What's the best performing drag/autox combo for the $

"briannutter1" (briannutter1) 12/18/2014 at 10:35 • Filed to: None

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With all the Mitsu posts yesterday, it got me thinking about the cheapest way to build an all-arounder. My buddy Matt Step's 4g63 awd swapped Mirage ran mid 9's this summer and he won his class in autox as well. I don't think the car has more than $5k in it with lessons learned from his old GRM $20xx challenge FWD colt. 4g63 was built an eon ago with just rods/pistons and used cams/manifolds/gt35. Show me some examples of other cars that get it done for less than $10k!

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > briannutter1 12/18/2014 at 10:43

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Foxbody Mustang LX

briannutter1 > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 12/18/2014 at 10:44

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Yep, agreed. Ton's of lightweight parts available to get these cars into the 2500lb range cheaply...motorswaps out the wazoo.

Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow > briannutter1 12/18/2014 at 10:45

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That car is awesome!

This is an interesting question. I mean any car can run either, but the things that make a car excel in each type of racing are somewhat difference. I'd say it depends on what your goals are in each, but pretty much any compact import with an engine swap could be potentially great in either. I'd nominate a CRX with a K24/20 swap.

They're light weight, handle like crazy, and the K24 with a K20 head swap will give you plenty of power to dominate in the 1/4 mile.

I Do It For Miatas, NC Owner > briannutter1 12/18/2014 at 10:45

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You can pick up a Volvo 240 for really cheap (depending on where you live) and you can make an assload of horsepower out of the stock block. And the 240s are pretty light, and you could gut most of it

Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 12/18/2014 at 10:51

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This was gonna be my other suggestion, after the CRX.

I've been talking with a guy at work about building a Foxbody for rally. It would be so much fun at Sno*Drift!

briannutter1 > I Do It For Miatas, NC Owner 12/18/2014 at 10:51

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Volvo850 driver here! Yeah, I witnessed a hippie woman autocross her wagon on some skinny ass tires to an amazing time back in the 1991...been a fan of these ever since!

briannutter1 > Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow 12/18/2014 at 10:53

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My sister had an '89 DX. absolutely loved it. I had a '95 Civic DX with a single fogger that rocked on steelies. Miss that car a lot, but the X wrapped it around a pole (as she did later with our bugeye wagon).

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > briannutter1 12/18/2014 at 10:54

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My personal favourite: Triumph GT6 with a Saab B234R. You can pick up GT6s for chump change in the States, there's parts in the UK to sort the rear suspension (and the front suspension is shared with the Elan and is rather good).

Throw on some fibreglass parts and some ECU tuning and you should end up with a ~320bhp car that weighs ~840kg complete with cage. That's a better power-to-weight than a Ferrari 458, and in a body that's actually rather aerodynamic.

Oh, and the Saab engine can take between 400 and 500bhp on the stock internals if you want to add boost for drag events...

Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow > briannutter1 12/18/2014 at 10:54

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Steelies are what's up! haha

I can certainly understand why that girl is an ex. lol

Jayhawk Jake > briannutter1 12/18/2014 at 10:56

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Stripped and caged C4?

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GD3y7y…

Milky > briannutter1 12/18/2014 at 10:57

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Cheap ass SC300/GS300 with a big ass turbo slapped on. Bonus points for being beige and a sleeper.

Rainbow > briannutter1 12/18/2014 at 10:58

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Anything tiny with a motorcycle engine.

briannutter1 > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires 12/18/2014 at 10:58

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Didn't know that about the Elan suspension! and the weight....love that engine too...a beast. Got any pics of some prepared cars?

I Do It For Miatas, NC Owner > briannutter1 12/18/2014 at 10:59

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Thats awesome!! How do you like your 850?

briannutter1 > Jayhawk Jake 12/18/2014 at 10:59

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My personal fav!

briannutter1 > Milky 12/18/2014 at 11:00

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Prices on those are really down now!

briannutter1 > Rainbow 12/18/2014 at 11:01

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funny to think about that blowing by me at 10k rpm!

briannutter1 > I Do It For Miatas, NC Owner 12/18/2014 at 11:02

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Love the 850. Dash held in by three woodscrews it seems, but handles ok and does over 100 several nights a week. I need to do some work on the heater at the moment, but I've never seen a car in Cleveland that stands up against rust so well.

Milky > briannutter1 12/18/2014 at 11:10

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You don't have to tell me. I had a SC400 for a couple years that I got for $1500. It was beat to hell, but it was fun as hell too.

briannutter1 > Milky 12/18/2014 at 11:13

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I'll have to look into those. What kind of mileage do they get? What are the cheap gotta have mods?

I Do It For Miatas, NC Owner > briannutter1 12/18/2014 at 11:17

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Yeah I had to get to my speedometer a while back and I realized I have a few screws left over, oh well! And I bet! Coming from a Nordic country, I bet that they have pretty good rust proofing!

Funktheduck > Milky 12/18/2014 at 11:21

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I wanted to do that to my GS300 so bad. No $ for such hi jinks though. Then it was slain by a deer hopping over a guard rail

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > briannutter1 12/18/2014 at 11:41

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I don't think it's been done before unfortunately, but it's an idea I had recently that I've done a decent amount of research on :) based on engine dimensions it should fit well, and there's a good number of people who have put Saab H engines into RWD cars using GM gearboxes and the like (earlier B202s should hook up to BL LT77 gearboxes if you want to keep it more British). Plus, there's been a good number of people who have put Subaru R160 and R180 diffs in small-chassis Triumphs to cope with big power, and

After I've finished my Spit6 a B202 turbo engined GT6 is on the shortlist for future projects so I'll have a crack at it :)

Milky > briannutter1 12/18/2014 at 11:43

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Well I had the 400 so all I did was cut the exhaust off. The 300's take to turbocharging super easy because obviously, "2JZ no shit". Even with the V8 though I always got 20mpg.

Milky > Funktheduck 12/18/2014 at 11:45

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I knew I was too broke to modify so I just bought the 400, made life easier.

banjo cat ghost of oppo past > briannutter1 12/18/2014 at 11:49

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Dat launch at about 1:19 is pretty sweet. You know you can just about half your friend's $7k investment if you go with one that already has the drivetrain : ) Get a refreshed 16g from an evo 3 like I had, hell even a smaller 14b and you can still run low 11's while being put in a competitive category in rally/rallyx.

briannutter1 > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires 12/18/2014 at 12:00

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keep us posted!

briannutter1 > banjo cat ghost of oppo past 12/18/2014 at 12:13

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Yeah, their first GRM car was a 1g. They did everything with it...drag, roadcourse, rallycross, autox... Beat that one to hell. ran mid 11's as I remember, but it was built for $2k.