good car for a beging tuner- Any suggestions?

[ttspeed]

I am wondering what cars would be good for a begining tuner with a mid-to low budget. Basically something one could get used for under $8,000 with a fairly high power potential. The car would not be a daily driver. Oh, and I am not really an American muscle kind of guy so I probably wont consider any american uscle cars, sorry. Anyways, Some cars that I am looking at are are: 2g mitsubishi eclipe GST, Nissan 300zx, Nissan 240sx-all years, Integra GSR, and 3000gt. I have about $1,600 saved up for after market upgrades so far. Any suggestions or opinions would be appreciated, Thanks.

[3000ways]

Originally Posted by ttspeed

I am wondering what cars would be good for a begining tuner with a mid-to low budget. Basically something one could get used for under $8,000 with a fairly high power potential. The car would not be a daily driver. Oh, and I am not really an American muscle kind of guy so I probably wont consider any american uscle cars, sorry. Anyways, Some cars that I am looking at are are: 2g mitsubishi eclipe GST, Nissan 300zx, Nissan 240sx-all years, Integra GSR, and 3000gt. I have about $1,600 saved up for after market upgrades so far. Any suggestions or opinions would be appreciated, Thanks.

The Eclipse would be an awesome car to mod for that price, also the 300ZX Twin Turbo, if you can find one for that price in decent shape. I wouldn't go with a N/A 300ZX though, because parts aren't as available for it as the Twin Turbo models, and you will not see the power gains as much as the Twin Turbo models. Also you could go with an older Honda Hatchback, which weigh around 2100Lbs to 2200Lbs and swap in a B16 or B18. Other suggestions are MKIII Supras or a Mitsubishi Galant VR4, I like the Galant VR4 because it's such an easy car to mod just like the Eclipse and is a sleeper.

[nbw]

what are your goals for your car?
If its drag racing then(if its not drag then what do you want?), I would recommend a 1g all wheel drive turbo DSM(eclipse gsx, talon tsi awd, laser.. something or another). They are a good bit lighter then the 2g and have a strongerblock but il let a dsm guy better explain that one for me.
Plus you can get them really cheap compared to the 2g adn with the money you saved... you guessed it.. go fast parts!

may I ask why you cont care for teh camaro/firebird/stang(or even C4 corvette) options? They have huge potenial for more power then you will ever even want plus. Parts for them are really cheap(specialy for the camaro/firebird) and they are easy as hell to work on compared to the other cars. not trying to rag or preach to you, I just dont like to see people get persuaded to ignore products that may suit them very well just becuase a magazine, movie, hot asian chick down the street, her hotter freind,her almost as hot sister, some weird white guy with a polo shirt and short bleeched blond hair who claims his corrolla is mad jdm tight y0. (again, this is a question/joke, im not trying to preach to you )

oh, and if its not going to be a daily driver... try to stay away from FWD if you have the choice. FWD cars tend to be a pain in the ass to work on and there really is no performance advantage to them unless are going to be driving in the rain/snow often wich doesnt seem to be the case... RWD cars on the other hand tend to have allot more room under the hood and from my experiance are ALLOT easier to work on. AWD cars would probly be about the same as a FWD car(specialy the DSM) but since AWD is so much better.. its worth it.


well thats my anyway. take it with a grain of salt

[3kgt8]

ttspeed your name says it. get a TT 300zx or my fav a 3000gt TT you could probably find a 91-93 for 8 grand.

[freakonaleash1187]

of course everybody is going to now which one i am going to say. the 300zx definitely! if you could get a tt in good condition, that would be awesome. the n/a might not be able to be as fast, but if enough money is invested, it could be faster than most cars out there. plus, 300zx is so great looking.

[dipankar06]

[NerveAgent]

Nissan 300zx

[03'350z]

i love nissans i have a 350z now . but back in the day 1988 300zx. i loved it!!

[pre98zetec]

Enough smileys in that post?