I'm looking for a dd that will double as a weekend track car. I've mainly been looking at older civics. My requirements are good mpg, ac, cheap parts and manual trans. I would like something that would be competitive in its class.
Older civics have the added bonus of being reliable, easily boosted, and cheap consumables.
Any other cars I should look at?
My budget is set around 2500.
Thanks.
P.S. I'm 6' 4" and don't care to do drive a miata with out a seat for a dd. Lol.
Eagle talon? Pops up cheap around me, no idea on parts price
How are the talons on mpg?
Being competitive in its class is in autocross is also important to me.
The magazine did an article with similar buying goals and the answer came out as Ford Focus SVT due to daily utility combined with low purchase price (no Honda tax) and active aftermarket.
Was offered in 3dr or 5dr configuration:
A DSM won't be reliable
BG chassis mazda, or zx2, duratec focus zx3 or the afore mentioned svt. B13 sentra se-r, or nx.
An older civic that is well built can be locally competitive in STS, but not so much in HS (they are just too soft and have too little wheel width). Focus, Protege, or Sentra SE-R are better options in HS.
taparsons wrote: How are the talons on mpg?
Depends on the mpgs you get from the tow truck. Most of them are terminally messed up by enthusiastic owners with no money and even fewer clues.
BoxheadTim wrote:taparsons wrote: How are the talons on mpg?Depends on the mpgs you get from the tow truck. Most of them are terminally messed up by enthusiastic owners with no money and even fewer clues.
Sad but true. The non turbo gets about 35mpg I'm told
taparsons wrote: How are the talons on mpg?
420a shouldnt be terrible. Youd be lucky to see a turbo car hit 25, mine averaged around 20. They also suffer from being some of the most brutally beaten cars of the era. No 2500 dsm on this planet would be a good dd.
2g DSM non-turbos are slow and not particularly great on MPG. I owned one briefly (more than one if you count my old V6 Avenger) and sold it to a friend who still has it. They have certain interior stuff that tends to fall apart, crappy stock front brakes, feel like less than 140hp, no excitement whatsoever to the way their powerband comes on, etc. Ive owned 1g Neons and found them far better out of the box as well as easier to upgrade.
Being competitive in HS is something i dont know much about nowadays but i would say if you could get a Sentra SE-R for that money you'd be happy with it on street and autoX out of the options available for that money.
A late 90's Celica ST would be a good choice. I had a '97 and it was a great DD, getting about 33mpg average between city and highway driving. GRM had one as a project car and did pretty well in GS with it, I think it's now an HS contender. Check here for details. https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/project-cars/1994-toyota-celica-st/
I've been searching NC craigslist for the same thing for a long while... good luck. My co-workers and I had to agree on the car, so it narrowed the choices a lot. We just settled on a B15 SER Spec V. Its a pretty fun car, but the condition of one you'll find in that price range isn't so great (this goes for almost anything with any level of sporting intentions).
That said, you can easily find a decent Neon, Saturn, Escort, etc. in that price range and have a ton of budget left over. Sometimes you'll come across a decent BP Protege as well. I pointed out to the other guys that if we had bought a $1000 Saturn we wouldn't have spent nearly as much time today in the garage working on the car 
.
Sadly, nothing you find in that range (here) is going to be competitive in its class in autox unless you are buying someone else's already prepped car. Track events... I don't know what will be competitive, but almost anything 4cyl fwd is going provide reliable fun that's cheap on consumables.
I don't mind adding money to get it competitive. I really like the celicas but it seems the only thing you can really improve on them is the suspension and they're pretty slow imo. I like the svt. I've worked on several focus through the years. Seems like I'm always mumbling about them being a pos while I work on them. (No offense to Focus fans).
For $2500 or less, you're not going to get a "fast" car that's reliable, etc...so you're going to have to be happy with a somewhat slow car. You MIGHT find an old Mustang GT at that money, but it'd be a project car.
If you can be patient and also be ready to pounce, I'd suggest combing CL often for the one owner (or same owner for the past 15 years) old Civic, Integra, Accord, Celica, SC1, Sentra type car. They're very rare, but they do show up from time to time, and they sell fast. That will give you a nice, clean sheet to work with. The Civic can make a fantastic track car.
A late 90's Celica ST would be a good choice.
Actually, you can get (at least around here) a last-gen early-00 Celica GT for $2500 and they are pretty great in my opinion. I've put a clutch in one and drove the piss out of it afterwards and thought it felt surprisingly good for ~130hp rated and it's well known that they did well in H-stock in the not too distant past.
That said, you can easily find a decent Neon, Saturn, Escort, etc. in that price range and have a ton of budget left over. Sometimes you'll come across a decent BP Protege as well.
You know, i put a clutch in a BP Protege and drove the piss out of it afterwards (this was a common refrain in my tech days) and i found it pretty boring. I know they're easily improved but if you want something strong right out of the box a 5spd Neon stomps it.
Vigo wrote:A late 90's Celica ST would be a good choice.Actually, you can get (at least around here) a last-gen early-00 Celica GT for $2500 and they are pretty great in my opinion. I've put a clutch in one and drove the piss out of it afterwards and thought it felt surprisingly good for ~130hp rated and it's well known that they did well in H-stock in the not too distant past.
I was going to suggest this, but the 1ZZ had oil consumption issues and the 2ZZ engines kinda have a rep for oil starvation in high G situations. Of course OP has not said what class he wants to run in, so adding an oil accumulator might be an option for that motor.
Otherwise they they are great cars, had that '03 GT-S for a while and it was pretty darn quick.
Vigo wrote:A late 90's Celica ST would be a good choice.Actually, you can get (at least around here) a last-gen early-00 Celica GT for $2500 and they are pretty great in my opinion. I've put a clutch in one and drove the piss out of it afterwards and thought it felt surprisingly good for ~130hp rated and it's well known that they did well in H-stock in the not too distant past.That said, you can easily find a decent Neon, Saturn, Escort, etc. in that price range and have a ton of budget left over. Sometimes you'll come across a decent BP Protege as well.You know, i put a clutch in a BP Protege and drove the piss out of it afterwards (this was a common refrain in my tech days) and i found it pretty boring. I know they're easily improved but if you want something strong right out of the box a 5spd Neon stomps it.
While the last gen Celica is great, I'm not sure if I would recommend one to OP. I'm 5'8, and while admittedly my preferred driving position is sitting up pretty straight, I come very close to hitting the roof with a helmet on. Over 6 footers are going to be uncomfortable unless they like being leaning really far back.
You can forget a Talon on the basis that you said you're 6'4". You won't fit.
I think the SVT Focus is probably your leading candidate. The ZX3/5 Focus with the Mazda 2.3 is also a good bet, they are competitive in the STF class. Around here, you can get a BJ Protege for that kind of money too.
The SE-R is a good choice too, it's just tough to find one that hasn't been trashed.
The first gen Neon is a good choice. Very cheap and underrated cars. They can be difficult to find. Junkyards are littered with them so spare parts can't be cheaper.
BMW 318i (e36). Find an IS or TI (pretty decent ones can be found in your price range). Fun on the track, RWD, at the bottom of their depreciation curve IMO. Spare parts are easy to find at junkyards and large aftermarket. Also the M42 is a great engine (M44 almost as good on later 318s) and will get you over 30mpg commuting. My rally car with M42 swap pulls 30+ mpg pulling my tire trailer to events lol!)
Also the 318 is better balanced than the 325 if not quite as fast. A fun car in the twisties. And they're cheap because nobody wants 4cyl BMWs for some stupid reason.
EDIT: Also, lots of headroom.
ccrelan wrote: The first gen Neon is a good choice. They can be difficult to find. Junkyards are littered with them so spare parts can't be cheaper.
If you read your last two sentences together, that would be a reason I'd hesitate to recommend a Neon. 
I drove an E30 recently, a 325i, and while I love some things about it (visibility, communicative controls, torque), the steering is just too darn slow for me. It provides lots of feel, but it's just lazy when compared to my old E36 M3 or my NA Miata. Plus, the shifting is a joke compared to more modern cars, but you already know that's not the E30's strong suit.
Is the steering ratio quicker in the 4 cylinder cars?
CyberEric wrote: I drove an E30 recently, a 325i, and while I love some things about it (visibility, communicative controls, torque), the steering is just too darn slow for me. It provides lots of feel, but it's just lazy when compared to my old E36 M3 or my NA Miata. Plus, the shifting is a joke compared to more modern cars, but you already know that's not the E30's strong suit. Is the steering ratio quicker in the 4 cylinder cars?
Well, I was talking about the e36 if you were replying to me. That said, no, all e30s have the same steering (other than the M3). BUT......the quicker e36 rack is almost totally bolt-up to the e30 (needs a couple spacers and slight alteration of the u-joint, but very easy).
So, if that's your main complaint about the e30, it's one of the easiest (and cheapest) things to change.
Not sure what the issue with the shifting is, but YMMV. There are easy upgrades for that as well.
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