Need Help: Narrowed It Down To 5...

I don't know, I was talking to other people and it just seems that some other cars (Nissan 240SX and Ford Fox Body Mustang) are better. Don't ask me why, I am in no way an expert on cars, try to bring it up with them. I would like to hear this argument as I do like the CRX...

its not emo, and it doesnt mean jack. and i dont understand how anything could be a better option. crxs are cheap as hell, light as fuck, and have endless moddability. the only thing wrong with it is the fact that its fwd. sounds lame to me....

and the fact that it is not a performance car...he wants something to screw around with his friends. unless his friends are all driving go-karts, hes not gonna have much fun in a CRX beings he wont be able to keep up without dropping some serious cash on engine upgrades, turbo kits, and engine swaps.

yes you can make them lightning fast but it takes quite a bit of modding and know how.

since he doesnt know much about cars...it is gonna cost him alot of money to mod them because of labor charges. an intake and cat-back exhaust isnt gonna cut it...

and the fact that it is not a performance car...he wants something to screw around with his friends. unless his friends are all driving go-karts, hes not gonna have much fun in a CRX beings he wont be able to keep up without dropping some serious cash on engine upgrades, turbo kits, and engine swaps.

yes you can make them lightning fast but it takes quite a bit of modding and know how.

since he doesnt know much about cars...it is gonna cost him alot of money to mod them because of labor charges. an intake and cat-back exhaust isnt gonna cut it...
But they're just as much a sports car as a 240SX at the end of the day. Even more of one if it has a B series motor.

This is interesting, please keep it going. Also, I'm assuming the Del Sol, will be the same performance wise as the CRX?

But they're just as much a sports car as a 240SX at the end of the day. Even more of one if it has a B series motor.

oh yes, i know...i stated that in a previous post.

the B series ARE sports cars compared to the US spec 240sx...:lol:


and yes a del sol will have the same lack of performance as a CRX...i mean, dont get me wrong. these cars can be made deadly quick but not for on a slim budget.

This is interesting, please keep it going. Also, I'm assuming the Del Sol, will be the same performance wise as the CRX?
Slightly slower. The del Sol is pretty fat compared to the lean CRX.

I see. How much would you have to spend to make a CRX do a...say a 14 second 1/4 mile? Thanks.

I see. How much would you have to spend to make a CRX do a...say a 14 second 1/4 mile? Thanks.

im not huge on my honda facts or anything but i think it would take a turbo kit or a motor swap.

i think GSR motors run a few grand plus labor charges...your looking at about $4k on what i think is the best route to make a 14 second 1/4 miles or better with a CRX.

im sure there are turbo kits out there that you can add for a little cheaper but then you sacrifice reliability...nitrous is also an option but i dont think this is a popular choice because once you again, you put the motor in a lot of stress.

doing all basic bolt-ons which could run you a few grand in itself, will maybe net you a low 15 at best...

anyone, if im wrong or you want to further explain, go ahead...like i said, im not really a honda guy.

GS-R motors are overpriced, and not a good swap to do with only five grand. I think that a turbo D-Series is the best way to go for a CRX. But I'm not a Honda man either.

Is anyone a Honda man? :)

Is anyone a Honda man? :)
Me.

yeah me too. id say go b16, but thats just me. it fits with the car real well. a b16 powereed crx is pretty fast and the swap isnt extremely difficult. just gotta find someone that knows what theyre doing.

How much would it run me?

i know a bunch of sites where you can get the entire swap., the tranny the computer and the motor for 1500. labor and mounts tho... those are another story. check out www.hmotorsonline.com

FWD vs RWD
195HP Integra Type R vs 138HP Miata
Autocross: Miata wins
Read the article:
http://www.itrsport.com/reviewArticles/miata_vs_itr/images/pg1.jpg
http://www.itrsport.com/reviewArticles/miata_vs_itr/images/pg2.jpg
http://www.itrsport.com/reviewArticles/miata_vs_itr/images/pg3.jpg
http://www.itrsport.com/reviewArticles/miata_vs_itr/images/pg4.jpg
http://www.itrsport.com/reviewArticles/miata_vs_itr/images/pg5.jpg
http://www.itrsport.com/reviewArticles/miata_vs_itr/images/pg6.jpg
http://www.itrsport.com/reviewArticles/miata_vs_itr/images/pg7.jpg
http://www.itrsport.com/reviewArticles/miata_vs_itr/images/pg8.jpg

Anyone who says FWD is as good as RWD is either uninformed or a bad driver.
Anyone who says FWD is better then RWD is a moron.

Anyone who says FWD is as good as RWD is either uninformed or a bad driver.

Anyone who says FWD is better then RWD is a moron.

FWD and RWD both have their advantages and disadvantages.

FWD is better in the rain/snow ice for handling.
RWD is better for drag racing and launching harder.
both can be fun.............and you are more of a moron than me for posting that :loser:

Of course the Miata won in the autocross event. Its 300-pound curb weight advantage and easiness to drive at the limit easily offset the Integra's 60 horsepower advantage. But, not surprisingly, the Integra dominated in the road racing test. Though the Miata mainly lost because it was down so much horsepower, the Integra handled better anyways. In mid- to high-speed corners, FWD is every bit as effective as RWD, if not more so. Trail-brake to set up the corner entry, point the car towards the apex, slam to gas to snap it back into line, and watch it sail out of the turn at full throttle. If you were to do that with a RWD car, your rear tires would go up in smoke, and you'd come out of the corner with a serious traction and acceleration disadvantage. So I think that you, sir, are the uninformed moron in this case.

:iagree:

Thanks guys. Is there any car, that gets good MPG that is also a good performer? If so, it'd probably be a FWD, right? Anyways, yeah, this will be my daily driver so I want as high MPG as possible.

The Hondas are solid bets for gas mileage... but, of course, 4-cylinders are going to get your best mileage... turbo will take it down, so if you want high mileage with performance both about equal the del sol is a pretty good bet... they're small, fast, and have a dohc 4-cylinder engine.

Okay, thanks. Anyone else?

<--------has been preaching crx since day one.

The 240sx gets 22 City 28 Hwy.

The 240sx gets 22 City 28 Hwy.

hell, the Z31T is on par with that and it has 200hp...:eek7:

i am pretty sure it gets 20 city and 26 highway. ill take the small sacrfice for the extra power....oh yeah, its a 3.0L V6 Turbo too.

del sol is a pretty good bet... they're small, fast, and have a dohc 4-cylinder engine.

they're fast compared to.................what?

id say your 2 for 3...on that one. :D

FWD vs RWD
195HP Integra Type R vs 138HP Miata
Autocross: Miata wins
Read the article:
http://www.itrsport.com/reviewArticles/miata_vs_itr/images/pg1.jpg
http://www.itrsport.com/reviewArticles/miata_vs_itr/images/pg2.jpg
http://www.itrsport.com/reviewArticles/miata_vs_itr/images/pg3.jpg
http://www.itrsport.com/reviewArticles/miata_vs_itr/images/pg4.jpg
http://www.itrsport.com/reviewArticles/miata_vs_itr/images/pg5.jpg
http://www.itrsport.com/reviewArticles/miata_vs_itr/images/pg6.jpg
http://www.itrsport.com/reviewArticles/miata_vs_itr/images/pg7.jpg
http://www.itrsport.com/reviewArticles/miata_vs_itr/images/pg8.jpg

Anyone who says FWD is as good as RWD is either uninformed or a bad driver.
Anyone who says FWD is better then RWD is a moron.
I guess I'm an uninformed moron the..



I tried my best and have driven over 800 different makes and models of cars, but at the end of the day I'm just uninformed because I think you're wrong. :rolleyes:

umm guys .... depending on the year and trim level of crx you get you can almost always get above 30 miles to the gallon sometimes above forty. averages that ive personally witnessed: 32 city 38 highway

umm guys .... depending on the year and trim level of crx you get you can almost always get above 30 miles to the gallon sometimes above forty. averages that ive personally witnessed: 32 city 38 highway

must have been the model with a Honda Insight motor swapped in...j/k :lol:

though 32-38 MPG is impressive, i think most of us want a happier medium, between power and gas mileage.

I was hoping that I could get something more along the likes of upper 20's. Do you think that the 240SX is the best performance car that I could get with good gas mileage? Thanks.

You can except low 20's with the Z31 Turbo, high teens with the 5.0, and mid 20's with the 240SX.

So, what do you think is the best car that get's good gas mileage and can be pretty fast? Also, it doesn't need to be very fast, probably the fastest I would race is a stock Ford Lightning which if I remember correctly does high 13's. So low 13's would be acceptable.

So, what do you think is the best car that get's good gas mileage and can be pretty fast? Also, it doesn't need to be very fast, probably the fastest I would race is a stock Ford Lightning which if I remember correctly does high 13's. So low 13's would be acceptable.

low 13's is pretty fast for any of these cars and it is going to take quite a few modifications to get any of them to get there. the Z31 Turbo and mustang can do it with bolts ons. the 240sx and hondas are gonna take motor swaps or turbo kits to get there.

Oh, that's not good. Well, what about high 13's?

A 240SX with a turbo kit and a few bolt-ons can do high 13's no problem. Of course, that's going to kill your gas mileage too. If you want good gas mileage and enough power to do high 13's, I think an LT1 Camaro (1993-1997) is your best bet. Driven conservatively, they can get 30 mpg on the highway, and with a good enough driver, they can hit high 13's in the quarter mile. However, if you expect to go racing and still get average gas mileage, you're sadly mistaken. You can't be flooring it and getting good gas mileage at the same time; it's one or the other. Just letting you know.

Yeah, that's what I figured, I just meant that it get's good gas mileage when your not racing. Anyways, thanks, I'll be sure to check out an LT1 Camaro.

Maybe it's just me but I checked fueleconomy.gov but it said that the Camaro only got high teens for MPG. Maybe the site is wrong...

Edit: Also, I'm just guessing at random cars now but what is your take on the Mazda MX-6? I saw a thread on it and it seemed like a pretty nice car. But then again, what do I know about cars? :)

okay, you seem kinda random when it comes to cars... I was looking for a used car for about 2 years, and I finally found mine (honda civic, but then again i didn't really want a performance car). My advice to you is to pinpoint what the most important trait is that you want your car to have, and then find a car with it. You mention gas mileage, price range and performance, but also reliability. A car with excellent ratings in all four is hard to come by, so pinpoint exactly the trait you want, then do research (google) and find a car that you like the looks of and can see yourself driving for a while. Then, finally, get nit-picky, and make your decision. Good luck.

Maybe it's just me but I checked fueleconomy.gov but it said that the Camaro only got high teens for MPG. Maybe the site is wrong...

Edit: Also, I'm just guessing at random cars now but what is your take on the Mazda MX-6? I saw a thread on it and it seemed like a pretty nice car. But then again, what do I know about cars? :)

i think you will have even more problems modifying it into the 13's...and the probe looks a hell of alot better, less girly.

i still say Z31T, mid 20's in gas mileage, high 13's EASY, something you dont see everyday, can last as long as you take care of it, V6 power (so you dont have to turn the air conditioner off to pass someone on the highway), etc.

EPA mileage estimates for a 1993 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 are 17 city/25 highway (with a six-speed manual transmission). It's not spectacular, but considering how fast the car is, it's pretty good. But really, if you're looking for a used car for five grand that does high 13's in the quarter mile, don't expect much more than 20 mpg combined. If you want mpg in the upper 20's, you're going to have to give up some speed.

Well, I was really hoping for a car that is under 5 grand that has pretty good MPG. It doesn't have to be fast stock, but can be made fast later on. Sorry if that was hard to understand.

Well, that's why I suggested the 240SX. It gets the best mileage of the group when stock (high 20's), and you can make it plenty fast with a turbo kit or motor swap later on.

Ever think of an na mr2?

Yah, I did and I heard that it wasn't very novice friendly so I disregarded that idea, unless I was informed incorrectly.

Anyways, I think I've got it down 3 cars (240SX, CRX, and Z31). I'm pretty sure I'll go with the 240SX but if for whatever reason I don't (I'm not super fond of the looks) I think I'll go with the CRX (Gotta love that good gas mileage). How does that sound? Any other suggestions? Thanks.

Have you considered the Mazda Miata? I don't know if you want or don't want a roadster for any particular reason, but the car handles excellently, gets good gas mileage, and is incredibly fun to drive. You can get a 1st gen. in great shape for five grand. The only drawback is that its straightline performance is pretty subpar. It would take a LOT of work to get one to run high 13's.

Yeah, I was looking at it but am not super fond of the small compact look. I will give it another look though, I don't really mind the hard top. Anyways, how much money would you have to put in to get it to run high 13's? Oh, one more thing, what years are the 1st Generation Miata? Thank you!

The 1st gen. Miata was produced in America between 1990 and 1997.

You'd have to ask a Miata expert to know exactly what you'd have to do to get the car to run high 13's (send a private message to kfoote; he owns and races one). But based on its weight, gearing, and aerodynamics, I'd say that you'd need about 280 horsepower. The car come with two engines: a 1.6L, 118 hp engine, and a 1.8L, 130 hp engine (don't know if those are exact figures). But either way, you're gonna need a turbocharger and a lot of boost (probably 15 to 17 psi) to make 280 horsepower. And at that point, the somewhat flimsy roadster chassis is going to have problems putting that kind of power to the ground, so you'd have to reinforce that as well (and I think it'd take more than just a roll cage and tower strut bar). You may have to upgrade the transmission as well, as I question its ability to reliably handle that much more power than it was designed to handle. Ditto for the rear suspension, which will need to be strengthened so that it doesn't bend in half from the influx of turbocharged power. So yeah, the Miata is really not a practical car to go drag racing with. It's excellent as a fun yet economical cruiser, or a competitive yet affordable autocrosser, but a drag racer it is not.

Okay, thanks. Surprisingly, the Miata look has grown on me so I may get it now. RWD is another plus too. One more thing, do you know if any come in a hard top version? I have only seen the fabric covertible type. Thanks.

I believe that it come from the factory with a $1000 hard top option. I don't know if anyone sells aftermarket hard tops (though I suspect that someone does).

ahhh...miata. good choice. very overlooked car. make sure you test drive one because they dont seem to be too confortable to me. but i hvae never driven one, just seen other people driving them and they look like they are driving an old triumph.

I think you’d be better off with the 240SX 4 passenger, bigger trunk, it would make a better daily driver then the Miata. The Z31 would also work better.

Don’t get the CRX, if your going to get a FWD car for fuel economy just get a basics Civic.

I’m not trying make you decision any harder. But have looked at the Mitsubishi Starion? Starion on eBay. (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=6355&item=4552830546&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW) I don’t know a lot about the it. Other then they all have independent front, rear suspension, LSD diff and a (not 100% shore) 188HP turbo engin.

I don't think you want the Starion. The fuel economy is less than impressive, and the reliability is pretty sketchy too. And the handling isn't that great, either.

I would personally go with the 5.0 Mustang with a 5speed. They can run in the 14's stock and it dosnt take as much to get it into 13's. Since you don't know that much about cars I don't think you are going to want to tackle motor swaps and aftermarket turbo kits in the 240sx. Stop light to stoplight the 5.0 is great. Its handling is acceptable, I wouldn't take it stock onto a road course but I wouldn't take alot of stock vehicals on a road course. If you just want a fun car thats easy to work on than the 5.0 is definately my choice.

I don't want the Mustang because the gas mileage is so bad, otherwise I probably would...

Yeah, like I said, the 5.0 Mustang's powertrain is perfect for stoplight to stoplight messing around, or serious drag racing, but the gas mileage is just plain awful. That's the price you pay for the endless torque and deep rumble of a V8.

the 5.0 is pretty quick, and i admit my bias toward Camaros, but I think the fox body is one of the ugliest cars out there, most of the other mustang designs are alright, but the fox body looks like an oversized escort with mutated headlights.

In defense of the fox body's looks, the 87-93 were alot better looking than the 79-86, I wasn't a big fan of the 4 eye fox. Also, that was how cars looked back then. The camaro was boxy too, maybe a little longer though. I am also a camaro fan but the camaros of the period were not as good in my opinion as the 5.0 Mustang. Most were the 305, which was definately not as good as the 302, and the ones that had 350s were automatic.(maybe I am mistaken but I am pretty sure) As for the gas mileage...you got me there, it certainly won't top a 4 banger for that, but I have owned 4 cylinder and 6 cylinder cars and liked them enough, but I don't ever think I can go back. The insurance really didn't increase when I got the mustang and I had a taurus before. I am just a firm believer that because of the natural good aspects of the 5.0 mustang and the giant aftermarket, anyone looking for cheap performance would be happiest purchasing one.

Yeah, aside from the gas mileage, they are cheap to buy and own, and give great performance for the money. A good friend of mine owned a nice manual tranny '88 GT (until it got stolen, he bought a Z31 N/A after that), and that thing was quick as hell. It had 188,000 miles on it, and the interior was falling to pieces, but the engine and transmission were still running strong. It'd do low 15's in the quarter mile all day, and after he put in 3.73 gears, a stronger clutch, and underdrive pulleys, it hit mid 14's. It's just the gas mileage and insurance (some parts of the country are better or worse than others) that make the car a bit costly to own.

well, if you think about it...by the time you mod a 240sx or soemthing of that nature into the 14 second 1/4 mile range. you will probably only be getting a couple of MPG better....

240sx - 25mpg/low 16 quarter miles
5.0L mustang - 18mpg/high 14 quarter miles

i figure by the time you get a 240sx to run high 14's, it will lose 5 or so mpg. not to mention the fact that you can pick up a 5.0 and a 240sx for virtually the same price. so for the money you spend turboing the 240sx you could have the mustang well into the 13's. my :2cents:

but how about a Z31T...its not like i have mentioned that before. :D it has the same performance as the mustang but gets 20-25mpg, almost on par with a 240sx. so your essentially getting the best of both worlds... the mustang's power & modability and the 240sx's handling and gas mileage.

Sorry, but a Z31T does not have the same performance as a Mustang 5.0. It's down 20 horsepower, a lot more torque, and weighs 200 lbs more. It might accelerate as well, due to its short gearing, but that just means it'll get creamed on the top-end. I'm sure it handles better, though. And yes, the mileage is a bit better (though 25 mpg for a turbocharged V6 from the 80's seems like a big stretch to me).

It might accelerate as well, due to its short gearing


so bottom line, it still puts down the same 1/4 mile run, which means it has comparable performance. im not saying that a Z31 Turbo outperforms a 5.0 mustang, im just saying that they are very similar in times and performance. its better than trying to compare a 240sx and a 5.0L mustang...:rolleyes:

a Z31T outperforms a Z32 N/A in the 1/4 mile...i have beaten many 5.0L mustangs when my Z32 was still N/A. so if a Z31T outperforms my car, then a Z31T should well outperform the mustang.

and i can only go on what other Z31T owners have told me they get for gas mileage...i have always been told by other Z31T owners that they dont get less than 20mpg around town and they do alot better on the highway. a turbo doesnt produce power if its not spooling, so if your on the highway cruising...your probably getting better gas mileage then the N/A version because your essentially driving a shitty compressioned N/A.

Maybe its just my inexperience with turbos but I just dont' trust an old turbo engine. I know older turbos were not as efficient as they are today and they tended to wear out. It would be disappointing to get a car only to find that you had to replace a part already, not that you couldn't get a 5.0 and realize that the rings are bad. It just seems like more parts to break on an old car. I never looked into the aftermarket for the Z but the 5.0 has an almost infinite aftermarket. Performance on those things is so cheap that sometimes I think about selling my 2000 and getting a 91 and putting 6000 dollars worth of parts into it. Also, theres alot of 5.0 mustangs out there, which if you are concerned with "being different" you may not like, but the fact is that everything that can be done to that car has been done and someone always knows how to make that thing work. Its a proven way to go fast on a budget and a good car to learn on because it is relatively primitive compared to even 20 year old imports. I admire its simplicity and effectiveness.