Good cars to start tuning?
Discussion
Lawbags said:
Old Honda Civic.
Loads of tuning parts and will have a nice load of rust on the rear arches to play with.
A rotter can be picked up for pennies
Agreed, though mine is luckily free from any rustLoads of tuning parts and will have a nice load of rust on the rear arches to play with.
A rotter can be picked up for pennies
Loads of tuning parts available as they are very popular in the USA
I've done so much to mine now I'm pretty sure I've spent more on it than I bought it for!
Cambroo said:
would either 6th or 7th gen be good?
I had this choice and after driving both the MK6 is the far better car so that's, EK3, EK4, EK5, EK9, EJ6, EJ7, EJ8, EJ9, EM1MK7 onwards went back to MacPherson strut suspension, whereas the MK6 has a very good double wishbone suspension setup which was designed by Honda's Formula One Team
There are lots of parts available for Civics but my word are they expensive for what you're getting.
Not that N/A tuning is ever especially cheap, but for the same amount of money you would spend on a Civic to get 20hp, you would get 60hp+ out of something like a 200SX.
I don't think there are many cars that are cheaper to mess about with than 200SXs. Second hand parts prices are extremely cheap (one of the few good things the drift culture has done) they are eminently tuneable to 350hp with off the shelf parts and with a little bit of tinkering, handle exceptionally well.
Based on my experiences anyway.
MR2 turbo's can be fettled happily up to 300-350hp as well with suitable handling to match. I found the last one I drove at ~300hp a little disappointing though, the power delivery is surprisingly linear and didn't feel "that" fast. By comparison, my 300hp 180SX feels like a bloody rocket ship.
Don't think you can beat the Jap or American stuff as far as bang for buck goes.
Not that N/A tuning is ever especially cheap, but for the same amount of money you would spend on a Civic to get 20hp, you would get 60hp+ out of something like a 200SX.
I don't think there are many cars that are cheaper to mess about with than 200SXs. Second hand parts prices are extremely cheap (one of the few good things the drift culture has done) they are eminently tuneable to 350hp with off the shelf parts and with a little bit of tinkering, handle exceptionally well.
Based on my experiences anyway.
MR2 turbo's can be fettled happily up to 300-350hp as well with suitable handling to match. I found the last one I drove at ~300hp a little disappointing though, the power delivery is surprisingly linear and didn't feel "that" fast. By comparison, my 300hp 180SX feels like a bloody rocket ship.
Don't think you can beat the Jap or American stuff as far as bang for buck goes.
Lots of good advice , above . Jap turbo stuff is usually the easiest to get good results out of
However another suggestion would be the predictable mx5 or a Rover , anything with the 1.8 wouldn't be a bad bet and the MG ZS is a bargain buy with some decent scope for tuning but might be unaffordable insurance wise
However another suggestion would be the predictable mx5 or a Rover , anything with the 1.8 wouldn't be a bad bet and the MG ZS is a bargain buy with some decent scope for tuning but might be unaffordable insurance wise
Cambroo said:
Never done anything to my cars but planning on doing one up at some point after i finish doing my course at college...
wanting to know what cars are good to do up for a first time both body and mechanically
Some important questions:wanting to know what cars are good to do up for a first time both body and mechanically
1. Do you have a budget in mind, for the vehicle and the following mods?
2. Why do you want to mod? In fact, what is your definition of 'tuning' as I have a feeling it is likely different from mine.
2a. What is your end goal? There is little to no point tuning or modding a vehicle unless you have a reason to do so, a target or an aim.
3. Are you looking at simply buying off the shelf items or are you looking at proper bespoke custom work? This again is related to Q2, but it can make a big difference.
Personally I'd avoid tuning cars that aren't worth doing. This is hard to quantify, but personally I find it rather pointless to tune something like a dull and boring Civic into something that ends up being a worse looking, noisy dull Civic that now rides badly. There are far better cars to throw money at.
Another vote for 200sx/MX5.
If you are more interested in modding for power, then the 200SX is a good choice - there are loads of handling mods available too. However, service and replacement parts aren't always the cheapest.
MX5s are now so prolific that the parts can be had for pennies. Great to drive, engines are strong, yet still cheap if they do go, and loads of options like turbo kits.
Both will give you ample opportunity to tackle tinworm as well
The advantage of a civic, is that while many are dull shopping cars as standard, with a bit of tweaking they can become great drives. A person that berates something like a fettled EG civic for being a dull shopping car has obviously never been in one with an EK9 powerplant and DC2 footwork. To draw a parallel, it would be like someone with no experience making the assertion that all American cars handle badly.
If you are more interested in modding for power, then the 200SX is a good choice - there are loads of handling mods available too. However, service and replacement parts aren't always the cheapest.
MX5s are now so prolific that the parts can be had for pennies. Great to drive, engines are strong, yet still cheap if they do go, and loads of options like turbo kits.
Both will give you ample opportunity to tackle tinworm as well
The advantage of a civic, is that while many are dull shopping cars as standard, with a bit of tweaking they can become great drives. A person that berates something like a fettled EG civic for being a dull shopping car has obviously never been in one with an EK9 powerplant and DC2 footwork. To draw a parallel, it would be like someone with no experience making the assertion that all American cars handle badly.
300bhp/ton said:
Some important questions:
1. Do you have a budget in mind, for the vehicle and the following mods?
2. Why do you want to mod? In fact, what is your definition of 'tuning' as I have a feeling it is likely different from mine.
2a. What is your end goal? There is little to no point tuning or modding a vehicle unless you have a reason to do so, a target or an aim.
3. Are you looking at simply buying off the shelf items or are you looking at proper bespoke custom work? This again is related to Q2, but it can make a big difference.
Personally I'd avoid tuning cars that aren't worth doing. This is hard to quantify, but personally I find it rather pointless to tune something like a dull and boring Civic into something that ends up being a worse looking, noisy dull Civic that now rides badly. There are far better cars to throw money at.
1. overall budget would be between 10-15k not sure how much i would spend on the car alone would depend on what car it was1. Do you have a budget in mind, for the vehicle and the following mods?
2. Why do you want to mod? In fact, what is your definition of 'tuning' as I have a feeling it is likely different from mine.
2a. What is your end goal? There is little to no point tuning or modding a vehicle unless you have a reason to do so, a target or an aim.
3. Are you looking at simply buying off the shelf items or are you looking at proper bespoke custom work? This again is related to Q2, but it can make a big difference.
Personally I'd avoid tuning cars that aren't worth doing. This is hard to quantify, but personally I find it rather pointless to tune something like a dull and boring Civic into something that ends up being a worse looking, noisy dull Civic that now rides badly. There are far better cars to throw money at.
2. looking to have a car that i can just take out for a drive for the sake of drive and enjoy myself so maybe get something between 300-400hp with out ruining the car. of course doing the brakes and suspension as well so i can have confidence in the corners. Also do a paint job maybe new alloys and maybe a body kit
3. ill probably get off the shelf work but when the time comes ill decide if i'll get some custom work
Cambroo said:
1. overall budget would be between 10-15k not sure how much i would spend on the car alone would depend on what car it was
2. looking to have a car that i can just take out for a drive for the sake of drive and enjoy myself so maybe get something between 300-400hp with out ruining the car. of course doing the brakes and suspension as well so i can have confidence in the corners. Also do a paint job maybe new alloys and maybe a body kit
3. ill probably get off the shelf work but when the time comes ill decide if i'll get some custom work
That's a considerable budget. You need to know what you want. You could be modifying just for the sake of it? For example, you could buy something like a S15 200SX and spend a couple of grand tuning it to say 375bhp. Or you could just go out and buy a standard Maserati 3200GT with 375bhp standard and an interior and looks to match (and running costs!)2. looking to have a car that i can just take out for a drive for the sake of drive and enjoy myself so maybe get something between 300-400hp with out ruining the car. of course doing the brakes and suspension as well so i can have confidence in the corners. Also do a paint job maybe new alloys and maybe a body kit
3. ill probably get off the shelf work but when the time comes ill decide if i'll get some custom work
Cambroo said:
looking to have a car that i can just take out for a drive for the sake of drive and enjoy myself so maybe get something between 300-400hp with out ruining the car.
I manage that just fine with 101.4bhp. Why have you given yourself this arbitrary BHP target? Another question for you is how much of the work do you want to DIY, and if you want to DIY, what is your skill/experience level? A lot of more modern stuff is frustrating to work on.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff