blackout

I'm not really open to FWD. I've driven RWD my entire life, and also happen to have an exorbitantly expensive RWD car I'm trying to work up to being able to confidently use at the track. It seems pointless to me to spend the money on something that will train me to get used to different characteristics of a car's behavior.

Besides... I couldn't imagine myself owning something like that integra, let alone trying to get it past the wife. I should also mention that whatever I end up with will likely be parked on the street and be available for driving now and then so therefore must be legal and streetable; I'm also considering using it as a winter beater as well but mostly only because a winter wheel/tire package would be infinitely cheaper than it would on the M4...

I'm back to E30s now. I've found several fairly local examples that are interesting. This one really has my attention right now-

https://baltimore.craigslist.org/cto/5206131119.html

Seems like a lot of the work I'd want to do it is done already. It does seem sort of geared towards the stance crowd, but the suspension is fresh and the work he's done to it seems high quality. I'm going to look at it within the next couple days. There's a couple others similar to this if this one doesn't work out.

edit- I'm not very worried about classes. This car will be pretty much for HPDE and non-competitive auto-x. If somehow I realize I'm a gifted driver and should get into competitive racing I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

Flinch

Car seems to be very reasonably priced; just needs different springs and some wheels/tires.

Hooch

You mentioned 240s, i been browsing through craigslist with http://www.statewidelist.com and found some prospects.

I just like browsing through ads and this gives me an excuse to waste time on CL.

http://fredericksburg.craigslist.org...173047580.html
http://winstonsalem.craigslist.org/cto/5171126711.html

jarrett2k

Biggest thing you need to look for on any used car that's already had anything done to it is the rules at the track you plan on running in. You don't want to be a noob out there trying to run with C6 vettes in a sub 200hp car. I already looking into racing my car and knew I couldn't afford to do it with what I wanted to do with it and still be competitive.

blackout

You guys are great let's keep this thing rolling as activity picked up a bit today. If I was in VB I'd buy everybody a drink.

Went to look at it today. I actually really like it. My only reservation is that it's at the absolute top of what I thought was my initial budget and it still needs a couple things before I could put it on the track. The wheels and tires will definitely be off the car before it ever sees a track. Not sure what to do with the springs; they're BavAuto springs which are supposedly "white labeled" H&Rs but I'd have to do more research... right now I think the car is too low and I'd want to fix that soon. The guy didn't let me drive it (one of his rules listed in the ad, I can respect that) but he did put it through its paces way more than I would have if I had driven it... it feels tight and pulls better than I expected it to; reminded me of my E36 M3 actually. The interior is pretty rough, more so than I'd prefer but the seats and steering wheel are fantastic, and that's what's actually important for what I'll be using it for. The body is straight and the paint is pretty good for what you'd expect from a 30 year old car. No A/C but that's not a deal-breaker for me as I won't be driving this car every day.

I actually looked at another one today too, this one here- https://baltimore.craigslist.org/cto/5198558346.html. Inside and out, way cleaner than the black one, and over $2k cheaper. I was actually amazed at how immaculate the car was... the swap seemed done well, it looks great with the tucked wires and everything. And this guy did let me drive it... I was a little bitch and didn't really get on it that much but at least he did do the same the other guy did and wound it out a little bit for me while I sat awkwardly in the passenger seat. This one though just felt... unfinished. The clutch will take some getting used to... and while the transmission felt really cool when the shifter snapped into place, the straight cut gears/diff/clutch/whatever was noisy as hell during slow-speed turning and deceleration and I honestly couldn't tell if something was wrong. The diff is open; the black one has an LSD. The chassis felt pretty good but not as tight as the black one. I also wondered if the mods done to the swapped motor didn't actually change the powerband so much as to make it effectively slower... it's apparently got that trick intake manifold, S52 cams and a full exhaust, but it didn't feel like it had much grunt until it hit the upper rev range. While I didn't drive the other one it seemed it had more power earlier- which I think would be more useful to me (and fun to drive). And finally- it didn't have power steering. Call me a bitch or whatever but I think that's actually a game changer for me. It's bad enough my M4 has electric steering (that's actually not as bad as I thought it would be...), but I'm wondering if it would be detrimental to learn on a car with no power steering at all. The black one has an E36 M3 rack already.

When I first saw the white car I thought for sure I'd found my unicorn, the exact "diamond in the rough" I was looking for and saving over $2k in pocket change while I'm at it but unfortunately the test drive just failed to impress. If I buy one I think I'll go with the black one. The guy selling the black one too has his own shop with his brother, and is effectively offering more of a "partnership" in which they continue to help with the car as I own it (obviously not gratis but still). That makes me feel pretty damn comfortable right there as well, that they'd even be willing to consider that.

Overall though I'm still not 100% convinced that either one of these cars is what I'm looking for... but I'm not sure I'll ever find that unless I come across the exact type of situation I had when I bought my 90 240SX as a trade-in at the dealer I was working at back in ~99 for $1900. This guy's price is fair, I'm sure of it... but I'm still struggling with my conscience on whether or not I should drop $6500 for a car three weeks removed from leasing a brand new M4.

That said I'm leaning towards just going to pick it up Saturday. The guy said he'll swap the wheels out and take some off the price too, making it more enticing. I also want to at least drive a Miata but not sure if I can arrange that. There's also this Alfa I noticed at a hole-in-the-wall lot down the street that caught my eye...

As I mentioned before, I'll likely never be in that situation. This car I'm looking at is swapped, but it's for HPDE where they generally break you up based on driver experience. In all honesty, I'd probably be getting passed by civics and miatas in the M4 ANYWAY, might as well not feel diminutive and douchey about it by being in a 30 year old car with less than 200 hp. Auto-x events I'm not sure how they're broken down but you're out there by yourself and I don't really care about being competitive, I'm just doin it for the lulz.

Yardjass

Straight cut gearboxes whine like crazy. That's normal but they're very strong, and great for track cars. It's a different thing to learn and drive though. Kicks ass but it won't be anything like your BMW.

Carnine

https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/...222052516.html

Good start and good price. Swap parts are abundant. Awd will bandaid driver handicap.

https://baltimore.craigslist.org/cto/5223967697.html

Seems turn and good to get into as the season draws near to an end. Up keep might be a pita but still seems like a fun around town toy.

Have considered a Fox Body? American Iron seems fun and would be a nice polar opposite to the refined m4 feel. A fbody competes and trumps e3-4 m3's too. Just food for thought.

jorge1190

So i just went through something similar. I starTed tracking my built SR S14 making around 360 whp on low boost. The learning curve was steep and consumables in the long run will add up quickly. Even with z32 brakes your pad selection is decent at best. The car handled great and was a blast to drive but keeping it going for 8 30 minute sessions was challenging. Of course this is an issue you wouldn't have with a stock KA with decent cooling.

I made the decision to move onto a dedicated track car and chose an E30 for multiple reasons. If you look around ypu can find a good deal on a 325i/is which is what you want. They are fairly inexpensive to rub and so many people run them that if something happens at the track you can usually get help/parts/etc. You can pick up used spec suspension for fairly cheap. I will have my e30 track ready with suspension, brakes, seats, cage, harnesses, etc for less than 7k.

You can also easily class an e30 if you end up wanting to do wheel to wheel racing.

Yardjass

Z32 brakes may be a 240 improvement but I still find them to be lacking. However, if it can run 32 brakes, it can run these. They were built to stop 4000 lb barges and they're cheap. Those 2 piece rotors cost me more than the entire rest of the brake setup combined, and they're not at all necessary.

jorge1190

Yeah wilwood offers the superlite kit which paired with z32 rears works great but still has a large initial investment relatively speaking. It is also very easy to throw off the brake bias an brake feel in a 240sx.

I love 240s, I've had mine for 7 years and they are very capable. Miata and E30 are hard to beat for simple, consistent, budget minded track cars with tons of road racing support though.