Wanting a dedicated AutoX car

As title says. For NEXT season, i want to have a car that is actually classed where it has a fighting chance, so i'm going to try something completely different.

I'm going to gasp build a car for a class, rather than get classed because of how i built.

I'm thinking ST or STS.

Start throwing out suggestions. Initial cost of entry should be cheap. Like. Really cheap. $2000 or less would be nice.

HARD MODE: NO HONDAS. I would like something slightly strange. Not looking to be competitive anywhere but regionally.

Paseo? Tercel? Camry? Corolla station wagon? Mirage? 4th gen Celica GTS? Corolla AE92 GTS? Corolla FX-16 GTS? Kia Sephia? Tracer LTS?

Basicaly, i'd like to help Bob but the hurt on the local Honda guys in something OTHER than a Honda.

Throw out the suggestions, or vote on what i've got listed.

Unless you have tons of money you aren't beating the Spec Civic Si recipe in ST. If your region has some well prepped '89-'91 Civic Sis and drivers you'll be continually finishing behind them. Jason Rhodes showed they can be beaten, but at quite a hefty cost. Same story in STS, Miata or CRX and maybe RX-7 but no one has built a full prepped one yet.

autoxrs wrote: Unless you have tons of money you aren't beating the Spec Civic Si recipe in ST. If your region has some well prepped '89-'91 Civic Sis and drivers you'll be continually finishing behind them. Jason Rhodes showed they can be beaten, but at quite a hefty cost. Same story in STS, Miata or CRX and maybe RX-7 but no one has built a full prepped one yet.

I'm not really planning on taking the championship in my region or anything. I'm not the driver for it, regardless of platform. I'm just wanting to be able to finish in the top 3rd maybe. Considering where my Celica is classed right now SMS (regional) or F-Prepared (HAHAHAHAH!!!!), pretty much anything would be an improvement. I just want to build for a class without having to blow a ton of money, and maybe have a fighting chance in said class.

I'm not planning on steamrolling any Spec Civic Sis with good drivers or anything.

+1 for fx-16 gts!!!!!

if you're wanting to be competitive in ST or STS and don't want a Honda you're pretty much SOL .... only choice really is the Miata,

in ST locally we have a very hot shoe in a 2.5 RS , but he switches to STU when he attends a National Tour event ( 2nd at Dixie) (down by ~ 5 sec to a STi) but it did get him $200 contingency ... would have finished 8th had he stayed in ST... so your choices are somewhat limited

suggestion: find a car you like, prep it to the fullest (within reason) for the class you want and then go have fun..

Eh, i'd settle for top half, really... there aren't THAT many civics around here i don't think. Bob would be able to tell me for sure.

I'm really just looking for other strange suggestions.

Mx3?

323, fiesta, festiva, escort gt, escort wagon

saturn sc2? geo storm?

I hear V6 Camry's run like muscle cars and have huge clutches

Why not a 1st Gen MR2 in STS?

626 with KL/5speed and some suspension modifications courtesy of the probe and mx6 family?

Anything built by isuzu or suzuki?

Nitroracer wrote: 626 with KL/5speed and some suspension modifications courtesy of the probe and mx6 family? Anything built by isuzu or suzuki?

Or just a 2nd gen V6 probe.

Focus SVT, Acura RSX-S both a bit expensive to start but seems to me they might be ST contenders - locally anyway.

Oh, and an STR 911. Give the miatas somethin to think about. Budget, what budget....

the rear suspension design makes the RSX platform a bit of a pain in the ass. You end up running a boat load of spring, and then the front Mac Struts which don't like more than a 1" drop and have little caster.

Nitroracer wrote: Anything built by isuzu or suzuki?

Use the car in your avatar. The 16V version moves pretty good with a few mods, and can be had for $500

Keep in mind, I have no idea what the rules are, or how competitive it might be.

The Escort GT or the ZX2 are light and can be made into a good ST car. Mazda based supension. There are a couple of ZX2's on www.team zx2.com. that do quite well.

are we staying fwd?

P71 wrote: I hear V6 Camry's run like muscle cars and have huge clutches Why not a 1st Gen MR2 in STS?

If i could find an old v6 5speed camry, i'd probably do it just to be "that guy." But they're hard to find, and they weight like... 3000lbs. Fat pigs.

1st gen MR2 is a possibility, though.

grimmelshanks wrote: are we staying fwd?

Probably. Simply because most of the cars that interest me in that price range are FWD if i want to start with a decent example.

AW11 MR2 and RX7s are probably the only RWD cars i could get in good shape around here for my budget.

GTV6

fwd.... (thinking, thinking) aircooled vw?

there is one car in our region that gives the guy w/ the 2.5 RS fits and it's a Neon... something to think about

oh ya! neons are cool too. theres a guy on here with a dodge aries that makes me want one

ST--ZX2 Escort

22XX pounds in ST trim, Mazda BG chassis, cheap to buy...

We've had our still a 'work-in-progress' ST ZX2 inside of 2 seconds, on 60ish second courses (several times last year), to Jason Frank's/Craig Mankeiwicz's and Pat Washburn's/Chris DeLay's SpecCivics. Those are both top-3 National EFs...

If you want to build a dedicated car for the class, why would you do anything other than what is known to work, unless you have an idea that you think will beat the known quantity? That just seems like a way to dump money into losing.

Don't spend money and lose = OK
Spend money to win = OK
Spend money to lose = Dumb IMO.

Philosophy out of the way, the oddball that I think has a chance against the Civics is the Suzuki Swift GTi.

If you're gonna get the FX-16, why get the GTS? The only differences I'm aware of between an FX-16 and an FX-16 GTS are cosmetic, and the GTS weighs more because of it.