Ive been looking over all of the late 80's early 90's imports and between the mr2/ae86/240/crx/integra etc i think im going to go with the crx, ive been trying to do alot of research but the internet is just so opinion bias that i feel like its going to take forever till i get the right answers.

well that leads me to you guys, i figgure you actually know what you are talking about.

well it might seem weird but i only want to spend 2k on the car (because its all i have now and i need the car now) but i want to spend atleast 15-20 into it over the next few years, but i want to mod this car and own it as long as i can, i dont like getting reid of cars i just like making them better as time goes.

because of that, it seems like the only crx's that are availible to me are from around 86-91ish give or take.

Ill tell you that i really love cars that can handle well, but more importantly that are light weight as well....i also donot care about nice things such as power windows, ac, or any other fancy things that dont effect the cars performance (and i dont mean just speed and power), i need all the performance.

I would eventually like to pretty much replace just about everything in the car including swap and get it as close to a race car as i can, but thats going to take me a few years as i dont make a ton of cash (which is another reason why i feel the crx is my best bet)

What i need is some smart oppinions as to which model to get and why. Knowing the information that ive told you, which one should i try to get, maby give me the 1st and 2nd choices....which ones would be the worst to get and why as well.

Light weight really matters to me, so if possible, id like to know their weights and which ones lightest, since ill eventually be replacing everything. Im not sure which engine ill use in the long run but ill do a cheeper($2k or so) swap to begin with(maby the 16 or 18) and then move onto a more expensive one that ill try to get boosted/vtec?(maby the 20 or 22?)...my friend says the best 16 is the way to go...so yha ive got everyones oppinion but my own, that can come with time and i plan to research but the car needs to come quick, i just dont want to buy the wrong one.

im sure u guys pretty much get the picture and should know what im talking about more than i do lol.

btw how do these things handle? how would it compare against the ae86 or mr2 if they where all redone and tuned a little....does anyone think this whole idea is bad and if so what then?

Is it true that the 85-87 hf weighs in at only 1700ish lbs, while the dx and si are considerably heavier, and that the newer and nicer 91 si's which are the more availible run up to almost 2200lbs....... what does the old hf have like no conviniences and is badass, or is it going to be impossible to find parts to fit it, way more to engine swap and all that kind of crap? i mean what all am i really getting for that extra 30% 500lbs weight....what are all the pros and cons of this idea and the 87hf vs 87-91 si, whats all the differences...i mean id almost be willing to take a mr2 or ae86 when we start talking about 91 si 21-2200lbs.

Thanks for taking your time to help me, i really appreciate it!

 

The '88-91 Si would be the easiest & cheapest to acquire, work on, get parts for, and modify. Its also a great auto-x or drag car. The turbo MR2 (early-mid nineties) would be the most badass out of the box and can be built to be very badass.

 

a 88 hf would be nice,its the lightess model chassis and lighter is better

 

uh, 84-85 HF is lighter than an 88...

anyways, if you are interested in the 84-87 models, check out redpepperracing.com and they will have pretty much all the info you need.

 

Make a choice: Street car or race car. Because race cars make lousy street cars and street cars make lousy race cars.

You will not like this reply but I suggest getting a reliable street car... and leave it as a street car. Save your money and build a race car when you are able.

I know, you want a reliable street car that has some decent performance... cheap. Sorry, it does not work that way. It is that "cheap" element that gets in the way.

Any kind of rust free Civic/CRX/Integra will be a good basis for a future road burner, swapping and upgrading is easy enough if you have the talent or money.

Scott