I'll make this quick:
A 92 Civic HB for 2k and then add 5k worth of mods to it or
a 85 porsche 944 turbo for 6k and no mods.
or anything else that i can keep the total cost under 10k for mainly track use.

what kind of maintanence cost am i looking at? advantages/disadvantages? other car suggestions?


[Modified by mrlegoman, 11:31 PM 10/22/2001]

 

944 will eat you alive in maintance cost................otherwise a baddass machine. But VERY $$ to maintain.

 

If this is your first track car, run, don't walk, away from a 944. These require lots of maintenance. Lots of EXPENSIVE maintenance.

The Civic would be a great starter car. You don't need 5k of frigin mods. Do you want to kill yourself faster? Get a cage, harnesses, extra wheels and tires, and ****** drive.

Warren

 

That is conflict of terms seeing as Porsche didn't make one. The 951 was first made in 1986 from my understanding (and I have never ever seen a 951 with the older interior - suggesting pre 1985.5). I wouldn't say a P-car is that bad cost wise if you do the work. I do some of my work and that stuff is probably cheaper than the same for Honda maintenance (cause the 85.5 and up cars all share nearly everything and there isn't a state that doesn't have one place selling reman'd stuff for a 944 - cm'on 90 bucks for front and rear sways??? thats nice IMO). Now for the coilovers, yeah expect to pay a couple hundred more ($1800 w/ 400# springs). For clutch job, figure it 2 more hours of labor (than a honda). For tranny rebuild - **** buy a used one (and your still in for some cash). For aftermarket wheels - forget about it new (used you can do some great stuff between rennlist and ebay). For race parts, depends on what you are looking for. For, well you get my drift - a 944 can be done on a budget but I'd buy a 944 N/A over a turbo considering your costs way down. You should be able to find a pre 85.5 for $3K to $3.5K, then call paragon products and give Jason about 3 grand in suspension money, take it to a reputable shop and have them replace every hose (you can do this yourself) and replace every belt (and don't try replacing your timing belt yourself). Again, that is an N/A! not a 951.

 

Yeah! What WARREN said!

 

What are you doing with the car?
Do you plan on HPDE, club racing, autocross, ...?

If you think you might want to compete, make sure whatever car is classed somewhere.

It would be hard to beat a 4th gen Civic (or 2nd gen CRX) in terms of parts availability, realiability, cost, etc. Very competitive in competition, fast enough to be challenging and fun, and very cost effective.

Or a early Miata (1.6L). Probably spend about $4-$6k on a nice 92-93. Add a rollbar, extra wheels/tires, bushings, shocks, springs and you will still a bit left over to keep for a later date.

 

What Warren and B18 said. I had an instructor in a 944 turbo last year. He really liked my SE-R. So much so, I thought he was going to drop a load in the passenger seat. He asked how much maintenance was and we concluded that a new engine for my car was less expensive than one of his normal trips to the Porsche dealer.

My vote: Civic, hands down.

 

LegoMan - No interest in running the Prelude?

 

What the others said. Get the Civic, put the right safety equipment in it, and drive it. It won't break very often (if at all) if it's a solid car.

 

From all the info that I've read, the Lude doesn't make for a compeditive track car. I'd have to dump a lot of money into it to get it to run with the ITR's and even then it has a 500+ lb disadvantage. I have seen a couple ludes that will kill just about anything on the track. But lots of $$$ and crazy-*** driving skills.
I'm not going to dis the lude yet. I am going to run it at summit point for both speedtrials and carguys. So no final decisions till after that. Plus I need some skills first before I really need to worry about a car.