If you guys had $2,000 (maybe $1,500 purchase plus say $500 for improvements repairs) to spend on a vehicle that was fun to drive (individual opinions here), where would you start?
Stock Miata? Early Civic or Integra plus tires? Beat up SN95?
If you guys had $2,000 (maybe $1,500 purchase plus say $500 for improvements repairs) to spend on a vehicle that was fun to drive (individual opinions here), where would you start?
Stock Miata? Early Civic or Integra plus tires? Beat up SN95?
Integra. Everyone has a Miata, the civic is just a lightweight and underpowered version of the Integra. Motor swaps are hard on the wallet and body. The Integra has the motor you’ll already need. Reduce weight, and use the 500$ to refresh the suspension and get springs. Enjoy. Find a GS if you can. LS if you have to. You’ll have a very fun car with a super cheap aftermarket. And later on, if you want to spend the money you can always turbo. K swap. Or J swap.
In reply to ebonyandivory :
Without competition intentions? Give me the cheapest, most underpowered FWD E36 M3box I can find with a stick so I can redline every. single. shift. without feeling like a dick and take corners around town without lifting.
If competition is a concern, then do you prefer FWD or RWD. If RWD we've reached an interesting point where Miatas and early C4 Vettes are about the same money - pick the best example of whichever suits your taste and budget. If FWD is more your thing, but I tend to agree that Acura/Honda seem to offer the best bang for the buck.
I’d like to add the qualifier of the owner being able to do suspension mods, find deals on tires and wheels etc. I am not currently able to do a complicated motor swap but if you are that’s great.
Saab 9-3. They are dirt cheap, easy to mod with T5 or T7 suite or aero/viggen parts, pretty reliable, and a generally nice place to be.
V6 SN95
V6 gives you bit more money to throw a junkyard 4.11 rear end in there and some sticky rubber. It's a pretty solid car. Not super fast, but quick enough. There's plenty of cheap handling mods out there. The two manual SN95 V6s I've driven were both very nice. One I drove on track, one on the street.
Frankly, with so little requirements I'd just search Craigslist every day until I see something that's right. Could be a Miata. Could be a Ranger. Could be a BMW 318ti. Just depends what I see and what condition it's in.
Focus plus $300 svt suspension kit.
With winter just around the corner, get a Subaru Impreza like this:
https://newjersey.craigslist.org/cto/d/awd-subaru-impreza/6388848529.html
In reply to mtn :
As the owner of an e36/5 I both highly recommend and disrecommend anybody buy one.
buzzboy said:In reply to mtn :
As the owner of an e36/5 I both highly recommend and disrecommend anybody buy one.
the 318ti is a great little car, as long as you are aware of it's short comings compared to the other E36s. Not going into looks (where are subjective) but the rear suspension is almost the same as the E30 with all it's handling quirks, the interior is "downmarket" from the standard Sedan/coupe/and wagon, and the small engine does not have a lot of grunt or urge to rev.
Finding a decent one for $1500 may be very hard as they are a cult car and their values have been on the rise. Even if you found one for $1500, I am certain you would lose the extra $500 just in cooling system maintenance.
That said, they are a very cool little car (especially in M trim) with enough scoot to keep up with traffic and E36s are indeed like legos, you can mix and match parts from the sedans all day long and the rear suspension from the Z3m
The most rust free anything you can find.
I find it very hard to argue with the Integra recommendation. Just watch for rust.
mtn said:Frankly, with so little requirements I'd just search Craigslist every day until I see something that's right. Could be a Miata. Could be a Ranger. Could be a BMW 318ti. Just depends what I see and what condition it's in.
That's what I'd do too. Probably put in max year = 2008, max price = 1800, min price = 100, and most likely set the transmission to manual (although you might miss out on some interesting V8 / RWD cars), and see what pops up.
Lexus SC400's seem to be on the ground for about the right price. Same with LS400's.
I like the 318ti idea. Are Integra's available in this price range actually decent projects and not destroyed?
MB 300D? https://kansascity.craigslist.org/cto/d/1976-mercedes-300d/6361525169.html
Another vote for turbo Saabs. They are SO CHEAP right now. And the free, DIY friendly T5/T7 Suite makes is easy to get more power without buying parts.
I'm always seeing decent looking Civics for ~$1500 on Craigslist. Yeah, its a Civic, but they have an aftermarket that rivals only the Camaro and Mustang. Heck you might be able to find a beat to snot Fox Mustang or 3rd gen Camaro for your price range, too.
Given your admitted skillset, look for the cleanest Civic, Mustang or Camaro you can find for the money and go from there.
That's about how much I have into my current daily. It's an 05 MCS that I picked up for $1800 with partially fixed suspension damage.
Swapped the rear subframe for a $50 ebay replacement, had a windshield put in and now I've driven it almost 4k trouble free miles. Future maintenance needs are a little scary when you look under the hood and see how tight everything is.
At the time I was not looking for a Mini, it just popped up on my regular search one day and seemed like a screaming deal so I snagged it. This is how I acquire most of my cars.
I like the Saab recommendation. Also a Volvo 850 or s70 or v70 with the T5 would be fun. Any cheap but decent condition turbo car would respond well to mods - I think the Saab and Volvos can both be cranked up to 300hp pretty easily. That's enough to hit the limits of FWD cars pretty fast. I loved my 850 T5 wagon and it was quick and handled better than you would expect. New parts are cheap at FCP Groton. They're galvanized so not prone to rust. For a while there, the local junkyards always had at least 2-3 in each one so used parts were super cheap and always available. I don't know if that's still the case.
I paid $400 for my thunderbird, it's comfortable gets 20+mpg makes great v8 sounds and parts are cheap.
also RWD...
I'll probably be into it around 2k before I'm done fixing a lot of E36 M3 but i'm really enjoying the ride to there. (including upgrading a LOT).
https://austin.craigslist.org/cto/d/2004-bmw-x3/6357664884.html
May need a headgasket, may need a motor. Who knows? But where else are you going to find a stick shift X3 for under $1,500?
Or for a little more, a well sorted Mazda3 S: https://austin.craigslist.org/cto/d/2004-mazda-3-excellent/6334987377.html
Mark VIIIs are cheap, RWD, 32v mod motors sound really nice, independent rear Suspension, no manual option though. Convert to Cobra hubs and you can run SN95 brakes and wheels.
Id just browse CL daily and see what catches your eye. Nothing sub $2k is actually going to be fast out of the box, so it's all about what you like. Just look around and see what strikes your fancy.
In reply to ebonyandivory : so much depends on who you are. Are you the sort of person who likes to work and improve a car? Would you prefer to wash/ polish and wax a car? Or drive the wheels off it? Some of all of the above?
What are your values? Fuel mileage, reliability, comfort?
For that money I’d buy a Jaguar from the 70’s 80’s, gut it and turn it into a race car.
I'd buy something rust-free for $500 and put $1500 into it.
C-4 Or a Fiero for a couple Hundred and do a Butt load of Mods with the Change,
Do you need a Back Seat ?
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