What car to modify?

I am looking for some answer. What an inexpensive and great car to modify into a street beast? I am trying to learn more about cars and buy myself a ride

i woudl suggest starting with a sports car. but it all depends on what your looking for, what you have to spend, and so on and so on. it will be your first car right? if so, then dont be picky, i mean you dont need a 1 second car when your learning the ropes of driving.

I'm thinking an import car. That looks great. My budget is about 5000. What's the best i can get out a 5000 ride?

Any car can be modified, the question is what are you looking for? How unique you want your car to be? What is your idea of modifying? (Looks, performance, sound system, etc)

The great thing about the automotive industry is that you have an endless selection of cars that cover every imaginable concept. Common engine and/or body modification parts are available for the classic American cars, Mustang, Camaro, and Imports like Civics, etc. A recent trend in "modifying and hot rodding" is taking a 1960's through 1980's full size station wagon, lowering them, adding an awesome stereo, 18"+ wheels, window tint, etc, they are very hot right now. Or go the unusual route, take a car that no one sees as suitable for modifying and make it your own, a project like this may take a little more time and be a little more challenging but the results definitely turns heads and is personally rewarding. That is why I built my V8 Volvo :evillol:

To be honest, if you're looking for a "street beast" you're probably not gonna find it in an import. I know I'm gonna get flamed for this, but it's much easier to make a beast out of a V8 than a 4. Yes, you can make any car really fast, but the question is, how much work do you have do do to it? In one of the latest car and drivers, they had a face off with a bunch of high level import tuners. I forgot which one one, but a bone stock corvette beat all the highly modified imports in every event. Not that I'm saying get a corvette, but it's an example of how nice torque is. :grinyes:

A fun one would be a classic muscle car. You can do just about anything you want to them, if you find the right one it's relatively inexpensive, and they're really easy to work on (plenty of room in the engine bay on most of them).

well you can pretty much get any type of 4 banger for 5k, like a honda, acura, toyota, something to that aspect, and they are light as hell, but they are pieces of shit. if you want to have a heavy car and make it a street beast, i would recommend that you save up more money to have before buying, if you want to get a car and slightly modify it, and learn from it, your more than welcome to do so. I bought a 94 325is, and modded that car, it was a coupe 5spd, it wasnt the fastest thing in the world, but I made it have up too 200rwhp in that car, stock in that car is like 130-150 rwhp (not sure), and after being very very proficient in driving stick, I finally learned more about the higher end models for the 3 series, being the M3, and I got myself a 95 M3, and Im in the process of making it lighter, corner like a beast, and giving it extra hp at the wheels, but nothing too insane. I am also doing lots of interior and exterior work so that I can make my car look nice inside and out. It took me about 5-6 months looking up research, figuring out whats good, what mods are compatible with what other mods, and pricing and all of that good stuff. Take this word of advice. Buy a decent 5spd car, drive it completely around stock for about 6-12 months, practice acceleration, and smooth shifting without stalling, and also figure out how to get more momentum while driving. Once you have been able to figure out your particular type of driving style, then you mod the car, and during that period to the point where you are learning, youll have money saved up to start modding. But dont modd the shit out of it, unless you are 100 percent sure that your not going to sell it, if you plan on selling just put in chip, intake, and exhaust, its the simplest mods that you can put into the car, and it gives a decent amount of hp gain. I didnt get my M3 until after 18 months of driving around my 325is. I like the 325is, but nothing can compare to my M3, I love that car, its about 40-50 lbs lighter than stock. if you have any questions, pm me.

Want to make a beast you can always resort to forced air, granted no matter what you do something will always be faster.

I bought my car for 3500, did complete polly $200, then new motor 4000, its light, corners and puts a smile on my face every time I jump in


Best bet is to test drive cars, get to know people who have cars your curious about, find out what you like before putting the money towards something :smile:

A stock corvette beating EVERY SINGLE highly modified import? Pssh. I'll need to see some proof to believe it.

5k sounds like a good amout for a fox body 5.0 great motor nice car goes fast cheap looks cool can be made to handle. Or go with somthing like a older audi with not many options i see A4s go for about that a lot you get AWD and a Turbo motor not bad.

Steer clear of FF cars.Grab an Rx-7,their is lots of support for the 13B,51/49 weight balance,and weighs around 2800lbs.Not only can they be fast in the straights,they own in the corners.It depends what type of car you want though.Do you justwant to be fast in the straights,or do you want to be fast in the corners and straights.

why not instead of geting a shity little four banger get a 1980 something monte carlo the baddest car i know of. I'm more than confident a stock monte carlo could beat most of thoes puney honda and orther rice burners and if you diside to do somen to it (turbo, cold air intake, nos and a new exaust system) on top of a car that is rear wheel drive has a 5.7L V8 and probably supercharged you'll have the scariest car i could imagein!

nothing is scarier than a throaty supercharged early 80's monte carlo. definitely a project i need to do.

get a late 80's mustang.
I bought mine for 4500.
Stock = 225hp/300lb-ft.
Now = 447hp/439lb-ft
best decision I ever made. cheap go fast parts too.

I want to know if someone has tuned up a honda civic racing 3 doors?It will be great to know how far can i gow with my car.

You can start with a mitsubishi FTO gpx.It has a 2.0 motor,and if you want to hard tune it,you can make it a 380 bhp car,just fitting a turbo charger,a full exaust sistem,racing weell and air cleaner.It is a lightweight car,front wheel drived and with fantastic torke.A good car for street racing.Ad to it pirelli racin tyres,sports suspension and a brembo brakes kit too.

ad it a racing chip too

If I were you,I would buy a 98 mitsubishi FTO gpx.It has a 2.0 motor.
With some work,you can full it with 380bhp.
Add it a full exaust system,racing computer,turbo,air cleaner and carbon proplershaft.If you think that you can spend more money,buy a racing suspension and put it on the road.
It will be fantastic the way you will heat your contests with eavier cars.
The advantage is that your car will have an increasing of tourke,and it will have an ff drive type.

Ahhhh, isnt the FTO only available in like England and Japan, and the other RHD countries. You could import one but that is expensive. I know you want performance, but first and formost Reliability is part of performance. The car needs to be reliable while performing very hard. I would suggest a 1985 Toyota Supra MKII like mine. It has a 5MGE straight 6 in it. That engine is so strong that it was used in boats. It has a 4 wheel indapendant suspention, and 161 HP. It can take 7MGE or 7MGTE heads.

why not instead of geting a shity little four banger get a 1980 something monte carlo the baddest car i know of. I'm more than confident a stock monte carlo could beat most of thoes puney honda and orther rice burners and if you diside to do somen to it (turbo, cold air intake, nos and a new exaust system) on top of a car that is rear wheel drive has a 5.7L V8 and probably supercharged you'll have the scariest car i could imagein!

Of course a V8 is going to take down most Hondas. That's like bringing a gun to a knife fight. However, not all "rice burners" are "shitty little four bangers"

Subaru Impreza WRX STi (4 cylinder, 300HP/300ft-lbs torque...)
Toyota Supra TT (inline 6)
Mazda RX-7 (no pistons :iceslolan )
Mitsubishi Lan Evo 8 (4)
Mitsubishi 3000GT (6)
Honda/Acura NSX (6)
Honda S2000 (4, if i'm not mistaken)

Don't get me wrong, i've got tons of respect for good old American muscle. But sometimes technology is the replacement for displacement

coming from a nissan guy....get a 240SX, S13 or S14....cheap and easly "modable".....plus they look good.

coming from a nissan guy....get a 240SX, S13 or S14....cheap and easly "modable".....plus they look good.

Prices on those are also jumping, thanks to the "discovery" of drifting by kids who currently think their Honda Civics are fast

Eclipse GSX!

Get a older 1g dsm with a 4g63. $3-4k

1997 eclipse gst

:-D

the idea of the 5.0 is the best but I have respect for imports as well In my opinion with 5K you can look around for for a deal on a camero z28 if not the real question would be do you want a beast that is truely a beast or do you want to get a sleeper?? that can shock the hell out of people when you smoke them in your little honda

I want to know if someone has tuned up a honda civic racing 3 doors?It will be great to know how far can i gow with my car.

Wait, is this guy asking if anyone has modded a civic 3 door???? THat's probably the most modded car on the import scene. It has the biggest support for parts. But sadly it is actually a capable car but so many ricers out there have used it as their trademark that I'm forced to not even consider one. Go to an import show and tell me how many civics you saw. :rolleyes:

u could always take a pre smog z and drop a small block chevy v8 the weight is about the same as the 6 and the power gains are awesome. rx-7 are coo to real cheap

hell man you live on the west coast you can find cars out there for dirt cheap already hooked up swap mods the whole nine yards (be smart get a import honda is good dont let the big block junkies detour you from the economy cars) talking economy cars I have a 89 civic hb si with the acura grs b18c1 swap took some time and alot of headache but I live in BFE missouri thats right gods country the land of no import knowlege now I am schooling the big block junkies 215hp thats with some mods and in a car that weighs nothing and looks as harmless as a kitty (the element of suprise a sleeper hatch back bling went out in the 90s anyways they just forgot to tell you)

Forget the 1980's Monte Carlos, go for a 1972! They are the best looking Monte ever, maybe thats why there not cheap. Ok forget that, my vote goes for the 5.0 w/mass air. Forget Civics, everyone knows now that they can be quick, so thats no fun anymore.

1984 mercury cougar, cheap, easy to make fast

Here buy this inexpensive pos and make it a mad street machine, then your the man.
http://i3.ebayimg.com/02/i/02/27/9a/fc_2.JPG I would love nothing more than to see this baby fly. :evillol:

Through all this garble i would have to say go with an older 240sx. An s13 chassis can be had for a steal and they are light weight and rear wheel drive. Don't let those civic kids fool you, there is nothing like rear wheal drive, even ask the muscle car guys. As technology has increased manufacturers are even starting to put more rwd on the market. Another nice thing about the s13 platform is the amount of mods that ar now available for it, look at the price of a sr20 swap now vs a couple of years ago.

The choice is simple.

I was looking at the 240sx but the proplem is that he lives in california if he gets an sr engine the smog emmissions codes might make that car not worth the legal trouble emmissions suck in california man to swap imported engines in my opinion is a big risk ( I live in cali) get a camaro man thats what im going to get

LOL forget the monties, go for the ultimate G-body. 5K would easely put you in a 1986-87 T-type. If you want to talk about go fast for cheap, you just can't beat it, only weakness is the tranny but everything elese is good to go. Also, they can handle. Stock they pulled .81 on the skid pad (granted not exactly vette handling but hey) Also they used this body style and suspension in NASCAR it can be built to handle. Its forete though is deffinatly drag strip.

3K for T-type
150$ for adj FPR
600$ for TE-44 turbo
300$ for slicks.
15$ bucks at the hardwarestore for boost control
300$ for a SMC alcohol injection kit,

150$ for 2800 RPM for higher stall torque converter. (used, they are on sale all the time,)

chip, 50$ (maybe some injectors??)

mid 11 second car for 4565k

or you can skip the alcohol injection and run race fuel

Get a 95 200sx se-r. fully forged bottom end, designed to have a turbo (engine is an sr20 & they are all turbo'd in japan & this is the same engine). You can buy one for 5k, turbo for 3k & it will run 12's. They respond very well to mods.

I have an s2000, an all motor gutted saturn w/ nos, & I am still glad about my 200sx se-r purchase. Cams do a hell of a lot on them.

5,000!!!! guys you are going tooo far.... and V8 .....for a beginner i dunt recommend v8 ...and didn't this guy sey his was into imports.NOT SURE..don't even bother to tune a 5,000 used car... most 4 cylinder car their HP loses after a while... cars lose horse power exspeciallly 4cylinders, so DUNT BOTHER TUNING A 5,000 car with a 4 cylinder.. jus drive , REV it, and leave it stock. UNLESS u get a honda and planing to throw a new engine or nissan 240sx to an SR20DET. then you're in the game

Fox Body Mustang. But I GUARANTEE you'll go over your 5,000 limit, not matter what kind of car you decide to get :D

[QUOTE=pimpmaro] In one of the latest car and drivers, they had a face off with a bunch of high level import tuners. I forgot which one one, but a bone stock corvette beat all the highly modified imports in every event. QUOTE]

haha i would like to see a vett beat a skyline... not gunna happen. ive seen a civic burn a viper and if that can happen... i higly doubt a stock vett can beat shit for modified imports. maybe the imports were stock... now that would make much more sense

Here is my advice if it means anything. I have an 87 dodge daytona on the side as my project car. At first look, it would appear to be a regular everyday P.O.S., but with the right motor and parts in it, you can get 450 horses out of it. Parts for this car are pretty cheap compared to lots of other cars. If you do go this way, my advice is get 2.2L Turbo T-II. Also another car i think is overlooked a lot is the Grand National. That's another car i would like to get and work on after the daytona.

I have been racing (legally) cars for a while. The 2nd gen RX-7 with the B-13T motor is hands down the best. I absloutly love it. I got mine for $600. put a fully built race ready engine in it for 2K, and then I dropped another $1200 on coil ovrer suspension, and then $800 on a turbo and intercooler upgrade. I keep up with the corvettes on the track. And when I put the J-spec B-20T in it I will own the vett's. Pretty god I'll say for only having 2 little apex's. So all together $4800 on the whole thing!

[QUOTE=pimpmaro] In one of the latest car and drivers, they had a face off with a bunch of high level import tuners. I forgot which one one, but a bone stock corvette beat all the highly modified imports in every event. QUOTE]

haha i would like to see a vett beat a skyline... not gunna happen. ive seen a civic burn a viper and if that can happen... i higly doubt a stock vett can beat shit for modified imports. maybe the imports were stock... now that would make much more sense

Go out to your local AutoX or Open Track day. You'd be surprised what a stock Corvette can do. And Skyline vs Corvette is Apples to Oranges. But ZO6 is a Corvette. ZO6>Skyline. And a modded car had better beat a stock one (unless that modded car is a foxbody Mustang, the Mustang will probably still lose :grinyes: :lol: )