budget and tunable FR cars

Hello everyone. I'm going off to school in the fall and I need a car. I really enjoy RWD and I'd like to get a car I can have fun and fiddle with. I have a few in mind, but I'd like other peoples ideas and opinions. I have about a $4000 budget to buy the car. I'm also not looking for full size cars like mustangs or camaros.

A few options I was thinking about were:
RX-7 86-91
240SX 90-93
Corolla 80's

thanks.

Don't forget the Miata, there's a ton of stuff available for relatively little money.

240sx! SR swap...suspension! damn!

240sx! SR swap...suspension! damn!

Or RB20DET, RB25DET, or KA24DE (engine you will most likely have) or go KA24DE-T...

Just remeber that the SR is not the ONLY way to go...

thanks for the input. I thought about the miata about an hour after I posted :)

stay away from american...

This is my take on your choices...

fc rx7 - Very good car and definitely my choice if you plan on working on it. Steer clear of the turbos for obvious reliability issues and the fact that they cost more initially and for upkeep. Stock power for the non-turbos is sufficient from what I understand and they can be modified fairly easily. Probably the best car all around when left completely stock. The rotary engine should be quite reliable and the suspension is the best of all the cars you listed.

s13 240sx - Great car with the best looks IMO of any of the cars you are considering. Fairly sophisticated suspension and a great handling car. The only major downfall is the weak output of the ka24 (esp. the sohc), but with some minor mods (cams and other goodies) it can be more than adequate. The addition of a mid-sized turbo will make very good and reliable horsepower for relatively little money. Some of the older sohc 240s (89-90) can be had for cheap (less than $1000) which leaves over $3000 for a turbo setup and other related mods. Very good car.

ae86 - Too old and needs too much work to make it rigid enough and powerful enough. In stock form a miata can blow it away in straights I think. A lot of work restoring them usually or you will have to spend a shit load getting a nice one. They look great and can be great cars though with a little bit of money invested.

F-body/ Fox body - I wouldn't go this route since the handling leaves a bit to be desired when compared to an rx7 or even a 240sx.

Miata - A bit small and I personally don't like the looks. A good handling car, but convertibles have less chassis rigidity. The revised look of the newer non-popup headlights looks a lot better, but will probably cost more than you have. As for pricing, I'm not too sure about...pretty cheap for the older ones I believe.

some other cars to consider would be an mkI mr2, porsche 924/944 or mkIII supra. All these cars can be had for under 4k (the porsche may be a bit hard to find for less than 4k in good condition though) and are really good cars.

the handling of mustangs/f-bodies leaves something to be desired?
really?
compared to a 240 with a truck motor...
if you're going to upgrade suspension, all of these cars, including the domestics, are on a level playing field.
you can also build a reliable fox body (which is in NO way fullsize, actually the same/smaller than a 240) for less. and have far more power and better handling.

but if you don't want domestic, that's fine...

if you want imports, go miata, easy to s/c or turbo, and cheap.
rx7 is a pain when you start making big power, and the old ones don't handle that great.

240 is the universal easy way to go, but not bad.

for me, i'd have to choose a late 80's stang, honestly. you can leave the motor in the car, no need to swap, and make big power.

if you look at it from the "down time" angle, it's easier to deal with a car that leaves the motor in (no pulling for swap) and a tt kit for it can make serious power for the price of an sr20 swap (and make more power than an sr swap) www.vecco.net
stock motor, and big power.

I thought about the F-body for a long time, but I've owned two Mustangs so far and the last I sold because the payments were to much. They were nice, but I'm ready for something different. that is one of the reasons the RX-7 is looking very good right now. the 240's are awsome, but they are way over priced in my area now. Miata would be cool if I could afford the new 99+ body style, but I can't. The AE86's are ok, but I can't find any anyways. Thanks for the info.

Grand National!!! Cheap insurance. I pay more for my POS ranger on liabilaty than I do for full coverage on mt GN ( to the insurace copanys, it's just another buick) I get 22-25 MPG, I hit 11's for about 1k, seats five, vacaiton size trunk, great ride, handles pretty decent for a 3700LBS car, Responds extremely well to mods, You can run anything from 87 ( turn down the boost though) to 118 octane.

the handling of mustangs/f-bodies leaves something to be desired?
really?
compared to a 240 with a truck motor...
if you're going to upgrade suspension, all of these cars, including the domestics, are on a level playing field.
you can also build a reliable fox body (which is in NO way fullsize, actually the same/smaller than a 240) for less. and have far more power and better handling.

but if you don't want domestic, that's fine...

if you want imports, go miata, easy to s/c or turbo, and cheap.
rx7 is a pain when you start making big power, and the old ones don't handle that great.

240 is the universal easy way to go, but not bad.

for me, i'd have to choose a late 80's stang, honestly. you can leave the motor in the car, no need to swap, and make big power.

if you look at it from the "down time" angle, it's easier to deal with a car that leaves the motor in (no pulling for swap) and a tt kit for it can make serious power for the price of an sr20 swap (and make more power than an sr swap) www.vecco.net
stock motor, and big power.
explain to me how its a truck motor

240sx and MX-5 are very good for the money, and more reliable then the RX-7s and MkIII Supras. Also consider a GTI VR6, if you dont mind the looks, there awesome little cars.

the handling of mustangs/f-bodies leaves something to be desired?
really?


don't foxbodies have a solid rear axle...hmmm...I wonder why the handling is a bit different. I personally don't enjoy the rear end hopping at it skids around a turn...



compared to a 240 with a truck motor...


Put a sportier cam in there and that alone makes it a lot less truck motorish. If you mean the torque being greater than the horsepower...well not all of us love hondas with their hp nearly double the torque.


if you look at it from the "down time" angle, it's easier to deal with a car that leaves the motor in (no pulling for swap) and a tt kit for it can make serious power for the price of an sr20 swap (and make more power than an sr swap) www.vecco.net
stock motor, and big power.

You don't have to swap in an sr20 and if you are talking about a stock sr20 vs a modified 5.0 v8...then obviously there is going to be a bit of a difference. Let's see how much boost that v8 can handle comparitively though...

If you have any common sense then you would probably just swap in an rb25 for a little more and then there it can definitely take on v8s even stock...modified it will blow them away easily.

Anyway back to the subject...The GTI is fwd so I doubt he wants it...also if you are going to get a VW then get an older vr6 corrado...much better than any of the other vr6-powered people's cars IMO.

240sx is definitely my personal opinion...s13 or s14...you cant go wrong. And there are some great deals out there. An s14 in good condition with low miles is definitely hard to find, but an s13 will quite often be around 2-3k.

...some other cars to consider would be an mkI mr2, porsche 924/944 or mkIII supra...


1985 Porsche 944 (needs Engine) :banghead:


Aside from the parts being rediculously expensive, being difficult to work on, and not being able to find someone that can build an engine that won't spin rod bearings for less than the car is worth (basically stock engine and with an accusump), they are great cars. However, I would consider them cost prohibitive for a college student.

yea... your going to college, it wouldn't be practical to own something like the rx-7, let alone a miata. And a mustang....? I don't think so, as said earlier, insurance could get in the way. The best idea was an s13, you can get it for a grand or less, insurance won't be very much, and you can swap in an sr or rb for not too much money and have a fast, sweet-handling monster.

yea... your going to college, it wouldn't be practical to own something like the rx-7, let alone a miata. And a mustang....? I don't think so, as said earlier, insurance could get in the way. The best idea was an s13, you can get it for a grand or less, insurance won't be very much, and you can swap in an sr or rb for not too much money and have a fast, sweet-handling monster.

Actually a four door will be a great car if you are younger than 21...at least with my insurance. There is a big drop (~25+% usually) after you turn 21. My 98 2-door cavalier (base model) is about 240 if I'm on my parents insurance with full coverage. On my own insurance it's 275-290. I have liability right now and I'm paying 150 a month...after I turn 21 I'll be paying a little over 100. So even a slow 2 door will be expensive...liability is mostly just your likelyhood of getting into an accident...since we are guys and young then no matter what we get we are pretty fucked.

I'm planning on going to a tech school and having 75% or more of it paid off before I go so I will have money to afford a nice car like a FD RX7 or Supra or something.

One last thing I should mention is to not get into accidents that are your fault (practice defensive driving as much as possible...esp in bad weather) and to avoid getting tickets and shit. Those 2 things can double or triple your already hard to pay insurance.