What would you pick and why

"mycarneverruns87" (mycarneverruns87) 02/06/2014 at 15:28 • Filed to: None

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Let's play a game of what-if!

I am in a dilemma at the moment and can't make up my mind.

I have owned many cars and currently own 3 vehicles consisting of an 08 Focus 5-speed daily, a 1989 Mustang that will soon be up and running, and an 06 Harley Sportster. Overall these vehicles keep me very entertained but I am always wanting more because being a Jalop you can never have JUST 3 vehicles!

-The Focus is a fun car to drive and is great as my daily

-The Harley is a great bike that I will keep forever. It is fun for twisty roads buy isn't very comfortable for me or the girlfriend on long distance rides.

-The Mustang is my power car….it is my ever evolving project and rolling resume. Straight line beast. No creature comforts and not intended to do long road trips.

The area I am feeling a void in is having a fun/spirited and economical handling car that would be for weekends and road trips. I really really want to take a big road trip (1000+ miles) somewhere with the girlfriend and want a reliable car that fills the void. It has to obviously be reliable…needs to be decently economical, RWD, fun to drive, handle great, reasonably comfortable over a greater distances and MUST have 3 pedals (DUH!).

There are many cars out there that can fill the void but I have my budget set at $5k …ish. I am also thinking that I want an import as I currently have a very American fleet and need some variety. All these preferences leaves me with the following cars:

-2 nd gen Toyota MR2 – my first choice as I have wanted one for a few years now

Bonus for targa top and turbo!

I like to be different and I don't see many of these cars

-FC RX7 – always thought it was a great looking car!

May not be the most reliable or economical.

-MK3 Supra…no explanation needed here

Bonus for targa top and turbo!

Because SUPRA SOUND!

-Nissan 240 variant – I like the look of a Silvia S13 so maybe a coupe

99.9% of 240s are raged out by kids who think they can drift

-Yes, I know...the answer is Miata…preferably with a hardtop as well

Been done and may be a bit "too" small for long distances

These cars are getting high in mileage and it's hard to find one that isn't rusty or beat up for a good price

-Porsche 944…..because Porsche

Bonus for turbo

Reliability?!?!?

So there are my options so far. I really want an MR2 and have been able to find a few. A turbo would be cool but may not be needed as it doesn't have to be really fast. The turbo cars have a large price jump as well. Does anybody have any experience with an NA MR2? They are rated at 130hp which is less than my Focus so I would have to really work the car on a twisty road.

The RX7 is cool for sure but I just don't know about the reliability of an older wankel!

The Supra is high on the list and the possibilities are endless with this car. Any experience with the reliability of these?

The Nissan could be cool but I just don't have the strong desire for one at the moment.

Miata. We know it handles, will last forever, and is a path well-traveled. Can an owner chime in on the comfort for long journeys?

Porsche 944. I have been a Porsche fan since I was a kid and the 944 could be a great car. I only worry about the reliability of these as they do have a reputation. I am always looking for 914s but those are very small and too slow unless you find a 914-6 for mega dollars!

So there we have it! Let me know your thoughts and stories. Cheers!

Casper > mycarneverruns87 02/06/2014 at 15:31

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Personally I would go with the MR2. I loved my SW20. The 240SX isn't a bad car, but it's a lot less sporty and unique. The high center console and general cockpit feel of the MR2 is great.

mycarneverruns87 > Casper 02/06/2014 at 15:31

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Thank you for the input. I have never been in one but It looks perfect to me. Was yours NA?

WarShrike > mycarneverruns87 02/06/2014 at 15:37

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I'd say MR2 as well. Friggin Go-kart for the street.

EL_ULY > mycarneverruns87 02/06/2014 at 15:37

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Is a 300ZX out of the question?

YSI-what can brown do for you > mycarneverruns87 02/06/2014 at 15:37

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An S13 is fun but only if you add the right parts. Well it is fun from factory but it needs things to be done to become something great. It is more a good project car than an outright fun car. The RX7 will probably have rotary issues, but you could swap in a new one for pretty cheap. There are only like 3 moving parts so there isn't much to replace, either. The Supra came is slightly heavy and not nearly as fun as it could be. It also came with the 7M(not the 1JZ, but a swap isn't too hard) and may have head gasket issues. The MR2. . . I don't know anything about. The 944 may become really expensive if it wasn't well kept. Something to watch out for!

My vote, go with the S13, but make sure it is a good one! Lots of stupid kids get them, and put mods that ruin the car!

mycarneverruns87 > WarShrike 02/06/2014 at 15:38

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Do you have one or ridden in any? How do they feel?

Textured Soy Protein > mycarneverruns87 02/06/2014 at 15:39

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The only one of these cars I would want to take on a cross-country road trip with a passenger is the Supra.

MR2 - twitchy handling and not even close to enough cargo room for 2 people

RX-7 - all the usual rotary problems and good luck finding a turbo one

240 - needs to become a project car to be decently quick

Miata - I actually drove mine from Washington DC to Madison WI. I had been in DC for the summer home from college in Madison, bought the Miata and drove it back to school. Most of my stuff was in storage in Madison, and some of the stuff I had back in DC, I shipped rather than take with me in the car. The biggest trip I made with a passenger was from Madison to Indianapolis for the USGP. But that was only 1 weekend and ~660 miles round trip so we packed pretty light.

944 - not reliable, particularly the turbo

d00mZ > mycarneverruns87 02/06/2014 at 15:41

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S13-15. But I'd rock an S12. Shit is so cash.

EL_ULY > mycarneverruns87 02/06/2014 at 15:43

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http://stlouis.craigslist.org/ctd/4279506022…

Reliable?.... well, as reliable as an e36. Not too bad, just typical cooling system stuff :]

or MR2 :]

Casper > mycarneverruns87 02/06/2014 at 15:43

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I raced an NA and turbo, but my DD MR2 was NA. I actually really liked the 5SFE in the NA car, it was plenty to always have me sideways in autocross, super reliable, and good on gas. The turbo was fun too, but it seemed a bit laggy even though it was twin scroll. If I were to get a turbo again I would try to use an EFR turbo setup to get the response up and have an earlier boost threshold.

Here is a pic of the old NA car (I rarely got pics of my cars back then)

mycarneverruns87 > YSI-what can brown do for you 02/06/2014 at 15:44

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I hear ya on the S13 mods. The RIGHT mods make a good car. The wrong mods can make a horrible car.

What is different about the 7M? Basic details needed please.

EL_ULY > mycarneverruns87 02/06/2014 at 15:46

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$5000 !!!!! Manual Trans :]

http://stlouis.craigslist.org/cto/4318816404…

mycarneverruns87 > Textured Soy Protein 02/06/2014 at 15:47

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Good points.

In regards to your Miata, how was it for the trips? Spine breaking or not so bad?

mycarneverruns87 > EL_ULY 02/06/2014 at 15:48

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I did in fact consider those but haven't looked very far into them to be honest. They definitely meet the criteria.

mycarneverruns87 > Casper 02/06/2014 at 15:49

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Very good info on that. Sharp car too sir!

mycarneverruns87 > EL_ULY 02/06/2014 at 15:50

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I saw that one and it is one of the reasons I wrote this lol. An NB for 5k in good shape!?!?

mycarneverruns87 > EL_ULY 02/06/2014 at 15:51

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I would have never thought a Z3 could be in the budget!

GhostZ > mycarneverruns87 02/06/2014 at 15:53

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More reliable, easier to work on, lighter, and more fun than every single car on your list, and gets about 30mpg, a better resale AND cheaper than most cars on your list.

Just... uh... don't get into a wreck. Or expect a lot of creature comforts.

mycarneverruns87 > GhostZ 02/06/2014 at 15:55

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This was on my list. They are just getting a bit harder to find good examples of. I do worry about the cars past maintenance and leaving me stranded with hard-to-find parts

Textured Soy Protein > mycarneverruns87 02/06/2014 at 15:59

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Depends on the roads. If you live around or plan to travel places where they have a lot of expansion-jointed concrete roads, the car tends to kinda skip over the expansion joints like you're riding a horse. I'd imagine this is similar with any short-wheelbase car with a relatively firm suspension (mine had the sport package). It's not terrible, but in my case it was more like I made the road trips with the car I had, rather than bought the car because it's particularly suited to road trips.

Having said that, the Miata has by far the shortest wheelbase of any of the cars you listed at 89.2". The others are:

Mk3 Supra - 102.2"
S14 240SX - 99.4"
S13 240SX - 97.4"
FC RX-7 - 95.7"
944 - 94.5"
MR2 - 94.5"

I can tell you that my BMW 135is does not share this issue, but even though it's in the same general size ballpark as these cars (and 9" shorter overall than the Supra) it has a 104.7" wheelbase.

YSI-what can brown do for you > mycarneverruns87 02/06/2014 at 16:01

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Well it is an older engine design. It isn't bad it just won't get the power like a 1JZ would. It will make 500hp but it won't be as reliable as the JZ engines. Plus it sounds much lazier than the higher strung engines. Still sounds good.

mycarneverruns87 > Textured Soy Protein 02/06/2014 at 16:02

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Yea, that's to be expected. Unfortuantely I have crappy roads in my town but some glorious backroads just out of town.

I was looking at E30 cars on Ebay and Craigslist yesterday and they are going up in value with the M3 of that gen. The era after the E30 just doesn't do it for me. I like them but I want something a bit older I guess.

mycarneverruns87 > YSI-what can brown do for you 02/06/2014 at 16:06

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As long as it moves the car along easily and sounds good I have no gripes. I have fun with a 160 HP focus so even more would be cake! My Mustang is there for power so I wouldn't be missing it being is a fun driving car. I am a momentum driver so the lesser powered cars on this list would be very fun and challenging.

GhostZ > mycarneverruns87 02/06/2014 at 16:07

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Nothing in the Z is hard to find. The engine is the most common Nissan engine in existence and was made from 1967-1986 and was offered in virtually every Datsun/Nissan car.

About 347,000 engines were sold in the US in the S30, and 370,000 of them in the 280ZX that can swap right in. Then there's a whole slew of cars that had the L engine, and then a whole group that had the L four-cylinder that still shares the internal parts and some valvetrain components, putting the whole list of compatible L engines between 1,000,000 and 1,600,000, with many more 4-cylinder block variants produced. There's a decent aftermarket too, and huge forum community behind them.

Granted, it's not a 302 or 350, but the chances of there not being a junkyard within 100 miles that doesn't have a working L engine in the US is pretty slim. The bodies will rust away long before the engine gives out. Supposedly the Prince Motor company that designed it copied Mercedes Benz's 60s engine design and improved it to make the L block.

If you're considering it, check out the forum communities at Zcar.com or NicoClub. There's also a lot of regional and local groups that pride themselves in restoring these cars, so it's very likely you'll be able to find one that's been babied most of its life or has been owned by someone who has some idea what they are doing.

They're also a lot easier to work on than 90% of US cars, from personal experience. The engine bays are about the size of an E-Type's, but with half the size of engine.

Aside from rust though, almost nothing kills the car. Rust is your only huge concern, and if it's rust free, running, and under $3,000, it's a good deal. The older it is, the more unreliable (Nissan constantly improved the design) and the more expensive (vintage) they become.

YSI-what can brown do for you > mycarneverruns87 02/06/2014 at 16:08

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Then I say go with the Supra. They are heavy though like 3100lbs or something. If you can find a turboed one, then you should have no trouble with the weight. Just make sure to get the heads tightened. They had head gasket issues from the factory!

mycarneverruns87 > GhostZ 02/06/2014 at 16:11

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Hmm, I shall keep my eyes peeled for a good deal. Great info sir.

mycarneverruns87 > YSI-what can brown do for you 02/06/2014 at 16:12

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If it was that big of a concern I would just replace the gasket and studs/bolts myself for peace of mind. Luckily I know how to work on stuff lol

WarShrike > mycarneverruns87 02/06/2014 at 16:12

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Neither. Have some guys locally that do though. I'd pick them over a Miata if I had a 1:1 choice on price, mileage and condition.

Granted it would be easier for me to do an LSx swap into the Miata :)

Textured Soy Protein > mycarneverruns87 02/06/2014 at 16:15

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I mean, this really comes down to how much road tripping you're planning to do. If it's a lot, I would look for something that's more like a good-handling GT car than a full on sports car.

If you look at the Mk3 Supra turbo it has 230 hp and weighs 3500 lbs. Other cars in that ballpark are the Z32 300ZX 2+2 (3300 lbs, 222 hp) and the E24 635 CSI (3500 lbs, 208 hp).

mycarneverruns87 > WarShrike 02/06/2014 at 16:16

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Lol, a Miata with an aluminum LS would be scary. I am in the proces of LS swapping my Fox and it should be fun as hell.

mycarneverruns87 > Textured Soy Protein 02/06/2014 at 16:19

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Well, I will drive the car solo mostly but I want the ability to take a long drive and not regret it. The Z32 is a solid choice as well. Kinda forgot to put it on the list. I parked next to one yesterday and was admiring it. Had a stick and targa = win!

Textured Soy Protein > mycarneverruns87 02/06/2014 at 16:24

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I've always liked the Z32. The turbo probably isn't in your price range. The 2+2 gives a bit more room to stretch out for trips but you certainly couldn't be faulted for getting the regular non-turbo 2-seater.

d00mZ > mycarneverruns87 02/06/2014 at 16:34

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I say do it. Myself, GhostZ and some other owners here like DatASSun highly recommend it. Plus its getting rare due to its anniversary coming up.

midengineer > mycarneverruns87 02/06/2014 at 18:57

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I love my MR2 but I'm not sure it would be great for long trips. I've been able to squeeze two golf bags in the trunk whenever needed but that's filling the thing up. The frunk gives you a teeny bit more space. I'm not sure how good the MPG is for the NA but I average 18 in my turbo. It's definitely a fun car to drive but my biggest concern for you would be cargo space for longer trips.

mycarneverruns87 > midengineer 02/07/2014 at 09:19

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Yea the trunk and frunk sure don't give a whole lot. I am a light packer and can survive a month on a backpack. The girlfriend however..........

midengineer > mycarneverruns87 02/07/2014 at 16:44

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I hear ya there, haha. Best of luck finding something awesome!