mistaken?  Not bad from a 4-litre straight 6!  There was me thinking TVR have been a little optimistic with their peak figures...

Great looking FD.  

Proof of the engine\'s compression would definitely help you sell it quickly.  Also, I might have missed it, but I couldn\'t see the mileage listed anywhere?  Finally, any idea what sort of power she is making?

Good news! I went back to the stricken car yesterday to take some further pictures, and my better half decided she would try to start the car (despite me saying it was pointless!). After one \'almost\' attempt it fired up and I was able to drive it home! :-)

So, it seems the problem is not as serious as I first imagined, and I can\'t have damaged anything too important as the car ran fine on the way home. I\'m very relieved the car is back home, and now can try to understand a little more about what went wrong, and perhaps what changed that enabled the car to start.

Thanks again for the continued help guys.  I\'ve taken some pictures of what is inside the air filter housing, so that you can see what I\'ve been referring to. A picture speaks a thousand words, or so they say!

I will hopefully get out to the car later today and take some pictures of the pump and tubes etc.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v467/328isport/10062008046_1024x768.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v467/328isport/10062008047_1024x768.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v467/328isport/10062008048_1024x768.jpg

Sorry, I should have been a little more lucid! I wrote those posts after a very tiring gym session (seemed like the best way to vent my frustration!) and, looking back on them, agree they don\'t make much sense!

In terms of oil, I don\'t think it is overfilled as I actually checked the level before yesterday\'s fateful drive (I normally check it every other drive) and it was almost exactly halfway between the low and full markers.

However, the car DOES have bad consumption (around 16mpg at my last check, which was an average over around 100 miles of driving) and the air filter does look to be in bad shape. Could it be petrol up there? I like the thought of that even less than oil, but it popped into my mind. Again I need to get pics up, but the reason I thought it was oil was the colour of the liquid - it seems far too dark to be anything else. If I still have a car left tonight I will try to start it minus the filter, and also try disconnecting the fuel pump etc.

Quick question though guys, what is an OMP? :Hammer

Thanks everyone,

Adrian

Thanks for the replies.

I\'m not sure exactly what plugs are in at the moment, however I do have some spares ready and waiting. I was actually planning on changing them soon, but wanted to get it done (along with an oil/filter change) at the same time as fitting the new petrol tank. I\'m now regretting not acting sooner!

Thanks for the suggestion, Mark. I\'ll pull them and take some pics of the engine bay, plugs and inside the air filter housing in order to give you a better idea as I imagine trying to diagnose a problem based on my ramblings is hard!

Oh dear. All is not well in rotary-land for me today!

Went for a nice drive this afternoon, spent about 10 minutes driving slowly around some nice roads before heading to a petrol station to pop some more jungle juice in.

From here things went a bit pear-shaped though! The car wouldn\'t start easily, and refused to fire for the first few attempts. After waiting for around 5 minutes I tried again and the engine came to life. I then drove the car for around 20 minutes (sensibly, as my better half was with me!) and it was going very nicely, idling fine (around 800-900rpm) and generally driving as it should.

We then pulled into a local car wash, and as I was reversing the car died. Now, it may have been that I stalled the car, but honestly I\'m not sure. When I tried to re-start it, the car refused to play ball. I waited again, but this time it refused to start. Some of the guys from the car wash offered to push me, and thankfully with ths assistance it fired up once again. However, almost immediately the car died once more. From here, even push-starting the car did not work. After around 30 minutes of trying I had no choice but to give up.

Upon inspection it seems as though there is a lot of oil in and around the engine bay, and also quite a bit in the filter housing. I lifted the lid off and discovered oil inside the hole where the filter sits.

I have no idea what this all means, or what is needed to rectify the problem. Can anyone offer any help here?

Thanks in advance to anyone who can offer any help.

Excellent, thanks for the advice Mark. I\'ve got some plugs already and will get them in ASAP. I\'m not really using the car a great deal at the mo due to the fuel tank issue (a friend relayed a story about an MG he owned combusting due to a fuel leak which scared me a bit!) so I hope I won\'t do it any further damage.

I\'ll take a pic or two if the filter, as it\'s tricky to describe.

The other weird trait my car has occurs when cruising before backing off the throttle. For example, if I am doing around 30 in 3rd (or 4th) and using part-throttle to maintain the speed, as soon as I lift the pedal the car judders a bit for a second or so. Interestingly it is fine in second. I realise that the engine responds best to revs, and have learnt to adapt to it (seems to always need to be in the gear below the one you think you need!) but this one still puzzles me.

Any ideas?

Thanks again for the advice! Once I have changed the plugs, oil and fuel tank I\'l take it out for a proper shake-down. If it\'s still a bit off I think a trip to Pip might be next on the cards!

Just thought I\'d check this out, as I wondered if my car is \'normal\' or not!

I only drive the car at weekends, and whilst the car starts absolutely fine (requires a bit of foot-on-the-gas encouragement, but I guess that\'s normal?) it takes a while to warm through properly. I need to keep the revs up using the pedal or the choke for a little while, otherwise the revs drop to around 400rpm and soon after the engine cuts out.

Once it\'s warmed up it idles okay, but still quite low (around 800rpm). On a couple of occasions I\'ve been waiting at a junction and the car has cut out, even after it\'s been warmed through and has been on the road for 30 mins or so.

I am running the car with around 1/4 tank currently (waiting until next month to replace the fuel tank), could that be the problem?

Also, it looks like there is some liquid in and around the filter (not sure if it\'s oil or petrol or water or maybe a combination!), again is that normal?

Sorry for all the questions guys, I\'m new to this and would welcome any insights / suggestions. As I mentioned I hope to get a new petrol tank next month, and at the same time I\'m going to have the oil changed, a new oil filter put in and new plugs too. Anything else I should look at?

Thanks very much!

Adrian

Thanks for the comments guys. It\'s such a great car to drive, might be pretty slow by modern standards but it really is unique and feels like an event every time i get in. And not even because of the warm-up routine! :-)  after re-working the economy i\'m now on around 16mpg, still not great but a slight improvement. Looking forward to getting the new tank on it next month, hopefully that\'ll help things.
 
In terms of the seats,they were fitted by a previous owner. All i can say is they\'re a snug fit! :-) the wheels are indeed 17", the fronts are 7" wide and the rears are 9". I\'d like to lower the car slightly, think that would really set it off, but not too sure if it would cause some rubbing issues.
 
In terms of the FD thing, it hasn\'t gone away, but i think it will probably need to wait for awhile. It\'s nice to have aspirations and the FB is good practice. Even with its modest power it\'s still plenty of fun in the wet!