What should I get for a project car?
Alright well I am coming from a 2005 Dodge SRT-4. I sold the car because though I loved it, I always wished I was in an E46 M3 or an EVO. I figured I'd but a cheap reliable daily driver and call it good so I could catch up my bills and ditch the instant gratification for what I REALLY wanted. Well, that's getting old very quickly. A friend of mine did the same thing recently and ended up picking up a 2003 Acura RSX Type S, his second time owning one.
I have been thinking lately of picking up a car between $3-6,000 or so... to clean up, modify and race. When I say race I don't mean bumble bee street race with a JDM tyte car yo... NO! I mean something that I can daily drive but also have fun at track events with and hone my skills so when I DO get my beauty I am that much better and much more capable at driving it to the limit.
I have considered a lot of different cars, anything from FWD Honda/Acura... to an E30 3 Series BMW. I am very open minded but just can't seem to pin point anything just yet so I need some help. Heres the criteria...
What I want in the car:
-I want a car that is reliable and can take some abuse without crapping out on me, I don't plan on driving the car until it pukes out fluids because I beat it down so badly, but I don't plan on babying it either. I need something that doesn't get BUTT HURT because it was driven aggressively
-I want something that handles well out of the box, and can be or is known to be a good contender with little suspension modification (I don't want to bother with something too difficult to make handle well ie. dump truck into go kart)
-It has to be somewhat attractive or have potential to be attractive with the right touch... ( a ford festiva does not fall into this catagory, neither does a kia rio... you get the picture. The woman may have a great personality but you can't teach ugly to be pretty)
-I need a car that has a strong motor, drivetrain... (I'll pass on glass transmissions and weak sauce internals or blocks... I need something that can handle more HP if I decide to go that route or something that can handle tracking and daily driving too)
-Must not be like trying to find a needle in a hay stack (I need something that isn't something rare and impossible to find)
-RWD or AWD is pref but FWD can work too
-$3000-6000 budget
-Nothing that will be in the garage more than out playing or being used as DD transportation (DSM, probably not a good idea?)
-Not a fix er upper... but more of a clean er upper, I'm not taking on a restoration project here.
What have you guys got for me? If anything... PS: No Miata they are too dinky
|