by "Noah - Now with more boost." (antriebverliebt)
Published 05/26/2017 at 16:40
by "Noah - Now with more boost." (antriebverliebt)
Published 05/26/2017 at 16:40
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STARS: 1
I’d pick a late model C4: relatively lightweight, more aftermarket support than you’ll ever need, and I’ve always wanted one. IMO the thing to do would be manual swapping an auto example; they are much better value (half the mileage of a 6 speed for the same price) and have probably led easier lives.
"gettingoldercarguy" (gettingoldercarguy)
05/26/2017 at 16:47, STARS: 1
Have you considered an old E36 chassis? Cage it, weld the weak spots for suspension, LS swap when straight 6 dies.
"Noah - Now with more boost." (antriebverliebt)
05/26/2017 at 16:53, STARS: 2
hahahah oh man... I would never do that. First of all because budget build would be a theme, but more importantly, because I spent all of college helping my friend fix his E36 and I never want to work on a nineties BMW ever again!
"gettingoldercarguy" (gettingoldercarguy)
05/26/2017 at 17:00, STARS: 1
They’re nightmares, aren’t they? The good thing about a track car is you can remove all of the failing parts in the name of adding lightness.
It’s hard to beat your C4 idea. There’s a grey one in the pnw that did it on a budget and is still wicked fast, reliable, and cheap. Sounds great as well.
A second gen MR2 with a v6 swap would be wicked as well and fairly cheap. Depends on how you like to drive your car though.
"Noah - Now with more boost." (antriebverliebt)
05/26/2017 at 17:06, STARS: 1
Yes they’re really cool cars, and his was a 328is so it felt special (it was extra fun after the manual swap/before he swapped out the AT spec diff). But total nightmares as I’m sure you know. Something critical broke every two months.
"Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire" (arch-duke-maxyenko)
05/26/2017 at 17:08, STARS: 1
C5's are fucking cheap now.
"RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht" (ramblininexile)
05/26/2017 at 17:10, STARS: 4
Isn’t a Corvette a lot closer to being an HDPE car?
hurr hurr plastic car geddit
"Noah - Now with more boost." (antriebverliebt)
05/26/2017 at 17:13, STARS: 0
lol x) I had to look that up.
"Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap" (ddadragon)
05/26/2017 at 17:15, STARS: 2
I don’t really have a better suggestion than your corvette. Maybe a mustang but making them handle takes some bank.
"Noah - Now with more boost." (antriebverliebt)
05/26/2017 at 17:19, STARS: 0
They have, and the styling is aging better than the C6 IMO. Especially the targas.
"Noah - Now with more boost." (antriebverliebt)
05/26/2017 at 17:20, STARS: 0
Yeah I love pre 86 Fox mustangs for the quad headlights but the motors are boat anchors and like you said, if you want to get rid of that live rear axle you’re in for a 4 figure project.
"My citroen won't start" (lucasboechat)
05/26/2017 at 17:22, STARS: 2
MINIS
C5s
PANTHER
FOX
E30/E36
"Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap" (ddadragon)
05/26/2017 at 17:24, STARS: 1
Even making the live axle more stable isn’t cheap. The cheapest kit I can find is about 900.
"gettingoldercarguy" (gettingoldercarguy)
05/26/2017 at 17:30, STARS: 1
Do you spend just a lump sum or save over a period of time and then pull the trigger when your want/budget allows? I’m doing the latter and it’s a fairly slow process, but no yelling spouse.
"Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire" (arch-duke-maxyenko)
05/26/2017 at 17:32, STARS: 2
I wouldn’t say that about the styling. But, you do get the LS1/2/6
"Noah - Now with more boost." (antriebverliebt)
05/26/2017 at 17:52, STARS: 1
All fun projects and cars that I like, but hard to beat the ‘Vette on bang for buck. I’m dying for a quad headlight fox though.
"Noah - Now with more boost." (antriebverliebt)
05/26/2017 at 17:53, STARS: 0
Yikes. Just for some metal bits? For a Ford?
"Noah - Now with more boost." (antriebverliebt)
05/26/2017 at 17:53, STARS: 1
I’m a bachelor who works as a biz analyst, probs would start tracking right away after brakes got done and do coils, cage, seats, etc. as I went
"Noah - Now with more boost." (antriebverliebt)
05/26/2017 at 17:54, STARS: 0
TBH I am such a novice when it comes to horsepower, a C5 with a big boy motor would be too much lol.
"gettingoldercarguy" (gettingoldercarguy)
05/26/2017 at 18:12, STARS: 1
Awesome, enjoy it! Lettuce know which way you go. I’ve gotta live vicariously through others.
"Flynorcal: pilot, offshore sailor, car racer and panty thief" (flynorcal)
05/26/2017 at 18:58, STARS: 2
I’m building a C4 into a HPDE car. I found a convertible for cheap (!) and have a fabricated roll bar/harness bar waiting for me at a welding shop. He’s out of town, so next weekend I drop it off.
My impressions so far:
Cheap. Very easy access to most everything. It’s the only car I’ve ever owned where I can look at the back side of the front tires and all of the suspension just by opening the hood. Gutting things like carpet and stereo is super easy. Helps that my neighbor fabricates plastics so it looks nice too:
It doesn’t have much horsepower. It feels faster than it is because it’s so low. However, it seems to have an infinite amount of grip even with the garbage tires the last owner skimped on.
My last HPDE car was a 911. My daily is a 500HP M5. In a straight line the M5 would crush the others without effort but it’s too heavy for the track. The 911 was great but expensive and then blew up.
If I had bought a C7 instead of the 911 I would have made the right choice. So I look back with a bit of regret but so far the C4 seems like it’s got a lot of promise and you can’t go wrong money wise. I’d make the same decision about buying the C4 again. Maybe not the 911 though but that was partly crap luck.
"Noah - Now with more boost." (antriebverliebt)
05/26/2017 at 19:38, STARS: 0
Will do!
"Noah - Now with more boost." (antriebverliebt)
05/26/2017 at 19:39, STARS: 1
Awesome! Thanks for the detailed response, I knew there was a decent C4 club on oppo. Sorry about the bad luck, cars are such a rollercoaster.
"Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap" (ddadragon)
05/26/2017 at 19:51, STARS: 0
I think so. I mean that’s just for the watts link.
"merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc" (merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc)
05/26/2017 at 20:16, STARS: 1
I believe the LS engines can be swapped in relatively easy, especially if youre gutting the interior anyway. I had an 87 that I restored while working out of town and that was a decent car. Handled great, and seemed like there was plenty of torque. Not setting your hair on fire, but plenty quick. I’d hate to be in a wreck in one though. No bueno. But if you cage it, that’d be better. Good luck with your project car, should be a blast.
"Die-Trying" (die-trying)
05/26/2017 at 22:46, STARS: 0
i dont know anything about the hpde stuff, but i think it would sure be fun to go out and play in
a used up dirt car.
"ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com" (ita97)
05/27/2017 at 00:42, STARS: 1
I’d vote against a C4 as a CHEAP hpde car. A five grand C4 is going to have issues that need to be addressed to even get on the track, and if cheap is the focus, you have to figure in running costs in addition to purchase price.
C4 vettes are pretty notorious for eating rear hubs in the course of only one or two weekends of track time. Likewise, ball joints, bushings and u joints tend not to be long lived with track use.
The real big cost will end up being tires and brakes. Sticky rubber doesn’t tend to last long on big hp track cars, and big, wide-sized sticky rubber isn’t cheap.
If cheap is the limiting factor, purchase price doesn’t really matter much. Running costs will be far more important. By far, the lowest running costs will be something light, RWD and with modest amounts of hp.