Exciting Cars (£1k - £5k)

[TurboBlue]

This is the playground for those in search of cheap 1990’s turbo-power:

Porsche 944 Turbo (1991) £5,300
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1991-PORSCHE-944-TURBO-B...

Audi quattro S2 Turbo Coupe (1994) £3,500
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Audi-QUATTRO-S2-TURBO-CO...

Or something completely different:

Lancia Fulvia, Series 2 (1972) LHD £4,995
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lancia-Fulvia-Series-2-1...

Edited by TurboBlue on Thursday 15th November 23:22

[TomS09]

Can get an S2000 now as shown above, I got mine for nearer 3 grand

[ATM]

TurboBlue said:

Audi quattro S2 Turbo Coupe (1994) £3,500
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Audi-QUATTRO-S2-TURBO-CO...

This was a surprise suggestion. Are they any good?

[TurboBlue]

Never driven a S2 coupe but owned a 93 Audi 100 S4; the coupe was overshadowed by the origional quattro. It is the same 20V turbo and later torsen diff; OK,the steering will be numb and part prices expensive but there are plenty of specialists and scope to upgrade. As the seller says, these are undervalued, IMO.

[big_boz]

real4star said:

brakes said:

Apparently the life expectancy of one of those engines is around 100k, prices seem to drop off a cliff for anything with over 70k on the clock. That, and the mid-teens fuel economy means that they're just not what people want right now. It's a lot of car for the money though.

As far as I know:

The only 'problem' with Rotary engines was that they eat their rotor tips after about 100k miles or sooner if you don't keep an eye on the oil (they like oil too)

Its not difficult to get the tips replaced it's just a pain in the arse stripping the entire engine out of the car on a regular basis... so it doesn't get done, they loose compression and then get flogged off as cheap 'spares or repairs'

Neal

I did some mild research last night ont t'inerweb, it appears that you can pick up an RX8 engine rebuild kit for about £700.... hypothetically why would i not go ant find one that is having hot start issues (but hasn't gone pop yet) bag it for next to nothing, and then spend the winter rebuilding the engine, im pretty handy with the spanners and have a decent tool kit.......

RFL, insurance and fuel economy aside that is.......

[Yiliterate]

Nissan 300ZX:

http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/classifieds/use...


Toyota Celica GT4:

http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/classifieds/use...


...and neither looks like it has gone too far down the 'Fast 'n' Furious' path

[TinyCappo]

Captain Cadillac said:

Gravy said:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1994-bmw-m5-e34-3-8-6-sp...

What on the earth could possibly go wrong here; a truly exciting car

Oof. 151k on a 3.8? That'll need engine bearings.

what makes you say that?

[jimxms]

This thread is full of win. I've been on the look-out for a turbo jap car for around £2k to tinker with. Looks like I'll be keeping my eye on this thread.


My contribution is an RX8 with an engine conversion.




http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mazda-RX8-SR20DET-Conver...

[TinyCappo]

nice conversion however OP why not jusy buy a Shagged RX8 with a known Fkd engine for £1k and then take it to somewhere like Haywards Rotary who will then give it a full rebuild ad a cheeky 250hp port for £3k and then give you a 25k 2 year warranty which includes drift drag and track use!

[jimxms]

TinyCappo said:

nice conversion however OP why not jusy buy a Shagged RX8 with a known Fkd engine for £1k and then take it to somewhere like Haywards Rotary who will then give it a full rebuild ad a cheeky 250hp port for £3k and then give you a 25k 2 year warranty which includes drift drag and track use!

Two words: Turbo & potential. s14a engine has tonnes of parts available, lots of upgrade options and you can turn up the boost for pennies.

Besides, its a car that you can drive away...rather than have to rent a trailer for.

[ATM]

jimxms said:

TinyCappo said:

nice conversion however OP why not jusy buy a Shagged RX8 with a known Fkd engine for £1k and then take it to somewhere like Haywards Rotary who will then give it a full rebuild ad a cheeky 250hp port for £3k and then give you a 25k 2 year warranty which includes drift drag and track use!

Two words: Turbo & potential. s14a engine has tonnes of parts available, lots of upgrade options and you can turn up the boost for pennies.

Besides, its a car that you can drive away...rather than have to rent a trailer for.

I dont like to get my spanners dirty therefore I prefer to buy completed projects.

[TinyCappo]

ATM said:

jimxms said:

TinyCappo said:

nice conversion however OP why not jusy buy a Shagged RX8 with a known Fkd engine for £1k and then take it to somewhere like Haywards Rotary who will then give it a full rebuild ad a cheeky 250hp port for £3k and then give you a 25k 2 year warranty which includes drift drag and track use!

Two words: Turbo & potential. s14a engine has tonnes of parts available, lots of upgrade options and you can turn up the boost for pennies.

Besides, its a car that you can drive away...rather than have to rent a trailer for.

I dont like to get my spanners dirty therefore I prefer to buy completed projects.

Exactly why a fresh rebuild with a warranty would be ideal

[AV12]

Fiat Coupe 20v T, black 76,000 £1295

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2012...

[Djdan]

AV12 said:

Fiat Coupe 20v T, black 76,000 £1295

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2012...

Refused to bid any higher on one of those at auction once when i was looking for a banger rally car, it went for 450quid!

[Sound of Thunder]

I think these two are good value at the moment.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2012...


http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2012...

[sim16v]

big_boz said:

Defcon5 said:

I can't think of a reason not to buy that Porsche.

Couple of my mates have boxsters that are used as daily(ish) drivers....here are the reasons i wouldn't buy a boxster.....

£1200-£1500 a year servicing / maintenance
clutch is £600
new disks & pads are £700
If the oil seal goes on the gearbox its £850

Yes great car but cheap by no means, even if the purchase cost is low, plus that one is a Cat D (which i know might mean nothing significant). I would rather spend a bit more on one or get a 911 with similar running costs, if i was in the market for a Porker.

Load of rubbish.

If you are capable of spannering yourself, you could save a fortune.

Service parts are about £120
Full set of OE spec discs and pads are around £300.

Captain Cadillac said:

Gravy said:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1994-bmw-m5-e34-3-8-6-sp...

What on the earth could possibly go wrong here; a truly exciting car

Oof. 151k on a 3.8? That'll need engine bearings.

And more scaremongering rubbish here.

With normal servicing the 3.8 is quite capable of more than 200,000 miles.

It is only the specialists striking fear in to the owners, saying they need a rebuild at X miles and the punter believing them.

Just look at a certain BMW specialist spreading the myth of E30 M3s needing the chains doing before 100k.

My 3.8 was still sweet as a nut with 170k on it.

[kiwifraser]

Bookmarked! Cracking thread OP.

• heading off to hide wallet from myself

[jebus]

+1 on bookmarking plus hiding wallet!

[kiwifraser]

What are the thoughts on an E46 330 Sport? Not a sports car, but surely a capable/ fun/ exciting all rounder with loads of kit for well under thread budget.

[kiwifraser]

Sound of Thunder said:

I think these two are good value at the moment


http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2012...

Good call, i hadn't realised that the 350Z had dropped below 5k! No idea how they drive, but they look quite good, and the performance numbers stack up on paper.