Help me choose my next project car
 

I am looking to start a new project car. I have an FJ cruiser I daily for my business so this is really just a project toy. So I have this desire to make a modern Frankenstein “hot rod” and here are the choices. Which would you guys choose and why?

Vr6/2.7t b6 A4
Pros: AWD, 4 door, Luxury, sleeper, Turbo, Plenty of VAG parts
Cons: Swap Cost, Weight, Understeer, No swap kit, High

2jz e39/46
Pros: Turbo, luxury, Handling
Cons: Rear Subframe failure, Swap cost, Parts cost, No swap kit

Ls1 FD RX7
Pros: LS1 power/cost, Weight, Rarity, Various swap kits, Well known swap
Cons: Hard finding a nice FD for lower cost, Mod costs

Ls1 NA Miata
Pros: LS1 Power, Weight, Handling, Cost, Swap kits available, Convertible, Tons of parts
Cons: Size, Hard finding a nicer low mileage car

Aw11

Rx7. Cause they're awesome.

Out of curiosity... why a B6 A4? Looks/costs?

I have a B5 S4 (which I'm sure you know has the 2.7t) and I love it. I'm running stage 3 with water/meth injection built and tuned by VAST performance. When I was looking for a new car the B5 with the 2.7t caught my attention for some reason and the community surrounding it made it all the more interesting. Now that I own one, I can't say I regret my choice at all. You can't go wrong with the 2.7t or the VR6. Some S4's have done the VR6 swap as well, though I really like the 2.7t for some reason. I know you said you're interested in a frankenstein build, but keep in mind that any build for the S4 will require an engine pull anyways... so in some respects it's just as much of a project. AWD with that kind of power is a lot of fun. I also like the fact that you can get reasonably cheap wheels and tires because you don't need massive tires to get good traction. Fat wheels/tires have a nice look, but I'd be perfectly fine running 8" and 245's. I currently have 225's and have no trouble keeping traction unless I'm launching or actually trying to break traction. Keep in mind that you'll need to do some engine work if you plan on getting above 450-500 hp... you'll run the risk of bending rods at around 500 hp I believe.

My vote would go for a GT or tial powered 2.7t build. RS6 K04's are another option, but I believe you can pick up tials for much cheaper and make more power without sacrificing spool. If you really want to make it interesting, there have been some pretty good single turbo builds as well.

I'd also vote against the RX-7 unless you really want a 7 with an LS swap. I'm not against LS swaps in 7's, but I'd still prefer to see a rotary build. Since you're considering other builds, I assume it's not something you just have a huge passion to do, so I'd vote for the other ideas before that.

The B6 A4 is really just a looks thing for me. B6 looks less dated to me. There is no denying the weight advantage of the B5 though. I really like both engines, as well as the B5 and B6 chassis. I would likely go Tial at some point if I went 2.7t. That setup is just nasty!

BTW, this video got me hooked in the longitudinal VR6 turbo swap.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxGppExfYKY

I'd recommend going with what you want while you have the engine out. It might work out different if you do a swap, but for the B5 you'll have to pull the engine again to change turbos which is a lot of time, effort and money if you think you'd be upgrading the turbos after a short while.

Like you said.. both are great engines and will be more than enough with the right build. It amazes me that there's still new stuff being developed for the 2.7t in terms of aftermarket.

My tastes are a bit different than most for some reason... my interests skip over the B6 and B7 generations. I love the B5 and the B8 looks and engines. Just to highlight my difference in taste, one of my biggest complaints about my car is that I wish I had been able to pick up a clean avant. Can't really explain why, but the idea of a stage 3 (or more) hatch has a lot of appeal to me. I don't really know much about the B6 in terms of common issues or reliability, so it might actually be a better platform if the swap doesn't require anything too extreme to fit. The B5 is definitely not the most reliable, but it should be relatively good if you find a well kept car. Then again, I'd imagine you'd expect some reliability issues with any of those swaps/builds and I'm guessing you're up for the task of maintaining and repairing things every now and then.

e39 m5 or e46 m3, doesn't get better than that.. I wouldn't even bother with a 2jz, the M5 v8 and m3 i6's are more than sufficient for damn near anything.

The M5 is a great car, but not a great project car in my opinion. I think you kind of missed the point of what he's looking for...

Do a K20A swap into the Toyota MR-S...

For sure!

Yeah, both are great cars but I don't think of either as monsters. Of course the exception is Horsepower freaks M3 turbo kit. But that is $15,000 for the cheapest kit, and a 2jz could be done cheaper after selling the original engine. That being said, the BMW parts really are too expensive. Anything for a BMW automatically cost more, just like Porsche. Thats why I was really thinking 330i or 530i because the M cars have a serious premium and the 2jz will make more power for much less then either of their M engines.

8 Maniac is right though, the point is to build a monster. The Miata or A4 would be "street" cars. My RX7 plans would really be more of a track only monster.

Actually those swaps are very cool also. I dont know much about them, but i'll look into it.

I have also seen an transverse mounted LS4 in an MR-S also. That looked crazy cool too.

I would go for the e46 2j swap... and if you get the right 2jz-gte you can easily get up to 1000 hp on an excellent handling platform, not saying that you would want that many horses but it gives you alot more flexibility on what the car is used for

How do I make this a poll? I tried to edit the first post to include it but I couldn't find it.

what about an REW in a Miata?

anyways i vote Miata

Rx7 FD with 20B, if you can. Rotary or nothing.

I'm going a different direction for this build. Nice options for cars but I'm not going rotary on this build.

Then I vote ls1 miata, with a hard top and widebody fenders.

That will be one sexy beast

Yep. That was the plan for that car actually. The concept for that project was a modern Shelby Cobra.

:D: Who knows, maybe there's a cheaper slightly damaged one floating around somewhere or something?

You're right, they are very hard project cars, but so are all BMW's, but the options h is putting forward are all expensive.. and if you have the money for those sort of things, why not an m5? You can by parts strait from Dinan/tubi/etcetera and do it all yourself.

But you're right, I was thinking for an ideal day to day project car.

Sorry it's not on the list.. but can you actually do better than a Supra?

otherwise i'd just do the m3...

I vote for miata but I would say get a ls2 considering you can find them for hardly anything more than an ls1 and it will be easier to find one with few milees

Actually an Ae86 with a nicely tuned 13b or 1Jz would be dope, I've seen a few with 20b's and they're ridiculous, practically take flight under acceleration lol

These projects arn't cheap but I also want to do this cost effectively also. I really don't think there are any new cars that I like. Everything is so fat, expensive, and have moved away from what car guys think is a pure drivers car. The point of this project is the realization that there are no cars out there that have what I want, so I will build one.

The more I think about the BMW, the more I think too expensive, and anything but cost effective. The plan wasn't for an m3 or m5, it was for a cheaper 325i or maybe a 528i. That's a huge cost difference there alone. But I think I have eliminate the BMW from the list due to rediculous cost just to have anything with the BMW name on it.

I think the miata is the most cost effective. The A4 is not as cost effective, but it would be a great car and still cheaper then the BMW. The a4 is really the total opposite of the miata. V8 vs v6 turb. Rwd vs awd. 2 door convertible vs 4 door sedan. Both cars would be insanely fast, fun and would be street cars. The rx7 option would be a more long term track build so it's a little bit like compairing apples to oranges with the a4 and miata.

As for the ae86... I can't stand that car. Light yes, but very ugly and dated. Hell, the ugly isnt even a high performance, form following function ugly.

It doesn't really meet your criteria, but I still vote 240z. I guess hybrid Z's might be kind of common, depending on your proximity to the rust belt, but for good reason. Very low weight, good handling considering it is from the 70s, and a capacious engine bay. You can stand in there with the stock I6, and a small block V8 can be mounted just a few inches shy of front, mid-engine. I guess I have a bias though...

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_s...0/P1020783.JPG