There is one we call The Answer around here...
Miata is literally the only car that meets your criteria.
In reply to 90BuickCentury :
No forged internals, not cheap, weighs too much, poor suspension fundamentals. Pick three.
The elusive sub $4k wrx already comes with turbo
MR2 (any Gen) gets you some of those things, if you can find a good one under $4k
Some with Fiero also
The Turbo Tbird for sale here.
In reply to Knurled. :
99 Mustang weighs 3000-3500lbs. Can be had for anywhere from $600-$4000 locally. Buy one with blown engine and swap in something with forged internals (also, OP didn't say forged was necessity, just needs to be able to handle some boost). Poor suspension fundamentals doesn't necessarily make it not engaging to drive. OP doesn't really define what he means by "engaging".
Dootz
Reader
2/29/20 7:43 a.m.
Decent steering feedback, decent shifter, decent brake feel, good throttle pedal feel (only relates to electronic throttle cars)
In other words, nothing that a '99 Mustang will satisfy - good canvas to start from scratch, but there's literally nothing redeemable on the Fox platform suspension
Lexus SC300? Maybe slightly porky
In reply to OHSCrifle :
Now there's an interesting option. The thinking man's Supra. Have they depreciated that much?
G35. Will handle boost into the 400+ hp range. 6 speed. Decent handling. Not exactly a lightweight but the fenders will swallow some huge tires.
You can probably find some beater 350zs in that price range as well.
Let's see, looking on my local craigslist there really isn't much that meets your criteria. But I did find a few.
G35 sedan manual
Legacy GT turbo
A very broken Maserati Quattroporte
A beat Bugeye WRX
Good luck finding whatever the heck fits those parameters. In the meantime, pick up a P71 and have some fun.
the 4k or less really limits you. I cannot think of anything that scratches all of your wants with that in place. Even if you raised up the bar some, you are still looking at mostly german cars.
I do not know what you have against cars from there, but they are not hard to work on and quite reliable if you stay atop the maintenance.
mad_machine said:
the 4k or less really limits you. I cannot think of anything that scratches all of your wants with that in place. Even if you raised up the bar some, you are still looking at mostly german cars.
The RWD/AWD and sub-3500lb are the real limiters. Good luck finding ANYTHING that meets that criteria in the modern era. If you want sub-3500lb you want front drive. Or garbage chassis dynamics. Or lots of money. Or a Miata.
Also forged internals. That is rare anymore, forged internals is a real old-school thing, from the days when FEA was expensive/nonexistent and engineering was done by te "too much is good enough" method. That said, the modern PM connecting rods are amazingly stout. I have an S-shaped PM rod from an LQ9 that I keep as a souvenir, they aren't the fragile glass-shattery junk that old farts make them out to be.
i mean, okay, I drive a sub-$4000 car that has forged internals and all the boost and AWD and good chassis dynamics and it isn't German. But it also weighs 3800lb. I don't mind this, because I wanted a luxobarge. If I wanted to drive a non-luxobarge to work, I have the RX-7. Or the other RX-7. Or one of the other non running cars I have that I could choose from if I just dumped some money into them.
spitfirebill said:
The Turbo Tbird for sale here.
Ding ding ding we have a winner, no more callers please!
Javelin said:
spitfirebill said:
The Turbo Tbird for sale here.
Ding ding ding we have a winner, no more callers please!
Turbo T-birds and all other Fox bodies have steering feel like DSMs have shifter feel. It's nonexistent to the point of actually hating you for wanting it.
A whole industry cropped up in the 90s for fixing all of the problems the Fox body suspension had, and contrary to the OMG IRS weenies, it was all in the front. When Ford developed the SN95, a lot of their attention was focused on making the steering not suck so bad. SN95s are still horrible vehicles, and the fact that they are an order of magnitude BETTER than the Fox body says incredible amounts to how enthusiast-unfriendly the Fox chassis is.
STM317
UltraDork
2/29/20 10:14 a.m.
In reply to Knurled. :
And thanks to that whole industry that cropped up, You can buy new manual steering racks for $150 for a Foxbody. If you want steering feel, I don't see how it's going to get better than that.
Ive never driven a Foxbody, so is the poor steering feel related to the power assist, or something else?
How much boost you want? I would go with a c4 Vette (just because you could get a nicer example for your money than a c5). I'd bet you could do respectable power before rods and pistons are really in danger. Hell, you could do the internals pretty cheap. Autos are plentiful cheap.
BTW, your stated goal of power to weight was met stock. Without forged internals you could pretty safely do 450hp aparrently which would be about a 7.5 power to weight ratio...
"not German" and "not Miata" literally eliminate 95% of the vehicles that could conceivably fit your criteria.
Most likely remaining answer is a cosmetically-poor WRX with a slipping clutch and blown HG. Or maybe you can find a beat-up IS300 or something. Turbo + reliability has a lot to do with what boost level you intend to run.
Obviously if you dropped the "no German" thing.... e36/e46 are the easy (non-Miata) button for most of the criteria, and there are a million of them around for under $4k, many of which have more stock power than whatever E36 M3box you slap a turbo onto necessarily will (and are pretty close in stock form to the p/w you want, depending on trim). Hell, there are even a few e92 335's under $4k around here for sale. Already with turbo. As well as a couple e36/e46 M3s near that range.
Patrick said:
The elusive sub $4k wrx already comes with turbo
There are a half-dozen WRXs around $4k on my local Marketplace right now, all of which need minor work (maybe a dent, or a clutch) but nothing drastic. They're not that elusive. I sold my 2009 WRX a year ago for just over $5k, and it was in good shape and pushing 280 at the wheels......
