most reliable/fun sport compact from the late 80s/early 90s???

[klohiq]

Your choices are (add any extras you like):

Mazda RX7 (FC3S non-turbo)
Nissan 240sx (S13 DOHC)
Nissan 300zx (Z32 non-turbo)
Toyota Supra (MKIII n/a or turbo)
Toyota MR2 (MKII non-turbo)

The only requirements are:

RWD (or maybe awd with a strong trans.)
market values under 5k
very reliable (high-wear items aren't an issue and easily fixed items are less of an issue)
cheap spare parts
does not need to be fast, but can not be slow!! (example: 0-60mph above 10 seconds or quartermile times avg. above 16.5 seconds)

[blakscorpion21]

i vote mr2 for the most fun and best looking and most reliable, but the fastest is gonna be the supra turbo.

[Jimster]

Please don't tell me you've been suckered by someone into thinking that RWD is mad tyte dawg.....


There are plenty of good FWD alternatives to these...

[Dyno247365]

Originally Posted by Jimster

Please don't tell me you've been suckered by someone into thinking that RWD is mad tyte dawg.....


There are plenty of good FWD alternatives to these...

oh god not this again

[Jimster]

OK so we just let him be blissfully ignorant of some great FWD cars that are superior to his listed choice, all because you can't handle the truth?

[Moppie]

You want to tell him the Truth?

HE CAN"T HANDLE THE TRUTH!!!!!


To begin with to many of the cars he's listed are over weight, under powered Japanese GT's.
Only the MR2 and the S13 could really be classed as Compacts, and only just. The MR2 is hardly a "compact" its more 2 seater sports car, while the S13 is a hatch back in form only.

And how could you exclude the MK1 MR2? Ultra light, very, very agile, and out of the box very quick in Supercharged form.

As for the best?
Well it has to be the EF8 Honda CRX SiR. 1,000kg kerb weight, and 160hp. Double wishbone suspension on all four corners, and the sort of agility that makes any of the above listed look an elephant mid corner.

Oh, but its FWD and was never avliable in the US (although it was everywhere else in the world) so it dosn't count right?

[klohiq]

Originally Posted by Moppie

You want to tell him the Truth?

HE CAN"T HANDLE THE TRUTH!!!!!


To begin with to many of the cars he's listed are over weight, under powered Japanese GT's.
Only the MR2 and the S13 could really be classed as Compacts, and only just. The MR2 is hardly a "compact" its more 2 seater sports car, while the S13 is a hatch back in form only.

And how could you exclude the MK1 MR2? Ultra light, very, very agile, and out of the box very quick in Supercharged form.

As for the best?
Well it has to be the EF8 Honda CRX SiR. 1,000kg kerb weight, and 160hp. Double wishbone suspension on all four corners, and the sort of agility that makes any of the above listed look an elephant mid corner.

Oh, but its FWD and was never avliable in the US (although it was everywhere else in the world) so it dosn't count right?

I already own a motorcycle...I don't need another vehicle that causes me to cower at the sight of suvs and fly all over the road any time a tractor trailer is coming by me.

The 240sx and RX7 are both capable cars and can be made to handle great and are definitely not underpowered imo. I don't need a car that runs 12s...why bother when I have a bike that runs 11s and for about the same price as these cars I could hit 9s...If I eventually want more power then I can add a diy turbo kit for very little money (1-2k; and no I wouldn't bother with doing that on the rx7 I'd just buy a turboII)

You act like some weight is a bad thing...if you want something that weighs so little, why are you even driving anything with 2 extra wheels. In a quest for less weight and better power-to-weight ratio, why would you bother with such redundancies?? I love my motorcycle, but there is a time when you wish it had a bit more weight so that it wouldn't feel quite as twitchy over bumps that other vehicles don't even bother avoiding.

Originally Posted by Jimster

Please don't tell me you've been suckered by someone into thinking that RWD is mad tyte dawg.....


There are plenty of good FWD alternatives to these...

I've driven fwd and I understand where you are coming from in some respects, but I'm tired of tq steer and having rear wheels that basically serve no purpose. Seriously I can put snow tires on my spec v and I bet it will pull almost the same skid pad numbers...

I like rwd and I like fwd...I like awd too. All have good aspects and all have poor aspects. I want rwd not to be "mad tyte dawg" or to be some drifter wannabe, but because it just seems to make more sense to me. AWD seems great if you have the extra money for maintenance...since you have all the hardware to make 2 more wheels turn and all that extra inertia. I however, don't like hearing all the horror storings about broken transmissions and roasted clutches.

I don't want a car that pushes when you apply the throttle mid-corner(my car is equiped with a helical LSD and it still pushes). I want a car that has the engine facing the right way and one that actually makes sense to run wider wheels in the back. Looks ARE important to me to some degree and a civic isn't going to make me happy to see it every morning or drive it around people. I could ride a moped to work and save lots of money, but I'm sure you can guess why I don't and why I rarely see anyone but old people driving them.

List a car that is
A) available in the us (if it's etremely rare/insanely expensive don't bother)
B) actually decent looking (gen2 crxs are alright, but most fwds lack any sort of styling)

[Moppie]

Originally Posted by klohiq

You act like some weight is a bad thing...if you want something that weighs so little, why are you even driving anything with 2 extra wheels. In a quest for less weight and better power-to-weight ratio, why would you bother with such redundancies??

Because you can't 4 wheel drift a motor bike, and while Iv crashed a few cars, Iv never fallen off one
I would love a bike, but my body wouldn't, neither would my better half.


You did ask for Compact cars, and as I mentioned earlier only 2 of those you listed are really compacts, and then only just because of thier size and weight.

Living in the US also somewhat limits your access to good cars, especialy exciting ones that are not large V6s or V8s.
And of course needing it to be smallish and RWD makes it even harder, as most manufactors stopped making smaller RWD cars in the 80s.


But, how about an early 3 Series BMW?
RWD, nice to drive, the 2l 4cyl is fast, or the 1.8 if you have a good imagination. And of course he 2.5, 2.8 and 3l sixes are all very fast, and lots of fun to drive.
You even get a choice of 4dr or coupe.

[Polygon]

I'm sorry, but I have to throw it out there: Turbo Mopar.

Granted they are FWD but if you're worried about a weak tranny no problems here. They come with Getrag forged five speeds and the Chrysler A-413 auto is pretty strong. I rarely have heard about anyone busting transmissions. Most tear axle ends off or blow up CV joints. Just get an LSD, descent clutch, and some sticky tires and all you FWD complaints will be addressed. If you're worried about under steer, that is easy to fix as well. Also, the engine is just as strong. Closed deck, cross drilled, forged crank and rods, iron block, and aluminum heads. They are VERY reliable cars.

The 1989 and up Daytona, LeBaron (J-body), and Shadow could be considered sport compacts and if you got the Turbo II, III, or IV you had a pretty quick car that can be pretty fast for not a much cash. You won't spend more then $5,000 - $6,000 for one of these. Hell, most likely you would only spend $1,000 - $2,000. I got my GTC Turbo II for a mere $600.

Just thought I would throw that out there.

[klohiq]

Originally Posted by Moppie

Because you can't 4 wheel drift a motor bike, and while Iv crashed a few cars, Iv never fallen off one
I would love a bike, but my body wouldn't, neither would my better half.


You did ask for Compact cars, and as I mentioned earlier only 2 of those you listed are really compacts, and then only just because of thier size and weight.

Living in the US also somewhat limits your access to good cars, especialy exciting ones that are not large V6s or V8s.
And of course needing it to be smallish and RWD makes it even harder, as most manufactors stopped making smaller RWD cars in the 80s.


But, how about an early 3 Series BMW?
RWD, nice to drive, the 2l 4cyl is fast, or the 1.8 if you have a good imagination. And of course he 2.5, 2.8 and 3l sixes are all very fast, and lots of fun to drive.
You even get a choice of 4dr or coupe.

You can still drift a bike...though I don't think I'll be trying that as I've seen way too many high-sides for my taste and I definitely wouldn't want to be part of one.

A 3 series bmw would be alright, you mean like e30? or earlier? I like e30 m3s or m3 clones since the old m3s are pretty expensive a lot of times. Any idea how reliable they are as a daily driver? I've seen a few moded, but I mostly see e46 m3s and 3 series that are talked about in magazines and modified.

anyone have thoughts on mitsubishi starions as to how reliable they are and how they feel or handle. I know it's an 80s car, but I've seen one listed recently with a blown head gasket that came with a parts car for just $1300...and it's turbo i/c from the factory.

I like daytonas a little bit, but I had a friend that blew an axle I believe. He destroys every car he's owned though (rx7, mx6) so that doesn't really matter I guess...I can't say that I would think of a lebaron as reliable, the engine maybe, but the rest of the car seems to deteriorate easily...plus, no offense, but it looks like shit

[Polygon]

Originally Posted by klohiq

You can still drift a bike...though I don't think I'll be trying that as I've seen way too many high-sides for my taste and I definitely wouldn't want to be part of one.

anyone have thoughts on mitsubishi starions as to how reliable they are and how they feel or handle. I know it's an 80s car, but I've seen one listed recently with a blown head gasket that came with a parts car for just $1300...and it's turbo i/c from the factory.

I like daytonas a little bit, but I had a friend that blew an axle I believe. He destroys every car he's owned though (rx7, mx6) so that doesn't really matter I guess...I can't say that I would think of a lebaron as reliable, the engine maybe, but the rest of the car seems to deteriorate easily...plus, no offense, but it looks like shit

1. Drifting on a bike usually involves laying it down.

2. The Starion/Conquest isn't all that powerful for having a 2.6L intercooled and turbo-charged engine. They also aren't very reliable. Everyone I've ever test drove has some seal leaking/smoking turbos but they look damn good. Buy one and do an engine swap.

3. The Daytona and the J-body LeBaron are the same car. Both of my LeBarons have been rock solid and never had problems that I didn't cause. I beg to differ on looks. Yes, there are ugly LeBarons, but there are so many body styles, which one are you talking about? Here is my J-body, not what I'd call ugly:

[blakscorpion21]

^ not ugly but a little family car-esque. it would look alot better if you lowered it though.

[Polygon]

Yeah, it will be dropped about an inch. Here are some ugly LeBarons for you, none of which I would suggest getting:

AA-body:



K-body:

[klohiq]

Depending on the bike it is not that hard to have limited slip angles, obviously street bikes are harder to drift than dirtbikes and sportbikes are the hardest of all to drift...also they have the most limited steering angle and usually the most aggressive setup which makes they both hard to steer with the back wheel and quite violent at the limits and transition from grip to slide. Instead of drifting, they refer to it as "backing it in", but it's essentially the same thing just much harder.

This video shows motoGP bikes doing the same thing http://media.putfile.com/MotogpLifessweetdrug

I think my friend owned a k-body. And yes I agree that the cars are virtually the same, but because they were manufactured in different places or at least in different assembly lines there may be some variation in reliability, build quality, etc. Again, I have no personal experience with either, just stories from several owners that I am friends with.

I thought the starion might be a little unreliable given its age and the fact that mitsus tend to be leaky and somewhat hard to love with age. Some will swear the engines last forever while others have receipts showing otherwise.

I'll probably stick with a 240sx...I've seen a lot of ways to drop weight and add decent amounts of power for relatively little money. The hatching should be very useful and allow me to haul all the stuff I carry around in my sentra.

[Moppie]

Originally Posted by Polygon

2. The Starion/Conquest isn't all that powerful for having a 2.6L intercooled and turbo-charged engine. They also aren't very reliable. Everyone I've ever test drove has some seal leaking/smoking turbos but they look damn good. Buy one and do an engine swap.

Actualy 25 years ago the Starion was a very fast, very reliable car.
Quite an achievement for any manufactor.
But, that was 25 years ago. Since them most of them have gone rusty and the old 8 valve motors are pretty much worn away from to much boost.
Fortunatly the engine is a very early version of the now famous 4g63.
That means EVO engine swaps are not that hard.
Follow that train of thought, and if you can find one with a decent body, and good running gear but a dead motor, and you have lots of spare time, spare cash, and suitable knowledge, then you could make a very unique classic RWD with a very powerful modern engine in it