Sporty Daily Driver?

[VAD0R]

An Isuzu Impulse RS will be and will require you or to find someone to fabricate some of the parts, which you might find actually not that bad. That aside they are very capable cars considering their power to weight ratio and the fact it is driven to all four wheels. I heard the people who designed that vehicle later moved to Subaru to make the WRX.

With the Dodge Omni, good luck finding one in good condition but once you do it will probably be a pretty good bargain.

If you think the Impulse RS is hard to find, try finding a Mazda 323 GTX. And the owner would probably not be willing to give it up unless you pay a good price.

The Impreza RS, like almost any Subaru, some on sale might be pretty beaten up. While other Subaru owners do some self maintenance for their car. Then there are some Impreza RSes that come pre-tuned and might come costing a bundle. All in all Subarus are very reliable vehicles even when beaten a little, even though it might need some initial maintenance. The good thing is when it comes to repairs it is no SVX.

Toyota Celica AllTrac is becoming more common to find on sale these days. But most on sale are usually pre-1990 models so finding a 90-92 is pretty rare.

[mason_RsX]

hmm of the 4 your now giving Id definately have to recommend the Imprezza...It is reliable, looks good, and isn't a WRX but it holds its own if your aggressive...there are performance mods BUT depending on the year, the RS engine was only SOHC while the WRX & STi are DOHC meaning there are some compatability parts issues

that being said its definately a good value car, and alot of fun to drive

[pimprolla112]

I would go with the alltrac out of all those awdturbo. The 3sgte can be built up to get amazing power levels. That or the impreza rs.

[SRP | Lucian]

Okay, thanks guys. Vador, which do you think would be best for me since you seem very knowledgable?

Also, what do you guys think of the newer Isuzu Impulse/Geo Storm?

Also, I'm still looking at the other cars too (Nissan S12, Honda CRX, Nissan 200SX, etc.) that I originally listed. I'm just adding those on to my list.

Any other car recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks guys!

[pimprolla112]

I still say the Subaru, one of the hondas or the nissan only because parts on those are extremely compatible. You can swap virtually any motor into almost any car with a honda or a nissan might cost some money but its possible. I never liked the geo storms really week motors. You could always look into a civic si coupe hey have lots of potential and i think the coupes look a lot better than the new HB.

[SRP | Lucian]

One more major thing that I forgot to mention, what I really need is something that can accelerate pretty fast as most of my racing will just be from stop light to stop light with friends so the cars top end speed doesn't have to be very high.

Anyone know of a car that accelerates fast and gets good gas mileage?

Thank you.

[VAD0R]

Well, I am not that knowledgeable since I didn't know the Impreza RS had a SOHC engine. I always thought it was only the pre 93 Legacy GT, and pre 97 Outback trims that has the 2.2l SOHC. Well in truth despite that it wouldn't be as hard to modify as you think since the older Legacy GTs have a turbocharged 2.2l variant.

Which brings me to the best car for acceleration and fuel efficiency. For acceleration the Celica Alltrac will be faster since it is lighter in weight, as well as using a higher revving engine with shorter gearing.

But as for fuel efficiency and may I add reliability the Impreza RS would be a better choice. Its not only 5mpg better than the Celica AllTrac but you can also find most that are usually 6 years newer than there Toyota counterpart. Which gives them allot less of a chance of major rust spots among other body and interior damage. And even though the 3sgte can handle a lot of boost, a newer EJ251 might be more up to the challenge. Notice how I said might since the Celica engines are usually rock solid reliable no matter how old they may be. Not to mention how much cheaper it might be to swap in DOHC heads in contrast to swapping in a new engine.

So if you want an AWD coupe that is probably more reliable and fuel efficient which is still pretty tunable go for the Impreza RS. In contrast, the Celica AllTrac can be made to be potentially faster, but don't be surprised if you spend some of your money clearing up rust spots.

Both are great cars but depending on your brand preferences as well as depending on what you want out of them depending on speed, fuel efficiency and/or condition.

As for the Geo Storm, the ones you usually find for sale are ones that are beat up since they are regarded as cheap economy vehicles. But since they are, it is cheaper to fix them up and sometimes those owners usually do before they put them up for sale. They might no hold a candle to the Scooby or Toyota but are can compete quite well with the CRX. Especially the 1.6l 130hp DOHC Geo Storm GSi. If you didn't know the Geo Storm is a rebadged Suzuki Impulse. Earlier SOHC Geo Storm models have 5 less hp than their Suzuki counterparts. But there is really no difference between the DOHC ones. The Susuki Impulse may be in better condition though since, like some Subaru owners, Suzuki ones buy them knowing full well their internals so they perform maintenance themselves.

This owner know how especially goes for most Impulse RS owners, since it is a rare car since they were only produced from 1990-92. However if are lucky enough to ever come across one there is slightly more of a chance they can have some rust spots compared the Impreza, which can as well. This is considering most Subaru, Celica Alltrac and Impulse RS owners drove them throughout all the seasons. As well as those who own Geo Storms or Suzukis.

But regardless, most of the ones that are listed in this post as well as yours and others picked are pretty tunable. And while some may be better winter beaters then others most of the ones mentioned here, except for the S13, can go through snow without too much trouble and probably a whole lot better with some decent snow tires.

[SRP | Lucian]

Thank you so much. So I've got it narrowed down to the Subaru Impreza RS and the Toyota Celica All-Trac. What years were they made? Any recommendations for which years to look for? Also, how much should I expect to pay for each of these?

Also, for acceleration, it doesn't have to be just the cars listed already. If you think you know of a car that suits my needs better than the ones mentioned, please tell me.

Thank you so much!

[pimprolla112]

If your looking for acceleration then AWD will be your best friend, little to no wheel spin off the launch. Only problem is that most AWD cars have a really heavy drivetrain so the horsepower from the flywheel to the whp will be extremely different. Early WRX's lost almost 100hp from the engine to the wheels. As far as the geo storm it does have the dohc1.6l its the exact same motor in the 89-92 corolla sedans. If you wanted something in that style then a mazda MX3 with a turbo are decent not exactly good looking but they can be quick.

If your looking for something cheap that can be made into a beast then the honda would be your best bet. You could get a 12sec 1/4 mile crx for 5k i have a friends who spent less than 6500 on car wheels, tires, motor, turbo kit, lip kit and paint job as weel as interior work and suspension, his car ran 11.86 last friday at 7psi.

As for the alltrac i think 93 was the last year they where made and the rs is still in production but a 95-99 would probably be about the years you would be looking for.

[Polygon]

Originally Posted by pimprolla112

If your looking for something cheap that can be made into a beast then the honda would be your best bet. You could get a 12sec 1/4 mile crx for 5k i have a friends who spent less than 6500 on car wheels, tires, motor, turbo kit, lip kit and paint job as weel as interior work and suspension, his car ran 11.86 last friday at 7psi.

I beg to differ.

You can get a Turbo Dodge in the 12s for around $2000, and trust me, you can find a good Turbo II car for less $4,500. Turbo Mopars are can be made faster for cheaper. Also, I would bet money that the common block engine is far stronger than any Honda engine as they will take about 500 HP before the connecting rods give.

[VAD0R]

Originally Posted by pimprolla112

If your looking for acceleration then AWD will be your best friend, little to no wheel spin off the launch. Only problem is that most AWD cars have a really heavy drivetrain so the horsepower from the flywheel to the whp will be extremely different. Early WRX's lost almost 100hp from the engine to the wheels.

I wouldn't say 100hp so much as 60 at most. You have to remember that most mid to later 90s as well as current manual Subarus use VTD that has two less gears which equates to less powertrain loss. While the earlier Toyota Alltrac models used a Torsen AWD system, which uses a certain configuration of tiny gears within a single differential to ensure the same result. However, each system distributes power differently with VTD being rear biased while Toyota's maintained a 50/50 while varying between front and back slightly.

As for getting a Honda Civic hatch or CRX when it comes to small cars. They are good but don’t expect people to skimp on the residual value. There are alternative such as the Suzuki Swift, Impulse, Geo Storm, MX-6 GT, Ford Probe GT, and Mitsubishi Colt or even Mirage coupe. You can even get a Dodge Neon and put in Magnum SOHC Cylinder Heads. I even heard good things about suping up the mid-late 90s Saturn S series, since their motors are rather torqui for their size.

We can give you a selection or our choice of car based on our know how, what we think we may know or even just opinion but it is primarily up to you to decide what you think you want depending on your demands and preferences.

Good luck

[SRP | Lucian]

Thanks so much guys. If you guys could pick ONE car for me, which one it be?

Thanks.

[pimprolla112]

Yeah that may be true but you can do swaps cheaper than that on just about any car honda, nissan, or toyota. Most of these look better than any mid80's-early90's Domestic cars. To me the only decent turbo mopar was the late 80's daytona. The thing about honda motors is that you dont need alot of power for the car to go fast. Stock crx si coould run low 15's high 14's with the stock motor and intake and an exhaust. Thats a 1.6l pushing 108 hp. Granted the car weighs just over 2200lbs but the thing is you can push 350-450 on the stock block but you dont need that much horsepower to make the car go fast 275hp can put the car into the 11's and thats possible on n/a applications.

Ill agree with vador any small car can be made fast but for some that you listed those cars can be hard to find in good condition and some of those cars dont look very nice. I have seen some sleeper storms and colt but to me there pretty damn ugly. As far as value of the car i could have bought a crx thursday for 500 it had a bodykit, wheels, exhaust, intake, headers, and a pretty shitty paint job. No rust and 110,000 miles on the odometer. Would have bought it but im fixing the rear in my blazer. So it is possible to find a deal. Like vador said we can make suggestions but its all up to you on what your looking for in the end. Look into prices of these cars through auto trader for a general idea of price then look into the aftermarket on the car and look into the reviews of the cars to see the problems that they had from those years. Its all in what your looking for.

[King Of Crunk]

a supercharged 800hp bmw m3

[Polygon]

Originally Posted by pimprolla112

Yeah that may be true but you can do swaps cheaper than that on just about any car honda, nissan, or toyota. Most of these look better than any mid80's-early90's Domestic cars. To me the only decent turbo mopar was the late 80's daytona. The thing about honda motors is that you dont need alot of power for the car to go fast. Stock crx si coould run low 15's high 14's with the stock motor and intake and an exhaust. Thats a 1.6l pushing 108 hp. Granted the car weighs just over 2200lbs but the thing is you can push 350-450 on the stock block but you dont need that much horsepower to make the car go fast 275hp can put the car into the 11's and thats possible on n/a applications.

Looks are subjective, so let's just drop that argument right now. Also, most Honda, Nissan, and Toyotas that you'd be looking at in the price range you're talking about aren't that great looking either. Anyhow, even after the swap I think you would be paying more. I got my GTC with the Turbo II for $600 and I drove it back all the way from Ohio the only problem along the way was an easily fixed vacuum leak and a flat tire. So for about $2,600 for the car and the mods I could be in the 12s. That's pretty damn cheap, and once again the engine will be stronger than any Honda block you can swap in.

As for the rest of your post I only have one thing to say:

You CAN'T be serious.