After completing everything in the game I figured I’d get creative and do a build story. It somewhat resembles my real life story (minus the selling original FD and 26b), but has been adapted to all the game mods and parts availability. All the modified parts names are real life parts so feel free to look up items if they peek interest to get better visuals. Please enjoy.
It was quite some time since I owned an FD. I sold my original one to do the adult thing and buy my first house just outside the city. I made sure it had a garage with enough room for a lift to work on future projects. I swore I’d own one again and I’d build it into the ultimate RX7. After everything settled down and I finally established myself in my career, the itch for my childhood dream car started inching its way back in.
On my way home, I noticed what looked like an FD RX7. I stopped at the house and sure enough it was… pretty rough condition, but definitely an RX7. I left a note on the owner’s door with my contact info, sure enough a few days later I received a call from the owner. I stopped by immediately after work to check it out up close. It was a very weird year (1997, I never really seen a 97 and really didn’t enjoy the steering wheel). According to the owner, it was a project drift car that was driven hard and left to rot after blowing the original 2 rotor 13brew motor and removing it for a rebuild that never happened. I didn’t mind that at all, I had bigger plans for it, plus the interior was completely intact.
After towing it home, I was able to assess the damage. Surprisingly it wasn’t in as bad condition as I thought, surface rust on the rear hatch, blown suspension, some dents in the rear quarter, but no frame damage. I decided to start on the body work. I got everything sorted out and primed when I decided to do something radical. If I wanted to build the ultimate FD, I needed to make it wider. After learning from my last RX7, I realized my power goals required way more contact patch than the stock fenders would allow. This led to the decision of a widebody kit. I searched long and hard for my dream kit (Fujita engineering or Chargespeed), but I couldn’t find one. I finally decided to settle for the latest craze (Rocket Bunny) due to me finding a deal I couldn’t refuse. I prepped the quarters, cut the fenders, welded everything back together, and finally installed the fender flares. I was able to locate the matching duckbill spoiler after giving up on locating a Fujita engineering type 2 spoiler. I even sourced a rare carbon fiber vented hood to replace the stock one. Not only was it lighter than the already featherweight stock hood, but I was completely functional and gave the engine bay some much needed ventilation. I decided to paint the car a factory Vintage Red from the 93-95 RX7s to pay homage to my original car. She was starting to look like a real special car, I couldn’t help but roll her out the garage to get a full view.
The looks were coming along nicely, but that all means nothing without a means to power the car! I finally sourced all the needed parts to build the pinnacle of rotary motors, an all billet aluminum 4 rotor 26b! These parts would take some time to come in due to special order. In the meantime, I sourced some Akibono carbon ceramic brakes (McLaren P1 spec) and painted them red to match the paint scheme on the car plus some extremely rare 18x11 full carbon fiber Wedsport TC105Ns to fit some 305/30/18 Toyo R888s on the front and 325/30/18 R888s on the rear. Japanese parts for this Japanese car. The wheels weigh in at 6.6lbs each, a massive savings on unsprung mass!!! Plus the intricate carbon pattern adds a depth to the wheels that has to be seen in person to truly appreciate.
All the parts are coming in: CD09A transmission (6 speed manual from a 370z), custom carbon driveshaft, custom triple plate clutch, 8.8 Torsen T2R diff with 4.44 final, adaptronic ECU, ID2000 injectors, iconnel manifold, titanium exhaust, lightweight lithium battery, Ohlins DFV coilovers…the list goes on and on, but the item that ties everything together and makes this car truly special is what I was waiting for…the 26b. The motor finally came in, I had a custom subframe built to lower and push the motor further back into the chassis to keep the sacred 50/50 weight distribution. I didn’t lighten the car too much because I still wanted a civilized car so I dynomatted the interior and covered all panels in leather or alcantera. The final weight is at 2918lbs with a full tank of gas and myself in the driver’s seat.
What seemed like months have passed, but she’s finally ready. I fire her up… ooouuu, the lope from the semiperipheral ports make the time and money spent on it so worth it! I trailered her down to the dyno to fine tune everything and the end result is a modest NA 718whp at 9800rpm. I achieved what I wanted to, a well balanced, high grip, extremely quick, eye catching, completely unique car…my ultimate RX7. There was only one thing left to do… drive her like no tomorrow! But I forgot one thing…I didn’t get my personalized plate yet! Lucky me the plate came in that day JNCHRIKI (Jinchuuriki, the name for the carriers of tailed beasts in the anime Naruto…a fitting plate for such a monster of a car).