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£5k Super-Coupes


Stealthbomber

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I'm thinking of replacing the MR2 with something a bit different...

 

Currently the missus has the MR2 for a daily-driver and we also use a VW Golf for more mundane stuff like shopping.

I'm thinking I could get rid of the MR2 and the VW and replace em with a single car, up to about £6,000, that could do the same job.

 

Thing is, and this is the most important part, the MR2 is a "toy". It's a fun car that we can go out for drives on a Sunday, do the odd track day, go touring etc. I don't want to replace it with a sensible car.

 

At the moment I have the following cars on my shopping list:-

 

Toyota Supra

Nissan Skyline GTS

Nissan 300ZX

Mitsubishi 3000GT

 

Links are just there to give people an idea of what I'm talking about. I'm not set on specific model-years etc although, FWIW, I'm talking about the turbo versions of all these cars.

 

At the moment I'm leaning toward the Mitsubishi 3000GT.

I know it's not the fastest but I think it has the most modern interior and I suspect the 4WD system would make it more useful in winter.

 

For toy value I suspect the Supra would be the best but the interior is REALLY nasty looking. The car would have to be something special to make me ignore the way it looks inside.

 

The 300ZX is probably the sensible choice but, TBH, it just does nothing for me. It looks bland on the outside and on the inside IMO.

Also, I'm not sure if they do a manual version. I prefer manuals.

 

I find Skylines to be a bit baffling.

I know they have a reputation for being rocket-ships but I don't really want to spend much time working on the car. I don't mind applying bolt-ons such as boost controllers or BOVs but I don't want to be messing with the oily bits.

 

So, anybody have any comments or alternative suggestions?

Important thing is that it must be a 2+2 Coupe but it's got to be a FUN car so no Scoobies or Evo's.

Same thing applies to BMW M3s or equivalent Merc's etc and I'm DEFINITELY not interested in any kind of hot-hatch, no matter how impressive it might be.

 

Anything made since about 1995 is fine by me. I know Jap cars of this age should still be reliable.

I'm not keen on anything exotic or european (944 Turbos or ANY Alfa's) because they're certain to be rusty and knackered.

 

I have thought about some smaller-engined Jap stuff (Integras, Eclipses etc) but I think I'd prefer something with a bigger, lazier, engine.

 

So, suggestions?

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I think I'd plump for the Skyline. You don't have to fit on extras on a Skyline if you don't want to, but they are obviously designed for more horsepower than the old gentleman's self imposed limit of 276bhp, so If you do, a mild tune-up shouldn't require too much working on. I also love the sort of looks that the R32 gen to the R34 gen have.

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I've driven a few Nissan 300ZX's. They're nice little cars, but I can't remember how much room they have for the 2+2 deal.

 

 

Oh, and evansy...I'll take a Cheverolet 350 smallblock V8 over any import car's engine. My '82 Silverado can out-run all the little 'rice burner' cars around here. :]

 

( Don't ask why I know that. It's better not to say! ;] )

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I've driven a few Nissan 300ZX's. They're nice little cars, but I can't remember how much room they have for the 2+2 deal.

 

 

Oh, and evansy...I'll take a Cheverolet 350 smallblock V8 over any import car's engine. My '82 Silverado can out-run all the little 'rice burner' cars around here. :]

 

( Don't ask why I know that. It's better not to say! ;] )

I know what I'd pick to hammer around a track tho.

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Well, Mr. evansy, what would that be?

 

Personally, I would want either my Z28 Camaro back, or a 1991 Police package RS Camaro. You wouldn't believe how nimble the police package Camaros are. I got to drive one at the 'local' dragstrip a couple years back. They're fast, too, and could easily catch an import. :D

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Have you considered an RX-7?

 

What he said.

 

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1185444.htm

 

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1177438.htm

 

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1089270.htm

 

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1174147.htm

 

Edit: FITW i think 3000GT's look dated now, as do the 300ZX. Skylines will always have a degree of timelessness about them, and i think the RX-7 still looks the *badger*s.

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Easy answer is Supra.

 

For the money you have, if you get a Skyline it will be either R33 turbo (ugly, heavy, expensive to tune) or an R34 non turbo, which will be dog slow. I know people say Skylines rule, but although the 2.6 litre engines of the GTR are awesome, the 2.0's & 2.5's aren't that great. R32's are sort of brisk stock (very light), but the 2.5 R33's are pants. They also cost a fair bit to get 300bhp out of. Plus they are nowhere near as tuneable as the 2.6 even if money is no object.

 

The 300ZX is a good car and handles great, but it has a massive engine in a relatively small engine bay & so even simple jobs like a turbo change become complete engine out scenarios, so fixing them costs a fortune. It's also quite hard to find a manual, and the auto's are awful.

 

The 3000GT is hideous, it's basically FWD until the front wheels start to spin then it starts to send more power to the rear. They are VERY heavy too, meaning poor fuel economy. They also suffer the same issues as the 300zx re: engine.

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Well, Mr. evansy, what would that be?

 

Personally, I would want either my Z28 Camaro back, or a 1991 Police package RS Camaro. You wouldn't believe how nimble the police package Camaros are. I got to drive one at the 'local' dragstrip a couple years back. They're fast, too, and could easily catch an import. :D

I'd take an Evo 8 FQ400

 

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J-Rock, the reason no-one uses a yank car on a track day is because although they will tear your arms off in a straight line they cannot physically go round corners. I think they weld the steering to not go past about 2 degrees of turn when they build them. :D

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I'd take an Evo 8 FQ400

For £6k? I doubt it LOL

 

P.S. re: my above views, I own two R32 drift cars, one with the stock 2.0 and one with a 2.6 transplant, so i know skylines :D I've also had a fair few other imports so I'm definately not biased towards 'liners.

 

Two other options:

1999 Nissan S15 Silvia - 2.0 turbo - 240 bhp stock. This sold for £6200.

 

fp142972.jpg

 

1994 JZZ30 Soarer - 1JZ 2.5 twin turbo - 276bhp stock. This sold for £5100.

 

FP10022.jpg

 

My choice would be this manual Supra which went for £7500

 

fp20300598F.jpg

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Triumph TR7V8 or GTFO :P

Already had one of them. ;)

Also, FWIW, I reckon the interior in the TR7 was probably nicer than the interior of the Supra.

 

Definitely won't be getting any yank tank, particularly not a Camaro. They have a very poor reputation for cornering and, beyond that, the power they get out of a huge old engine shows exactly how ancient they are compared to a more modern Jap car.

 

I'm surprised so few people are giving the Mistu' 3000 any praise.

I had a go in one a few years ago and it was very nimble for such a big car.

Conversely, I've never actually had a proper go in a Skyline but they look horribly dull IMO.

 

Anybody have any info' (or know of a decent website) regarding stuff like what sort of power I can expect after fitting some bolt-on go-faster bits such as boost controllers or new intercoolers etc?

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Don't suppose you want any of those car forums then :P

Erm, no. I'd prefer information with at least some basis in reality.

 

true story:

 

At one track day I bumped into a guy who had a Toyota Supra that'd been in Fast Car (apparently - he had the framed article on the bonnet in the paddock). It was a huge orange thing with scissor doors and Celica headlights grafted in. very nice it looked too, if you like that sort of thing.

The magazine article had a huge shopping-list of stuff which was, apparently, fitted to the engine and the car was alleged to make over 1000bhp.

This, BTW, was based on the fact that it had a dyno ticket showing it had 670bhp and, apparently, had a larger intercooler and some other bits fitted which "should" have taken it over 1000bhp.

Being the cynical old git I am, that was my first clue that something wasn't quite right.

 

On the track (Oulton Park) I didn't really want to overtake this Supra cos, y'know, it's kinda of being an @rse if you squeeze past an obviously faster car and then get in its way along the next straight etc.

However, the guy was just not "going for it" so I overtook him.

 

After about half an hour, and quite a bit of speculation, the Supra came in and people crowded around to find out what was going on.

The driver apparently didn't expect the questions. He just figured people were crowding around his awesome car.

Eventually, once several people had said they were disappointed with the performance, the driver suddenly revealed that "he couldn't get 2nd gear so he was having to change from 1st to 3rd".

Hmmm.

Incidentally, at this point it should be noted that, although the guy had an encyclopedia-like knowledge of bolt-on tat for the Supra, he seemed rather clueless about the more technical facets of tuning such as cam timing or lightening a flywheel or fuel injectors etc.

 

For laughs, in the next session, a queue of people (including me) all got behind Supra Man at Shell-Oils, in first, and then deliberately booted it but changed up from 1st to 3rd as we went past him. :D

 

Seriously, I reckon all the guy did was fit anodised fittings and bolts all around his engine along with Samco and Goodridge hoses then bung the biggest intercooler in it that he could find on ebay.

I have no idea where he got his dyno ticket but a whole bunch of cars, including my 210bhp MR2, had no problem out-dragging him even while short-shifting from 1st to 3rd.

 

Oh, another one as well...

A guy who's a bit of a "personality" on the MR2 forums claimed to have a 450bhp MR2 but, once again, I found that I could keep up with him while changing up at 4,500rpm with no problems.

Go figure.

 

So, erm, yeah.

 

I don't put too much faith in a lot of what's written in magazines or internet forums.

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lol. IF you think something's not got any basis in reality, even if it is, it's impossible to get thru to you. Maybe you best be searching yourself, I reckon you know better than anyone what's what in every subject. Good story though, always good for a laugh when poseurs are showed up.

 

As for the mags, it depends on what magazines isn't it? Max Power Maybe you should ring up a few Skyline specialists in UK and see what they say.

 

Or bug TwinTurboCH. He's got a couple of em.

 

Edit: Hang on! YOU are not on the MR2 forums aren't you? Not after you'd slagged off ignorant petrolheads who are on car forums and then found out I don't even visit car forums? :o

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J-Rock, the reason no-one uses a yank car on a track day is because although they will tear your arms off in a straight line they cannot physically go round corners. I think they weld the steering to not go past about 2 degrees of turn when they build them. :D

 

It's not as bad as you think. American cars and roads/ tracks in general are larger. So what seems like zero turning radious for you guys, is normal for us.

 

It's all a matter of preferance, though. :] I would love to get my hands on a Nissan 350 or 370 Z. I absolutely LOVE the way they look, feel, and drive. They're one sexy piece of vehical! XD

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