Hello all and some advice please

[magic animal]

Hi To all

I have been looking on pistonheads for ages now always like playing the game of setting myself a budget and see what sort of car i could get for the money.
I currently own a 1994 celica gt4 which i have got up to 320 BHP and 307 nm of torque which causes lots of smile's per mile alot more the the fuel mpg anyway lol.
Any way to the advice bit of my first post im starting to look at a few different cars to replace mine with and im struggling to narrow it down to one.
My final 3 are

Nissan skyline r33 gtr
Mitsubishi evo 8 mr
Vauxhall monaro vxr

In no perticular order.
I wont say my resons for each yet and i will just see what people have to say.

Cheers for your advice in advance.

[RobCrezz]

3 Good choices, but all quite different!

As you already seem keen on a little bit of modding the Evo will keep you happy there. 400bhp is possible with basic mods (standard turbo/engine internals). The Evo will also handle better than your Celica.

Cant really comment much on the other two, but I do like the Monaros. A big V8 would be a lot of fun! Also, I really like the R34 GTR so wouldnt buy a R33 on that basis.

[Grey Ghost]

Personally I would avoid the R33 (a bit old in my opinion) and the Mitsu (dreadful servicing intervals and costs) and go with a Monaro of some sort.

Have a look at Mark's profile to see what can be done with patience, a sound supplier and a deep wallet

Mmm nice

[Papa Hotel]

It has to be the Monaro from that lot. The R33 will have been used to taxi Jesus around, the Evo will have been ragged to fk and will need rebuilt every 5 minutes. The Monaro, in comparison, is simple but will provide all the smiles you'll need.

[LuS1fer]

I'd say the Monaro VXR for the following reasons:
(1) tend to be enthusiast owned AND looked after by an older demographic
(2) much cheaper running costs in terms of servicing the LS1/2 pushrod OHV V8 which is mainly just oil and filter changes - reliable and untemperamental.
(3) possibly cheaper to insure.

May well keep it's price better too.

The downside may be the shift quality as GM boxes aren't exactly slick.

[magic animal]

I do agree the age of the r33 is a concern especially due to the fact that there engines can be a little unreliable and very exspensive to repair when they do go wrong.
The evo is good and im not to worried about the servicing cost as I did my mechanic training at mitsubishi whic is also another reason why I like them, and all my friends and family have jap cars at the moment and we do go to santa pod and genral jap car meets at the moment which I do enjoy.
which really is the only problem with the monaro I do love the monaro's and the idea of a big v8 is great I have always liked v8 cars and since owning a calibra a few years ago I have always wanted the monaro.

[FamilyDub]

It'd be the Monaro for me from those three too

[LuS1fer]

Is there a budget as that might also sway the decision.

[pinchmeimdreamin]

magic animal said:

all my friends and family have jap cars at the moment and we do go to santa pod and genral jap car meets at the moment which I do enjoy.
which really is the only problem with the monaro.

For me that would be a big reason to get the Monaro, Im sure it would get alot of attention and would sound alot better than most and with a bit of money/time would hold its head high at the pod.

[Nedz]

Cant comment on the others but the evo 8mr is a great car.I owned one myself for about a year and a half.They are not as expensive to run as some may think,full fluid change every 4.5k was under £300 by a well known specialist and bullet proof reliability unless you get really silly with the bhp.
Mine was a mr fq300 which i modded to 380 and to be honest i wish i left it as it was.More lag and less low down grunt in exchange for what only felt like a little more top end actually made the car feel slower and far less flexible.

[Steameh]

If it helps I prefer my Monaro over any of my previous cars, it is close with a few of them though.

I have owned 2 Jap turbo cars previously as well.

[magic animal]

pinchmeimdreamin said:

For me that would be a big reason to get the Monaro, Im sure it would get alot of attention and would sound alot better than most and with a bit of money/time would hold its head high at the pod.

It is a consideration but the monaros don't pull great 1/4 mile times im guessing that's mainly down to a lack of traction more then anything else so i guess with some good sticky tires that could be solved.

My budget is around the 12k and looking around you can get either of the monaro or the evo for under that.

They are both totally different cars really one would be great for long cruises across the country and the other is more of a b road blaster i just need to work out which type of car i want .

[LuS1fer]

How about a Trans Am...though this one is auto. Great for the 1/4 mile.
http://pistonheads.co.uk/sales/2891626.htm

[FastRich]

Whatever you get, make sure it has a thumping great V8! That's all that matters!!! Drifting in the Monaro could be fun though...you'd be in with a chance of showing up some of the Jap stuff...

[anonymous-user]

LuS1fer said:

How about a Trans Am...though this one is auto. Great for the 1/4 mile.
http://pistonheads.co.uk/sales/2891626.htm

They look so bad it makes me a little bit angry and I have to throw something across the office.

[magic animal]

LuS1fer said:

How about a Trans Am...though this one is auto. Great for the 1/4 mile.
http://pistonheads.co.uk/sales/2891626.htm

They do look really bad.
I have thought about other american cars but in the end of the day since i will be driving this car 50% of the time i would like the steering wheel on the correct side of the car.