amg_rx7 wrote: NB Miata
E-street supremacy!
Also consider an MR-s?
amg_rx7 wrote: NB Miata
E-street supremacy!
Also consider an MR-s?
I am a glutton for punishment, and $7,500 is right in the very nice Boxters wheelhouse. (Here in Atlanta).
If I weren't so tall my head seems to poke out the sunroof, I'd be interested in a 7th gen Celica GT-S myself.
Competitive for $7500? Or a platform that could be competitive for $7500?
There are a whole lot of cars mentioned here that aren't even close to your mileage requirement (Mustang, WRX, etc.)
H-Stock Mini?
Could be competitive for $7500.
I'm talking 25 mpg highway, city mileage is for wusses.
Plenty of room in the budget for an SVT Focus +mods. Mine has been surprisingly easy to work on. Just the usual "move three things out of the way to get to what you need" characteristic of FWD cars. Little things have started to break on mine; switches, radio, and such, but parts are still mostly available from Ford and reasonably priced. One of the most modest of the boyracerish bunch.
A $7500 SVT Focus? Damn. I hope you get 2 of them for that.
They are great, fun little cars, ya know, possibly one of the best choices for when you have to compromise with a fwd econobox as your fun car... but that price point was what they were worth in maybe 2008.
Two guys are running across the paddock to get a car to go out in LeMans start style. There are three cars parked there. An M3, a Miata or an Escort to choose from... Which one is left at pit road?
Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: A $7500 SVT Focus? Damn. I hope you get 2 of them for that. They are great, fun little cars, ya know, possibly one of the best choices for when you have to compromise with a fwd econobox as your fun car... but that price point was what they were worth in maybe 2008. Two guys are running across the paddock to get a car to go out in LeMans start style. There are three cars parked there. An M3, a Miata or an Escort to choose from... Which one is left at pit road?
Depends on the guys - I don't fit in a Miata, I'm tired of BMWs, so I'm going to the Escort! 
Right on the edge of your time limit, naturally aspirated 2000-2001 Subaru 2.5rs. Gas mileage is better than 25. Limited slip rear diff. Aftermarket support. Can be had in a four door. Very autocrossable as the gearing is far better than the wrx's that followed a few years later. Thoroughly tossable in any automotive event, whether it is autocross or rally cross. You might even find a swapped in RS in that price range.
Celica GTS. I have one ya'll could do an article on replacing the engine in. 
Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: A $7500 SVT Focus? Damn. I hope you get 2 of them for that. They are great, fun little cars, ya know, possibly one of the best choices for when you have to compromise with a fwd econobox as your fun car... but that price point was what they were worth in 2008.
What about $3500 of car and $4k of sorting? Would it match up or beat a (presumably stock) $7500 M3 with no other expenses in raw times and/or relative class performance? I am genuinely curious.
Tom Suddard wrote: Could be competitive for $7500. I'm talking 25 mpg highway, city mileage is for wusses.
IMO, you're looking at stock/street class cars only to be competitive in that price range. Mini, NB Miata, Celica GT are the only things coming to mind.
In reply to Mitchell:
Beat it at what? Hypermiling? Drag strip? Trunk capacity? Auto-x? Pizza delivery?
Maybe.
(this is the same question/answer as "Draw 7 perpendicular red lines" )
Having been in many focuses (especially early models), I've never understood the hype surrounding them. They are slow, kind of crappily made, and just not very exciting cars. I've never been in a SVT, but I can't wrap my head around it being THAT much better.
Oh yea, and if you are going to go fwd, newest Integra GSR or Type R you can find. If you want more comfort, RSX Type S is in your price range. All are wicked cars that knock down decent mpg.
There was a lot of chatter here on the board last year about the Mazda2 (Ford Fiesta) for autox.
First year for Mazda2 was '11 so there could be models coming off 3 year leases and hitting the sweet spot.
$10k should get you one with less than 50k miles.
Sure, it ups the budget but that gets a near new car. Should be well into the demographic of college age car buyers who want to get their financed DD into autox.
t25torx wrote: Celica GTS. I have one ya'll could do an article on replacing the engine in.
http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/200x-classifieds/2zzge-in-northampton-mass/82336/page1/
Wasn't the Celica GT (not GTS) the better autocrosser? I know pre mini, it was the hot ride for GS. It would make a good STS car too.
yamaha wrote:Tom Suddard wrote: Here's what I came up with, to give you an idea: My responses Focus SVT-Not competetive in GS, STC, or DSP Volvo Wagon-S70R would be the only one that might be fun considering your 12yr rule WRX-Boy racerish + insurance costs + check to make sure all your cylinders work, but it could be decent in STU(iirc) Acura RSX-A shamble of what the ITR accomplished, IDK what class it is good at Dodge SRT-4-Do you like changing transmissions? Decent in GS(but not as good as my IRL) SN195-Last one was built in 1998...."new edge" ended in '04, you'd be better off going with an '05+ GT and play in FSEdit: berkeley the formatting problems on here.
The RSX/EP3 is a great car for street touring due to the STF classing (or is all that changing this year?)
My dd is a 350z. Consider the Infiniti G35.
I can't say I'm an expert on which ones are reliable and practical and reasonable to own and what not, but I can tell you which ones out of the suggestions will be competitive autocrossers.
Integra GS-R - Nope. I think it gets shafted in pretty much every class, and the closest it'll come is STC, where it's somewhat competitive locally, but STC and STS will get merged in a few years so it'll be doomed to get walked by Miatas and CRX's.
SE-R Spec V - Same story really, I think it gets placed in STX for some reason. Might be reasonably fast in GS but it's been out of contention for a while now.
Celica GT-S - The last generation of the Celica, both the GT-S and the GT are highly competitive in GS. I think a GT took the jacket this year, and a GT-S was at the top of the RT2 heap at the ProSolo Finale. If you want competitive, this is the car out of the lot to get.
330i ZHP - The car is classed in FS, STX, and DSP. FS is a waste of time with one, and although it's theoretically not a bad car to have in STX, nobody's done it successfully and several have tried. As far as I'm concerned the E46 is the best car for DSP, but $$$. I feel like at that point it's not relevant to your interests.
Audi A4 - Ha! Nope.
E36 M3 - The classing for this car is CS, STU, and BSP. It seems to me like it's just a little bit away from the top in all of those classes. It took STU against all odds in 2012, but the chances of that happening again are slim to none.
Cobalt SS/Ion Redline - I think the classing is GS/STX/DSP. Reasonably fast in GS, but if a FoST, a Celica, or an SRT-4 show up then it's going to be an uphill battle. Irrelevant in ST/SP.
V6 Mustang - Nope. GS(FS for the 2012+)/STU/ESP. Good luck.
Focus SVT - The car's in HS/STF, both of which it has the chance to win, but the short gearing cripples it a little on the larger courses. Depends on how good you are at rowing the box, and how small the courses are. I see potential though.
Volvo Wagon - Yeah, no.
WRX - Unless you get lucky, the only WRX's available in your price range will be the early cars, and unfortunately the later ones have basically classed them into obsolescence as far as autox goes.
RSX - I don't know too much about the standard ones, but the Type-S is the power car for STF. Very course dependent, but a few locals have found success. The suspension is awful though.
SRT-4 - GS/STX/DSP. In GS the ACR model in particular can be very fast, a local to me smashes PAX and trophies at Nationals pretty frequently. The standard SRT-4 has weird 17x6 wheels which kind of mess things up in Stock.
SN95 - Trying to autocross one on street tires is very fun, but it'll never be fast. ESP is the only real home for them, and you have to pour cubic dollars into the suspension and engine to keep up with the newer Mustangs.
NC Miata - The unicorn MS-R is great in CSR, and it'll arguably be pretty decent for B-Street as well, but good luck finding one. The standard cars are very fast in STR.
SX4 - No clue. Never looked into it, but chances are it won't be particularly fast.
Corolla XRS - STF is wide open at this point, so the Corolla could very well be the hot ticket for the class. I wouldn't bet on it but I wouldn't be surprised either.
EP3 Civic Si - Like the RSX, but shorter, lighter, and with less power. Might be fast for STF.
Mazda3 - It looks as if it's going to be the best all around car for STF, and it's not slow in HS either.
Mini - The early cars have kind of faded out in HS since the R56's have so many great factory options that make them faster but they're still competitive in STF.
Impreza 2.5RS - Not really competitive in any class they're in unfortunately, unless it's raining hard and you're running STC.
Mazda2 - Hollis took STF in one the first year the class was at Nationals, and while it's still a good choice, it's a little on the pokey side in my opinion.
Infiniti G35 - No clue. I think it's FS/STU/ESP, and while I don't think it's a bad choice for any of them, it's not a very good one either.
Hope I helped. This is all off the top of my head, so chances are I'm wrong on some of it.
Apexcarver wrote: 12 years? Easy... A 10-12 year old Mustang GT. Every kid needs some V8 Hoon time. There is a STUPENDOUS aftermarket, so it can go any direction you want to. You guys havent really done much with Mustangs in awhile. (outside of covering someones challenge car) You can probably find one that has some questionable mods done to it and have an article series about such things (although, remember the lemons car!) LS1 camaros also fall into this catagory. Yeah, fuel economy is spotty on this, but you only live once! (V8 mustang 23mpg, V8 camaro 26mpg) (oh yeah... insurance... LOL you might end up surprised)
There's an '02 Gt 5-speed with 90,000 on the clock sitting at a stealership near me for $7,995. Even the wife was tempted but the Marks have me spoiled as far as interior room goes so I passed on it.
I concur with Apexcarver.
New Edge SN95 FTW!!!
Cobalt SS. Cobalt SS. Cobalt SS. Cobalt SS.
Pretty sure no mag has done a real look into these. The engines are supposedly bulletproof while making 300 horsepower. Definitely different, definitely interesting. Feel the GM hate. Bathe in it. Wear it. Love it. Prove everyone wrong.
I, for one, have read about enough Miatas for a while.
Alan Cesar wrote: Cobalt SS. Cobalt SS. Cobalt SS. Cobalt SS. Pretty sure no mag has done a real look into these. The engines are supposedly bulletproof while making 300 horsepower. Definitely different, definitely interesting. Feel the GM hate. Bathe in it. Wear it. Love it. Prove everyone wrong. I, for one, have read about enough Miatas for a while.
but, but, but, why? GM gets it's over-love on GRM due the LS, C5 (although some how the C4 seems to be creeping up more and more, stop just stop), and the adamant defending of the Volt on here. Yeah the Cobalt was a whipping post, but don't polish a turd and try to sell me it as a diamond either. The engine is a beast in that thing chassis needed sorting so maybe a contender, you could NO JUST NO!
You deserve 40 lashes for the Miata statement.
Honestly, I would love so see a Focus RS500 build.
I'm liking the Infiniti G idea. It's actually more interesting if we have "no idea" whether it makes a good autocrosser, right? Nothing wrong with writing a car story that has some suspense. A G is probably a nicer commuter than a Cobalt SS, and I wouldn't be surprised if it carries an easier insurance hit, too.
You'll need to log in to post.
