3rd gen Buying advice?

[Grizzly]

Hi all,

I am just realizing how little i know about Third gens, i have spent most of the week reading old threads about buying Fd\'s and i still feel a bit out of my depth.

I went to have a look at one today, The car its self is nice it drives fine and i can\'t really pick any obvious faults with it Apart from being red and going slightly oxidized. But i don\'t know if there is any mechanical tests apart from basic ones (Staying in a line when braking and no vibrations when opening it up etc)?

I have done loads of reading up on models etc, the car is a 1992 2+2 with cloth seats it has no sunroof but has Air con, being a bit dumb i forgot to check if it had Cruse control. Which model would you say it is? I am really looking for a R1 (2 seater with twin oil coolers) but i don\'t know if there is any big advantage because the car i\'m looking at has Coil overs and subtle mods already?

I am looking at it as a bit of a Project car, it has nice body work but the Engine is at the magic 50k. It doesn\'t smoke and is smooth through the power band (secondary turbo comes in nicely) I haven\'t had it Compression tested but if it gets me home i\'ll be happy because it will be getting rebuilt before it drops a Tip and does damage.

It kind of makes me sound like a Noob but i guess i am to the Third gen world but any advice would be helpful.

Thanks.

Chris

[Andyp]

tip on looking for a bad engine is it sounds like a traction engine when first starting and/or after a few mins white smoke blobbing out of the exhaust.

Also look out in ya rear mirror for blooms of white smoke when ya flooring it - they will blow poop out the back sometimes but big blobs of white smoke when the turbos come and even black ones for that matter are all bad.

Tell ya what.. buy my car - it\'s sexy and not oxidised

http://www.mazdarotaryclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19246

Sorry had to as I did type stuff

http://www.mazdarotaryclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19246

[MikeLMR]

moving to correct forum :wave

[sdminus]

TBH mate i would take some body with you who know them inside out. There must be people local to you that can help you.
Fd\'s can be a mine field.

Scott

[Grizzly]

Which model had Bilstiens on as std?

[MikeLMR]

there\'s a sticky at the top of this forum that has all the specs listed for the models

[Grizzly]

Yeh, I have read them but they refer to the models as Hard or soft suspension? does this mean the Hard suspension ones had Billys on?

[MikeLMR]

it says soft hard or bilstein actually ... looks like RZ\'s only

[Grizzly]

ok, Must have missed that. How to make your self look a tool by Me.

Ta

[andrewrx7]

Got Bilsteins on mine, and in my opinion the ride is actually pretty "soft". But that is compared to my previous UK FD, which in std form, had very hard suspension. The differences are amazing - the previous one had little/no give which made the ride pretty terible on the roads around me, very teeth jarring! The new one, the ride is so much more complient - it is actually comfortable, and takes the bumps/potholes etc extremely well. Obviously its a spring/damper combination, but Mazda did a very good job on later FDs.

[Grizzly]

Did the R2 come with a rear parcel shelf?

If not what would i need to make the Shelf fit?

[Grizzly]

Which option would be best?

A, Black 92 R1 with 50k on it, Good condition £4200

B, Black 94 R2 with 40k on it, Also good condition £4600

Is the extra money worth the two year diffrence or is one car "A better car"

[Brett]

My R2 had a parcel shelf :yes

[Grizzly]

Does an FD have the Model type on it anywhere?

I\'ve been doing alot of reading recently, does this sound right, 1994 they had a type R with back seats twin coolers and no ft Strut brace as std and the R2 that had read Box\'s twin coolers and a ft strut brace?

[andrewrx7]

Have you read through a model guide such as:

GUIDE


It may help you.

Also, if you haven\'t already got it, get Brian Longs book on the whole history of the RX7 - it has alot of detail of all 3 generations, including what changed and when (i.e. model variants and what they came with). Retails at around £35, but I\'ve seen them on ebay for half that, brand new.