Dilemma of the Daewoo

So the time has come to make some decisions on the Daewoo Nubira.

Plan One. I can keep it and fix the rust under the doors. I'd have to farm this out, I'm nowhere near good enough at bodywork to make this look presentable. If I did this, I would also get the entire car painted one color, probably a matte red and modify a minivan hood scoop to cover the holes in my hood. I figure this will cost me about 500 bucks because Korea is cheap.

One A. Swap in a 2.0L naturally aspirated engine. 132 HP stock, probably 150 after a reflash/intake/exhaust. The engine will run me 400 bucks, installation (I have no garage) will probably be another 400-500.

One B. Put a tiny turbo charger on the stock 1.5L engine, run 87 octane friendly boost pressures and find a good oil cooler. 107 hp stock, maybe 150 with the turbo. I don't know how much this will cost, probably less than 1,000 altogether. Remember, I want stuff that's sturdy enough I can hammer the car on track without worrying, so that kind of rules out using the turbo off a junkyard diesel truck.

Plan Two. Strip off my nice front brakes, wheels and suspension and transplant them all to a similar vintage Daewoo Lanos. This will save me probably 300 pounds but will lose me my rear disc brakes and I have no idea if the Lanos has the same very favorable suspension geometry as my Nubira. I'd also lose the aero stuff my students built.

Two A 2.0L swap in Lanos. Two B 1.5L turbo.

All the DOHC Daewoos of this era, except the 2.2 Leganza, use the same engine block, transmission and ECU.

Give me your wisdom!

The answer is...Miata. (someone had to be first)

Losing the aero stuff your students built sounds like a bad plan unless they're no longer involved and/or they're up for disposing of Car A and helping out with Car B. If they've got some sweat invested I think they deserve some input, if possible.

Good luck finding a Miata in Korea, PV.

My vote is only spending to keeping the car running, then put your money toward sticky tires and track time. Getting passed on the straights might deflate your ego a bit, but it's under braking and in the corners that learning happens.

This maybe a dumb question but can't you get one of these in Korea? They are ugly but I've always loved 'em.

I'd forgotten about those! Kia only made about 1,000 Elans, but they're all 12-15 years old now so they may be affordable if you can find one.

I looked for a Kia Elan, but unfortunately, they are 7 to 8 grand here. Probably the most interesting thing about them is that they use a version of the Miata motor, except for it spins to 8,000 rpm and makes 160 hp.

I'm looking to engine work, and body work, as the next logical steps in the build because the car already handles and brakes very well.

I think I agree with you guys on keeping the Nubira. It would suck to lose the stuff we've already made.

We spent the entire summer building up the chassis and cooling systems and making it lighter. The last track day I did was funny in the sense the stuff we changed worked great and the stuff we didn't sucked balls. Among street tire cars we were better than anybody else on the brakes and we were at least second best in cornering speeds. It really has nowhere enough engine to challenge the chassis at this point. Actually, on some of the faster corners, I couldn't accelerate to maximum cornering speed because the engine didn't have enough power to overcome scrub.

I vote 2.0 swap. Cause you can always turbo it later.

I can also build a serious 2.0 turbo later if I turbo the 1.5 and leave it in as well ... not that I was considering such a thing. It would be illegal.