I'm not planning this for anytime soon; I'll probably keep the Sentra for 5 more years assuming nothing blows up. But I've noticed that there have been fewer and fewer FWD cars at the autocrosses I've attended; RWD seems to be the wave of the future. For example, only 12 out of the 65 cars in the Deland event I attended in January were FWD. So what RWD car could meet the high standards set by the Silver Bullet?
- 270 WHp
- 2700 lbs
- 0-60 in about 5 seconds
- Daily driver reliability
- 27 mpg average
- Competitive autocrosser, great handling
Does such a thing exist in a modern vehicle? I'm thinking the closest I might come to this is an FR-S with an aftermarket turbo.
One of the frisbee cars with a power adder.
Wave of the future man. Wave of the future.
RossD wrote:
Turbocharged miata.
One more criteria I forgot to mention - room for 4 people (2 kids).
No, but it's making me want a Sentra...
4cylndrfury wrote:
boosted S14 240
A little too old; will be needing something newer than my '06 a few years down the road.
jstein77 wrote:
4cylndrfury wrote:
boosted S14 240
A little too old; will be needing something newer than my '06 a few years down the road.
IS300? G35 Sedan? WRX? Challenger? Heavier, yes - 3k lbs plus, but Im not sure youre going to find 2700lb auto-x candidates with enough room for the family. Youre going to have to overcome weight with suspension and power.
jstein77 wrote:
RossD wrote:
Turbocharged miata.
One more criteria I forgot to mention - room for 4 people (2 kids).
Convert trunk to rumble seat?
V6 Mustang is close. A little portly perhaps and questionable about being a competitive autocrosser unless it gets classed well. They do fit four people and get the mileage you require. Being the V6 model, they'll be really cheap as 10 year old cars as well.
I think that Maz may be right. There is nothing stock in your field and the Mustang will cheaper, sooner.
jstein77 wrote:
I'm thinking the closest I might come to this is an FR-S with an aftermarket turbo.
Was just gonna say that. Keep in mind the BRZ STi is coming out.
BTW if this is for autocross DO NOT get RWD just for the sake of RWD! FWD has an advantage in autocross, you can put down more power in the slaloms before the car loosens up, and the ability to quickly pull out of oversteer with the gas is quite handy.
GameboyRMH wrote:
Was just gonna say that. Keep in mind the BRZ STi is coming out.
Has that been confirmed yet?
GameboyRMH wrote:
BTW if this is for autocross DO NOT get RWD just for the sake of RWD! FWD has an advantage in autocross, you can put down more power in the slaloms before the car loosens up, and the ability to quickly pull out of oversteer with the gas is quite handy.
I feel the opposite. The ability to induce oversteer when your car starts understeering is quite handy. 
Sky_Render wrote:
GameboyRMH wrote:
Was just gonna say that. Keep in mind the BRZ STi is coming out.
Has that been confirmed yet?
No confirmation on sale dates but camo'd (epoxied, in this case) ones have been spied testing on the Nurburgring.
GameboyRMH wrote:
jstein77 wrote:
I'm thinking the closest I might come to this is an FR-S with an aftermarket turbo.
Was just gonna say that. Keep in mind the BRZ STi is coming out.
BTW if this is for autocross DO NOT get RWD just for the sake of RWD! FWD has an advantage in autocross, you can put down more power in the slaloms before the car loosens up, and the ability to quickly pull out of oversteer with the gas is quite handy.
Depends on the site. Airport courses with a lot of transients seem to favor FWD, but at the last event I was still edged out by a couple of RWD cars (a Miata and an S2000). Big square lots with lots of sweepers definetely favor the RWD guys.
Sky_Render wrote:
Fox-body Mustang
That was my thought, too. 5.0 LX notchback would work very nicely here.
RossD
UberDork
2/26/13 9:08 a.m.
A new BMW 128i has 230 hp and a curb weight of around 3300lbs. I just built one with the M-Package but no other options ($34k or so) and they will knock off 7% if you do their European pickup/vacation.
Sky_Render wrote:
GameboyRMH wrote:
Was just gonna say that. Keep in mind the BRZ STi is coming out.
Has that been confirmed yet?
GameboyRMH wrote:
BTW if this is for autocross DO NOT get RWD just for the sake of RWD! FWD has an advantage in autocross, you can put down more power in the slaloms before the car loosens up, and the ability to quickly pull out of oversteer with the gas is quite handy.
I feel the opposite. The ability to induce oversteer when your car starts understeering is quite handy.
Oversteer can be induced with a FWD car. Just back off the throttle then catch it by inducing power.
jere
Reader
2/26/13 9:10 a.m.
How about the older BMWs?
E36 or E46 M3? G35? Newer Mustang? RX8 with tarbo?
BAMF
HalfDork
2/26/13 9:36 a.m.
Reading your list the first thing that comes to mind is the RX-8. It's a little heavier & a little less powerful than your specs, but it's close.
pres589
SuperDork
2/26/13 9:39 a.m.
Lada 1200 on nitromethane.
BAMF wrote:
Reading your list the first thing that comes to mind is the RX-8. It's a little heavier & a little less powerful than your specs, but it's close.
Except for the gas mileage.
