Starter Car

[Maverik]

I am going to get into the modding world a little bit here, i am not sure where to start. I have looked at many cars, i have about 5g's to pick one up with to start. I was wondering people's opinions on starter cars for a guy who has been interested for a while, but is now going to have the funds to get started. I want something i can mod out a lot that would come out sleek. I am new, but i don't do anything half assed.

**********DO NOT TRY AND SELL ME YOUR CAR. I JUST WANT OPINIONS****************

[88CRX]

buy a civic :thumbsup:

reliable :thumbsup:
aftermarket parts :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
affordable :thumbsup:
good on gas :thumbsup:

[jaysas_63]

it seems theres a huge thing with 240's right now, might want to jump on top of that band wagon

[Maverik]

My buddy has a 93 240, nice car, but not what i am looking for. I am leaning towards a 95-99 cavalier or an earlier integra. Not sure on the teg, but the cavalier is seeming to take the lead. I can get a fairly new body style for decently cheap, not sure whats available for engine mods for them though. And if anyone posts on here can you give me some detail as to why i may want a certain car. Thanks

[BumpinTalon]

Cavaliers are okay. No performance potential, though, unless you want to buld everything completely custom. I guess you could get NOS. and your car will still have zero resale value, get no respect, and fall apart after 185,000km. You could get a 90-94 Talon/Laser. You might be able to get a FWD Turbo for less then $5k. You won't look good - but you can go damn fast for very little money.

[canadiandaytona]

Your Going to get flamed for that one....

What are you looking for...
Speed?
Handeling?
reliable?
etc.
Don't go Honda...Too slow and too much money to make fast.

Personally I would look for a Turbo car...

[Maverik]

I am open to anything. Thats why i am on here, looking for opinion. The reason i was looking at the cavaliers was for some of the show stuff on it. I was looking at cheap kits, hoods, shit like that. I do not want to go all rice, but i have somewhat of an ego too, soo i need it to look good. The main thing standing in my way is i am only looking to spend 5000 on the car itself at first. I am willing to look at some beat up ones thoough because i am willing to build ground up. I figured i might get flamed for the cavalier thing, but hey, different strokes for different folks.

[Maverik]

WEll what is turbo and looks good in my price range>?

[QuasarCav]

Cavalier+modding= riced up car, empty pocketbook and no resale.



Cavys are for simple economic transportation, If you want to mod a car than go Civic. There is a much better aftermarket and the cost to mod will be cheaper.

[Xtrema]

repost!

We have a question like this every other week. Search for it.

[civicrider]

no stock turbo looks goof in your price range IMO, all boxy and old. sure a honda isnt gonna be fast, but think about it are you gonna really to go that fast unless your at the track? civics have the most out for them its easy to find, maybe a crx there a little quicker and are a little bit more original then a civic. maybe an older teg would look good?:dunno:

[Maverik]

Yeah but for a new bodystyle in decent shape, the cavalier is cheap, i am not a fan of the h/b honda's in my price range. I like them and think they look sweet, but just not the car for me

[Maverik]

The older tegs are actually the other car i was looking into. I have seen some very clean looking integra's. Is assume it will be easier to get some speed out of the teg than the cavalier?

(I am a newbie here, buit everyone has to start and learn somewhere)

[civicrider]

yeah the teg is your better bet.

[Maverik]

The CRX's are nice, but i am a decently sized guy, and the car always feels small when i am in or around them :dunno:

[canadiandaytona]

DSM
http://forums.beyond.ca/showthread.php?s=&threadid=62678
Mazda
http://forums.beyond.ca/showthread.php?s=&threadid=62718
etc etc

[Maverik]

That car is nice, but i like the tegs and the cavaliers a lof because of the body kit options, just out of curious what is the best engine for a 95-99 cavalier?
+

[QuasarCav]

Originally posted by Maverik
That car is nice, but i like the tegs and the cavaliers a lof because of the body kit options, just out of curious what is the best engine for a 95-99 cavalier?
+


The 2.4 DualCam. 150hp/150tq.

You cant swap engines like you can in hondas. At best you could throw a 3100 or a 3800S if you are crazy. None of those options would fit into your budget.

you can get a decent Z24 for about 5-8000.

[FiveFreshFish]

Originally posted by Maverik
The CRX's are nice, but i am a decently sized guy, and the car always feels small when i am in or around them :dunno:

Have you driven a Calvalier? IMO, they feel less roomy than a CRX.

[Maverik]

i like the cavaliers as well. I just looked into the 3800 s, anyome know how HP you can push out with one of those? how high have you guys seen cavaliers go wioth that engine?

[A_3]

Not trying to bash anyones car here but i'm imprartial to civic's. With the money you save from repairs and maintenance on others cars you will be able to recover from the initial hit of buying the car and have some room in your finances to begin work. It doesn't cost as much money as you think to get a civic going pretty good. 240's are great cars, rwd=super fun in summer a little more difficult in the winter but with the right set of winters you should be alright. I would look into 90-93 Toyota Celica's, you may be able to find a decent one for around that much, may be pushing it a little. However they feel very small on the inside. I like crx's, they are pretty basic but alot of fun to drive and work on, I agree with your size issue but you might want to see what it's like first, it shouldn't be to to bad. I'm not a huge fan of domestics but the cavi is a good choice, I wouldn't suggest sunfire they tend to have more problems then there jbody cousin. Don't look into older Hyundai's they may be cleaning up there act lately (I don't know) but some of the problems in the old ones definetly scare me. Anyways good luck with your purchase :thumbsup:

[crazydave]

hondas are light too, so that makes up for the power they produce, get a 92-95 honda civic coupe and make it a quick reliable car. im not a fan of domestics much either. but cavi's have decent power aswell i guess.

[Maverik]

The opinions are great, keep them coming. They are opening up my eyes a little more to some models i may not have looked into too much. I checked out the 3.8L 3800 Series III Supercharged V6 for the cavalier. Extremely pricey, but nice llooking. What are some of the engine options on the civics, and i have looked a lot but found very few civic coupe's in the 92-95 raNGE, mostly hatchbacks. I will look into the celica's a little bit too. The 240's are nice but my good buddy has one, and hey, gonna be working on his and mine, need to be original. The RWD is nice though

[88CRX]

if your even considering a crx go test drive some :thumbsup: gauranteed you'll love it.

there shouldnt be any concern over interior space... you'll be fine :thumbsup:

ask anyone who has ever owned a crx...... they've loved them

[r0b0t c0rpse]

the 3800 supercharged series II / III have supported over 700 HP in FWD applications

Majority of 3800 modder's run in the 300-400 HP range and alot in the 400-500 HP range.

Biggest problem for us guys is getting the tranny to hold up to the HP and especialy the HUGE TQ numbers with our 3600 lb cars...

there is one guy who has installed one in his z24 (he hit 425 HP iirc on the bottle) and it came out pretty good once he got the motor mounts re done (so much torque they peeled them off) and even one in a honda accord... lot of fiero guys do it with the getrag 284 /285

but they dont have the weight that the wbodys do.

you're getting real HP and tq with the 3.8 s/c....

right now i'm in the high 13's , once i get the rest of my mods on i should start hitting some 12's


3800 makes alot of HP and tq from 1000-2000 rpm and it stays there, all the way into 6000 rpm.

as you may know its not about peak hp but area under the curve, so building alot of your HP & tq sooner is better than just having it all at 7000 rpm which is essintialy useless for a street car.

[Jasmyn]

Do you want something that everyone else and their momma has or do you want something that may stand out a bit more? I only paid $2800 for my car, but I'm also a chick, so I may have different tastes.

[GTS Jeff]

k i can already tell from reading your posts about your ego or whatever the fuck ure talking about that u wear big gold chainz 'n shiet. so quit stalling and go buy the jbody already.

[Xtrema]

I say stay with teg or civic due to available options and reliability. But $5K doesn't really buy a decent Honda these days.

[Kenny_boy]

K, so you spend 5 K on a car, but really, how much money do you have for parts and stuff...

cause that makes a difference, sure you can get a cheap cavalier, but you will end up spending more to get it running near 13's, either way... it is the cost

and if this is goin to be a daily driver, winter and summer, then maybe go with something heavier and avoid the civic, as someone else posted earlier they are lighter, not a good thing for winter time