Newby Questions inc - Is the FD a practical daily driver ?

[Dave_HKS_Hughes]

Hi Chaps,

I\'m new here and a prospective FD owner with thousands of questions, most of which I\'ve found the answers to on this forum, some of the others I\'ll fire off here in hope of answers.....

I currently drive a turbocharged Mk2 MX5 (actually a RS Roadster but hey), before that I had a Mitsi FTO. But now am looking to get my grubby mits on an FD.

I have many concerns though about just how realistic a car it is to have as a daily driver, I commute about 6 miles twice a day into birmingham in mainly crawling traffic.

Q1. I need a car that starts first time every morning !! Is this unrealistic ?  

Q2. Will this commute be harmfull to a rotary, from what I\'ve read, it seems they need to be used properly each time you run them. I think it will get fully warm as the drive takes 20 mins +.

Q3. I understand mpg is poor anyway but someone mentioned particularly so in traffic, what am I looking at here ??

Right thats that bit out the way, now I read here that you should not fit induction kit and exhaust without appropriate fuelling / timing adjsutment from an ECU, but almost EVERY car I find on the net fresh from the land of the rising sun seems to have just this setup i.e. no ECU, just the zorst and filters......

Q4. Am I missing something ? Or is it that Jap owners are not as knowledgable as you guys ?

Q5. I was told to go for a 96 onwards model but to be honest I cant afford that as well as budgeting for the dreaded rebuild so is there any MAJOR reasons not to go for the earlier cars ?

Thank you for any replies.

Regards

Dave Hughes

[iaint]

Hi,

I use my car as a daily driver (well, 3 days a week) and have had no problems getting it running in the morning.

My commute is ~35mi each way, some of it through heavy london traffic and some nice and fast on the A3 and the car doesnt\' seem to mind this too much.

I think a 6 mile drive each way in slow traffic will be a real pain in the ass.  Driving an FD in heavy traffic isn\'t great unless you get an auto.  If you have a modded FD with heavier clutch then it\'ll be a major pain, the stock clutch is pretty good but stop start is not much fun.  If the roads are bad (surface) the suspension can make it quite uncomfortable as it\'s quite hard too.

You\'ll have major expense on fuel.  On my run I use ~25p of fuel per mile, in bad traffic it\'s much worse so running costs will be high.

As for the Q\'s about modding most people will tell you to sort fuelling (ECu etc) before opening up the exhaust.   Rotarys behave terminally when they run lean.

If I were only 6 miles from work I\'d bike, bus or train rather than use the FD and keep the baby for the weekend.  Slow traffic is way too frustrating!

96 onwards cars have the 16-bit ecu which is slightly more responsive than the older 8-bit.  If you\'re considering modding then it\'s not an issue as you\'ll end up replacing (or piggy-backign) the ECU anyway.

Iain

[johnf]

Hi

Great someone else in Solihull I might be able to go out and play with

I can only answer your questions as they apply to my car .98FD so here goes:

1/ Had mine about a year and starts first time every time.

2/ Mine does a daily commute less than that - so far so good.

3/ Truth time 14 - 15 general driving.

Can\'t really comment on the rest of your questions - I just drive it maintain the recommended oil and service schedule advised by the more experienced members.

[maximtaylor]

mmmmm.....

Daily driver? Not really!

FD\'s do not generally like short journeys, being stationary in traffic and will do around 10-15 mpg at a guess if you get stuck a lot.

A longer journey would be OK, as Iain says.

In terms of mods, the jap cars coming over with intake and back box changed tend to still have the cat in and a stock downpipe, so there is still some restriction in the system.

If you want to change any more bits, make the ECU the first one.

Regards

Max

[Dave_HKS_Hughes]

John F....

Yours isnt Silver on an R plate living on Lyndon Rd by any chance ??

Thanks for the replies guys, I\'ve always wanted an FD, and now it seems I shall have one, to hell with the expense and inconvenience , must get one with a stock clutch !!

I\'d never have another auto, it took me 6 months to destroy the tip box in my fto and never again !!

Dave Hughes.

[J4P RX]

I use mine everyday no problems.  No issues in traffic or with the clutch, but maybe im just used to performance clutches by now!

Fuel is bad, but for 6 miles its ok.  If I had a longer commute to work then id have to run something cheaper.

I see no reason why not to get an early car, as mentioned the ECU is the only real difference.

Get one - have fun, realise how expensive they are

Cheers
Lee

[StreetPizza]

If I were only 6 miles from work I\'d bike, bus or train

Yeah, that\'s what I\'ll be doing. Well, the bike part anyway. I work 10 miles from home, and although there are a few hills, I should still be able to cope. With that and the weekly shopping cut out of my annual mileage, (new supermarket opening up right near my house), I\'ll probably be doing so few miles that the Rex will actually work out cheaper to run (at least as far as fuel is concerned) than my pug. And the ten mile cycle gets me fit into the bargain

Yeah, I can\'t imagine an FD being practical for a daily driver, but really, who cares about practicality?

[johnf]

Dave

No the one in Lyndon Rd isn\'t me - I did knock their door and have a chat with them though. There is also a red one somewhere on cheswick Green but I haven\'t got to meet him yet.

Mine is silver, on an \'S\' plate, I live on Monkspath by the Shelly Pub.
John

[Dave_HKS_Hughes]

John,

The one on Lyndon is mainly driven by the lady of the house as far as I can tell, played with her (car) down the Coventry Road bypass once, good girl

I\'ve still never been in one yet !!

Dont suppose there\'s any danger you\'ld take me for a spin in yours someday ?

JAP RX, I\'m with you, if I buy something as special and beautiful as an FD, I\'m sure not gonna leave it at home and catch a bus and further, riding a bike into birmingham is like playing russian roulette !!

Dave Hughes

[johnf]

Dave

I\'m sure we can sort something out - but be warned, ask \'Scoobie Si\' - after a ride in mine he went and ordered one

Wher abouts are you?

John

[Dave_HKS_Hughes]

Sounds a very likely consequence does that !!

Still up for it though :cool

I\'m just round the corner from the Silver one on Lyndon, I live on Campden Green which is off Daylesford, off Lyndon. B92 8HQ, you cant miss the house, no 11,  2 mx5\'s on the drive !!

From what I\'ve read, a dry day is better suited to showing off the cars performance / handling, and a wet day better for terrifying nervous passengers lol !!

Give us a shout when you are free and I\'ll buy you a pint / burger for the honour

Dave Hughes
dave@fhwarden.co.uk
0796 88 03 555

[bnaellis]

Hi Dave,
 Surely mpg on a fd is not gonna be much worse than a supercharge mx5
There is no problem running an fd as a daily driver with most of the miles being stuck in traffic, If the car has coolant problem or a crazy twin plate race clutch it\'s not ideal but as long as your car is in good working order is ok. mpg is not great and sitting in traffic is not going to help this.

(1) there is not issue with a fd starting every morning whether warm summer weather or cold winter night. You should never need to touch the throttle to start one just turn the key and that it.
(2) Ideally when driving a rotary you should once on your journey take it up to high rpm to clear out any carbon build up but there is no problem with driving one for 20 mins and switching off at all.

(3) answered above somewhere

fd run rich as normal and you can change back box and say induction with no problems with fuelling. If you want to change more than this then you would need to provide extra fuelling.
In general the cars in Japan have back box changed but very rarely a whole exhaust system and a standard ecu.

(4) Lot\'s of people whether in Jasp or UK know little about there cars, as well as many do. I personally think Japs know there fd\'s well. No reason not to have earlier car at all, only disadvantage would possibly be condition as you would expext a later model car to be in better nick than a older model, but alot of cars in Jap are well looked after so year should not matter as long as it\'s in good nick.

rgds

[Dave_HKS_Hughes]

Hi Brian,

You\'re right about the mpg on the turbo roadster...average around 160 miles to every £35 fill up (v heavy right foot) !!

Just had a look at your site.....that white one looks V naughty, but sadly out of my league in terms of cost and insurance !!

Have you still got this car in stock, looks to be just the ticket !!

TYPE R2 BATHURST (Black with Enkei\'s)
1994
34,000
5SPD MANUAL
 
I could be seriously interested !!

Just need to find a buyer for one of my MX5\'s...dont suppose you part ex??

Regards

Dave Hughes

[bnaellis]

Hi Dave,

I don\'t do part ex i\'m afraid. What do you mean sell one of your mx5\'s how many do you have ??

Yep I have the black one in stock can send you more pics if your interested ? Cars been sva\'d etc just awaiting registration.

rgds

[Dave_HKS_Hughes]

Hi Brian,

I (we) have 2 Mx5\'s I drive a Black 98 Mk2 1.8i RS Roadster with HKS turbo kit, and the missus drives a Bronze 98 Mk2 1.8i MX5 (UK) but were gonna sell the UK one and she\'s taking the beast off me !! (Brave girl this time of year !! )

I figured selling the UK would be a lot easier and besides I\'m very attached to the Roadster, good for humiliating all manor of exotic cars, my favourites being a 3litre bmw Z3 and a 03 plate uk scooby doo, lol

I\'d love some more pics of the black one...send them to dave@fhwarden.co.uk please. I\'m in no hurry (well not untill John gets me chomping at the bit !!) as MX5\'s dont sell well this time of year.

Dave Hughes.