I totally forgot about Honda Fits..................I can confrom they are fun to drive.
I totally forgot about Honda Fits..................I can confrom they are fun to drive.
BlueInGreen - Jon said:In reply to spacecadet (Forum Supporter) :
FWIW, I didn't have any issues finding parts when I recently had a Neon. The local junkyard even had a few first gen coupes if I needed anything.
Also, it helps that if you break a motor the 2.4 swap is easy and those were put in everything.
I forget they made them until 2005.. so yeah.. looks like as long as you're not trying to keep a dinosaur alive.. these could totally work
My first "fun" car at age 17 was a B13 SE-R, it was great... but I pretty recently spent a day and a half driving a manual Yaris hatch on snow and ice and it was just as much fun as I remember the B13 being. If I wanted another tossable fwd thing these days I'd be looking at the Yaris instead, they're cheaper and more rust resistant.
In reply to spacecadet (Forum Supporter) :
Well, a lot of that is quite discouraging lol.
Why wouldn't you ever encourage someone to buy a subie?
What's so bad about the ep3 suspension? It can't be fixed?
Are old golfs actually that expensive? I always thought they were reliable
That oil burn issues sounds serious. Disappointing
And the civic you recommended is the only one I dont like lol. What's wrong with the others?
I actually don't know why I didn't think of the fit. My friend's dad has a manual one so I'll ask him if I can test drive it. They seem pretty cool. 5 doors but everything's a compromise, and you've got a lot of good to say about them
The Rio was a consideration, but it seems a bit heavy for the power, and they never made the three door in the US
Ill definitely try to find you guys at gridlife. What do I look for?
and wow, I'm impressed with that reliability on the fit
In reply to BlueInGreen - Jon :
Ooooh the probe gt. Love the k V6. In fact it was the first engine I went down the performance rabbit hole on. Priced out a whole 10000 rpm klze build when I was younger lmao.
Truly, I don't know if I want a fun different car to occasionally track or a track rat. I think maybe the former because I don't have the most free time to go to tracks but are they truly mutually exclusive?
In reply to ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ :
Yeah I think the Yaris is pretty epic, even though everyone I know hate's it lol. However, I havent been able to find one in my price range that's manual, rust free, and leaves budget room for speedy goodies
This Yaris sadly an automatic but I respect the look (even if only posser with auto.)
In reply to John Welsh :
Wow, I like that a lot. Shame it's an auto, would be perfect!
I found a manual one, not that far from Chicago I think?
In reply to ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ :
Yep, you're right. not too bad of a drive and looks pretty nice. If i go take a look at it and parents approve, what should I look for in PPI
I suggest, and this is with all sincerity, a Chevrolet Cobalt 2.2 base or a Chevrolet Cruze. Bear with me. They are generally crap cars but they handle quite well, are cheap to keep on the road and most of all they are disposable.
In reply to Evanuel9 :
I don't think there's anything specific that goes wrong with the Yaris, so just stuff that a used car with a lot of miles might have- what's worn out, has somebody crashed it, are there crappy parts or poorly executed repairs, that sort of thing.
Evanuel9 said:In reply to spacecadet (Forum Supporter) :
Well, a lot of that is quite discouraging lol.
Why wouldn't you ever encourage someone to buy a subie?
All of my friends who subarus run or work in subaru shops, and work on their cars nonstop or are really good friends with their mechanics. Case and point, one of the guys who was running a slower subaru, who owns his own shop, has parked his 2.5 hawkeye and bought a Honda fit to run this fall, another one of our time attack competitors subarus is so unreliable he bought a honda Fit as a backup and is going to run that the majority of the time.
If you want a subaru, go for it. But as an outside observer.. it seems like a constant loop of pain and neverending money pits fueled by a fanboi love of the rally cars.What's so bad about the ep3 suspension? It can't be fixed?
Is it possible to fix? kinda.. But it's the worst design around so you'll be trying to fix a flawed chassis when there's lots of better options.https://motoiq.com/Project-EP3-Civic-Si-Fixing-EP3-Bumpsteer-with-Hardrace/
From the Article:Perhaps the worst issue with the suspension of the EP3 is the large amount of bump steer present in its steering geometry. With its origins coming from a van, apparently, the steering was designed for ease of running a steering column instead of any kind of aspirations of good handling. In fact, the layout of the steering is perhaps the worst that we have seen in a modern car!
Ideally, in a McPherson strut front suspension, the steering rack should be placed so the inner tie rods pivots are in line with the lower control arm pivot bolts with the outer tie rods being in the same plane as the ball joints. On an EP3, the steering rack is midway up the firewall. The rack is also very short and the tie rods very long; this makes for a lot of toe in under suspension moments.
The constant big changes in toe makes the car squirm around and wander which is annoying, and in some cases, it's so bad it makes it hard for the car to stay online. All is not lost- we have obtained some parts to help reduce the bump steer, hopefully, to manageable levels.
Are old golfs actually that expensive? I always thought they were reliable
it's an old german turbo car, it might be great and when it is it will be fun, but when it's not it might be a disaster and you throwing parts at it trying to fix something stupid. Since you're playing with very little money here, I'd steer clear.
That oil burn issues sounds serious. Disappointing
And the civic you recommended is the only one I dont like lol. What's wrong with the others?
The 92-99 (EG and EK family) coupes are also fairly readily available for body parts but the sedans are most common, the hatchbacks are great, but a lot less common and if something happens to a hatchback specific part.. I don't know how easy it is to find replacement parts vs sedans and coupe where they should be at almost any junkyard. the EF 88-91 family has a different design for the front suspension and a frontal impact can be a huge deal, and parts for these were getting to be harder to find 5-6 years ago when I had one and needed parts.. so I wouldn't recommend one as a street car today.
I actually don't know why I didn't think of the fit. My friend's dad has a manual one so I'll ask him if I can test drive it. They seem pretty cool. 5 doors but everything's a compromise, and you've got a lot of good to say about them
The Rio was a consideration, but it seems a bit heavy for the power, and they never made the three door in the US
Ill definitely try to find you guys at gridlife. What do I look for?
Look around pitlane and the paddock for the group of fits, there will be mulitple of them at almost every event.and wow, I'm impressed with that reliability on the fit
Work has gone into the car, but i have also beat the ever living E36 M3 out of it.
I replaced control arms as a precaution because the stock ones were old, replaced the old rusty front brake calipers and mounts, and I replaced both axles last year as a precaution when one boot started being troublesome. I run thicker oil and i upgraded the trans fluid to Motul, but Torco would also be fine, Honda MTF is very thin and not as good as it used to be.
It's not a perfect car, but its been pretty amazing.
Evanuel9 said:In reply to preach (dudeist priest) :
I would kill for a 70s wagon like that as a first car. Or did you have a coupe? They are even cooler. The gt is also awesome. Dreamed of one as a first car before parents sobered me up a bit. That is such an awesome story as well, though a shame your adventure with it had to pause the way it did. Do you have a build thread or pictures?
The Opel My Kadett was a coupe.
Well since the Skip Berber driving school was thrown out the window. I have owned and driven a Smart Car. They are like a go-cart. They buzz right through the snow with there "pizza cutter" tires. I never was stuck in the snow. They get decent mileage. Parking is easy. You would be surprised at the spots you can sneak into. And they only seat two.(isn't there new laws about passengers and newly licensed drivers there?) I still vote yah to Blackhawk Farms racing instead of drivers license, way more fun. levelupracingschool.com is at Blackhawk Farms
In reply to ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ :
Wow you're lucky to have that as a first car. I want one but they are impossible to find, and likely hard to keep on the road.
I love the yaris. They look hella fun, and I'm a big fan of the styling. And they're like only 2300 lbs?
In reply to spacecadet (Forum Supporter) :
Wow, and here I thought "Subaru: mass produced japanese car, I'm sure it's reliable" lol. Shows my naivete
The ep3 suspension thing sounds awful, not something I want to deal with even if they're fun drivers
Got it on the golf. Thanks! One day though :D
Thanks for the word of caution on the civic. I won't go for a sedan, but I'll keep that in mind when looking at civics.
I can't wait to make it to gridlife. It'll actually be the first motorsport event I've ever attended as well.....parents were never too keen on it haha, not sure where I picked up the car bug. But I am super excited. I'll definitely find you guys, and hopefully bobzilla as well.
In reply to preach (dudeist priest) :
You DD a cayman? Pretty damn cool! I love the Opel plans, though I'm not the biggest into drag racing, it seems like an awesome project.
In reply to MyMiatas :
Not thrown out the window just yet. In fact, as I've contemplated and discussed with my parents more and more, I've become more partial to the idea. It'd only be an extra year of not having a car until I buy one for when I leave for college. I am hesitant, however, about karting. It seems like a very exclusive/elite club that you have to get into when you're five years old or you won't be any good, and you need thousands to spend on kart parts and safety equipment. Is this a ridiculous notion? If i'm wrong about karting, and I can figure out how to actually make it out there fairly often (my school is very rigorous, so few weekend are all that open), I might be more inclined to go with that
Evanuel9 said:In reply to MyMiatas :
I am hesitant, however, about karting. It seems like a very exclusive/elite club that you have to get into when you're five years old or you won't be any good, and you need thousands to spend on kart parts and safety equipment. Is this a ridiculous notion? If i'm wrong about karting, and I can figure out how to actually make it out there fairly often (my school is very rigorous, so few weekend are all that open), I might be more inclined to go with that
Again, this really depends on your goals. If you want to be a competitive kart guy that travels all around and has aspirations of being a professional race car driver, then yes there is some aspect of the big wallet/start young theory (though not 100%). However if this is a hobby and then maybe carryover the skills into other things such as full size cars, then it's not exclusive/elite, you don't need to be 5 and you don't need a mega size wallet. Look around you for kart tracks. Many of them have leagues. Yeah they're competitive, but they aren't stupid expensive and many guys/gals there will be older than your parents. I did a kart league years and years ago and had a blast. Funny enough that was also the place where I had my only injury ever while racing...I broke a rib. Kart racing and full size car racing are very different, but many of the same principals apply. K1 Speed has two locations in Chicago according to their website. Check that out and see if they have a league that works. Also see if there's an outdoor track near you. We have a great one here in Atlanta... https://www.atlantamotorsportspark.com/karting/ I've done a bunch of laps at K1 and a handful of laps at AMP Karting and they're an absolute riot. I still very much prefer full size car racing, but for not much money karts are stupid fun. If you have any questions about getting into racing, ask. There are a bunch of racers here.
In reply to SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) :
Well that's pretty good to here. I've actually been to a k1 speed. Before going I did tons of research on racing line and braking. Still lost to my dad who just held the pedal in and took the tightest line haha. It's definitely a ton of fun. I am not pretty split to be honest between putting the money towards karting/driving classes and a car but I'll see what my parents and some of my other friends think. Maybe I'll make another thread asking about it haha. ANyway thanks for all the advice!
I'm surprised no one has mentioned a ZX2. Nice looking, FWD, parts availability is great, lots of decent examples in the 2k-3k range. A S/R would be best -if you can find one.
Great post ! This will be a good resource for young car people with questions for years...
Bit of an update. I didn't get to explore too much stuff. Unfortunately finals, end of school year, and college application preparations took over. And then I got covid which sucked. However, I did test drive a fit which was incredibly fun, i'm a big fan, and an xv30 camry that a friend has which was surprisingly nice for an old camry.
After much poking and prodding and begging, mom has agreed to consider some rwd cars if I can provide a justification. This isn't a "yes" but it's close enough that I can get obsessed with some cool rwd cars. I've been looking at miatas, of course, but they're getting thin for a decent one. Also have a weird thing for the merkur xr4ti. And i've gotten oddly obsessed with old vegas (mini, 2300 lb camaro!!!). And then of course 240s, mg midgets, and mr2s and x1/9s. The older ones would be a very tough sell to her, and are mostly pie in the sky, but the merkurs, miatas, and a cheap 240 I found are fairly realistic options. Just thought I'd give an update for everyone.
Oh edit: I'm also planning on going to gridlife at autobahn country club on the 26th
I'd 100% avoid any of the RWD options you mentioned if you're looking for a car you want to drive more than work on.
You should get a Honda Fit. They're cheap to drive and maintain, very spacious which will be good for moving stuff in college, and when you get a new daily you can convert it to a B-Spec race car and compete in B-Spec racing and/or Sundae cup, the cheapest door bashing fun you can get imo. If you have to get a RWD car, I'd get the Miata, but the prices on those are crackpipe pricing right now.
In reply to hunter47 :
god i wish i were older, wealthier, and more experienced...
Is there anything rwd you would recommend?
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