Purpose built street racer

So its been a long time since I've even thought about street racing. After racking up an impressive list of moving violations, and then cracking the frame on my CRX, I gave it up. Starter driving trucks for a long time.... but I guess thats what you get when you are 17 driving a bright red, loud, CRX.

Now, a few years older, and hopefully a few years wiser, I've been thinking about making my re-entry into the street racing scene. With more mechanical knowlege (went to UTI to be an auto tech) and a much better paying job (I sell cars now, anyone wanna buy a Ford? :wink: ) I think i have the means to build a much better car than the previously mentioned CRX. While the Rex was decently quick (moded jap spec B16a) I am looking to drive something streetable with 400+ whp. Keeping with the streetable daily driver theme this rules out FWD. The CRX had terrible torque steer, and than was with just over 200 whp. Also, I think I have outgrown little 4 cylinders.

So, what does this leave me with? American muscle (Mustang or Camaro) or Japanese 6 cylinders. As I have been out of the organized street racing scene (think late night, lots of cars, racing for money.... not the random street light to street light race) I havnt been keeping up with current trends. So, my question to you guys is, what would you recommend? What cars have you guys seen out there recently tearing things up? More importantly, if you had your choice of cars with which to build a purpose build street racer with, following these guidelines, what would you choose?

6 or 8 cylinder RWD
Must maintain decent ride quality with 400+ whp
Stock engine must be capable of 500+ crank HP, no engine swaps here
The car in stock form must be under $20,000
Would prefer to use nitrous over turbo/super charging, but open to either

As of now, I'm leaning towards an 04' or earlier Mustang, since I work for Ford and can probably find a good deal on one at the dealer auctions. However, I just want to see everyone elses opinion to get the ideas going in my head. Thanks in advance guys. New to the forum, hope that I can learn a lot, and contribute a lot here.

Well in my opinion I would say a 1999 Corvette. You can find them commonly for 19000 and they are pretty bad ass. If you want the power but the car isn't quite as important I say get a 98 z28, they are fast and pretty cheap at this point (have seen them for 8000) Sure there are other cars out there, but for the price I don't think anything is going to be as fast as the camaro.

Thank you BlackGT2000. A Vette never even crossed my mind, and I think its exactly the car to fit my needs. Guess I didnt think about it because I never realized you can pick up a 99' with like 50K miles on it for around $20,000. Didnt really even believe you untill I looked some up on AutoTrader.com. A 99' Vette first of all, looks bad ass, comes stock with 345 crank HP, and the stock engine can easily be moded to 500+ crank HP. Now, all I got to worry about is the sky high insurance :uhoh: . Time to pay off the civic completely, sell it, save another 10K, buy the Vette outright, and only have to worry bout that insurance payment....

However, in case I decide I dont want to pay crazy insurance payments, whats everone elses recommendations?

Street Racing Rules & Guidelines (Read Before Posting)! (http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=543880)

either way, sounds like you are going to building it inside and out, which would include the block, pistons, rods, crank, etc...

Nissan 350z
Chevy Vette
Inifiniti G35
Pontiac GTO
Chevy Camaro
Ford Mustang

personally, ive asked cops as they come into my work and ask them, what are the fastest cars on the road today. they say the import v6s, as in evos, sti's, 350zs, etc.

either way, sounds like you are going to building it inside and out, which would include the block, pistons, rods, crank, etc...

Nissan 350z
Chevy Vette
Inifiniti G35
Pontiac GTO
Chevy Camaro
Ford Mustang

personally, ive asked cops as they come into my work and ask them, what are the fastest cars on the road today. they say the import v6s, as in evos, sti's, 350zs, etc.

EVO's and STI's are a I-4 and a flat 4.

personally, ive asked cops as they come into my work and ask them, what are the fastest cars on the road today. they say the import v6s, as in evos, sti's, 350zs, etc.

:rofl::rofl:

So its been a long time since I've even thought about street racing. After racking up an impressive list of moving violations, and then cracking the frame on my CRX, I gave it up. Starter driving trucks for a long time.... but I guess thats what you get when you are 17 driving a bright red, loud, CRX.

Now, a few years older, and hopefully a few years wiser, I've been thinking about making my re-entry into the street racing scene. With more mechanical knowlege (went to UTI to be an auto tech) and a much better paying job (I sell cars now, anyone wanna buy a Ford? :wink: ) I think i have the means to build a much better car than the previously mentioned CRX. While the Rex was decently quick (moded jap spec B16a) I am looking to drive something streetable with 400+ whp. Keeping with the streetable daily driver theme this rules out FWD. The CRX had terrible torque steer, and than was with just over 200 whp. Also, I think I have outgrown little 4 cylinders.

So, what does this leave me with? American muscle (Mustang or Camaro) or Japanese 6 cylinders. As I have been out of the organized street racing scene (think late night, lots of cars, racing for money.... not the random street light to street light race) I havnt been keeping up with current trends. So, my question to you guys is, what would you recommend? What cars have you guys seen out there recently tearing things up? More importantly, if you had your choice of cars with which to build a purpose build street racer with, following these guidelines, what would you choose?

6 or 8 cylinder RWD
Must maintain decent ride quality with 400+ whp
Stock engine must be capable of 500+ crank HP, no engine swaps here
The car in stock form must be under $20,000
Would prefer to use nitrous over turbo/super charging, but open to either

As of now, I'm leaning towards an 04' or earlier Mustang, since I work for Ford and can probably find a good deal on one at the dealer auctions. However, I just want to see everyone elses opinion to get the ideas going in my head. Thanks in advance guys. New to the forum, hope that I can learn a lot, and contribute a lot here.

what you described there is a Toyota Supra Twin-Turbo. (1993-1998). But since you said you have the money, why not find yourself a street legal r32 or r33 skyline. Supra and Skyline A.K.A Japanese muscle.

wow. i did not catch that lol. i feel stupid. but that is what came straight from their mouths.

get like a 67-69 firebird. cheaper than camaro and I think has better styling with the grill. get style power and value all in one

Why so dead set on six or eight? The world is a very different place now, and it is a huge difference between a B18 and say a 4G63 in the EVO. I wouldn't totally rule out the four cylinders, as many can be made very powerful and maintain streetability. When thinking about EVOs, that 4G63 makes power just by looking at it right. And that Chris guy outa Pensacola with the one that was last making about 900AWHP drove it from Chi Town to Pensacola, and said he averaged about 22-23mpg. Not amazing, but shit, with 900AWHP?

I'd be careful about picking up a Supra, I've been looking at a few in my area, and first, its gonna be hard to find one that hasn't been modded and the piss driven out of it, and two, simply because of the Rice and the Rediculous, people are demanding outragous prices for them. I saw one in my area with 95k on the clock and the guy wanted forty two for it. I don't care how fast and how reliable a car is, unless it has the Prancing Horse or the Toro Furioso on the hood, I ain't paying more than 15k for any car over 50k miles.

Since you work at a Ford dealer, why not look into a new GT500 or something along those lines? Or maybe even a Roush. Pricing on them is good, already powerful from the start, and capable of more power.

I know you want under 20k, but that is gonna limit you to used cars right now, and even though there are some nice cars out there used, I'm still hesitant. I don't know how many cars we've had come into the dealership I work at that were purchased used, and it turns out there were poorly maintained. Often, when buying used, you are buying someone elses problem. Think about it? Why would someone want to sell a car like the one you described? Either:

A)They beat the piss outa it, and now its started to come undone, and they don't want to deal with it
B)They have suddenly found themselves in an area requiring something that resembles responsibility, so their old racer needs to go, so your buying a car that as had the shit kicked outa it
C)They want something faster, but how did they learn the car they have isn't fast enough?

That, and short of buying a used 'Vette, its gonna be hard to find any car under 20k that can support that amount of power and maintain its daily driver streetability. Hell, even with more than that, its gonna be hard to find a car that pushes out more than 500 at the rear wheels and maintains streetability.