well im looking for a car to do some autoxing with....i have mostly been in to drag racing for the past 2 years but now i wanna try auto x...i may sign up for a class sometime in the fall so i can learn how to drive better but i only have 7k to spend on a car...the less the better. my plans with the car is going to the strip once or twice a year and do auto x as much as possible. the only mods i wanna do with this car is a new clutch, intake, springs/shocks, and a set of sticky tires thats it.

The cars i have been looking at latley are
91-93 teg
94+ teg gsr
92-95 eh hatch (either a DX or Si model)
95+ golf VR6
or a 95+ jetta
i am open to alot more cars i am basically looking for low maintanice cost

so what do you recomend

 

A nice old Civic hatch and EF or something.

A CRX would work well too.

 

oh yea im most likley gonna keep the car for 6 years (gotta finish hs then college ) so i dont wanna get something to old now....

 

1st generation Mazda Miata and leave it stock. Just go through repairing things that need to be addressed and run it in the stock classes. Before modifying, check out what's allowed in the class you'd like to run in.

This won't be a good drag racing car, but I'm just about positive you'll retire from drag racing once you start having some fun autocrossing. You can later, down the road, relatively cheaply put this car on the track and race it in Spec Miata. Very easy on tires and brakes...I have heard of people doing an entire season on one set of Toyos and 4 seasons of racing on one engine (albeit with some slight freshening).

Another great car is, of course, the CRX. I will go ahead and apply all comments above about the Miata concerning modifying and drag racing. The step up to road racing wouldn't be too difficult with this, either.

An idea Crack Monkey and I were tossing around a couple days ago was to pick up a 5th generation Civic CX and run it with the stock 1.5L. Now I'm not sure on exactly how this car classes in various types of racing, but suspension is almost a no-brainer with this car. I'm really curious how well an "improved" final drive (if one can be had) and a better exhaust manifold would wake one of these cars up and make it competitive in IT or H5.

Just a little food for thought...

 

Respect the Monkey!

That CX is the newest car listed in ITC and is all but destined to be a great answer. It will be affordable to drive on a daily basis and to autocross, it will carry all of your crap around, and be a reliable transportation now and race car later. I do NOT know how competitive it would be in a stock Solo class - don't even know what class it's in - but that is really the least of the issues.

Kirk

 

hey...Crack Monkey? i remember him from CSi....wheres he been?
anyway yeah im really feeling the 5th gen hatchies i dunno bout the CRX though i kinda need a back seat...what do you guys think of a 95ish teg LS? bahh
and are there any events in our area(MD/DC/VA)? i really wanna learn stuff before i get into it

 

My feelings as well. I was looking at them before I decided on the DX. If nothing else, there's a huge aftermarket for them.

 

He's been busy painting his car purple and teal. And what's so sad about it is that it's supposed to be an "improvement" on the brownish-tan that it used to be. The term "teletubbies" has been used in describing this thing.

 

find a mr2, i like the 2nd gen 91-93, my friend has a 93 the shifting and handling are amazing, rear wheel,mid engine ,two seater,ya, hey derek daley from speedvision said that is a true race car like the nsx, and he is awesome so,

 

I'd also second the Miata: huge aftermarket, excellent handling, proven reliability, available limited-slip diff, four-wheel disc brakes, nice shifter, good ergonomics plus the top goes down. Properly driven, a stock Miata can clean house on the autocross. All years are pretty good, so I'd buy the best one for your budget. Check http://www.miata.net for buyers' info and whatever, but $7k should be able to buy you a '94+ car (gets you the 1.8L engine). I have a '92 model with 97k miles (1.6L engine) which I love. Problems to date have been very minimal.

As far as mods, keep it in the stock class for now--add exhaust, tires and do a tune-up. (The exhaust won't add a ton of horsepower, but they do sound nice.) Sticky tires on stock wheels will definitely help, as will a good set of shocks. (Keep the stock springs for now.)

If you want to go Honda, what about a '92 EX coupe? One just did well at the Solo II Nats in Street Touring. That's got me thinking, too, as the Si models seem to command higher prices.

 

Keep in mind that a 3G Integra LS is in the same class as GSRs. While HP doesn't matter much at an autocross, if you have a pretty high speed course( at least 60mph once or twice) a GSR with a good driver will be next to impossible to beat in an LS.

30hp more, shorter gearing and a slightly larger rear swaybar(1mm, but still, a small difference) mean they'll always have one up on your LS. More HP can't make enough difference to make up for driver skill(like in a drag race), but if you are equally matched as drivers, the GSR driver has the faster car.

But if you have really low speed course you would effectively be on even ground.

 

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=289503

Buy this and go road racing/driver's schooling.
Great car as-is or very modifyable.
Not a better deal available anywhere right now.

 

...but when someone says he has $7k to spend, that really means he can commit maybe half of that up front to the purchase of the car - assuming the thing is actually going to get used. This is NOT to say that the asking price on that Integra isn't reasonable - it's just that you buy it and you buy the opportunity to spend another $7-10k on the rest of the fun.

Kirk

 

i'm telling you , mr2

 

...but if you are willing to put up with having only two seats (bleah) the Miata makes more sense when it does come time to go road racing. MR2s are great cars but they are pretty outclassed in ITA - and no Honda Challenge!

Kirk

 

Hmmm, for cheap autocross, you cannot beat the 4th gen Si hatchback (89-91?). It's a winner in H-Stock (national champ two of last three years). It is also not bad in Street Touring (STS, won several national events this year and last). In C-Street Prepared it gets beat by the CRX on account of the weight difference, but is still a contender locally.

If you want something a bit sportier, the 1.6L Miata and early MR2 are great in E-Stock. Neither are eligible for STS. In CSP they do well, but those darn CRX as tough to beat.

Want back seats and something to drag race? Well, a third or fourth gen Camaro is a good option. Fast in F-Stock and ESP. Cheap to buy, maintain, and modify.

Forget about club racing until you're done with college and have income. All of the above will do fine for track days. By the time you master these cars (which you have 4+ years to do), you should be an excellent driver and stepping up to club racing will be a cinch.

PS - I gave up on CSI. No content at all. 100% useless.


[Modified by Crack Monkey, 11:32 AM 9/27/2002]

 

$7k should get you a clean 84-86 Porsche 944.

they are reliable and do well in autocross, even if they are slightly impractical (but not as impractical as, say, a miata .

plus you can say you drive a car made by the marque that has won more races and more TYPES of races than any other in the world


[Modified by shadowboy, 2:46 PM 9/27/2002]

 

...spending more basketfuls of money, with more factory support and more professional German engineers.

K

 

do what im planning
92-95 hatch 3000
saftey equipment (for road racing) - 1700
suspension - 1300 (race ready )
you still have 1g to go to track events/autocrosses.

 

Guys, remember, DesiEg is still in HS and will be going to college. A pimpy racecar does him no good (not to mention, he never said he wanted to race). A cheap, reliable car that is reasonably competitive at SoloII events will do just fine.

 

ok
then still a 92-95 hatch will do FINE
great cars and you can make them fast if you so choose to do so.

 

Crackmonkey....you make alot of sence...maybe i should put it off till im done with HS and just buy somethin to drive around. i dont street race at all, so im not really going for that...maybe a 92ish DX with a d16z6 swap for fun

PS crackmonkey CSi does blow now

 

While a swap would be groovy, it costs $$ that could be better spent elsewhere (like autocross entry fees) and effectively prevents you from running a lot of class with a lot of sanctioning bodies...
K

 

damn i forgot about that....so i gotta stick with the DX motor for stock class o well ill just get suspention and start practicing

 

The 92-95 civic ex coupe is a good idea. That's what I have. So maybe I'm a little biased. It really is a decent autocross car and daily driver with limited, but correct, preparation. I autocrossed the car for 5 years before converting it to SCCA Improved Touring specs for road racing. Although not necessarilly a class winner with SCCA, it makes a damn fine H4 Honda Challenge car.

The idea about the 92-95 dx hatch is not a bad idea either. Brett Howell WON F-Street Prepared at the Solo II Nationals in 2001 with one of limited preparation. Granted, he is a very experienced autocrosser and did the "right" things to his car. But none the less, he and his car kick ***.

Lyon
13H4