Buying my first autox/rallyx car: Grassroots Motorsports forum: Grassroots Motorsports Magazine

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May 9, 2009 5:47 p.m. GnarMachine None

I'm looking to buy my first race car to work on over this summer. My daily is a blazer, which wouldn't be much fun for any sort of racing.

I'm a total noob to any sort of racing but I think I'd like to do some auto cross and rally cross, maybe some road course or track racing too.

I've been looking at subarus mainly because the imprezas are fairly cheap and seem like they'd be a good do it all car for some weekend fun and a bit of spirited driving. There are also an abundance of subarus in the new england area so I don't think I'd have any shortage of places to find parts should I need them.

The other car that caught my eye is the miata, but that seems like it might be a bit more expensive and more difficult to get parts for.

I've also looked into bmw e30's, however I'm a bit turned off by those because a friend of mine has had nothing but trouble with his 318is and it's been really expensive to repair, maybe that's just a fluke with his particular car though.

Which car would be the better choice for someone who is on a budget but wants to have some fun? Are there any other cars that would be a good option (RWD or AWD preferably)?

Thanks for any help, it's much appreciated.
May 9, 2009 6:25 p.m. ignorant PowerDork

Whatever is cheap and plentiful. Sometimes you can find guys who sell nice cars due to financial trouble. Buying one that is "built" is a really cheap way to go.
May 9, 2009 6:48 p.m. GnarMachine New Reader

Yeah, there seem to be plenty of cheap 90's imprezas with wrx swaps on nasioc. I may go that route, just wanted to make sure that was the best plan for what I'd like to do.
May 9, 2009 9:00 p.m. InigoMontoya Reader

Another good place to start would be the local autocross forum if you have one. We always have cars going up for sale on ours, and usually the folks who are selling are car folks and take care of their vehicles.

I would say that hondas, mazdas and subarus are good places to start, you can have fun and plenty of aftermarket for pretty much anything in that category.

The miata will be pretty much out of the box competitive, ours has koni yellows, front sway, and r coumpounds everything else is stock and does quite well (1st in e stock for spring out of 4-5 cars). It is not even the 'right' miata, m package so is heavy, 97 so rides high compared to others. Still a great car and is very easy to find parts for.
May 9, 2009 10:19 p.m. wherethefmi HalfDork

Go with want you really like and can afford. And that blazer would be great to rally cross.
May 9, 2009 11:27 p.m. friedgreencorrado Reader

Building one for road & off-road may be a little tough. That being said, you might want to try a simple FWD sedan. The magazine's working on a Neon right now..

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/project-cars/1996-dodge-neon-acr/

A VW A2 Golf might do the trick as well. I'd stay away from the Hondas for rallycross, since so many of the suspension components are so light. For auto-x/track days, OTOH...an older Honda would be a lot of fun!
May 9, 2009 11:37 p.m. NBS2005 Dork

While anything can work take some time to think about what you might want to do in the future. If you have any thoughts of stage rally, it is much easier to build a car that has proper gravel parts readily available. Subaru is a great choice for both AWD or FWD. Golfs are also good.

Neon's are cheap and if you don't think you'll ever want to do real rally, not a bad choice. But they are limited for a stage buildup (suspenders, transmissions, final drives). Ask me how I know
May 10, 2009 1:48 a.m. Travis_K HalfDork

neons are good, subarus, golfs are decent with some work, but an untouched $1200 golf is a major POS from what i have seen (the shifter mechanism doesnt hold up well, they usually run like crap when they are cold, etc). For autocross/rallycross id get a neon, if you are thinking more rallycross and later stage rally use, either a golf or impreza would be better.
May 10, 2009 8:44 a.m. ignorant PowerDork

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1757042 what about that gti.. in new england
May 10, 2009 8:52 a.m. Karl La Follette Reader

Go to your local salvage yard or towing company and pick up a cheap beater , go green and recycle . There is allways a DUI car that somebody didnt pay their tow bill on and flash the owner some green .
May 10, 2009 7:18 p.m. iceracer Reader

There is a Blazer that runs hillclimbs in New England. Very fast.
May 10, 2009 7:47 p.m. maroon92 UltraDork

if you want cheap speed, there is nothing better than American Muscle...Fox or SN95 Mustang, Late Camaro or Firebird/Trans Am...very cheap to make fast. parts are plentiful.
May 10, 2009 9:00 p.m. GnarMachine New Reader

iceracer wrote:

There is a Blazer that runs hillclimbs in New England. Very fast.

Really? That's pretty cool.

I guess I'll swing by a salvage yard or two and see what they have. I'm going to try to find a subaru because they seem the most versatile, but I'll keep all the other suggestions in mind.

Thanks for all the help and suggestions everyone!
May 10, 2009 9:23 p.m. Hal HalfDork

Ford Focus

They do decently at Auto-X with some suspension bits. NASA even has a road racing and a rally spec class for them.
May 10, 2009 9:43 p.m. ignorant PowerDork

GnarMachine wrote:

iceracer wrote:

There is a Blazer that runs hillclimbs in New England. Very fast.

Really? That's pretty cool.

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/crazy-hillclimb-vehicle/2174/page1/
May 10, 2009 9:46 p.m. Autolex Reader

BMW - E30 - (88-90 325iX) Find one and do both with it!
May 10, 2009 10:38 p.m. GnarMachine New Reader

ignorant wrote:

GnarMachine wrote:

iceracer wrote:

There is a Blazer that runs hillclimbs in New England. Very fast.

Really? That's pretty cool.

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/crazy-hillclimb-vehicle/2174/page1/

That's awesome!

Unfortunately I have a second gen 4 door which isn't quite as cool.
May 10, 2009 11:31 p.m. ReverendDexter HalfDork

What's your budget?

There's a big difference in what you can buy and be happy with depending on if you're expecting to spend $20k, $10k, or $2k.

It also depends on what else you need the car to do. You might be able to get away with a true 2-seater if it's ONLY a toy, or you may want it to take over some of your other driving duties, in which case a 240SX hatch may be more appropriate.
May 11, 2009 6:06 p.m. GnarMachine New Reader

ReverendDexter wrote:

What's your budget?

There's a big difference in what you can buy and be happy with depending on if you're expecting to spend $20k, $10k, or $2k.

It also depends on what else you need the car to do. You might be able to get away with a true 2-seater if it's ONLY a toy, or you may want it to take over some of your other driving duties, in which case a 240SX hatch may be more appropriate.

I'd like to initially spend around $2000 or less and put money into it over time.

I'd like the car to mainly be a toy but I'll probably end up driving it around half the time, maybe more.