What car should my first drag car be?

Hey guys I’m new to the drag world and I’m looking at starting my own build. I live in the UK and want to use this to properly learn V8s as well (I’m a JDM drift boy) so I’ve been looking at fox bodys and 4th gen camaros so the typical stuff. Just wondering what your guys thoughts are on a good beginner drag car? Budgets not that big of a deal as it's a project but of course not too crazy. Any advice would be great as I'm not very knowledgeable in drag racing. Also if anyone could help recommend me some good first mods to do that would be great too.

4th gen ls powered Camaro.  Dead on reliable and can go low 12s or high 11s with simple bolt on mods, if you can drive it.....

Auto with an aftermarket torque converter or 6 spd manual if you want to be THE MAN.  You can be super consistent with the manual but I'd recommend an aftermarket shifter and a shift light.  I've run all day within 0.1 sec at the dragstrip with a manual.  I was racing 10-12 weekends a year at the time though.

I raced Mustangs by the way, but my close friend had a 98 then 00 Z28.  I'd go with the F car now.  If you want to go Mustang get a 2011-2015 GT.

In reply to AnthonyGS :

Cheers dude, I have been swaying towards due to the fact I've already got a slight bit of ls knowledge from other peoples drift cars 

Any common RWD cars available cheaply in the UK that can fit a V8 under the hood?  Is it something you’d tow to a track, or does it need to pass MOT?  If you want road legal, I agree with a 4th gen F-body, just to make life simpler.  If not, just look for something that’s already got a swap kit available to put an LS (or any other motor you’d prefer) into it.  The less you have to fabricate yourself, the sooner you’ll be on track.

Yeah, we'd have to get an idea of what cheap RWD chassis you have access to in the UK- I know you have American stuff, but it seems like ya'll have far more Euro stuff than our Yank tanks.

As for mods- AERO. Aero is a detail I think few consider when they make passes for the first time with first cars, and ones like the aforementioned 4th Gen Camaro are pretty decent for it. Good aero means you'll go down the track straighter and have less resistance in your pass.

Auto trans tend to be faster on drags than manuals because- naturally- manuals have to shift, though the latter can compensate with less energy losses.

Be prepared to do the math to find top speeds to get proper tire and rear-end size.

If you can get an LSD... get one.

In reply to eastsideTim :

Cheers man, cant seem to find anything manual is my issue as I'd still like to keep it manual or at least put on a ratchet shifter with manual VB.

Do you have Vegas or Mavericks over there? Much lighter than the usual muscle car and many go fast modifications available.

Petrolicious just did a film on a really cool Maverick

https://petrolicious.com/films/1973-ford-maverick-miss-maverick

In reply to GIRTHQUAKE :

Cheers man, will keep that in mind

Fox body with an LSx drivetrain. Add an 8.8 out back and you have both a good start and a lot of potential to go as fast as your wallet wants to go.

Pete

How common or cheap are Vauxhall Monaros? Literally the only LS car I know of that was sold in your country.

Whatever you're driving right now will work as your first drag car.  Just go try it and have some fun, you can figure out if you want or need a dedicated car later.

In reply to OjaiM5 :

Never actually even heard of them, I'll have to have a look around cheers man 

In reply to NOHOME :

Good idea but isn't an ls swap into a fox body a pretty big job for a first drag car? Sorry I don't know all that much about this stuff 

In reply to Daylan C :

Yhhhhh but not all that much in the way of aftermarket parts so I'm going to have to get an american import but there's loads of 4th gen camaros already registered over here it's just finding the right one