Hello. My name is Rick and I am here to get some inside info on my next daily driver (I'm leaning towards a 996 Carrera C4S.) I have a Subaru Legacy GT for daily driver duties now, but want to upgrade when i get the chance. STi's seem to be a dime a dozen up here in New England; great cars but I want something a little bit more original, or something that I can't see everyday. That's why I think a C4S would make for a great fit.

Here's what I have for fun now: a 1993 Mazda RX-7 built for track duty, autocross, and all around weekend fun. It puts down 348rwhp/315rwtq (about 440 to the flywheel? not entirely sure) out of stock twin turbos at 1bar and comes in weighing 2690 pounds dry. Shes a lot of fun and I'm not even close to being done yet.

My overall goal with it is to make it a dedicated track car or continue building it as a weekend warrior. Plans include bigger rims and tires, possibly a classy widebody, bigger brakes, brake bias adjuster, single turbo, v-mount intercooler, dual oil coolers, upgraded fuel set up, carbon fiber and lexan here and there, a roll cage, race buckets with helmet halos, and various other things. I have been building this car for almost 7 years now and take great pride in owning her. It often gets overlooked, but people who have ridden in, driven, raced against, or owned an FD3S know how much fun they are.

enough pitching my car; here she is:
















Race Ready:














I am an automotive enthusiast and love meeting and talking to anyone who is passionate about these little A to B machines. If you have any feedback on my car (good or bad) or any advice on the 996 C4S, please let me have it.

take care and happy motoring.

 

Welcome, love FD's!

Good power for the stock twins, what are your mods?

 

nice rx7!
Always was a fan of that bodystyle.

 

Lightweight, Forced Induction and excellent grip makes these cars lots of fun. Good to see the car being put to use on the track. Makes me wish Mazda would bring out a new iteration of the RX7.

 

thanks guys.

here's the mod list:

13b 1.3L Twin Turbo Rotary Engine; 348.18rwhp & 315.94rwtq at 13psi; 330.99rwhp & 277.06rwtq at 11psi; 2690 pounds without driver and gas
Engine HKS S-Type Front Mount Intercooler, Downpipe, Racing Suction Kit, Carbon Ti Exhaust, SSQV Blow Off Valve, Circle Earth Grounding Kit, US Spec 1 Turbo Timer, EVC V Boost Controller; Pettit Resonated Mid Pipe, Air Pump Eliminator Pulley Kit, Air Separator Tank; Efini Y-pipe; Unorthodox Racing SS Pulley Kit; Ground Zero/Pineapple Racing Oil Pan; Noltec Motor Mounts; A'PEXi Power FC, FC Commander; Fluidyne Radiator; Carbing Cooling Panel; Walbro 255lph Fuel Pump; RC Injectors 550cc Primary Injectors, 1200cc Secondary Injectors; NGK BUR7EQ Spark Plugs, BUR9EQ Spark Plugs; Castrol 20w50 Motor Oil
Suspension TEIN Super Street Coilovers, Solid Upper Pillow Ball Mounts; Racing Beat 1.25" Front Sway Bar, Front Sway Bar Brace, Rear Sway Bar; Cusco D-Style Front Strut Tower Bar; Rotary Extreme Rear Strut Tower Bar; RX-7.com Trailing Arms, Toe Links
Transmission ACT 6 Puck Racing Clutch, Pro-Lite Flywheel; Mazda Factory Clutch Disc; Cusco 1.5way LSD; RX-7.com Solid Differential Bushings B&M Short Throw Shifter; Stainless Steel Clutch Line; Red Line 75w140 Gear Oil, Limited Slip Friction Modifier
Brakes and Tires KVR Slotted Rotors, Carbon Brakes; RBF600 Brake Fluid; Goodridge Stainless Steel Brake Line; Kumho Escta Supra 712 Tires
Interior Sparco Evo Seat, Sprint V Seat, Globe X Shift ****, 5 Point Cam Lock Harnesses, Leather Shift Boot, Leather E-brake Boot, 345 Wheel; NRG Quick Release Kit, Hub Adapter; MemoryFab Super-lo Seat Rail; Autopower Race Roll Bar; Carbon Fiber Globe Box; Rotary Extreme Carbon Fiber Door Sills; Benevento 16 Piece Carbon Fiber Overlay; Bose Speakers Removed, Acoustic Wave System Removed, Stereo; AEM Wideband AFR Gauge; Autometer Carbon Fiber Series Water Temp Gauge, Oil Temp Gauge, Oil Pressure Gauge, Boost Gauge, Exhaust Gas Temp Gauge, Triple Gauge Pod; Tri-Power Center Channel Dual Gauge Pod; RX-7.com FC Commander Holder; Viper 791XV Alarm; Lo/Jack Car Security System
Exterior Powdercoated Rims; Rotary Extreme Carbon Fiber N1 Hood, Carbon Fiber Side Skirts




rideontwo: yea, i really wish Mazda stayed closer to the roots of the RX-7 in designing the RX-8. its a good car, but needs less seats and doors, and more power. Mazda got the suspension set up and handling right though.

It looks like the Japanese sports car market is being revitalized with the LFA and GTR, so Mazda should have some motivation to get back into the Japanese Supercar market. There is the Furai supercar concept floating around the internet. I am anxious to see where Mazda goes with that.

 

thumbs up!

 

thanks got_hp?

I like your look, as well. brilliant black, R1 lip, wingless, and black wheels.

 

i saw mid atlantic on there.. have you made it to VIR yet? hands down best facility i have been to!
nice wankle

 

Thanks. i haven't made it out to VIR yet. It's on the list though. The Mid-Atlantic sticker is from a company who gives me discounts on my Sparco gear.

 

lol yeah, our cars are almost twins......i just added the same feed side skirts also!

 

very nice. did you go with the real deal FEEDs or the Shine FEEDS? Mine are actually knock off Rotary Extreme CFs. Great quality though.

On a side note; i just read the full NSX vs GT3 thread and it was in the back of my mind to throw my own RX-7 into that mix. It would be less bias to just get out on track and see how I hold up against either though. I am pretty confident I should be able to keep up or even top a GT3 (twisties and straights); I have much less weight, roughly the same or more power, tuned suspension, a pretty decent brake set up, and reliability (strange for a rotary, huh? ) I can't lie, I am more than a fan and quite passionate about the RX-7; giving me quite the bias. I don't have blinders, however, and know the capabilites of the GT3; and still think I have a good chance car vs car, with an impact on driver vs driver.

Stock for stock, though, the GT3 would be walking all over me. That's the difference of 1993 255 unreliable hp vs. 996/997 power and technology. I will say that back in the day (when they drove up hill both ways to race), the FD3S RX-7 was the equivalent to today's turn key, out of the box track cars like the GT3; a car that you could drive off the dealer lot to the track and have a lot of fun and put down good lap times. (Note- I am talking about road courses and autocrossing; none of this straight line shifting nonsense.)

Basic blah blah bench racing, though. Sorry. Thoughts? I am going to continue to add more reliability, power and stopping capability, while taking weight out. It's going to only get better. By then, its not really an apples to apples case. It would be great to have fun in my car while taking on (taking down?) the supercar giants. Sure, it's fun to think about, but I really built this car to only best myself. Sorry if I have to break this to you, but there is always going to be something out there faster. Bottom line is the smile on my face lap after lap. Maybe I'm losing my competitive edge, but I don't care if I'm in first or last as long as the rubber side is down and I am having fun.

Any local New England GT3 owners up for a day of driving together, let me know. I assure you, you will have as much fun driving my car as I will driving yours.

 

That car looks great. Color with the red offsetting the black is sharp.

What kind of camera are you using? Great pics.

 

Thanks gnx7. I see you have a little monster yourself (and by little monster i mean 'Holy Crap!!!' 196.2mph!!) My friend builds and sells LS FDs on the side (2 so far, until he sources another good starter vehicle.) He let me drive his last one, and boy was it a lot of fun. There is no way I would yank my rotary out of this car (mostly because of all the blood, sweat and tears I've already put into this particular motor; even when this motor goes I'm going to have to stick with the rotary) but I would absolutely buy a LS powered FD. Or have him build me one. Torque for days. Great set up for track as well (as I am sure you can already attest too.)

Are you running stock unrolled fenders with those CCWs? By the sizes I am thinking Pettit rear fender flares with 315+ in the rear and 285s up front. I'd love to see some pics of your set up if you get a chance. Feel free to post them up in this thread if you want.

Thanks for the compliments. It hurt to get rid of the factory red leather seats, but I cant argue with the grip of the Sparco's. Now if I could get them wrapped in matching crimson suede...

The camera i used for the 'photoshoot' shots is a Canon Rebel DSLR XTI. The pictures aren't raw, as I tweaked them with PhotoShop. I'm slowly getting more and more into automotive photography; I have a long ways to go.

 

Makes me want to get an FD. So much potential they have, and they are still one of the sexiest cars around.

 

I like the rotary.... just when you make big power they don't last long! LSx FD is an incredible combo.

I'm running 285/30/18's up front with heavily rolled stock front fenders. Rears are Pettit flares with 335/30/18's.





The car should gobble up the road among other things!