Best Ricer on a budget?

Ok so I know this isn't a "Rate this amazing sports car against this one" type comparison but I think its very relevant for us financial mortals so please take the time to post your opinion........

So imagine you have just got your first real job and have saved up enough cash for an entry level sporty japper - you want something that has *good* performance and looks for your hard earned $$$ but won't cost the world to run.

I have presented what I think would be the main contenders. The budget range is around $5K - $8K NZ or $2K - $4K US.

I have heard that Civic's are big in the US, but the GTX familia's are big over here in NZ - I was wondering if you Yankees get the turbo 323's? the 1800 DOHC Turbo engine found in the Mazda seems to be the more popular choice over here for boy racers, I was wondering why that isn't the case in the US. (Or is it?).

I'd say go with the Integra. It, out of your selection, is more performance oriented in my opinion than the others.

I'd go for the Mazda 323 turbo purely because I used to have a 323 and so am quite partial to the wee beastlies! They are also have a lot of potential to be pretty darn quick!

Have you consider CRX?

Of im biased and picked the SiR but heres the reasoning behind it.

SiR = Best car on you list in my opinion.

XSi Integra = same motor in a heavier car that does not handle as well either, its also not any bigger inside. The advantage with it is that theyre alot cheaper and easier to find though if this is a problem

GTX Mazda = you cant modify them at all without blowing up the gearbox, even standard cars will blow them up, its just not strong enough, theyre very heavy and an SiR will be faster. Every one of these cars that I know the power windows have packed up on them.

Nissan Silvia = I dont know too much about these but it is a very different style of car, being turbo theyll be a lot dear to run and insure than an SiR, theres hardly any room in the back of them for even a small car which of course they arnt.

The 1992.5 Intergra GS-R was awesome. The only thing I don't like is the electric seat belts.

While the 323 GTX would be a nice choice, I'd have to go with the Silvia, turbo motor. Either the CA18DET or the SR20DET. Both have great potential and the aftermarket in Japan for these is the best.

Originally posted by F20C
Have you consider CRX?

Have you considered avoiding the CRX????? Useless bloody cars they are

but nonetheless I think Silvia is the best one for performance, but Toyota if you want to keep the costs down.......

Originally posted by TRBOBRK
The 1992.5 Intergra GS-R was awesome. The only thing I don't like is the electric seat belts.

I suppose everyone is voting for the integra becuase they think this is what theyre voting for, read above abit more carefully and you will see its only a 2G Teg not a 3G Teg and it doesnt have the B18C motor its got the B16A, this is the same motor as what is in the civic, they only advantage of this over a civic is theyre easier to find and cheaper to buy, nothing else

I suppose everyone is voting for the integra becuase they think this is what theyre voting for, read above abit more carefully and you will see its only a 2G Teg not a 3G Teg and it doesnt have the B18C motor its got the B16A, this is the same motor as what is in the civic, they only advantage of this over a civic is theyre easier to find and cheaper to buy, nothing else

dejoux you are totally right.....Im not using the '93 onwards model which had an 1800 VTEC but the one before which was only 1600cc.

GTX Mazda = you cant modify them at all without blowing up the gearbox, even standard cars will blow them up, its just not strong enough, theyre very heavy and an SiR will be faster. Every one of these cars that I know the power windows have packed up on them.

Funny you should mention that, my brother has one and he had to replace the gearbox a few months after he bought it. He has made some modest modifications to it now though and its surprisingly fast - faster than my Mum's VTEC Integra, and I think its as quick to 100km/h as Dad's tt 300zx (auto) although we've never tested that.

Im surprised no one has voted for the Toyota's - They may not have greatest performance but I think the Levins of that era are very nice looking cars

in my opinion, i would go with the silvia, even though it's a bit old it's 2.0 L turbo. And i don't think it gives taht 'boy-racer' loook.

Originally posted by Jimmy_11_cars


Have you considered avoiding the CRX????? Useless bloody cars they are

you can make CRXs crazy fast....... and easily, i bet you could make a CRX quicker, easier than the other cars
all you gotta do is swap the engine.... to like a B18, and mod it up
since the car is so light, it will fly


but my choice there is the integra or SiR........ i was first thinkin integra, but then dejoux brought some good points up

I'd say go with the s13 silvia...rear wheel drive, a real motor, perfect 50/50 weight distro, and it's pretty light on weight. Plus it kills any older civic/crx as far as looks and wont ever look ricey like the crx's and civic's.

But for all around thriftness then the AE86 toyota is the choice. like the silvia it is also rear-wheel drive, and is very cheap.

I tried looking briefly for one, and I couldn't find any info. What is it? If it's worth it, I'm VERY interested in getting it. I just want something that'll last a while and can be EXTREMELY modded. And that's cheap too.

By Gamezilla:

I tried looking briefly for one, and I couldn't find any info. What is it? If it's worth it, I'm VERY interested in getting it. I just want something that'll last a while and can be EXTREMELY modded. And that's cheap too.

I dunno if you guys get Silvia's in the States, but I believe the closest comparable car is the 240SX In the US. I don't know what engine is standard in that car but if you wanna do modding you can do an SR20DET conversion. Check it out in the 240SX forum, Im sure someone will help you out there.

A silvia is any 240sx from 1989 to 98, actually i think the term silvia has been stretched to also include the "180sx" (the hatchback version of the 240sx). I have a 91 240sx hatchback SE and I love it

I found it on Sega GT. It looks great, and probably has a lot of modding potential. Too bad the 240sx is a 4cyl. I'll look into it, though. Mabye with a little work, I can finaly outrun my friends 2k maxima. Haha.

Has no one learned yet? Honda and Toyota are superior?

Too bad you missed out on the Nissan Skyline GTS-t. You can pick up an R32 GTS-t manual coupe out of the paper or auctions for round $6,500. Put $1,500 of quality mods in it and it will respond very well.

The S13 with the SR20DET goes VERY well. One of my renters has a black manual one.

It is hard to beat forced induction and nissan seems to have done very well with that.

Too bad you missed out on the Nissan Skyline GTS-t. You can pick up an R32 GTS-t manual coupe out of the paper or auctions for round $6,500. Put $1,500 of quality mods in it and it will respond very well.

Yeah the GTS-T's are nice but I don't really like the R32's look (they're pretty common too), and the R33 Manual 2 doors are generally out of my price range.

Bro I have been looking for manual SR20DET 200/180SX's and they are real hard to find! Could be outta my price range as well......Im topping out at about $8K NZ.

Im thinking of going 4th Gen VTEC Prelude actually......price/performance wise they make a good argument.

Give Croydon Wholesalers a call in Henderson, Auckland. They get trade-ins quite often and Nick brings in a new shipment every month.

Ok thanks I will try that.

Originally posted by MattyG
Im thinking of going 4th Gen VTEC Prelude actually......price/performance wise they make a good argument. :D I'd vote for this if it were up there. Otherwise, I say the Silvia. (Though I like the hatchback/180SX even better.)

Dammit the Lude just blew a head gasket so Im gonna sell it, as is where is. Looks like I will be buying a new car sooner than I thought!!!

That sux mate. Best of luck to you and keep us informed of your new car choice.

Hmm...i thought long and hard about this one...but, ever think of not buying a ricer? hehe :finger:

Man I can't believe you dredged this old thread up - its like one of the first I made! :)

To be honest in my price bracket I couldn't handle the dated look of the "domestic" stuff we get downunder (Im referring to Ford and Holden) so I never really considered them.

All good....anyway I ended up getting a 1993 Nissan Primera T4 - It wasn't the 180SX I decided that I wanted, but I just couldn't find one I was happy with in the time I had available. Anyway, I really like the Primera, and still have my eyes open for a nice S13 180SX for the right money.

Silvia...2.0 Liter 205HP car w/the a low weight of 2600 lbs. And the aftermarket support is considerable...as good as that Integra...maybe even better since Nissan is bigger in Japan than Honda. Cuz they know what's up.

You can make your Silvia here for real cheap...this one guy picked up a 240SX w/a blown motor for 500 bux...then dropped in a SR20DET for about 2000 complete...there ya go...a Silvia for under 3000 or so.

:bandit:

If you live in the USA, 240sx = Silvia and 240sx Fastback = 180sx. The only engine we get is a 2.4 liter non-turbo with 144 (pre 91, sohc) or 155 (91+, dohc) horsepower. Pretty lame compared to the jap-specs.

I still voted for the silvia though, because Im a nissan fan and I would never consider owning a sports car that had FWD.

Consider the SE-R as a cheap rice-racer too.

If you live in the USA, 240sx = Silvia and 240sx Fastback = 180sx. The only engine we get is a 2.4 liter non-turbo with 144 (pre 91, sohc) or 155 (91+, dohc) horsepower. Pretty lame compared to the jap-specs.

I still voted for the silvia though, because Im a nissan fan and I would never consider owning a sports car that had FWD.

You should consider the Sentra SE-R as a cheap rice-racer too.

Correction...not 144hp...135hp on the SOHC 240SX's

Im talking about flywheel horsepower

anyone thought about the 92-95 mitsubishi lancer gsrs (turbo) and lancer mx (non-turbo). they look good, and with a bodykit its an EVO. i think they are running quite cheap now 4 - 10 grand NZ maybe. but hard to find in good condition, ive been looking around...noone seems to have em. :(

seriously there is no question.
my 323 gtx will devastate any of those.
250 hp at 21 pounds of boost AND AWD!
I bought mine for $7000 cdn
there's no feeling like doing 220 km/h at night in the snow
except maybe being Makinen.

civic , or integra.. they are the staple of rice....hell the pretty much invented it..

"civic , or integra.. they are the staple of rice....hell the pretty much invented it.." Damn good point, but not the one this guy was looking for!

Isn't the 180SX the one that HKS modded up really sweet and got it to do a 7.72 1/4 at 176 mile an hour and -060 in 1.2??, if so that car is unbeleivably fast, i love it!!

v10_viper:

Yeah unless Im mistaken that HKS Drag car was in one of the Gran Turismo games......Stock the 180SX puts out about 200HP though I think (CA18DET Engine)....so I wouldnt get the hopes up of copying HKS :)

Matty_G:
So how do you like your Primera? Oh and I would like to say welcome to the world of the P10/P11. If you treat her well she will treat you well. You will find that she can be modded to be faster than any sane person should want her to be (why would you need 500 bhp in a ff car?? :D )

lloyd_nickens:

Hehe,....I really liked my Primera but I have sold it already! my new car is in my profile....cost me a bit more money of course but so far it has definitely been worth it.

I only owned the Primera for 7 months....(yes this thread is that old!) in that time it was awesome and I had no complaints about it whatsoever! I ended up getting a pay rise at work recently, and so I could afford a nicer car.

(Check out the "My new Whale" Thread in the Sklyine forum if you wanna see it :) )

OK if you want a SICK car for 2 grand you ain't going to get there with that list. Read my sig. Do a V8 swap on an old Z (240Z's are the lightest and the cheapest) put about 2 to 3 grand in it ($US) and you will have a car that will kill a $4k Honda, Nissan Toyota or anything else. Parts are very cheap and info is plentiful! Good hunting!

wow. living in the states makes getting a gtr a lil harder... but i will own one (or two) before i die...

Man this thread is so old, I think it may have been the first one I ever made lol.

i know ur looking for an import. but when i saw cheap speed i thought maybe i could chime in. lots of ya guys arent in to the third generation style f-body at all but i paid 1800 for mine, with minimal mods it ran a 13.9 @ 97.08. now thats cheap speed. with a LT1 take out cam for 20 bucks and a 300 dollar rearend its up to 100 mph now in the 1/4m with some suspension mods this thing should be seein some deep 13 times.