Fun Beater Shootout

Requirements: Cost must be less than $2500 must be a FUN car (In this case, anything RWD can be considered fun) Must be a sedan or wagon or even an SUV, but must be able to hold 4 people with individual doors and have the ability to transport something medium sized from Ikea

You must be able to justify how it's a fun car

Overall, this should be a car that you could buy as it sits, do minimal maintenance or mods to make it fun and reliable but something that you wouldn't care about if it got dinged up or rusted out.

Example:

I am in the process of selling my Volvo 940 wagon to another member here. It is fun. Turbo and RWD = fun. Lots of difficulty finding local parts though. The internet is awash with them. These all had locking differentials too up to a certain speed.

By definition... any cheap RWD car is fun with only that for justification so I'm going to just go ahead and say "ALL".

Cheap FWD can be fun too.... case in point, my Geo Prizm. 4 door, can carry crap from Ikea- and it's pretty fun to hoon in, if for nothing else than I simply do not care what happens to the car.

tuna55 wrote: I am in the process of selling my Volvo 940 wagon to another member here. It is fun. Turbo and RWD = fun. Lots of difficulty finding local parts though. The internet is awash with them. These all had locking differentials too up to a certain speed.

I've definitely been considering getting a Turbo Volvo, but finding one in a stick is hard.

I've also been considering Impala SS/Caprice 9C1s (because there's not tease of having a manaul there)

chapel wrote:

tuna55 wrote: I am in the process of selling my Volvo 940 wagon to another member here. It is fun. Turbo and RWD = fun. Lots of difficulty finding local parts though. The internet is awash with them. These all had locking differentials too up to a certain speed.

I've definitely been considering getting a Turbo Volvo, but finding one in a stick is hard. I've also been considering Impala SS/Caprice 9C1s (because there's not tease of having a manaul there)

I have a manual transmission (although it's going with the car) - you can find them and swap parts, or you can use a T5 and an adapter plate. Weirdly, little turbo motors like the auto better, so maybe a built up GM TH-200R4 would be a better choice than a stick.

mndsm wrote: Cheap FWD can be fun too.... case in point, my Geo Prizm. 4 door, can carry crap from Ikea- and it's pretty fun to hoon in, if for nothing else than I simply do not care what happens to the car.

FWD, Complete disregard for the car, a passenger accessible hand-brake and a slippery road are the quadfecta of hoonage.

Ford LTD on the Fox platform seems like an interesting solution, as is the Fairmont that came before it, because of all the Mustang cast off parts that should be easily applied. Also BMW 3-series, either E30 or E36, but be prepared for maintenance, I think more so with the E36, but I've never owned one so grain of salt with that.

My Impala Wagon carried 9 people and a keg of beer out to the woods often. Talk about a fun car.

pres589 wrote: Ford LTD on the Fox platform seems like an interesting solution, as is the Fairmont that came before it, because of all the Mustang cast off parts that should be easily applied. Also BMW 3-series, either E30 or E36, but be prepared for maintenance, I think more so with the E36, but I've never owned one so grain of salt with that.

LTD LXs are pretty rare though

Didn't mention the LX variant because of that.

I'll second the turbo brick vote. Hauls four people comfortably and the boost makes it extra fun.

E30/E36 are out because of the trunk size. E39 touring is out of your price range.

I really think Volvo is the answer to this one.

Anything turbo dodge seems to fit the bill.

based on my challenge experience you can build one with 350lb ft of toque and out autox a new miata on smaller tires for less than $2k. And almost all of them have 4 seats and 4 doors.

I even tow with one of mine.

I think my biggest issue at this point is lack of time to build something nice. Something good out of the box would be nice.

chapel wrote: I think my biggest issue at this point is lack of time to build something nice. Something good out of the box would be nice.

So fun, RWD, $2500, fast, and out of the box ready to go?

Ugghhh too many requirements... Maybe buy an old Challenge car?

chapel wrote: I think my biggest issue at this point is lack of time to build something nice. Something good out of the box would be nice.

You need a 240 that some squid swapped an sr20det or strapped a turbo to the stock ka24 in that event. They're out there. It might be a little on the haggard side, but it can be done.

My Audi 90 Quattro 20 V was $2500, one of the funnest cars I have driven.

ansonivan wrote: E30/E36 are out because of the trunk size. E39 touring is out of your price range. I really think Volvo is the answer to this one.

huh? the qualifications said said medium sized from ikea in the trunk ... not informant and 4 bags of quickrete!

so far i've had a dresser in the trunk of mine (unassembled of course) but i think that qualifies as medium sized.

yeah, I've been looking at old Challenge cars, but most aren't something I'd want to daily drive...

maybe my expectations are too high.

Volvos have LSDs eh?

I'm sure by "car" you mean "car or SUV" Right?

It is getting harder to find a Cherokee ABOVE $2,500 now a days :)

E28 with m30/5spd/lsd - fun, hauls 4 or 5 and a ikea chest - or dead hooker and a couple of shovels. Not all that fast these days. Add boosts - they can take it.

Turbo Volare.

chapel wrote: yeah, I've been looking at old Challenge cars, but most aren't something I'd want to daily drive... maybe my expectations are too high. Volvos have LSDs eh?

My opinion, and it's not worth very much, is you're either going to find a solid stock starting point for that dollar, or a ragged out, somewhat less reliable and iffy example of something.

It's a weird type of locker diff. It's based off of a Dana 35 (I think) and it locks until 35 mph or so. Makes nice double striped burnouts. The wagons had a 3.73 gear, too. If Mark doesn't buy mine you can!

oldtin wrote: E28 with m30/5spd/lsd - fun, hauls 4 or 5 and a ikea chest - or dead hooker and a couple of shovels. Not all that fast these days. Add boosts - they can take it.

Trust me, I've been trying to find a clean 535iS for some time. M30s are tanks and yes, they can take quite a bit of boost. The older the better (lower compression on the older ones)

I should mention, I used to work for BMW and some of my work on E30s has made it into the revised Online Bentley Tech manuals (mostly updates that occurred between 87 and 89 model years)