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[theolodian]

I need a project.  Since you have to have a sociopathic level of self-deception to justify buying a house in Warwickshire, that leaves cars as the next obvious choice.  I am pretty happy with the miggy, certainly far too cheap for what it is to justify replacing it.  Therefore, I am looking for a sporty car to go alongside the miggy that can be driven almost daily but can also be tuned up to 300+ hp.  I would prefer; 2 doors, maybe 8yrs old but could go as much as 12, initial budget is about 4,000 pounds, turbo, hard-top and not FWD.  Don't want something with completely terrible fuel consumption either.

One obvious choice is an E36 M3, but there isn't much to do on them and BMW's in general don't excite me.  S1 Elise and VX220 are about 10K.  I had an Audi Quattro once, ideal car but far too old now.  I want something that once I've built it I'm not constantly fixing it.

An early A4 1.8T Quattro is coming out as the top choice at the minute.  Beats the S2 b/c younger and more tuning stuff available.  One negative is that I have built one before, would be nice to do something different.  Even the M3's at that price are 4-doors, so closer to the Omega than ideal but can't be too choosy for 4K.

Any other suggestions?

[Dazzler]

E39 M5, but its a 4 door :-/ Goes well though and reliable and £4k

[Markie]

mMMMMM M5 for me, or f you want a little tamer somethig like a 540


Or something v6`y from the Alfa Stable  :-/

[theolodian]

E39 M5, but its a 4 door :-/ Goes well though and reliable and £4k

Yeah, I always did like those.  However, pretty much a direct replacement of a 1,500 pound miggy.  

The thing is I want a car that is a project in terms of building it up.  A BMW or miggy is good enough as is that it isn't worth messing with.

[TheBoy]

Kit cars?

[pete1666]

Hi what about celica supra  4X4 turbo TRD, nissan 300zx turbo or a TVR.

[theolodian]

Hi what about celica supra  4X4 turbo TRD, nissan 300zx turbo or a TVR.

Aren't those older?  That's why I'm not considering the Skyline et al.  

I'm afraid that I don't know much about the different TVR's besides the T350C/Sagaris.  If there is one for that price that doesn't need to be fixed every 3 months or less I might be interested.

I forgot to mention that I had a WRX.  I'd rather have the early A4.

[theolodian]

Hi what about celica supra  4X4 turbo TRD, nissan 300zx turbo or a TVR.

I've been looking at the Celica GT4, that looks promising.  Is that close enough to the Supra?

[Admin]

GT4 is a nice car, but 4k will not buy you a good one, and it won't be newer than about 1995.

Basically a toned down version of the Supra, but with 4wd.

Supra would be the better choice.... but again, 4k will buy you lots of work, not the finished article. Oh and they were only made to 1996 (discounting imports).

[theolodian]

GT4 is a nice car, but 4k will not buy you a good one, and it won't be newer than about 1995.

Basically a toned down version of the Supra, but with 4wd.

Supra would be the better choice.... but again, 4k will buy you lots of work, not the finished article. Oh and they were only made to 1996 (discounting imports).

Cheers guys.  Yeah, 1996 is really as old as I want to go.  There is also the consideration of how old the car design is.  The A4 doesn't have a great crash rating, but at least it was a new design in 1995.

I don't want something that has already been 'riced out' with a sewer pipe exhaust and other naff mods.  A lot of the Japanese stuff already has been, at least at that price.

I could move on the budget some, but I don't want a 6K+ car that then I would be spending money to modify, and a big part of this is having something to modify.

[Admin]

You will find it easier to locate a standard Supra. Expect to pay 6k though. For the money and potential, not much better out there.

In standard form they are ferociously fast and handle very well. Start playing with them and it all gets very silly!  

Pick carefully though. Good ones are superb. Those with patchy history are a money pit.

[theolodian]

You will find it easier to locate a standard Supra. Expect to pay 6k though. For the money and potential, not much better out there.

In standard form they are ferociously fast and handle very well. Start playing with them and it all gets very silly!  

Pick carefully though. Good ones are superb. Those with patchy history are a money pit.

Cheapest manual I found was 8K.  Also, maybe Japanese cars just start a few points behind with me.  I never find them comfortable for one.

TBH over 400hp is plenty for me for a road car, so the A4 is adequate in that respect.  Handling can be brought up to a certain level, but isn't fundamentally brilliant.  TT would be better in some ways, but a ridiculous price.  S3 not much cheaper and not as good.

[omegaV6CD]

I need a project.  Since you have to have a sociopathic level of self-deception to justify buying a house in Warwickshire, that leaves cars as the next obvious choice.  I am pretty happy with the miggy, certainly far too cheap for what it is to justify replacing it.  Therefore, I am looking for a sporty car to go alongside the miggy that can be driven almost daily but can also be tuned up to 300+ hp.  I would prefer; 2 doors, maybe 8yrs old but could go as much as 12, initial budget is about 4,000 pounds, turbo, hard-top and not FWD.  Don't want something with completely terrible fuel consumption either.

One obvious choice is an E36 M3, but there isn't much to do on them and BMW's in general don't excite me.  S1 Elise and VX220 are about 10K.  I had an Audi Quattro once, ideal car but far too old now.  I want something that once I've built it I'm not constantly fixing it.

An early A4 1.8T Quattro is coming out as the top choice at the minute.  Beats the S2 b/c younger and more tuning stuff available.  One negative is that I have built one before, would be nice to do something different.  Even the M3's at that price are 4-doors, so closer to the Omega than ideal but can't be too choosy for 4K.

Any other suggestions?

A GTV 3.0 v6 maybe???
Renault alpine GTA?
old GTV6 and convert it to callaway?
Renault 21 turbo quadra?

[Marks DTM Calib]

VX220 Turbo....a proper sports car....or the Elise......none of the others mentioned are sports cars...

[theolodian]

VX220 Turbo....a proper sports car....or the Elise......none of the others mentioned are sports cars...

Yeah a VX220 turbo with a hard top panel would be ideal, but 15K    For the money I am going to have to accept a sporty car instead of a sports car.  993/996 C2, NSX, etc. start at 20K.  Boxster 2.5's are going for less than 10K, but then a 3.6 or 3.8 engine to swap in won't be cheap.

It's also interesting to note that there seems to have been a dead spot in terms of sporty tuneable cars in the very late 90's.  A lot of suggestions are from the early 90's and even late 80's.  This supports what I have been finding, and the frustration that lead to me asking this question in the first place.  In the states there's always the Mustang et al to fall back on.