Which car for track and daily driver?

[FST4RD]

So now that I have sold the Starion i'm going to look in a couple months at getting a hot hatch, something that's going to be reliable, handle well and take a good old thrashing out at the track every now and then and then drive home again. Has to be manual, non turbo as well and reasonably easy to get parts for if anything does go wrong. I've narrowed it down to a couple cars, I want to spend around the $3-4k mark....
1: Ae101 FXGT
2: Peugeot 205gti (mid to late 80's ones)
3: Nissan pulsar Gti (early 90's ones)
Anyone got any experience with these cars? I know the Peugeot 205Gti isn't the easiest to get parts for but I heard they're reasonalbly reliable and handle real well.... plus I have always liked them. I don't know much about the Nissan plusar gti's but I know they used to have their own racing class and heard good things about them. Don't know to much about the Ae101 fxgt's apart from they have a silver top motor which is a good thing and look pretty good (to me )
Anyone else got any other suggestions as to other cars that fit the specs and $$ i'm looking for?

[deaf_rattle]

why not ae82 or ae92 fxgt (leaning towards the 92 which has less rust)

easy and cheap to get parts for, lighter than the 101 and cheaper to buy in the first place.

[FST4RD]

Just the looks really... I like the AE101 fxgt's, not really in it for the speed or I would look at turbo's...

[Dell'Orto]

The poojet would be good, parts arent too hard to come by but they can be more spendy than a Japanese car.
The FXGT would be infinitely cooler than the Pullstart, though a bit heavier.

[B1NZ]

You should be able to find an AE111 Levin/trueno for that sort of money now as well,

What about hondas? They make good N/A track weapons

[B1NZ]

oooh, also an older GTI golf if your looking at euros, they are brilliant cars straight out of the box

[FST4RD]

Yeah I didn't think of the honda's... maybe the early 90's v-tec ones would be a goer.... The Mk1 Golfs are kinda hard to get, especially a decent one and they normally go for a decent price to...

[Bling]

Not going on experience here, just opinion

But i'd be looking for an ae82/92 hatch for a race car and something else for a daily.

You could always buy Crispy86's AE82 race car its well setup and within your price range. Road reg etc aswell!! BUY IT!!!

viewtopic.php?t=59218&highlight=

not being biased either, but its a pretty good car. Value for money etc

[Lith]

VTEC Prelude? I have just bought a manual one for $3k with 162k on the clock for the same reasons. Drives well, good enough body condition for my needs, they are reliable and have really good brakes and can be made to handle very very well. There is still decent aftermarket support and they have awesome torque and can make reasonable power.

[Leon]

S
2: Peugeot 205gti (mid to late 80's ones)
3: Nissan pulsar Gti (early 90's ones)
Anyone got any experience with these cars? I know the Peugeot 205Gti isn't the easiest to get parts for but I heard they're reasonalbly reliable and handle real well.... plus I have always liked them. I don't know much about the Nissan plusar gti's but I know they used to have their own racing class and heard good things about them.

205's can be scary on the limit, judging from the fact one of the car club guys stopped racing his 205 and bought a 309 instead because the 205 was a spinning top ... well, I'd say they're a bit fierce. I've only been in his 205 once, but it was so badly put together it was like riding in a bucket half full of lego, it had that many rattles.

N14 Pulsars are ok. They're strong, but they're quite surprisingly heavy. Good rally car I would suspect rather than race car.

AE101's would be pretty good. Silvertop isn't as grunty as blacktop 111 motor, but is less likely to ventilate block.

Integra?

SW20 MR2?

AE92's are stupid amounts of fun for the $

Any na Silvia's in that price range? Nice balance and infinite upgrade possibilities as finances allow.

[FST4RD]

S
2: Peugeot 205gti (mid to late 80's ones)
3: Nissan pulsar Gti (early 90's ones)
Anyone got any experience with these cars? I know the Peugeot 205Gti isn't the easiest to get parts for but I heard they're reasonalbly reliable and handle real well.... plus I have always liked them. I don't know much about the Nissan plusar gti's but I know they used to have their own racing class and heard good things about them.

205's can be scary on the limit, judging from the fact one of the car club guys stopped racing his 205 and bought a 309 instead because the 205 was a spinning top ... well, I'd say they're a bit fierce. I've only been in his 205 once, but it was so badly put together it was like riding in a bucket half full of lego, it had that many rattles.

N14 Pulsars are ok. They're strong, but they're quite surprisingly heavy. Good rally car I would suspect rather than race car.

AE101's would be pretty good. Silvertop isn't as grunty as blacktop 111 motor, but is less likely to ventilate block.

Integra?

SW20 MR2?

AE92's are stupid amounts of fun for the $

Any na Silvia's in that price range? Nice balance and infinite upgrade possibilities as finances allow.

My mate had a AE92 and I didn't fit so well... And even though I love RWD and had them for a long time I want to get a FWD

I would have thought a civic would have been a better choice as a track car? Lighter and what not. And Yeah I was looking at the early to mid 90's preludes with the 2.2 vtec, What they like? is the 1600cc civic vtecs better?

I already have a old dunger to run around in, so this is going to be the track, take to the coast (i do that a bit) and random drive and meets type car, so don't want a full on race car...

[snwtoy]

Charade Detomaso 1600? They handle well and the torquey motor is the business

[Leon]

My mate had a AE92 and I didn't fit so well... And even though I love RWD and had them for a long time I want to get a FWD

I would have thought a civic would have been a better choice as a track car? Lighter and what not. And Yeah I was looking at the early to mid 90's preludes with the 2.2 vtec, What they like? is the 1600cc civic vtecs better?

AE92's are strong as hell. I'm surprised you didn't fit in one though, how tall are you?

Civics are a smidge lighter yes.

I don't know anything about Preludes, but I'd hazard a guess that they might be hard to get go fast bits for, as they weren't designed to be a race car. Whereas a Civic or Integra you could probably do lots with.

There's a SiR EF9 on NZHonda's for $1500 (can't recall if it was advertised here) down in Dunedin. That would be a cheap club car, but I suspect it might be a bit seriously raped, judging from previous "for sale" threads on it. But might be an interesting basis of a car to chuck a newer motor into.

One thing to always bear in mind if you're wanting a play car, is buy something that you can get go fast bits for.

The Charade is a cool little car (like every car, I've had one ) but they're not as easy to get bits for as a Civic or Corolla.

I've got an EF9 vtec Civic, and it's a decent little car, but by no means a godlike entity of all beating car weapon. It's just another 1600cc hatchback thing.

I much prefer my AW11

Have you considered a Starlet GT? They require mods, but they're bloody light, and you can make f@cking insane power out of them if you're keen (check user dexgt here). Remember always, weight is THE ENEMY of a club thrash car.

[barryogen]

There's a DOHC Vtec CR-X down here for ~$3k along Kaikorai Valley road... goes bloody fast, would love it as a toy but the mrs says I never finish anything.


She's right, but it doesnt make it(her) any less annoying.

[Adamal]

Have you got much experience with SW's?

[pc]

AE92s
- cheap
- reasonably rust free if looked after
- replacement parts are off the shelf and cheaper than most
- other parts are available at Pick a Part
- many suspension options off the shelf and cheap
- easy camber adjustment front and rear.
- LSD options off the shelf
- stud pattern and wheel sizing make the wheels/tyres cheap and plentiful
- many shells around, so rebuilding would be cheap if necessary
- many engine options, the sky is the limit

I reckon all these points are important if wanting to build a 'cheap' club car... this wont make it cheap though, just cheaper than other options.
Many factors should be considered though, like how much disposable income you have, how much you intend to use it, what type of track racing you want to do (a honda vtec will be faster at the track), how happy/disappointed you will be when others are going faster. etc etc.
Weight is important, if the car is heavy, it will probably stay heavier than other options no matter what you take out of it.

BTW AE92 are front drive

[TRD Man]

Of the three cars you've mentioned, fastard, my advice would be to go for the Pulsar.

They are a great little daily driver. Very reliable.
Cheap to buy and easy to get parts for.
Many come with a viscous already installed.
They can be upgraded to a 2 litre cheaply and easily.
There is a ready supply of aftermarket performance parts.
It will be no heavier than an FXGT and will perform easily as well, if not significantly better out of the box.

There's a young lad whose used one here in Wellington clubsport for a few years and who goes very well in it.

[Bazda]

ae92, cheap, reliable, parts are interchangable from ae101 etc, easily stick in a 4agze cheap as!

with the other cars there isnt much option in engines if you want to go faster. ae92 and ae101 is easy to bolt in a faster engine. Even making the 4agze turbo is easy enough

You can buy awesome coilovers for ae92/101 from me as well , but as long as you dont beat me I can sell them to you.

[Leon]

There's a young lad whose used one here in Wellington clubsport for a few years and who goes very well in it.

There's definitely a few around the Wellington area. I can think of at least three off the top of my head.

Although Graeme's one (the white one) has had quite a bit of money sunk into it now. Reg Cook gearset, mega $ LSD, and now an SR20VE motor in it. Can be a stupidly fast car on the right day and the right course though.

[FST4RD]

Have you got much experience with SW's?

Yeah I used to have MR2SIK's one that he has got now, I used to be able to drive the wheels off it.... Was awesome to drive and handled quite well, but don't really want to go back to a dedicated 2 seater as I travel alot and not really the sort of car to go around the south island in... tried it once, wasn't as bad as going round the south island in my Mini clubman which was a road going race car, finished the trip deaf! lol
My mate had a AE92 Levin, 4AGZE one, really didn't like it to be honest, didn't like the feel and drive of it, I like BAZDA's one but driving my mates one wasn't really the best. I'm 6" 2-4 depending on the day

I was thinking maybe a Honda this shape and motor (but with a manual box) http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motor ... 715406.htm
Or a Nissan Sentra GT like this http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motor ... 316197.htm