JDM Options for project car

[tomrunner]

Hi All,

Looking to go down the JDM route as a project car. It will be a second car so can be a bit louder. Looking for suggestions in case there is anything that I have missed. A few things it needs to be:

- £1000 - £1500 Budget
- Wanting something that can be tuned up to about 200-250hp,
- Happy for any sort of platform, saloon, estate, hatchback, convertible however when I say estate I am referring to Subaru legacy sort of thing.
- Linking to above happy with FWD, 4WD or RWD, however would kind of prefer 4WD or RWD if possible.

Fully aware of the MX5 mk1 or 2 as an option, have also considered Suzuki ignis sport.

Let me know your thoughts guys!

Cheers

[philwhite]

The value of JDM cars has been skyrocketing over the past few years so you may find your budget a bit tight. Thanks to the drift scene anything RWD and turbo'd will be way out of budget too.

An EP3 civic type R may squeeze into budget, as would a Celica VVTI 190.

[designforlife]

Mitsu colt cyborg R or an Asti if you want a leftfield choice. £1500 should get one, but you might struggle to track one down.

They're 175bhp standard 1.6 NA, but there is a little room for tuning on top of that.

[Jonny_gti]

for £1500 you could maybe find a early ep82 starlet gt turbo needing some TLC getting a rare sight now and a pretty fun little boosted hatch, also in that budget you might get a jdm 2.2. prelude or early eg civic with the d series.

Cant think of much more as prices are heavily on the up now for anything jdm.

[tomrunner]

So if I wanted something JDM would I have to increase my budget to around £2000-£3000?

Why has the value of them gone up out of interest? I have a rough idea but want to hear what people think

[philwhite]

tomrunner said:

Why has the value of them gone up out of interest? I have a rough idea but want to hear what people think

I think the late 80's and 90's are seen as a golden age for Japanese performance cars, and they're becoming collectible, not unlike and late 60's early 70's American Muscle cars.

[designforlife]

tomrunner said:

So if I wanted something JDM would I have to increase my budget to around £2000-£3000?

Why has the value of them gone up out of interest? I have a rough idea but want to hear what people think

at least.

I sold my 1996 mitsubishi mirage asti with 150k on the clock for £2000 6 months back.

Gives you an idea of what people are willing to pay for rare JDM even at the "cheap" end of the scale.

Gran turismo generation, all of us who coveted these cars in the late 90-s and early 00s can finally afford them.

I bought an integra DC5 a year ago, values on those are rocketing.

[tomrunner]

So if I am wanting something tuneable for £1000 to £1500 might it be worth going somewhere that isn't JDM? Still interested obviously but apart from JDM only way I can think is German and I am not that fussed for german cars

[BuzzBravado]

tomrunner said:

So if I wanted something JDM would I have to increase my budget to around £2000-£3000?

Why has the value of them gone up out of interest? I have a rough idea but want to hear what people think

Because the availability of decent JDM cars are in decline. If Japanese manufacturers continued making desirable cars we wouldn't have this issue, but they stopped making nice cars around the turn of the millenium and here we are.

[designforlife]

tomrunner said:

So if I am wanting something tuneable for £1000 to £1500 might it be worth going somewhere that isn't JDM? Still interested obviously but apart from JDM only way I can think is German and I am not that fussed for german cars

mx5 (ukdm) would be the cheapest way in, but you'll spend most of your budget fixing rust before you get onto the fun stuff.

[philwhite]

tomrunner said:

So if I am wanting something tuneable for £1000 to £1500 might it be worth going somewhere that isn't JDM? Still interested obviously but apart from JDM only way I can think is German and I am not that fussed for german cars

Anything tunable is likely to be turbo, which limits the JDM options in your price range, you might just about find a ropy / leggy early Impreza or a Starlet as previously mentioned.

German cars is a good route as anything with the 1.8 20v turbo is easily tuned, and there are plenty around cheap. Don't rule out Vauxhall's either, I had an old MK4 Astra with the Z20LET, these are massively tuneable and peanuts to buy, you'd need to do something about the handling though!

[tomrunner]

So would UKDM be better option than full on JDM do we think? If so what options would I have?

[ScoobyChris]

Are you specifically looking for an import or would a UK market version do? For example you could get yourself into a classic UK Scooby turbo with a budget of 2k (208bhp standard) and if you up it to 3k, you could get into a blob/hawk eye without too much trouble. Imports seem to command a higher price than that though even for the regular WRX.

Chris

[SonicShadow]

MR2. Turbo or V6 swap down the line.

[tomrunner]

ScoobyChris said:

Are you specifically looking for an import or would a UK market version do? For example you could get yourself into a classic UK Scooby turbo with a budget of 2k (208bhp standard) and if you up it to 3k, you could get into a blob/hawk eye without too much trouble. Imports seem to command a higher price than that though even for the regular WRX.

Chris

UK version would do to be honest. I was thinking that way

[Truckosaurus]

philwhite said:

I think the late 80's and 90's are seen as a golden age for Japanese performance cars, and they're becoming collectible, not unlike and late 60's early 70's American Muscle cars.

Also, several popular cars of that era are now within the American 25yr old limit for personal imports which has increased demand yet further.

[TommoAE86]

Could you find a rough DC2 in budget? Or another Honda EJ/EK Civic? CRX?

Non turbo 300ZX? Rough 5 door skyline on ebay for £3k (non turbo). RX8 with no engine and you can put in whatever you want?


Re: Prices, even mines gone up and it's an R33 GTST (so not desirable) which must mean the market is going up as nothing I buy rises lol. R32's doubled as soon as they got close to 25 years and could go over to the USA.

[KerwinRobertson]

Ignis sport is hard to tune without spending £££££ on turbo kits etc. Good wee cars though, have one myself.
What about a Suzuki Alto Works?

[Hol]

As much as I have a soft spot for Scoobies and Evos, I think 2k is shed money these days, due to the price increases.


For your budget, I would probably look at a Megane Turbo 225 Cup which will give you the exact power you wanted straight out of the box, and brembo brake's as standard.

Increase the budget to £3k and you are into the 230 F1 prices, where you get recaro's and an LSD gearbox.


If French cars are not your thing, I would suggest a Seat Turbo as an alternative, for the same reasons as the Megane.
Or the A3 Turbo, which is the seat in a different body.


be quick though, as nice examples of all those cars are likely to increase like the Clio 182 trophy already has.

[Hol]

IF it HAS to be jap and you are handy with spanners and exhaust fabrication..


Buy a CJ Colt, a Version 4-6 Evo 4g63 engine, engine loom, ECU and ancillaries and chuck that in. The component parts would cost upwards of £3K.


The downside is that only a few very rare 2wd Mitsubishi's had LSD's, so although it will be fun on track, it will be tiring as a road car.