Cheap Economical Autox Car
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Cheap Economical Autox Car
I was wondering what would be a good small autox car. If possible I'd want it to have the following, manual transmission, easily sourced parts, fuel injected, and this is totally optional cause I know its hard to find but rwd.
I've been looking at something like PseudoReality's mazda but I don't want to copy his car, so anybody have any ideas?
I've been looking at something like PseudoReality's mazda but I don't want to copy his car, so anybody have any ideas?
cone junkie
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what economical to you?
also, are you concerned about winning your class? or are you there to just have fun? a little of both?
my mazda was FWD, fwiw.
as far as what I would think of as cheap rwd autocross cars...
1st gen MR2 (85-89)
90-97 Miata
NA RX-7s
older Corrollas, don't have to be the GTS
all could easily be had under 4000 bucks if you look around at all
that's just RWD cars... if you want to look at fwd cars as well, you start adding things like:
neons
protege (90-94)/escort GT (91-95)
later corollas
civics
sentras
if you looking just for something that you can throw around at autocrosses and not worry about at all, i would actually say the Toyota Paseo isn't a bad canidate. Cheap, reliable, and really lightweight. Won't be hard on tires, tires are small and therefore pretty inexpensive compared to larger sizes, toyota offers camber bolts on the cheap, etc. They make an excellent H-stock car as well.
There's lots of stuff that fits, that most people don't think about.
keep in mind that having a 2 seater will make taking your "stuff" to events a bit more of a hassle. Also if you want to run R compound tires, something else to think about.
A lot of guys will bring out something that all the kids think is really silly, slap a set of R compounds on it, and go cook all of them.
if you want something with a bit more power, camaros are an amazing deal performance wise, but you have to deal with owning a chevy. Hard to beat 275hp for under 10 grand though....and beyond that even.... the 200hp V6 Camaros, if you can find one are actually REALLY NICE to autocross. Plenty of torque, good power, handle quite well, make a competitive G-stock car if thats your game....etc.
ok, enough rambling.
also, are you concerned about winning your class? or are you there to just have fun? a little of both?
my mazda was FWD, fwiw.
as far as what I would think of as cheap rwd autocross cars...
1st gen MR2 (85-89)
90-97 Miata
NA RX-7s
older Corrollas, don't have to be the GTS
all could easily be had under 4000 bucks if you look around at all
that's just RWD cars... if you want to look at fwd cars as well, you start adding things like:
neons
protege (90-94)/escort GT (91-95)
later corollas
civics
sentras
if you looking just for something that you can throw around at autocrosses and not worry about at all, i would actually say the Toyota Paseo isn't a bad canidate. Cheap, reliable, and really lightweight. Won't be hard on tires, tires are small and therefore pretty inexpensive compared to larger sizes, toyota offers camber bolts on the cheap, etc. They make an excellent H-stock car as well.
There's lots of stuff that fits, that most people don't think about.
keep in mind that having a 2 seater will make taking your "stuff" to events a bit more of a hassle. Also if you want to run R compound tires, something else to think about.
A lot of guys will bring out something that all the kids think is really silly, slap a set of R compounds on it, and go cook all of them.
if you want something with a bit more power, camaros are an amazing deal performance wise, but you have to deal with owning a chevy. Hard to beat 275hp for under 10 grand though....and beyond that even.... the 200hp V6 Camaros, if you can find one are actually REALLY NICE to autocross. Plenty of torque, good power, handle quite well, make a competitive G-stock car if thats your game....etc.
ok, enough rambling.
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Wow thanks for the write up man.
For the economical question I think I meant more like high gas mileage because I would like to use this as a daily driver. Right now I have a Mercedes Benz 300E which I was going to use for autox but it needs premium gas, its an auto, and my dad doesn't want me breaking anything even though through other peoples experience not much will end up breaking.
I'm mostly going out for fun but I would like to be able to compete decently in a class so it would be nice to have a good car for that class.
If you could go into detail a little about R compound tires I would appreciate it, I know tires make a huge difference in autox and I have a decent knowledge of different things but I haven't ever been out.
As far as the paseo I never really like the way they looked but I might look into them, you said later corolla but I was thinking something like this:
I'm trying to go for something under 1500 but I want it to look kind of decent. After seeing some of the autox picture I started to like the Volkwagen hatchbacks but ive always heard about problems with them.
Thanks for all the info man.
For the economical question I think I meant more like high gas mileage because I would like to use this as a daily driver. Right now I have a Mercedes Benz 300E which I was going to use for autox but it needs premium gas, its an auto, and my dad doesn't want me breaking anything even though through other peoples experience not much will end up breaking.
I'm mostly going out for fun but I would like to be able to compete decently in a class so it would be nice to have a good car for that class.
If you could go into detail a little about R compound tires I would appreciate it, I know tires make a huge difference in autox and I have a decent knowledge of different things but I haven't ever been out.
As far as the paseo I never really like the way they looked but I might look into them, you said later corolla but I was thinking something like this:
I'm trying to go for something under 1500 but I want it to look kind of decent. After seeing some of the autox picture I started to like the Volkwagen hatchbacks but ive always heard about problems with them.
Thanks for all the info man.
cone junkie
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1500....hmmm...that's not easy
whatever you get will probably be old, and therefore, even reliable cars are going to have worn out parts that will only get worse faster with autocrossing. Something to think about.
R compounds are non-streetable "race" tires. They add a TON of performance, but you'll need another set of wheels that you'll have to bring to the races and swap them in the morning and take them off after the event.
I just looked on autotrader, and for 1700 (i figure you can buy them for 1500), there were a number of 90-94 Protege 5 speeds out there. I still think they would make a mean H-stock car, and for not a terrible amount of money to prep one.
whatever you get will probably be old, and therefore, even reliable cars are going to have worn out parts that will only get worse faster with autocrossing. Something to think about.
R compounds are non-streetable "race" tires. They add a TON of performance, but you'll need another set of wheels that you'll have to bring to the races and swap them in the morning and take them off after the event.
I just looked on autotrader, and for 1700 (i figure you can buy them for 1500), there were a number of 90-94 Protege 5 speeds out there. I still think they would make a mean H-stock car, and for not a terrible amount of money to prep one.
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I like the idea of the mazda but since you've already done it im not quite sure. Even though I know many people have probably autoxed paseo's I've been brought up on toyota's and tend to go towards them so I think that might be my best bet.
I have a few questions on the paseo though:
What are the classes for stock? Does the paseo fit into the H-stock class? and if I had springs, shocks, wheels, R compound tires, and swaybar what class would I be put into?
Thanks to everybody for trying to help out ^_^
I have a few questions on the paseo though:
What are the classes for stock? Does the paseo fit into the H-stock class? and if I had springs, shocks, wheels, R compound tires, and swaybar what class would I be put into?
Thanks to everybody for trying to help out ^_^
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I'd say 1st gen Miata. Or...maybe a Nissan 240SX SE. Both durable with independant rear suspension, adequate aftermarket potential and relativly cheap.
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