Most Tuneable, on a Budget

Most Tuneable, on a Budget

Author
Discussion

xaby82

Original Poster:

87 posts

141 months

Monday 10th September 2012
quotequote all
Off the back of the "cheepest way to 1000bhp" thread got me thinking..

If I was to hypothetically have up to around £5k burning a hole in my pocket for initial purchase price, with a view to modifying the car over the course of, say a year or so without having to re-mortgage the house to cover costs. What would be the best option to choose in order to go it alone and build a serious track car with substantial bhp in my shead?

For the record, I'm not scared of the spanners but certainly no technical wizz either.

I'm thinking maybe Evo 4/5, impreza, R33 Skyline etc..?
Cheepo Sierra Cosworth? (Hard pushed to find a decent base car at that price)
Early Audi S4? (Can potentially be pricy for mods and may need a fair bit more technical forethought)

For the record, reliability shouldn't be too much of an issue, would be handy to get to the track and back but that's about it.

Your thoughts?

Dave_

530 posts

205 months

Monday 10th September 2012
quotequote all
Sunny/Pulsar GTIR? £5k could see you with a lot of power.

pimpchez

899 posts

184 months

Monday 10th September 2012
quotequote all
evo 4 tuned to death already

pulsar gti-r tuned to death already .

charade turbo tuned to death already

mitsi 3000 gto ,with a deadly remap .it has two turbos

anything jap and tuned to death should do the trick


Nedzilla

2,439 posts

175 months

Monday 10th September 2012
quotequote all
I would go with a sapphire cossie.I had one many years back and they are far cheaper to tune than the more recent evo/subarus.They are also incredibly easy to work on even if you are a complete novice with the spanners.I had mine in bits and back together several times and im a builder by trade!
Stage 1 tune (270 bhp) was only £180 back then and a full exhaust and k+n would only cost you about £250.

Cheap as chips by todays cars/prices.

ManOpener

12,467 posts

170 months

Monday 10th September 2012
quotequote all
2JZ-GTE (Mk4) Supra is the default "most tuneable", IMO. The straight six motor is hewn from solid diamond- there are tales of 700-800bhp cars still running standard pistons and conrods.

KungFuPanda

4,334 posts

171 months

Monday 10th September 2012
quotequote all
Anything with a VAG 1.8 turbo?

GarryA

4,700 posts

165 months

Monday 10th September 2012
quotequote all
Saab 9000?

SMcP114

2,916 posts

193 months

Monday 10th September 2012
quotequote all
Nedzilla said:
I would go with a sapphire cossie.I had one many years back and they are far cheaper to tune than the more recent evo/subarus.They are also incredibly easy to work on even if you are a complete novice with the spanners.I had mine in bits and back together several times and im a builder by trade!
Stage 1 tune (270 bhp) was only £180 back then and a full exhaust and k+n would only cost you about £250.

Cheap as chips by todays cars/prices.
Having had years of experience of both I would say it's quite the opposite. I also find that you only have to tune a Japanese car once.

Steameh

3,155 posts

211 months

Monday 10th September 2012
quotequote all
ManOpener said:
2JZ-GTE (Mk4) Supra is the default "most tuneable", IMO. The straight six motor is hewn from solid diamond- there are tales of 700-800bhp cars still running standard pistons and conrods.
Similarly the 1JZ-GTE in say a soarer would be a good starting point as well, cheaper outlay initially too

MrMoonyMan

2,584 posts

212 months

Monday 10th September 2012
quotequote all
GarryA said:
Saab 9000?
Bam!

Sorry if I sound at all fan-boy-ish (I'm not see their faults too) but the bang for buck with these is huge.

They're cheap to buy, well built, light-ish (compared to modern stuff) and can see 300bhp/330ft/lbs with just breathing mods and nearly 500bhp without needing to open the engine.



crostonian

2,427 posts

173 months

Monday 10th September 2012
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Fiat Coupe 2.0 20V Turbo? Up to 600 bhp achievable for not too much cash.

carlove

7,575 posts

168 months

Monday 10th September 2012
quotequote all
Daewoo Nexia, I hear you can get them to go quite quick, with the help of an Astra.

Speed_Demon

2,662 posts

189 months

Monday 10th September 2012
quotequote all
KungFuPanda said:
Anything with a VAG 1.8 turbo?
First thing I thought of.

graham22

3,295 posts

206 months

Monday 10th September 2012
quotequote all
Caterham/Westfield type kit car, fit Hayabusa motor.

GarryA

4,700 posts

165 months

Monday 10th September 2012
quotequote all
graham22 said:
Caterham/Westfield type kit car, fit Hayabusa motor.
Ignoring the parameters of the O/P somewhat.

Nedzilla

2,439 posts

175 months

Monday 10th September 2012
quotequote all
SMcP114 said:
Nedzilla said:
I would go with a sapphire cossie.I had one many years back and they are far cheaper to tune than the more recent evo/subarus.They are also incredibly easy to work on even if you are a complete novice with the spanners.I had mine in bits and back together several times and im a builder by trade!
Stage 1 tune (270 bhp) was only £180 back then and a full exhaust and k+n would only cost you about £250.

Cheap as chips by todays cars/prices.
Having had years of experience of both I would say it's quite the opposite. I also find that you only have to tune a Japanese car once.
Had a couple of evos myself.Whilst probably ultimately more reliable i had no issues with the cossie once it was rebuilt.Certainly cheaper for 'tuning' parts and also far easier to tinker with at home.
I never once felt like i was up to messing with the evos engine and as for a scoob flat 4.......forget it!

jbi

12,679 posts

205 months

BBS-LM

3,972 posts

225 months

Monday 10th September 2012
quotequote all
KungFuPanda said:
Anything with a VAG 1.8 turbo?
Not a bad idea, and there is a big turbo upgrade going for sale on the PH classifieds for about £1K, and most of that package cost close to £5k new, should see you good for 350 - 400Bhp. biggrin

Huff

3,160 posts

192 months

Monday 10th September 2012
quotequote all
+1 to the Saab vote. 9000 or NG900 will cost bobbins for a good one, and the rest of the budget will get you lots of power with funds over for a newly-sorted chassis. What you are left with is an eminently practical 5-door hatch that gets the stealth vote, and is a huge and reliable giggle.

(I put over 120Kmiles on an Abbot-ised NG900, with the boost turned up further subsequently, with nothing untoward arising. Gave it away 4yrs later at 210K when it still used no oil and romped through the MOT)

graham22

3,295 posts

206 months

Monday 10th September 2012
quotequote all
GarryA said:
Ignoring the parameters of the O/P somewhat.
Yeah - mis-read that big bhp was prime aim.

Although a visit to Holeshot racing for a turbo Hayabusa motor could give serious bhp not to mention power to weight ratio - would blow the budget too.