FT86 vs. RX-7 FD

[reni]

Mazda originally planned to make the FD 3-rotor NA. If they actually did make the car like that, and if they were still producing them today, I would buy one in a heartbeat. But in North America at least, it's a 20 year old car at this point, so no way can it be compared to a brand new FRS/BRZ. Really looking forward to see what they do with the 2017 model...

[Sideways&Smiling]

Originally Posted by Rotarynerdette

I <3 both of them..

Damn, the RX7 makes the FRS/BRZ look big.

[buditjoenawan]

Oh man, I so sorely miss my 93 Yellow R1. Such a wonderful car, except for the poor cooling and that terrible idea called an apex seal.....

But it's still the most fun in a car I've had –*moreso than in any generation Viper.

budi

[iLuveKetchup]

The FD is the best looking car to come out of Japan! IMO

[regal]

I think people who grew up in the digital age always think newer is better. Low mileage FD RX-7's sell for $35k today and there is a good reason, there is nothing about a twin that is even in the same league as an FD, but its not a fair comparison for the Twins. Today's safety and environmental government standards have handicapped auto designs, a 2014 FD would basically be illegal in this new world.

As far as the Apex seal we have our own version with the twins called the DI seal, we just haven't seen enough hard miles for it to be as prevalent as the Apex seal issue became (no one was talking about Apex seals in '94 when the FD was named car of the year by several magazines.)

For the initial sticker price the twins are a great bargain, but watch for expensive maintenance as they wear (and I don't mean guy's who drive 50k highway miles in a year, those are easy miles.) These cars may be just as expensive of a toy to maintain as an FD.

Even today 20 years old you can't even touch a no.1 or no 2. grade FD for the MSRP of an FRS, I think that sums up which is the better car.

[campy]

First let me just say that I almost bought a '93 RX7 R1 in amazing condition for $25k, but I instead chose the FRS because I needed reliability, and everyone at RX7club told me not to get it as a DD.

Originally Posted by regal

For the initial sticker price the twins are a great bargain, but watch for expensive maintenance as they wear (and I don't mean guy's who drive 50k highway miles in a year, those are easy miles.) These cars may be just as expensive of a toy to maintain as an FD.

Yep I bet the "crickets" problem will be a much bigger issue with these engines down the road.

[jarviz]

Originally Posted by regal

I think people who grew up in the digital age always think newer is better. Low mileage FD RX-7's sell for $35k today and there is a good reason, there is nothing about a twin that is even in the same league as an FD, but its not a fair comparison for the Twins. Today's safety and environmental government standards have handicapped auto designs, a 2014 FD would basically be illegal in this new world.
.

What about the FD would be illegal, besides meeting current environmental regulations?

[TouchMyHonda]

Originally Posted by 70NYD

Rx7 was the best handling car in its class from factory when it was released.
This looks awesome btw

[ZDan]

^^^ Relevance? No RX-7 in the US in 1997, no RX-7 in that picture, no RX-7 in that Car and Driver handling comparison. And anyway, Car and Driver's collective subjective opinion is not objective fact. I love the E36 M3 and I've driven a few, including track days. It is not imo the best-handling car of the 90s.

[SwedishLlama]

Originally Posted by campy

Yep I bet the "crickets" problem will be a much bigger issue with these engines down the road.

I've owned a boxer (EJ25) for 10 years now and the only major issue has been blowing the head gasket twice :P Occasionally on the first start up of the day I get really bad crickets for about a minute or two, but they go away fairly quickly. Admittedly I don't redline it very often - I rarely go over 5.5K

I obviously don't have an FA20 experience, but from my EJ25 experience - they're not that expensive to maintain

[regal]

Originally Posted by SwedishLlama

I've owned a boxer (EJ25) for 10 years now and the only major issue has been blowing the head gasket twice :P Occasionally on the first start up of the day I get really bad crickets for about a minute or two, but they go away fairly quickly. Admittedly I don't redline it very often - I rarely go over 5.5K

I obviously don't have an FA20 experience, but from my EJ25 experience - they're not that expensive to maintain

Here a blown headgasket on a Subaru can average $2.5k to repair. Two blown headgaskets in 10 years is as bad as maintaining a wankel and we have the DI on top of the typical Subaru engine issues.

[horrorbiz]

Originally Posted by regal

Here a blown headgasket on a Subaru can average $2.5k to repair. Two blown headgaskets in 10 years is as bad as maintaining a wankel and we have the DI on top of the typical Subaru engine issues.

$2.5k?! No way. I spent $1200 on mine and I've seen people pay less.

[DarkSunrise]

Originally Posted by ZDan

^^^ Relevance? No RX-7 in the US in 1997, no RX-7 in that picture, no RX-7 in that Car and Driver handling comparison. And anyway, Car and Driver's collective subjective opinion is not objective fact. I love the E36 M3 and I've driven a few, including track days. It is not imo the best-handling car of the 90s.

My instructor this past weekend had an E36 M3. Had coilovers, Wilwood BBK, Toyo RA1, etc. I did a ride-along in his car and it felt great. Compared with my FR-S, I could feel the extra weight in the esses (he lovingly called it a "pig" in the turns), but from where I was sitting, it was very impressive for sure.

That said, I can imagine some of the lighter sports cars from the 90s having better handling. I haven't driven the RX-7, but at ~2800 lbs, I bet it'd fly through the turns and have a similar lightweight/nimble sensation you get in the FR-S.

[chrisl]

Originally Posted by SwedishLlama

I've owned a boxer (EJ25) for 10 years now and the only major issue has been blowing the head gasket twice :P Occasionally on the first start up of the day I get really bad crickets for about a minute or two, but they go away fairly quickly. Admittedly I don't redline it very often - I rarely go over 5.5K

I obviously don't have an FA20 experience, but from my EJ25 experience - they're not that expensive to maintain

I've owned a Subaru boxer (EJ253) for 6 years and 117,000 miles now, and all it's had are oil changes, spark plugs, and a timing belt. I drive the heck out of it too. Two blown head gaskets seems pretty bad to me...