So Mixed Up

So lets say our limit is 7,500 dollars:

I think I have 2 options

1) Spend the entire amount of money on an already fast(for the money, of course) car. An example is an mr2, or maybe an MK3 supra, or anything else along the sports car lines. The advantages: a higher quality car, the car will be more reliable and will probably look nicer.

2) Buy a car for less money, maybe a Sentra or a 240sx, a maxima, an altima or SOMETHING like that. Spend the rest of the money on a new engine, or a turbo kit. I think either option gives around the same amount of speed, but this option just sounds so much more fun. A nice fast sleeper. But this kind of car is mostly a front wheel drive type of car . . .how much will that really piss me off? Also, if I mod it out a bit, will the other parts of the car start to break becuase of the new power and the age of them already?

What is, for my money situaton, a better choice? If either one, tell me a couple cars I could look at, and what kind of mods I should check out.

Thank you very much for reading this.

If you want a really fast car for $7,500 you could get an LT1 Camaro or Firebird for $4,500 - $5,000, spend the rest on bolt-ons and have a reliable, streetable, 12 second car. Same story with a 5.0 Foxbody Mustang.

You just said reliability in the same sentence as 2 american built cars -_-

. . . but a 5.0 is tempting :). or a nice trans am firebird, too bad i cant afford the gas in a v8, what kind of engine does a 5.0 have?

well, i'm assuming its 5 liters, so its probably a v8, so you probably can't afford that one either.

I'm not stupid, i swear :P

Well an Mk3 Turbo isnt going to be exactly economical...so give the LT1's a chance

You just said reliability in the same sentence as 2 american built cars -_-

. . . but a 5.0 is tempting :). or a nice trans am firebird, too bad i cant afford the gas in a v8, what kind of engine does a 5.0 have?

You do realize how utterly unreliable 3rd gen Supras are, right? The 5.0 is a V8. If you can afford the gas in a Supra, MR2, or a turbo'd car, you can afford the gas for a V8. The Camaros and Firebirds have 2 overdrive gears and actually have more than enough low end torque to use them, and btw they were Canadian built.

get the camaro or firebird, and mod

The 5.0 is a V8. If you can afford the gas in a Supra, MR2, or a turbo'd car, you can afford the gas for a V8.

I read that and I assume you were full of crap; however, I prefer to have actual facts before I discount someone ... so I did a little search and I was quite surprised.

You are mostly correct:

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/noframes/4252.shtml
1988 Ford Mustang
MPG (city) 18
MPG (highway) 27

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/noframes/7494.shtml
1991 Toyota MR2
MPG (city) 20
MPG (highway) 27

Since I'm a Mustang guy I'll say the 5.0 as well. Those things have tons of power locked in them. If you have $7,500 and buy a good one for $4,000, that's $3,500 that could get that thing deep in the 12s.

You do realize how utterly unreliable 3rd gen Supras are, right? The 5.0 is a V8. If you can afford the gas in a Supra, MR2, or a turbo'd car, you can afford the gas for a V8. The Camaros and Firebirds have 2 overdrive gears and actually have more than enough low end torque to use them, and btw they were Canadian built.


Yeah they were Canadian built, in Quebec...alot of the quality, low defects per car numbers come from plants in Ontario, NOT Quebec...which is a huge difference, though Americans kinda wouldn't understand...Quebec produced cars were not as reliable as Ontario produced cars

That being said those generation Camaro's & Firebirds are pretty good, especially for the price and as said before easy to mod and a good final gear ratio makes them relatively good on fuel on the highway...the citys another story

Among the import world, American-built cars being unreliable is accepted as gospel without any fact to back it up. I have noticed that things have balanced a little more in the past few years though as more legitimate car guys have contributed to the imports. In your search, don't forget the car that I believe to be the best of the 90's for the money, the DSM's. You can spend less than 5k total on an AWD turbocharged 4cyl easily capable of 300hp with just basic modifications. Between the fox body stang and the f-bodies I like the f-bodies much better. They put the power to the ground better and the driving position feels much more like a sports car.