I'm trying to help my gf find a new car. She wants to get into sports cars and autox but stay under 9k. Where we live we do get snow, so cars requiring snow tires, like a Miata need to have snow tires factored into the price.

Here's the list I was able to come up with:

Cars I like:
Miata
MR-2 (gen 2)
Eclipse / Talon (gen 2)

FWD:
Integra
Golf
Lancer
Imprezza
Celica
Civic Si

American iron:
Mustang
Camaro

Maybe too old?
240sx
Corolla (AE-86)

So my question is, if you were in this situation, what would you go with? If you had about $9k to play with, what would you buy and what modifications might you make to end up with a good street / autox car? I was in this situation about 3 years ago and I bought a 96 Miata for under 7k, so that's my take, but I'm interested in hearing from some of you. Thanks.

 

I'd look into an older Civic or a 2.5RS Impreza. Both very reliable, will be good in snow, pretty good gas mileage, lots of cheap parts available, and will be competitive in a couple different classes including street tires classes so you won't have to worry about dedicated wheels and tires for autox. Keep in mind though you're going to need seperate tires regardless since even in street tires classes you're need summer tires.

The MR-2 is a good choice as well but they're not so great in winter, and it's tough to find a good one. The Celica and the American cars you mention can be rather competitive as well but I think the other cars are better considering your requirements. A Celica GTS is going to be tough to find in your pricerange.

The Miata of course is a good choice as well but I think you know what having one of those entails so no need for advice there.

 

S14 or S15 240SX--it'll take some modding but they are under 9K.

 

Hmm, I had heard that the 240's were starting to wear pretty thin nowdays. Is reliability a bigger question with those?

 

id go with a miata, its what i had as my first autox/sporty car and I loved it, never had any problems with it...sure there were little things, but nothing that left me stranded.

you can find a first gen pretty cheap, even the early 2nd gen (99-00) can be had for low cost. the car reponds well to mods, and is a blast to drive.

I would go with a '95 personaly. you get the bigger 1.8L, a REAL oil press. gauge, 9.0:1 compression (good if you go FI) nice beefy con. rods.

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the only thing I would stay away from is 240's sure they are cheap, and can be made very fast, all the popel I know with them are ALWAYS putting money into it, always working on it, all the time. sure it might only be 50 bucks here and there, but it all adds up.

 

Miata was my first car--reliable and cheap to play with.

 

Yeah, my preference is towards the Miata also. I had a 96 that I ran in CSP that was a ton of fun. So I have a lot of knowledge about those cars, but not so much about the alternatives. I'm sort of interested in the Impreza 2.5 RS. I've never autox'ed a 4wd car. I think part of me is excited about the prospect of co-driving something new!

 

If you really want cheap and fast speed that will go in winter, a 2nd generation Eclipse GS-T is a nice choice. Those cars are fast stock, but with mild mods you can make them FLY. All she'd have to do is buy a set of cheap rims with snow tires for winter, or throw some worthy all season winter tires for year round use.

 

1986 rx7 base.

No emmissions(as of 2006) and can be had for $1000-2000 in mint running condition.

Later on, you can swap an S5 turbo drivetrain and make her real fast.

 

I left the rx-7's off that list because I didn't think I could honestly find a clean example. It seems like the VAST majority of rx-7's I see around have been abused. I know they can be very reliable if they are maintained correctly, but I really don't want to have her in a ticking time bomb. Is it really reasonable to find a good FB for 2k?

 

I'm talking about a 1986 FC. And they are plentiful. Parts are very easy to come by and they are very reliable. Just get a base with no sunroof, no ps, no pw, no a/c and you can get them as light as 2400lbs. I have seen good examples in Canada for $1000.

 

They aren't very competitive anymore in autox, and the second gens are the ones with crankwalk though some people escape the problem I'm not sure I would want to risk it. But yes, of the cars listed if you ant cheap sped they're a very good choice, but I think if autox is the goal and something realiable it's best to consider others first.

 

AE86, Miata, SW20, those are my choices....

 

Dude, do you have some secret agreement with Subaru in that they will give you a new STi if you mention a Subie in every post?

 

I dunno how your significant other drives, but I bought mine an SUV because she scares the ish out of me when I sit shotgun. So many things go on around her that she doesn't notice. Reminds me of myself at 16 or 17.

So if you're worried about her safety on the roads but also want a car you can autox and find parts for easily, I would recomend an old Mustang 5.0...preferably an LX if you can find one. They were lighter than the GT, but it's a bigger car than a Miata or MR2 and in an accident she would be better off. You also have perhaps the biggest aftermarket of any modern car or engine (sans the Chevy 350ci) at your fingertips with everything from transmissions, to vanity mirrors, to exhaust headers to fully built engines. My only concern would be how well your girl drives in the snow. Even with the best snow tires it's easy to bust the tires loose on a pony car.

 

Dude, he mentioned the Impreza

Oh, BTW Tuj, the Impreza is AWD in all trim levels.

 

 

Wait your worried about your wife's driving so you bought her an SUV? You do know suv's are one of the least safe vehicles on the market right?

If I was worried about somebody driving, I'd buy them a volvo...that way they wouldn't die when they hit something at speed.

Or buy them a cheap civic, and about 10,000 dollars in driving education classes.

 

Thanks, jerk. You think she's a terror on the road, so you put her at the helm of an SUV? That's how people die.

Peace
policy

 

Haha, yep. One more unaware, clueless, SUV driver to try and run me off the road. Oh well, keeps me on my toes.

 

Find a cheap all wheel drive, a Subaru or and older Eclipse (Eagle Talon?). Someone talked about RX-7's, I've never driven one, but guy at work here has one, he says even with snow tires, it's a "handful" when it's slick out.

If she can handle 2 cheap cars, she could get a cheap "whatever she wants" for the summer and and old beater for the winter. Can even save on insurance, some companies will let you put collision and liability on hold if you garage a car for any length of time. At the very least the insurance is split 50/50 on the cars, assuming she drives each one half the time.

 

I'd take the Imprezza and stick a turbo on it.

 

Well I think we have narrowed it down to the Miata and the Impreza. I've never driven an Impreza, so we're going to do that this weekend, along with a few NA (pre 99) Miatas. I do like the 5.0 Fox-body Mustangs for their torque and aftermarket support, but don't care for the rest. And the Eclipse / Talon is out because of reliability worries. Same for the FC; I don't think she'll watch the oil and make sure to fully warm the car up.

She's a pretty conservative driver, coming from a world of FWD ****-boxes (Saturn, Kia, etc). I'm not particularly worried about a small car like a Miata in an accident. Mine actually was totalled (with me inside) and the car performed quite well considering it was up against a huge oldsmobile. But of course every accident is different. I think both her and I consider a car like a Miata 'safe enough' (if there is such a thing).

Thanks Ike about the 4WD on all the Impreza's; I didn't know that. I like the fact that the torque split on the manuals (which we must have, no automatics!) is 50/50 front/rear, unlike some of the Audi's which are basically FWD most of the time. I doubt we'll stick a turbo on it as 1: that would put the car in a modified class and 2: probably not so great for reliability.

I'm still open to other suggestions, and I'm trying to learn about the Impreza world if that's the route we take. We don't get that much snow here (southern Ohio) but its enough to be a pain (esp. last winter). Thanks for your thoughts so far guys!

 

You're right about the reliability concern, just because the WRX and STi is FI does not mean you can add FI to the RS and it'd be the same. It's different compression ratios and most people that go FI do a swap rather than add FI. Another tidbit you may be interested in is Imprezas receive the highest safety ratings from the FHSA just about every year.

 

Here are some decent camaro's:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...gory=6161&rd=1


http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...gory=6161&rd=1
This one seems like an awesome car with a brand new engine, trans, clutch, and pretty much ready to race parts.


Just search e-Bay and you will find anything you want.