Need a DD under 7k - Thinking of a miata, 240sx, e30, etc

Thanks for the responses, I appreciate you inputs

Woody wrote: You should be able to get into an E46 for that kind of money.

First thing I thought of. I bet you could even snap up a 330ci for that much. Miata's suck for daily's; I had a '95R for a daily for 2 years, longest I owned a single car, I never want to do that again. I could see an S14 240SX SE as a great daily/autoX car, too. E30's are pretty cool, but they're getting old, same with an E36.

I am going to throw an odd ball out there...What about a Nissan Hardbody Pickup? Should be easy to find a decent one for cheap, throw a suspension on it, has the same motor as in stock 240sx (KA) and you have tons of hauling room. Also, can pick your flavor of regular or extended cab. A past member on here has a Hardbody with suspension mods as a track truck and did pretty well.

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst/cto/3804946770.html

http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/cto/3790303410.html

http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/cto/3803030742.html

http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/cto/3799721411.html

not really into trucks, but im leaning towards a s13 or a s14, still have to test drive a miata

Swank Force One wrote:

clutchsmoke wrote: Swank Force One and I have both poo-pooed the SR20 in previous threads. The KA that's already in the 240sx is a better engine than the SR20 in every way. Not doing an engine swap buys a lot of turbo parts for the KA.

Agreed. You'll pay $5k+ for an SR20 240 that i'd trust to daily drive. Probably closer to the absolute max of your budget. ASSuming you can find a decent non-swapped 240 for $4k these days, you could easily make good power for $3k if you decided to turbo the KA. I don't HATE the SR20, but the KA is a superior motor.

Really? stock block comparison, I would trust an SR more. They definitely cost more than KAs, but I don't see much on the KA that's superior. Valvetrain and displacement, but they don't have the cams or head flow to really take advantage of either.

SRs get sketchy about the same time a ka24 will in terms of horsepower. At the same horsepower, a turbo KA will mob all over an SR, and not spit valvetrain parts doing it.

The problem with the SR isn't that it's a bad motor really (it's not), it's more that it's just not worth swapping in place of a KA.

Just my opinion, of course.

Can you find a KA with a turbo already done for less than a SR20 swapped car? A SR20 S13 around here goes for prices that I would never pay for such a car. Usually $7k+. Weird also that finding a car with the engine untouched, with a manual, is also impossible. It's kind of funny that i've seen more SR20s, RB20s, etc than anything iwth a KA. I could find a nicer 944 for cheaper than I can find a 240sx. Of course i'm talking cars that are not severely afflicted with rust, damage, etc.... those are common lol

Would like a S13 stock body (no front end conversions or stupid mods) liftback. Not paying E36 M3 prices for one.

Also if the OP is looking at a Miata he should also look at AW11 MR2, can find a supercharged for his price.

I also plan on drifting so a mr2 is out of the picture

halokilller wrote: I also plan on drifting so a mr2 is out of the picture

That changes things substantially. You're going to need an LSD. Are you planning to just do some 2nd gear skidpad stuff, or go out to a track for some higher speed drifting? I had my Miata set up as a quadruple threat: HPDE, DD, Auto-X, and Drift mobile (in that order). Worked great for skidpads. Didn't have the power to maintain high speed drifts around turn 1 or 2 at Thunderhill. It would bleed off speed and the rear suspension would catch about 2/3 of the way through (sometimes I could drift the entire length of turn 2, but rarely).

That said, I had one of the most reliable cars when I would drift. I threw a spare set of rear tires in the passenger seat, would generally keep an eye on coolant temps, and that was the only thing my car ever needed while other people were busy fiddling with stuff on their cars. Not sure if that meant the 240s were inherently less reliable, or if the owners lacked the wisdom to account for reliability when setting them up. I could rock a skidpad all day and pull of things like 360s. I had a good Torsen diff, and it was better than most of the clutch type diffs other guys were running. Engagement was positive, 100% smooth and progressive, and the unit was basically indestructible.

As for cars. I would not do a 944 if planning to drift. The stock clutch has a rubber disc I wouldn't trust to clutch kicks. Replacing them or working on the transaxle is a pain too. I still have to go with Miata as the best choice if you can handle the lack of space. 240 is always a good choice. I'm not sure if a basic 325is E36 came with LSD or if you would need to go E36 M3 to get one stock. I know you can find them on E30s. The E46 did not come with a LSD on anything but the M3.

it is possible to get an E36 325is with an LSD if you look for a very early 96 or earlier car with the winter package (hint, look for heated seats)