Fastest car, for cheapest $

[RicerX]

I just reread this thread. Pretty sure none of you like my car. HAHA

[numbnuts240]

OH tito, how I have missed thee and thy smart-a** answers

love you too, honey bunch

I just reread this thread. Pretty sure none of you like my car. HAHA

go buy stock in ed hardy.

[RicerX]

I just reread this thread. Pretty sure none of you like my car. HAHA

go buy stock in ed hardy.

Only if you exchange some of your affliction shares for a couple of t-shirts and we go clubbin together, toots.

[sentrastace]

lmfao.

[krash]

oh yeah, NO HONDAS. i live too close to a hispanic town and i dont want to be mistaken for one, cops love to pull over mexican-ish cars in the area. lol. i did not realize md was over-ridden with low riders and pintos...

They're not all over MD, they all gather in one city, that she happens to a stone's throw away from.

I'm with Tito though, get an s-chassis. Seems to fit your bill. You could probably pick up a turbo'd one for under 10k. Plus, I've only seen two driving around in little mexico.

[sentrastace]

I'm with Tito though, get an s-chassis. Seems to fit your bill. You could probably pick up a turbo'd one for under 10k. Plus, I've only seen two driving around in little mexico.

Krash, we both live in silver spring---
theres a guy on fairland road (between randolph and route 29) with a white 240 i am dying to have...i've never seen it driven, only parked and it looks like it may be in good shape. do you know him by any chance? lol.
I'm curious to see if I'm bold enough to knock on the door one day and see if he's willing to sell.

[sentrastace]

just go back to the kitchen woman

I will poison your sammich.

[krash]

Krash, we both live in silver spring---
theres a guy on fairland road (between randolph and route 29) with a white 240 i am dying to have...i've never seen it driven, only parked and it looks like it may be in good shape. do you know him by any chance? lol.
I'm curious to see if I'm bold enough to knock on the door one day and see if he's willing to sell.

I seen it! I'm not sure if he's selling though. I'm sure he'd consider if YOU showed up at his door with cash LOL

[downedzephyr]

I will poison your sammich.

i will eat your children

stop feeding the troll, stace!

[Koshin]

The first gen GSX will not break. The trannys are good for 400 whp, and there has never been one case of crankwalk on a 6bolt motor. They have the much stronger 4 bolt diffs too. You get a clean one for 2 grand, bolt on mods and it will go very deep into the twelves. 550cc injectors, front mount, crush the stock bov, and an EVO 16g turbo......faster than anything she could handle. And mad traction.

do it

[Urabus GodofTraction]

The STi does NOT have a "glass transmission." The WRX ones are a little weak, but the STi uses a totally different, totally overbuilt (internal oil pump, anyone?) transmission. STi is one of my top 5 choices

This thread is turning into a bit of a joke. Altima Coupes? Wanting people to "get out of the way when I'm driving, not try to squish me"? sorry about the fact that i dont want to get smushed by a tractor trailer in a miata on 495 because they drive like ***holes out here and end up dead.

Fastest car for cheapest... should have been titled "I want a shiny new car that I can pretend to take to the track."

you don't have to be mean about it, you guys asked me to be specific after my initial post so thats what i'm doing--i'm also ensuring that I get the car that makes my heart go thud and doesn't make me regret spending the money--I made a mistake when I bought this sentra new from the dealer and i don't want to make the same mistake again, thats all.

i think altima coupes 3.5 v6 are decent after some mods aside from the fact that they are heavy. i also like the way they look. i also have a natural inclination to stay within the Nissan family because they have ALWAYS been my passion and I want to stay connected w/ the NICO community. problem?

shiny new car, yes, everyone likes things that are shiny and new.

"pretend to take to the track" <---no, ACTUALLY take to the track--but thanks for trying to belittle a girl for doing some shiz she actually likes.

The STi comment wasn't directed at you.

Your sex has no bearing on belittling you or not. It might make you used to not being called out. Considering an Altima Coupe *snicker* casts your "fastest for cheapest" original goal in a pretty big shadow.

Every car you're considering would get destroyed by a semi. If Miatae were some fragile egg of a car, insurance would be loads higher on them. It's not. You're judgement is just swayed by the deeply flawed "bigger is better" SUV mentality.

Enjoy.

[sentrastace]

The STi comment wasn't directed at you.

Your sex has no bearing on belittling you or not. It might make you used to not being called out. Considering an Altima Coupe *snicker* casts your "fastest for cheapest" original goal in a pretty big shadow.

Every car you're considering would get destroyed by a semi. If Miatae were some fragile egg of a car, insurance would be loads higher on them. It's not. You're judgement is just swayed by the deeply flawed "bigger is better" SUV mentality.

Enjoy.

I commented on your STi comment to the other guy because I actually like that car and it seems like one of the most viable options for the SCCA, that I actually like.
Listing the cars asked for opinions, and I got yours, thanks-----for s*** on my thread, for no reason. a simple "i pick car x (whether it was on my list or not), because a b c d e f g" would've sufficed.

Not once did "bigger is better" cross my mind---safety DID cross my mind however, and i dont prefer small cars, simple as that. you getting butthurt because i didnt want a miata isnt really necessary. in no way did i say the car was s***, was ugly etc etc i said i dont want to get smushed on the highway. you must have some sort of affection for them, or are just really bored.

Instead of you accusing me, I'd like to say you have the "bigger is better" mentality as in "I'm gonna s*** on this chicks thread, simply because I think I'm better than her, I don't agree with her choices, therefore I am going to be an ***hole, yada yada yada...."

what is the point exactly on calling me out? How about being constructive and giving a genuine answer instead of flooding my thread with crap?
sheesh this is why i take breaks for months at a time from this forum. it is SO annoying to have to deal with this s*** for a simple, stupid, harmless question. If you dont agree, then GTFO.

[sentrastace]

Meh, I just skimmed through this thread, but I'm gonna throw this out there just for the hell of it...

How much does a used Lotus Elise or Exige (around mid 2000's) usually go for again?

My coworker who also races in the SCCA has a mazda 3 and loves it for events but says hes gonna get a lotus...not too expensive, light, powerful, and that added exotic flair. I can't disagree it'd be neat.

[Ace2cool]

Preach it, soul sistah.

And Stace, just to interject, the STi is one of my favorite cars ever, but handles like a dog's arse on an Auto-X course. It's great for road and drag, but the car wallows too much for an SCCA car. I destroyed my friend's STi in my Z, and he is way more modded. It's a lot about platform for purpose.

And I suggest if you do get a Lotus, to keep the Sentra as a DD. The Lotus is fun and awesome, but very hard to get in/out of. Not to mention there's almost no room in them, though the trunk does surprise you with its capacity.

[sentrastace]

Preach it, soul sistah.

And Stace, just to interject, the STi is one of my favorite cars ever, but handles like a dog's arse on an Auto-X course. It's great for road and drag, but the car wallows too much for an SCCA car. I destroyed my friend's STi in my Z, and he is way more modded. It's a lot about platform for purpose.

And I suggest if you do get a Lotus, to keep the Sentra as a DD. The Lotus is fun and awesome, but very hard to get in/out of. Not to mention there's almost no room in them, though the trunk does surprise you with its capacity.

Interesting! I appreciate that. The STi has been a LONG love of mine--I've only driven one on city roads and a drag strip once, never an auto x so i didnt get too much of a taste of how it handled, I just really liked the feel of the car and the power.
SRT-4 would be crap on auto x IMO, because it has a crappy turning radius (cant even make U turns properly)--that car I too like for the feel and the power, and the fact that I can find a good one cheap if I search around a bit. That and the resources are endless since my bf has 2 and he is very DIY.
The lotus, i'm not too keen on, I don't know much about it yet, will have to do more research

[VMPhil]

Yeah the WRX\STI has a tendency to understeer.

[flohtingPoint]

And Stace, just to interject, the STi is one of my favorite cars ever, but handles like a dog's arse on an Auto-X course. It's great for road and drag, but the car wallows too much for an SCCA car. I destroyed my friend's STi in my Z, and he is way more modded. It's a lot about platform for purpose.

What autocrosses are you doing? This is very, very bad information... Off the top of my head, three STi's trophied at Nationals this year and they're one of the front runners in Street Touring Unlimited. Martin Kriz (the SCCA Street Mod Northeastern Divisional Champion), destroyed me in his STi, and anyone that has seen my car run knows that it wouldn't get beat by something that "handles like a dog's arse". In DC (the region I drive in and the region she'd drive in), the Pro Solo Tour stop last year was dominated in Street Touring Unlimited by STi's (http://sololive.scca.com/2010DCPro/STU.html).

The only problem with STi's is that to run competitively in Street Touring Unlimited, you'd have to invest about 5 times the amount that you would if you ran a competitive Stock clas s car. Used car cost + clas s build cost = Brand new Z06 price.

Edit: Word filter is turning "clas s" (no space) into a$$

[simmode1]

Have you thought about the Cadillac CTS-V's? 4 doors, 6spd manual, LS1, and can be had for well under your $30k price range. The GTO's are an awesome buy in my opinion, every one of them i've driven has been a blast to drive and they're stupidly cheap and easy to mod. I don't like Pontiac either but the GTO wasn't a typical Pontiac IMHO. The G8 is also another awesome buy as well, no bigger than a Charger either, and comes with a 6.2L V8.

I agree with this post more than any other in the thread.

For the ppl recommending C5 Z06's... What your opinion on them versus a base C6? C6's have about the same amount of power, look alot better (IMO) and go for between $22k to $25k now for the 2005's. I'd much rather have a base C6 than a brand new Genesis or even the upcoming FT86...

[f1seb]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcs_nx7wIpE[/youtube]

[Urabus GodofTraction]

The STi comment wasn't directed at you.

Your sex has no bearing on belittling you or not. It might make you used to not being called out. Considering an Altima Coupe *snicker* casts your "fastest for cheapest" original goal in a pretty big shadow.

Every car you're considering would get destroyed by a semi. If Miatae were some fragile egg of a car, insurance would be loads higher on them. It's not. You're judgement is just swayed by the deeply flawed "bigger is better" SUV mentality.

Enjoy.

I commented on your STi comment to the other guy because I actually like that car and it seems like one of the most viable options for the SCCA, that I actually like.
Listing the cars asked for opinions, and I got yours, thanks-----for s*** on my thread, for no reason. a simple "i pick car x (whether it was on my list or not), because a b c d e f g" would've sufficed.

Not once did "bigger is better" cross my mind---safety DID cross my mind however, and i dont prefer small cars, simple as that. you getting butthurt because i didnt want a miata isnt really necessary. in no way did i say the car was s***, was ugly etc etc i said i dont want to get smushed on the highway. you must have some sort of affection for them, or are just really bored.

Instead of you accusing me, I'd like to say you have the "bigger is better" mentality as in "I'm gonna s*** on this chicks thread, simply because I think I'm better than her, I don't agree with her choices, therefore I am going to be an ***hole, yada yada yada...."

what is the point exactly on calling me out? How about being constructive and giving a genuine answer instead of flooding my thread with crap?
sheesh this is why i take breaks for months at a time from this forum. it is SO annoying to have to deal with this s*** for a simple, stupid, harmless question. If you dont agree, then GTFO.

TL;DR. I just read the last paragraph, and dude, your question was answered the moment Greg answered C5. Now you've gone all not cheapest not fastest anymore, and well maybe you need to stop flooding a thread about inexpensive fast cars with your crap.

Contructive: Get the Altima Coupe. It looks cheap and fast! It's the best choice if you're going to ignore logical answers like Miatas, 3-Series BMWs, and GTOs.

[Bubba1]

For the ppl recommending C5 Z06's... What your opinion on them versus a base C6? C6's have about the same amount of power, look alot better (IMO) and go for between $22k to $25k now for the 2005's. I'd much rather have a base C6 than a brand new Genesis or even the upcoming FT86...

Both C5/C6 have their virtues. I think if It were strictly for street use, I'd go with a base C6, but if I were planning to mix in track use, I'd go with the less expensive C5 Z06.

[AZhitman]

Yeah, this got away from "cheapest speed" REAL quick.

Honestly, if you'd bought the SE-R Spec-V, we wouldn't be having this chat, because with a few mods, it'll out-handle a lot of the cars we've already discussed.

I'm gonna be a jackass and restate the obvious: Keep the Sentra to DD, buy a shagged Miata for tracking. Tracking one's DD is foolish (been there, done that, would have bought the t-shirt but couldn't afford it).

"New & shiny" and "weekend track car" in the same sentence = Greg throwing something at you.

[simmode1]

Tracking one's DD is foolish (been there, done that, would have bought the t-shirt but couldn't afford it).

Truer words were never spoken.

[flohtingPoint]

I just did this as a write up for Stacy, but figured it couldn't hurt to share with everyone else.


There are five main clas s types in SCCA. Stock, Street Touring, Street Prepared, Prepared and Modified. The most realistic clas s you can run in without spending an asinine amount of money on parts and development is the Stock clas s. Stock clas s allows for the following:
-r-compound tires
-light weight wheels (but they have to be the exact same size, offset and diameter as the stock wheels.
-modified front sway bar
-modified dampers (aftermarket shocks)
-catback
-light weight battery
-air filter replacement (you have to maintain stock induction box though, so basically just a k&n drop in filter)

If it doesn't say you can modify things, chances are you cannot (this means no body kits, interior modifications too). The above list is not super expensive, you can typically build a stock clas s car for about 3.5k starting (price goes up for older cars as you have to replace a lot of things). The rest of the clas ses of autocross cost MUCH MORE. Put it this way, I've spent probably 15K developing my car and it's still not competitive in national rankings. It's going to take another 6-10K.

Now, lets look at the stock clas ses. For your budget, B-Stock, C-Stock, D-Stock, E-Stock, G-stock and H-Stock are all options for you. Super Stock is Z06's and Elises, A-Stock is Porsche's and F-Stock is new Shelby Mustangs, all three of those clas ses cost ALOT for the cars and for the tires. Below I'll go over the stock clas ses and tell you the dominant cars. I'll also post a link to what the clas s was like at the SCCA National Championship this year, that gives you a good idea at how fast these cars are compared to each other.

B-Stock (http://sololive.scca.com/2010Nationals/BS.html)
---------------
B-Stock is dominated by S2000's. This was the car I recommended to you on the forums. Another option is a Pontiac Solstice GXP (has to be GXP, base Solstice is another clas s), which is lightning fast.


C-Stock (http://sololive.scca.com/2010Nationals/CS.html)
--------------
C-Stock has one main dominant car; the 2007 MSR MX-5. RX8's are also very great regional competitors but fall short of the MSR nationally. 350/370Z's are in this clas s but may get a clas s move here in the near future.


D-Stock (http://sololive.scca.com/2010Nationals/DS.html)
-------------
D-Stock is a pretty wide open clas s in terms of good cars. The main front runner is the Integra Type-R. From there, you can go with a Mini Cooper S, Chevy Cobalt SS or even regular WRX's can be regionally competitive.


E-Stock (http://sololive.scca.com/2010Nationals/ES.html)
-------------
If someone stole the Corolla tomorrow, E-stock is where I'd go. This clas s has two VERY fun cars to drive that are pretty much the only real choices for the clas s. The 1994 Miata R or the 2nd gen (non-turbo) MR2. These are fairly cheap cars and an absolute blast to drive in E-stock trim.

G-Stock (http://sololive.scca.com/2010Nationals/GS.html)
-------------
G-Stock is like D-stock, in that there are lots of choices here for a competitive car. You can go with a SRT-4, final generation Celica and Mazdaspeed Protege. Locally here in DC, a Spec V does pretty good too.

H-Stock (http://sololive.scca.com/2010Nationals/HS.html)
-------------
H-Stock has a couple good cars, one of which you'll be lucky to find in any good condition, that car being the 89 Civic. The baseline Cooper is an excellent H-Stock car. A driver here in DC (Marshall Cone) does marvelous things with it. I've seen SVT Focus' run in H-Stock, but put the same driver in a Cooper and he/she'd be faster.


Lets summarize here. Cars worth looking into for autocross:
-S2000
-Solstice GXP
-RX8
-MSR MX5
-Integra Type R
-Mini Cooper (both S and non S)
-Colbalt SS
-Regular WRX (non-sti)
-1st gen Miata R
-2nd gen MR2 (non-turbo)
-SRT-4
-Final gen Celica
-Mazdaspeed Protege
-Spec V

Just about every other car out there is either futile in the Stock clas s rankings or will cost you an exorbitant amount of money to run in the higher clas ses. For someone who does not have a massive motorsports budget, I'd suggest staying away from any cars other than these.

THINGS TO AVOID!
-The mod bug. Dont look at cars and think, "I can make this car fast," because you cannot. Everyone out in DC has monster budgets and can outspend you within clas s restrictions. You'll wind up an "also-ran" in SM or XP, basically showing up to autocrosses just so the other people in the clas s can step on you (this is NOT fun).

-Buying parts w/out doing the research. Always ask local competitors that have national level experience for advice, especially starting off. I've been working with Corolla's for years and I still have three people right now that are national competitors that I use to pick their brains on things.

-Buying a car w/out first consulting the SCCA rule book for clas sing. You might be buying a trim level that is not allowed in a certain clas s or you might be only allowed to run certain years.

I've said it a few times in this write-up, but I cannot stress enough about the dangers of opening the spending flood gates. If you step outside of Stock clas s setup, you are either going to have to break the bank (and possibly start selling crack) just to keep up, or you're going to be just someone who gets beat by everyone each week and sits at the bottom of the time sheet. No amount of driving talent is going to trump spending out in DC, as all the other drivers on the grid are massively talented too. DC is one of the biggest SCCA hubs in the nation and has a monumental amount of great drivers.

[AZhitman]

Great writeup, Jim.

I'll stretch it a little further, because I think I have a pretty good idea of what's going on here:

FIRST, go to an HPDE event. Register in DE-1. Take a helmet. Drive the Sentra. Learn how much you don't know. Listen to the instructor. It's humbling. Go to another DE event. Run in DE-1 again. Do this 5 times or as many times as they'll let you. Then go run DE-2 a few times.

NEXT, go to an SCCA or NASA event. Drive someone else's car. Do it again. Drive someone else's car. Do it a third time. Drive yet ANOTHER person's car.

If you STILL have the bug, buy a REAL track car. If you don't still have the bug, call me and thank me for saving you $20,000.

[Koshin]

So, wait...Are you looking to get into autoX or something? are you looking for a track car or a street car? Im confuses

[Kenrik]

Great writeup, Jim.

I'll stretch it a little further, because I think I have a pretty good idea of what's going on here:

FIRST, go to an HPDE event. Register in DE-1. Take a helmet. Drive the Sentra. Learn how much you don't know. Listen to the instructor. It's humbling. Go to another DE event. Run in DE-1 again. Do this 5 times or as many times as they'll let you. Then go run DE-2 a few times.

NEXT, go to an SCCA or NASA event. Drive someone else's car. Do it again. Drive someone else's car. Do it a third time. Drive yet ANOTHER person's car.

If you STILL have the bug, buy a REAL track car. If you don't still have the bug, call me and thank me for saving you $20,000.

Been there done that.. I have the bug but not the financing.

[flohtingPoint]

So, wait...Are you looking to get into autoX or something? are you looking for a track car or a street car? Im confuses

She said SCCA and the only SCCA around DC is Autocross. For SCCA track related things, you have to go to West Virginia. A real track related budget is about 10x that of an autocross budget. I've had to halt all autocross related spending for the first quarter of this year to get ready for the time trial season.

Also, track cars != autocross cars. Good track cars are not good autocross cars (my MR2 is an atrociously bad autocross car). Good autocross cars are not good track cars (my Corolla would get destroyed by it's competition due to classing). Two very different setups, two very different trains of thought (especially concerning swaybars) and two very different sets of rules. Same thing with drivers, good track drivers are rarely good autocrossers and vice versa.

[alms24sebring]

Krash, we both live in silver spring---
theres a guy on fairland road (between randolph and route 29) with a white 240 i am dying to have...i've never seen it driven, only parked and it looks like it may be in good shape. do you know him by any chance? lol.
I'm curious to see if I'm bold enough to knock on the door one day and see if he's willing to sell.

Its a white Kouki? If its the same one, I think about a year ago I was dying to trade my beat up one + cash for his. I tried to give him what I could offer but he wouldn't take it. sad face because I reeeaaaally wanted it.

After reading throught this thread I have come to some conclusions..

1) Sell the current DD if you dont plan to keep it, which it sounds like you dont. Private sale with parts (its just easier).
2) IMO, the best cars to choose from is a C5 (my #1 choice overall by far). Greg was right from the start. STi, S2000s may be competitive too. All with mods of course and dont forget suspension matters too, not just hp.
3) No FWD, with MAYBE 1 or 2 exceptions like an Integra R or SRT4
4)GodofTraction is a d!ck. Learn to spell too.
5) Bigger means heavier, rollier, more hp for same speed. Not better
6) If it was me.. C5 track car + 92-95 Civic hatch beater DD = WINtastic

I like how you lay down the law too. Your little Sentra can kick all our asses around a corner!!

[Bubba1]

It sounds like to me she's simply looking for something sportier/faster out of the box than what she's driving now and it must have a stick. I did not get the feeling she's looking for a hardcore autocross/race car, but something that could not only be a DD but could also enjoy at an HPDE, a car show, or perhaps an autocross if she's mindful of modifications. Am I right, Stace?

Your Sentra is more competent on the track than you give it credit, but I completely understand wanting something more inherently sporty. As far as disposing of your Sentra, you might want to try to sell it privately. It's a nice looking car, and the mods might be appealing to a young buyer. but the mods will not help on a trade in.