Disclaimer: Long post ahead.

I'm a new member, with my first post over here. Please do go and comment ^_^. I've been pouring over the forums ever since I joined, and everyone has been so nice and helpful so far. Every other forum I've seen is filled with ******, but I haven't yet read a post I didn't like in here.

My buddy's got a Dodge SRT-4. Another mutual friend has a Tacoma with a Supra engine in it - one time he floored it from a good 40 mph roll and I watched as it lifted one of the front tires off the ground. This kind of thing makes up at least 80% of our conversation.

Starting now, I'm making it one of my missions to get myself out of my '89 Chevy pickup and into something respectable so I can play, too. I'm trying to make the best, most informed purchase that I can. Since I've already learned quite a lot here, and since everyone seems so knowledgable, I'd thought I'd put my list up here, a la "Gone in Sixty Seconds."

Now I'm a full time student, and I'm going to have to work some minor miracles in the first place because I have less than $0 to my name right now, so my choices are limited in that respect, and that's also why I'm putting so much thought into it. So, no Skylines or new 350Zs for me. On the other hand, I'm confident I can come up with what I'd need to put myself in something this year, and I'm turning in new job applications all the time. Not to mention that I've seen some killer prices on EBay Motors, which is the primary place I'm shopping.

I don't know a quarter as much as I should about tuning, either, but I'm learning something new every day, and I've got good friends for that. Anyhow, thanks a bunch for just reading this far. Any and all comments are welcomed and greatly appreciated. Like I said, I'm trying to be as careful and thoughtful as I can about it.

What I eventually want in a nutshell is a head-turning daily-driving workhorse. Something that'll make Mustang #101 or Civic #207 (hell, maybe a Porsche or two) stare while I pull him 3+ carlengths on the freeway. Something that'll take me to class during the week and to shows on the weekend, racking up 13s 12s, working on up to an ultimate 10s (or better!) in the 1/4 mile.

And the nominees are...
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'95 or '99 Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX - The one we all know and love, this was the first one to hit the list. These are quick right off the lot, and the stock performance applications means further modding is relatively cheap and easy. A 1995 would make me exempt from emissions inspection in my area, so I could mod without care, but the age might be an issue. A 1999 would be newer, but I'd eventually have a problem on my hands every year at inspection time. AWD might give the drivetrain a beating, but I think the good outweighs the bad. Update: Learned all about crankwalk (thanks DSMTalonAWD51 and SpyderGS). If this is the route I go, you can be sure I'll be back with tons of questions about the 6-bolt swap...

'95 or later Mitsubishi Eclipse GS - After reading an enlightening post by SpyderGS, apparently you can find a 5-speed manual GS with the 4g64, swap out some 4g63 components, and now you have a 2.4L turbo engine instead of 2.0L, and you've "cheated" on your insurance. But, I'm assuming that you totally give up AWD on this route? How viable is this? How would your new, bigger post-factory turbo-ed GS stack up against the GST or GSX? I imagine that many after-market upgrades were meant for the 4g63, so how would this affect your ability to mod into the higher horsepower ranges and faster 1/4 times? Finally, can this swap be performed between 2g and 3g?

Hyndai Tiburon GT - This was on the list initially as dreams of a twin turbo V6 danced in my head, but the word is that these are heavy, hard to turbo, and have weak internals. So for now it seems they're scratched from the list.*scratched*

Nissan 300ZX/240SX - Don't know much about these, but from what I've heard they get much respect, and I recently read about a 300ZX with 1000+ hp. That guy had been working with them for 10 years, though. However, they don't really appeal to me aesthetically, and they're a little older than I'm looking for (I'm shooting for under 100k miles if possible).

Dodge Stealth/Mitsubishi 3000gt - These are sharp, but as I said in my other thread, it sounds like they aren't as hearty as the Eclipse. Potentially less bang for my buck in both the short and long run, not to mention they're pricey in the first place.*scratched*

Pontiac Trans Am - My roots are in muscle (if you know anyone who'd be interested in buying a '71 Cougar for a project, let me know) so 5.7 liters is certainly appealing. The idea of driving a 4 banger, even though they can be pound-for-pound as powerful or more than traditional muscle, will take a little getting used to. In addition, my good buddy with the Dodge and I love to laugh about something like showing up at Hot Import Nights with two hot domestics and pissing some people off. But, I don't know that the friends I mentioned above would be willing or able to help me with the work on one of these, as it's beginning to leave the realm of the unnaturally aspirated. Plus, I expect I would drop more money all around with one of these, from the initial purchase to tuning to tanks of gas.*scratched*

Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec-V - In my mind, the Skyline's little brother. I know next to nothing about these. It's only on the list because of a passing mention someone on here made about how much fun they were. The exterior would need some dressing up, in my opinion. They look classy, but to the casual observer there isn't much separating them from any other sedan. Four doors is nice, though. At the least it means a little more space for my 6'4" self. From the look of things, it seems I should be prepared to part with a little more cash to get one compared to a couple other cars on the list.*scratched*

Early-Mid '90s Toyota MR2 - These look sharp, quick, and the engine in the back is just neat. But, age and rarity could be a problem. Not to mention, I've never been in one of these before, but the new MR2 Spyder I sat in didn't leave me enough room to even bend my knees and work the pedals. The car was just too tiny, and me way too tall.*scratched*
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That's it so far. Anything anyone can think of to add about anything above would be awesome, especially if something I've said turns out to be just completely wrong. Anything I should know? Anything left to know? Any cars that should or should not be included? (I'm not trying to hate, but I'm afraid Hondas need not apply.) Thanks a lot for taking the time and helping out a noob.

 

Well out of your listed choices I'd have to say go with the 95-99 Eclipse GSX. Theyre great starter tuner cars and lots of mods are out there for them and for good prices. If your leaning more for the Eclipse and want to know a good place for parts go to machv.com, they have great stuff. Also slowboyracing.com, they have more big horsepower race parts and complete engines.

 

ok, spec-v, thats a joke you might as well get a stock neon.
tiburon, Hyndai's are crap for real, i used to sell them, they sell there warranty not there car and trust me you will use that warranty.
nissan 300zx if you get the twin turbo thats not a bad choice.
stealth and 3000gt, over rated
mr2 i know someone that had one of these it was pretty quick i just dont like the way they look.
trans am, OVER RATED, big v8's cost way to much to even get the close to fast, yea and that gas thing sucks to. i used to have a 72 z-28 camaro split bumper, i also came from the v-8's the car look great and was pretty quick but i had alkot of money in it, and with what i have now i could kill it in the quater mile.
wich brings me to what i would get, and what i did get a eclipse or talon or laser wich ever you like best, awd is awesome, stock with free mods yo have a 14 sec car. crank walk it really does not happen that often, i only know one guy that it did happen to. i hang out with alot of dsm.but you can buy a 2g eclipse and put a 1g motor in it. or you can just buy a 1g. i have a 96 gsx runnin 12's in the quater and i have very little money in it. hope this help out

 

Why would I make that swap? If crankwalk occured, you mean? I read that the manifold on the 1g is too thin for porting, so people swap to the 2g, not the other way around. What have I missed?

Thanks for the replies thus far. I'm taking notes. [sm=hail.gif]

Edit: Nevermind, just found it. (Search is my friend.) 1g engines don't crankwalk so much.

Edit: Added a new car to the list above - Eclipse GS - along with a ton of questions for it.

 

yea, for what your considering and the price range your lookin at id stick with the gst or gsx, both are very good reliable cars and like mentioned above are fairly cheap to mod for the most part, a turbo car will need a little more care than n/a, but it is well worth the time and money youd spend maintaining it........... if your worried about the insurance you can still go with the gs and can still hang with a stock gst with realativly minor mods, they are however a little harder to find parts for (4g64 engine)........just to make sure your clear on this - the gs comes stock with the 4g63 engine the spyder gs comes with a 4g64........ basic difference is the gs is dohc 2.0 and the spyder gs is a sohc 2.4........ so the gs has a shorter stroke and bore than the spyder and revs a little higher and a little quicker, but the spyder has a much more broad torque curve...........

 

the gs comes with a 420a motor not a 4g63 if its 95+. dont get a gs they are slow and they can not even come close to keeping up to a stock turbo, even with cold air intake, header, exhaust, they are slow. the 1g motor is just a better motor all around. stronger.

 

Alright, I had an 89 MR2 as my first car and believe me, if you know how to drive a mid-engine it is the most fun you can have with your pants on. It's a whole differant experience from anything else you can drive. If you can find a nice 91-95 turbo those are great cars, one thing is they hold their value extremely well so you'd probably pay more for one of those than you would for a GST. Those cars have a lot of potential and you have something really differant. Problem is they're freakin tiny and only a two seater. Overall and keeping reality in mind I'd go for a 2gen GST or GSX if you can afford one. I get a lot of compliments on mine and I am very happy with it.

 

Scratched the MR2. I'm somewhat pushing it by even looking at this whole genre of vehicle (6'4" and 280 lbs, though I'm working to drop some of the weight) so I should probably steer clear of the tiniest of the tiny. As it is, last time I was inside an Eclipse it was like a jet airplane cockpit. Luckily, I'm into that sort of thing.

Between you fellas, VFAQs, and a tentative few steps on DSMTuners - those fellas have been nice so far, but don't seem nearly as forthcoming overall - I've learned a ton. DSM have me as fascinated as I am confused. I really think the GSX is the winner out of the list.

The most likely situation in my head is that I'll hold out for a '99 GSX, then get to modding. I'll either upgrade the internals eventually, or pull off my mods if/when the crank walks, reinstalling them on a 1g engine and trying to pick up whereI I left off.

In the ideal situation, I'd like to save up until I could get a 1g 4g63, have it bored/stroked to 2.3L, and then start the upgrades. But I've got a couple questions on this part.
First, common sense tells me that once I did the swap, I'd use FAQs and parts labelled for the 1g. But besides the 6-bolt thing and the stock internals being made from a little better stuff, they're the same thing, right? So would it matter at that point whether I bought/used something labelled for 1g or 2g? Why?
Second, where'd be the best place to go for the swap? A donor 1g? A rebuilt engine from a store/dealer? Or one that's already fully built from a specialty shop? (This is assuming I save up and just wait until I can go the best, most efficient route).
Third, it looks like the thing to do is to find an ECU out of a '95 (EPROMS, DSMlink) and have it set up to work with my '99, but would that be a problem if I swapped out to a 1g engine?

Heh, should I take these questions to new threads?

 

LOL, yea I'm 5'4" and about 140lbs so the MR2 is def a little better fit for me than for you. Also about the 1st gen to 2nd gen stuff...
While some stuff is the same and can be used on both a lot of times it either attatches differently or is in a different place between the two gens. The engine bays of the two are far from identical.

 

don't get ahead of yourself on doing the swap. its def. not worth all the trouble just for a 'stronger engine' unless you get crankwalk and you have to replace the motor anyway. keep in mind it probably only happens to 15-20% of the 2nd gen turbos so u may never have to worry about it (i was unlucky enough to have it happen twice, first it was starting in my tsi awd but it was stolen before i had to worry abuot it, then it happened in my 97 gsx an i did the swap). I went with a 1gen bottom end with the 2gen head(has more midrange power) and 2gen pistons, so i wont have to worry about crankwalk, and i'll still have 8.5 compression(1gen's only have 7.8). As far as parts you buy, if you do have to get the new motor down the road, all your old parts will still work with the 1gen motor so you dont have to worry about that. the only things you need to worry about if the CAS and minor things that whoever does your swap should know about. if you want to read more about it go to:
http://www.roadraceengineering.com/1gcasin2g.htm and read all about it. Road Race did my engine, and although they are a bit pricy, they do excellent work, great guys and know EVERYTHING about the 4g63. every time ive taken my car back with a question theyve helped me for free and fast