Hamiy

I'm planning on starting a project car- not for drag but for auto-x/drift/touge fun. This is what I was looking at...

Toyota Supra turbo (80s-90)
Toyota SR5/GTS corolla
240sx (either S13 or S14)
Mazda RX-7 FC turbo
any other suggestions?

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I am guessing I will need to do work on most of the engine for these cars. I know I can drop an SR20/RB20 into the 240sx, is there any engine swaps that can be easily done for the AE86, FC, Supra?

Which one of these will be easiest to maintain? I am guessing the 240 because it is the newest of all.

Also, can anyone give me some comments of the handling of each car... The Corolla and the Supra seem like they will handle worse than the 240 and the FC.

Will these be worth spending the money to restore?

BobDigi7080

240s and FCs are nice but if I were to get a beater, it has to be bigger than the S. I'd shoot for a MKIII Supra. Not sure if you like them but I like 3000GTs. Get a base RWD and start modding

565565

I actually own a MKIII Supra Turbo (1987), it was my very first car.

I would say that reliability was good, except for the fact that I recently had to rebuild the engine due to rod knock.

When rod knock first developed, I planned to scrape the car and get something new. After I got a replacement car however, I guess I got sentimental and decided to rebuild the Supra instead of just getting rid of it. I had alot of great memories in that car.

This car is pretty comfortable, but still doesn' really match a modern car. It was always a heavy car, and you can still feel that weight. Steering is very lifeless and numb, I think the Pathfinder I drove had better steering feel. Brakes are pretty crappy to be honest. And acceleration will get spanked by a V6 accord.

If you want to drift/auto-x, I would NOT recommend the MKIII Supra. I remember taking the Supra to auto-x instead of the z06 after it was fixed for giggles. It was a rather comical experience.

Overall I guess I don't recommend the Supra. It is a good cruising car, but then again so is a used Camry. It used to be fast by 1980's standards, but is rather tepid by today's standards. As for the 7m-GTE, it is a weird mix of 1980's turbo technology and 1960's GM truck technology from which it was sourced from. It is a hassle to work on, and a metal head gasket would probably be needed early on.


Overall I think the 240sx is your best bet. I had a friend with a 95 model with slight mods, and it absolutely owned on the auto-x tracks. Of course he was also one heck of a driver.


Here are some picks of me yanking the engine out. And also you can barely make out the z06 in the really messy garage too.



And this is what a 7m-GTE looks like if you daily drive a car for 130,000 miles through all kinds of junk and never bother cleaning the engine.



Here is the engine finally on the stand.

jah

autox is somewhat safe, could use your stock s2k, get those 4 300second runs per day.

240sx
to drift you need more hp, wind up getting a jde engine/transmission/diff on this one, pick a shell that is lite and stiff, there are a few to pick from.
Mazda RX-7 FC turbo
these were initially expensive cars, tend to be still expensive and easy to crunch a car while drifting, the engins die every 100K. look for oil leeks at the turbos. seems to require alot of maintance. no dd options here, these cars burn gas. this car is typically 300hp and weight 2800lbs. just recently pushed this car into the garage to resume work on it, it is sooo light.


a friend has both and at this time they sit in my back yard. i am thinking to take over the 240 project:
-have the jde engine/transmission
-have some improved suspension parts laying around
-the shell is stripped, and primered

aklucsarits

I don't suppose you would consider a Camaro or TransAm. They are extremely competive in SCCA AutoX. They are the car to have in the ESP class. And they are pretty much perfect for track days and drifting too with minor suspension upgrades. They are relatively inexpensive. And stock and aftermarket parts are more available and cheaper than the other cars you mentioned.

Andrew

Hamiy

I never though about these cars. I was under the impression they would be too hard to control in a drift because of balance and weight. Will these be able to control a drift better than a 240sx?

Does anyone know if the stock KA24 with bolt ons/suspension mods will have enough power to drift?

tafka TMB

MR2?

Micko1

if you are limited in resources i would go for the 240.

but if your drving skills are good.. 240 is gonna be pretty boring for ya

Hamiy

I have room to improve Do you know if the KA24de will put out enough power to hold a drift?

Hamiy

Was looking around and I could add another to the list- Porsche 944 Turbo. Perfect balance- just not sure if the wheelbase is good for holding drift (like s2000)

In this case I would just need a LSD, ECU tune and bolt ons to have enough power to hold drifts.