Fastest car for 5k?

[MILF]

Nissan Pulsar GTiR. Coming from Bradford as I do, there are loads of these things about. Appreciate its an import & "only" has about 220bhp, but in view of the massive power increases you can get on 300ZX, Skylines or even 200SX, wouldnt be difficult to boost it upto 300bhp.

Doesnt seem to have quite the same baggage as either an early Evo or Imprezza either.

[Pierscoe1]

iain, what ECU are you running, and any other mods to get that kind of mpg?

every time I hear figures like the ones you gave, it makes me reconsider..

[TURBO II]

what about an E30 M3 ? - def in price range and will give a big smile on track or road and it looks the nuts!

[dern]

TURBO II said:

what about an E30 M3 ? - def in price range and will give a big smile on track or road and it looks the nuts!

I don't know if insurance is an issue but when I've looked at all these alternatives the mrt is miles cheaper to insure than the others and the m3 was a lot more expensive (although much will depend on your own circumstances).

Mark

[TURBO II]

dern said:

TURBO II said: what about an E30 M3 ? - def in price range and will give a big smile on track or road and it looks the nuts! I don't know if insurance is an issue but when I've looked at all these alternatives the mrt is miles cheaper to insure than the others and the m3 was a lot more expensive (although much will depend on your own circumstances). Mark

there must be classic insurance for these now which will keep the cost down.

[dern]

TURBO II said:

there must be classic insurance for these now which will keep the cost down.

You can get pretty much all of these on a classic policy of one kind or another but classic policies are cheaper because you're limited in the usage of the car. If you want to commute in it or do more than 3k miles a year the price of any classic policy slowly approaches the normal policy price... at least that's how they price up in my experience anyway. If you can find a policy that works though then they do look good fun while being practical.

Mark

[Pulsatingstar]

Iain - Im on Knightsports ECU, not piggyback butits not mappable. 1 bar boost. Id might 17mpg on the Motorway (maybe), but generally its averaging around 12-13mpg. Maybe a PFC and re-map would help, but then im looking at a grand to do that and it might not be any better and Id rather F-Con Pro than PFC which is even more money. Then to track it I need to upgrade the fuel system as I know its not right too so its going to pour in even more lol.

Pulsar GTiR - Ive already had one for a couple of years. Id have another, but the image is really bad now and its 4WD.

Ive been out in an E30 M3 and wasnt impressed, but might conceed that this would be very different if I actually got to drive one. Do like how they look. Not keen on the E36 at all.

[cptsideways]

iaint said:

Pulsatingstar said: the RX7 is ok but single figure MPG makes it really expensive to use everyday. I can't understand how you get such poor mileage from yours... Even when hooning a complete tank it's ~17mpg at worst for me and motorway gives up ~24.

Any chance your odometer is still reading in KM's not miles catches an awful lot of people out that one!

If so that'd make yours 10.4mpg & 14.7mpg which is a lot more realistic for a rotory.

[silverback mike]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Ta daaa

944, best car ever made.....especially grey ones with cream leather...nudge nudge.

ok, Maybe not the best car ever made, and won't bend your face in a straight line but around the twisties they are fantastic fun, reliable as clockwork too.
If you would like a go in mine feel free to give me a call off forum....see my profile for details on the old girl.

I will be looking for a heck of a lot less than 5k. Wink wink...

[iaint]

cptsideways said:

iaint said: Even when hooning a complete tank it's ~17mpg at worst for me and motorway gives up ~24. Any chance your odometer is still reading in KM's not miles catches an awful lot of people out that one! If so that'd make yours 10.4mpg & 14.7mpg which is a lot more realistic for a rotory.

Definately reading miles. Either that or Le Mans is a lot closer than the map say...

[bad_roo]

Another vote for the MR2 Turbo. 300bhp easily reliably achievable for £5k.

[iaint]

Pierscoe1 said:

iaint said: Even when hooning a complete tank it's ~17mpg at worst for me and motorway gives up ~24. very contrasting tales here... makes an interesting read, as one set of figures has me thinking "bloody hell, I can't afford to run a car like that.." whilst the other gets "hmm.. that's not so bad, and they're Sooooo gorgeous and perfect in every other way.."

It depends from car to car, on the mapping and how you drive. They are beautiful - not a lot else is in the same league for the money.

Pierscoe1 said:

there really are VERY few cars that fit this bill, as I'm after the same thing, although I'm probably unlikely to go drifting (will do a few trackdays though), so don't mind spending a bit more... 968's are the only real alternative I've found.. but there's very little tuning scope, and I'd be worried I'd get too used to 240bhp in a 1400kg car.. any owners care to comment? (also porsche servicing costs might be a scare?)

It is scary how quickly one gets used to power. When I got the car it was close to standard (just had a cat-back stainless exhaust) and it was scary-fast. Then I got used to it.

Now I've had a few mods and it's putting out 300bhp and it was scary-fast again. Now I'm used to it.

1 bar of boost and 3k of mods should sort that out though and it's back to brown trousers again.

FDs are a bit lighter than 968s - around 125+ kg.

[iaint]

Pierscoe1 said:

iain, what ECU are you running, and any other mods to get that kind of mpg? every time I hear figures like the ones you gave, it makes me reconsider..

All the mods are in my profile but a summary is:

Apexi PFC ECU
'Street' ported rebuilt engine.
De-Catted (slienced mid-pipe) and cat-back.
Apexi power intake.

THat's all for power but there's the breaks and suspension on top of that.

There are a few very nice FDs for sale including a few beasties at decent prices with rebuilt engines at the mo too...

tempt tempt

[chrisbr68]

When I have the money in a year or twos time (fingers crossed) I want to get an MR2, so heres another vote.

[GKP]

Renault Alpine GTA V6 Turbo. Long name, but a competent car. You can just about squeeze 4 people in one, too.

[deckster]

Fiat Coupe 20VT - 220 bhp standard but not too hard to get it to 300+. FWD is the only real downside but cracking cars, and 4 seats into the bargain.

[SteA]

shadowninja said:

Pulsatingstar said: shadowninja said: Shoulda got an S13 Maybe true, but I didnt want a CA. And at the time I only got the S14 as a stop gap while the FD was broken, and just ended up keeping it. What's wrong with the CA engine? I hear a lot of people putting the CA in the S14.

Do you actually know anyone who has? Why would you? Less power, less reliability etc. Oh, and I do love S13's, but dont see why anyone would replace the SR20DET with the CA lump....

[SteA]

Just curious, what do you hate about your S14?

[Pulsatingstar]

SteA said:

Just curious, what do you hate about your S14?

Its the slowest car Ive owned since being 17.

It doesnt handle very well. Loads of understeer normally. It has a silly amount of body roll, and an awful viscous LSD. That said, you can take the piss with it and get it back easily enough, its fairly friendly.

The engine is boring. I was hoping it would feel like my old GTiR but RWD, but where the GTiR was manic and revvy this is just lazy and pretty unresponsive.

The brakes are rubbish. The seats are really unsupportive and you slide everywhere.

About the only thing I think it does well is run up and down motorways in reasonable comfort doing pretty good mpg. Its certainly not what I would call a sports car. Just a RWD saloon.

In an attempt to get it doing something, I now have a Nismo GT-Pro 2 way mechanical LSD (700 quid) and Apexi coilovers (lots) worth more than the whole car together lol. Its not set up quite as it should be, but I still dont like how it feels (though its different before). Im really not sure if its worth throwing even more money at it, as Im not sure ill ever get it to handle how I want it to - thinking of just cutting my losses on it but dont know what else to get hence this thread.