My new, to me, FD3S Type RS

[Jon_P]

Hi all,

I\'m a newbie here, but thought I\'d put up some pics of my new car I\'m getting in a couple of weeks as well as my previous thread saying hi!

I just got rid of my 2006 E60 M5 V10 which I owned for 4 years which I\'ll put some pics up of as well. Anyway, here is the RX7. It\'s totally standard with only a cat back exhaust and turbo timer. Needs a respray as I\'m a little OCD and the front drivers wing is a couple of shades darker than the rest of the car. However, I\'ve checked for any damage and it\'s free of that, so I\'m content that it hasn\'t been involved in a serious smash or anything.

Here are some pics of the RX7 and of my previous M5.














Sorry for the picture overload!

Mod wise, I\'m looking at getting 18" Rota GTR\'s 9.5 fronts and 10.0 rears not sure on ET yet. Also, want some coilovers and a new exhaust and then will do a FEW things to the engine, but not going mad with it. Will be happy with 320-350bhp or so. Be interested to hear peoples opinions and advice

[rx-dave]

I\'d recognise that driveway anywhere   You\'ve got a lovely car there from a really decent seller, hope it gives you lots of fun :Thumbs-up
Dave.

[Jon_P]

Haha!! Thanks, Dave. Have you dealt with Martin before too? He seems like a top bloke and the car, I think, is a great example! I\'m not an RX7 geek, but mechanically, I\'m fairly well versed, so I hope it\'ll be ok!

[wolfie1]

Doesn\'t the fd just look so much sexier! Welcome

[Jon_P]

Indeed! I really love them! All RX7\'s are awesome looking though. Thanks mate :-)

[TRIND-FD]

Nice car, seen it in the flesh. Lovely. :driving

And yes Martin is a top bloke

[Jon_P]

Thanks mate. Anything you saw for cause of concern?

[TRIND-FD]

Thanks mate. Anything you saw for cause of concern?

No,   I am very select where I buy stuff. And Martin is one person I know you can trust

[Jon_P]

Ok, that\'s good to know. I have always, in the past, brought from dealers so even though you get stung a bit on price, you get a warranty etc. Being a rotary etc I want to make sure I get a good one... It seemed to me to be good. Only thing I wasn\'t 100% keen about was the fact it came with no history etc and no proof of engine rebuild etc but the compression report would suggest it probably has had one I guess?

[The dutchman]

Really nice car you bought there!!
Be carefull with it :Giggle

I am looking forward to see the rota\'s on the rx.
I am in doubt about rims but  i like the gtr\'s very much.  What colour do you want?

[kevint]

Welcome to MRC and congratulations on the car, looks great :D I heard from Chris at RE:Worx that this was a good one.  IMO could do with a rear parcel shelf.

Enjoy :burnout

[samoht]

Nice one, I went to look at this last Sat and nearly bought it, only the fact that I didn\'t fit behind the wheel gave me pause - the car itself was very nice, very clean and original.  Was up for a good price for a \'99, too.

My take, if the compression numbers are good it doesn\'t matter whether it\'s been rebuilt or not, if the compression is good today, then it should have a decent life ahead of it.  With the \'99 spec addressing many of the FD\'s reliability issues, you\'ve got as good odds as you\'re likely to get really.

Since you asked for personal opinions...
i) I wouldn\'t replace the lightweight (6.75kg) stock wheels with relatively heavy cast Rotas
ii) It can barely go any lower, the tyres seem to have caught the front arches\' lips slightly already.  (I guess if you work the arches over you might get a bit better stance).  So coilovers won\'t give you much lower ride height, and you\'ll lose the benefit of the (imo rather good) OEM Bilstein\'s ride/handling compromise.

But it\'s your car, and I can totally see the visual appeal of slamming it on 10" wheels.  Hope you have lots of fun with it!


(pic from the excellent http://japanesenostalgiccar.com )

[Jon_P]

Thanks for the welcomes and advice guys. Colour wise for the wheels, I was thinking bronze as black is done a lot, and I think hides the shape and contours of the wheels too.
Parcel shelf is going to be a necessary purchase for sure lol!!
How come you had trouble fitting behind the wheel? I noticed it was tighter than others I\'ve been in but didn\'t think too much about it! You\'ve made me curious now. Is there something different with the facelift or anything? I don\'t want to jeopardise the cars handling by any mods only improve handling and also the aesthetics too. I\'ll see how it goes when I get it, but I do want to make it "my own" - without defacing it of course.

[samoht]

To be clear, I was looking at this as my first FD; I sat in the pre-facelift black car Martin had too, and that was the same.  I don\'t think the facelift is any worse than the pre-facelift in this regard - I just don\'t fit any of them!

The problems for me (6\'1") were
1) My knees hit the wheel.  The distance between pedals and wheel is too short to fit my lower legs in between them.  I would need a dished steering wheel or a spacer to extend this length.
2) My hips were too wide for the seats.  It was quite uncomfortable for me to sit in it for any period of time as they wedged the sides of my hips rather than supporting me underneath.
3) Although I had enough headroom, there wasn\'t enough spare for me to wear a crash helmet, so trackdays would be tricky for me without getting the seats changed.
... it sounds like you fit an FD much better than me, so that saves you changing wheel/seats unless you choose to.


On coilovers opinions differ, I don\'t know about FD options but in general beware the cheap stuff, it will be harsh, bouncy and wear out quickly.  Ideally try before you buy - or at least, don\'t sell/chuck the original parts away until you\'re sure you like the coilies.

Equally with wheels, in theory lighter wheels follow uneven road surfaces better, so maintain grip better.  Again, some people care about light wheels, others don\'t notice or mind the difference.  Mazda got special \'squeeze-cast\' alloys made for the FD to get them as light as possible.  If budget permits, some of the JDM wheels are forged alloy, which would be comparable or lighter weight - just for example, Volk TE37s come in 18" in bronze:

(pic from sileightysr20 on flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/36687039@N08/5616321525/sizes/m/in/photostream/ )

[Jon_P]

Oh, it\'s also good peace of mind to know RE:Worx say it seems to be a good one!