So this was an impulse buy. It weighs just over 2000lbs soaking wet and came with some baller rimz.
It’s kind of terrible and fun at the same time. Definitely not worried about “ruining” it. I will probably rattle can some sort of TRD tribute livery to cover up the paint damage on the side. Maybe engineer/hack some ricer-tastic flares to replace the plastic that’s falling off. (It lost a piece of rear fender trim on the way home :P)
The best part of a car I don’t care about is: brainstorming all the stupid things I could do to it just for fun.
Honestly, it will probably eventually end up getting a roll cage and going racing with 24 Hrs of Lemons at Gingerman. I can’t really imagine any other use for it that makes sense.
Probably won’t be a challenge car. My brother already has two Miatas that we could do that with, lol.
Any other ideas?
I'll see if I can look up the springs got for mine. They were cheap and stiff
So far all I’ve done is clean it out, make a list of things that need fixing, and park it in the backyard next to my father in law’s tiny trailer.
It’s going to wait there until I’ve got the Neon all the way ready for track day things and done some spring maintenance on the other cars.
Dusterbd13-michael (Forum Supporter) said:
Ice racer?
That’s an excellent idea. I need to find out where that happens up here and who does it.
Dung Beetle it. Just my stupid 2 cents.
Rallycross is your answer!
My wife’s kid brother is 14 and wants to learn to drive manual transmission. The red Echo seemed like the perfect teaching tool; so I put it to work as a driver education mule.
First time went surprisingly well. We went up and down our gravel street a few times. He got the hang of slipping the clutch to start the car rolling, shifting from 1st to 2nd and back again, and starting from a stop on a slight hill.
Not bad for someone who’s never sat behind the wheel of a car before.
Whiteline used to have a rear swaybar that stiffened up the car a bit (wasn't as tippy in crosswinds on the highway).
So about a month ago I finally got in to get registration and plates so I've been able to drive it on actual roads. I kinda dig the weird upright seating position and the seats are surprisingly comfy.
It does feel somewhat like like driving around in a real life one of these:
To do: Not much, actually. Needs brakes, shocks (I have orange Konis on the shelf,) a windshield to pass tech inspections, and the exhaust needs to be quieter. It's leaky on top of going straight through to an crappy aftermarket muffler, a bit much even for my childish hot rod tendencies.
Then there's a laundry list of dinky things like the broken trunk latch and sticky driver seat slider.
Oh, and the driver side was apparently dented, repaired with bondo, painted, and then mildly sideswiped again so I think maybe a platidip or rattle can TRD "tribute livery" might happen to cover all that up.
It's slow but will happily hit 65 in 2nd gear which should be useful for cone dodging type activities.
I've also been on the lookout for a cheap set of decent 14" alloy wheels to mount snow tires for winter beater purposes and when this thing inevitably gets rallycrossed. So if anyone has a set of Miata daisies they don't want...
In reply to BlueInGreen - Jon :
I have a full set of daisies with good(but old) tires. What do you want to pay?
I mean I was thinking I'd pay $200 for a conveniently located set with somewhat usable tires, but it looks like they're selling for $80-100/wheel on eBay.
Apparently old Miata wheels are maybe worth more than they were 10 years ago when I got some to put on my Escort :P
In reply to BlueInGreen - Jon :
Is there anyone near you heading to the Challenge?
I have some cool Isuzu wheels that have been passed around here that would work for you
BlueInGreen - Jon said:
Any other ideas?
Mid engine Renault R5 tribute?
As in, take the FWD bits from a Camry or RAV4 and stuff them in the back of the Echo. With box flares.
Have you checked the rear suspension on it? I've seen quite a few recently in the rust belt that have separated on the drivers side.
BlueInGreen - Jon said:
I kinda dig the weird upright seating position and the seats are surprisingly comfy.
It does feel somewhat like like driving around in a real life one of these:
There you have your livery idea.
chandler said:
I have some cool Isuzu wheels that have been passed around here that would work for you
Those are cool. 14" diameter? Any idea how wide?
Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) said:
In reply to BlueInGreen - Jon :
Is there anyone near you heading to the Challenge?
Probably. I know of at least a couple people who are usually there. Wanna make a deal?
There was a guy, I think he was/is on GRM that made one of these very competitive in STS or STF. So much so that they got banned or something due to rollover concerns maybe? I don't remember the details but they can definitely be fast around the cones.
I have kind of always wanted a four door one with the later painted wheel arches.
The Toyota Echo Cup was a real series in Quebec, back around 2004-08. I've seen a few of the cars for sale over the years, but they never come along at the right time for me.
https://forums.casc.on.ca/forum/casc-or-marketplace/for-sale-racer-to-racer/459364-2005-toyota-echo-cup-car
BlueInGreen - Jon said:
I mean I was thinking I'd pay $200 for a conveniently located set with somewhat usable tires, but it looks like they're selling for $80-100/wheel on eBay.
Apparently old Miata wheels are maybe worth more than they were 10 years ago when I got some to put on my Escort :P
I should clarify: I'm not looking to spend $400 for a set of daisies. That's approaching, "Why not just spent a bit more and get new tires mounted on new alloys from TireRack" kind of $$.
BMWGeoff said:
The Toyota Echo Cup was a real series in Quebec, back around 2004-08. I've seen a few of the cars for sale over the years, but they never come along at the right time for me.
https://forums.casc.on.ca/forum/casc-or-marketplace/for-sale-racer-to-racer/459364-2005-toyota-echo-cup-car
I remember them racing at the Grand Prix Trois Rivières. I also remember the winner driving his car to the restobar that sponsored him that night.
They did always look fun if not terribly fast.
