MadMaxSC400

I hate California.
With that out of the way, considering that I've not been able to find a California legal turbo kit for the SC300 I think I've settled on buying a heavily modified MR2 Turbo. I would buy a Supra, but the crazy people that own them want 55000 dollars for a used one (usually above 40k miles no less) claiming really unamazing horsepower gains for what they have "wow I got 80 more horsepower, somehow the car's worth 30 thousand dollars above blue book!".
Sorry to be bitter, but I can't find anything that suits my needs. BMW? too expensive to fix, too cheaply made. Mercedes? Do these people even know what a manual transmission is? Porsche? perfomance to dollar ratio = bad... I'll spend the 60 g's on a supra before I buy a Porsche. Lexus? they seem like they have potential, but I sure as hell haven't realized it. I blame CA smog. Corvette? Cheap and crappily made, no matter how fast it goes it's still a fast rattletrap. Subaru WRX? tempting, but I'll take the mid engine MR2 for less money.
Hell with em. If I buy the car, I'll post pics and sign off. If not, I'll get to see me whine some more

hokkayh

amen brother I also have a 93 sc 400 And I love her to death

DIrEctQL

Hmm, okay, so tell me any other car that can make it into 11s with 2000 bucks of mods. Yes, that is a WOW. Plus the reliability of Supra is very much unbelivable. Much better than most 300Zs and I am not even going to mention 3000GT VR4. Plus it looks very well and you won't see many cars like it. So yes, that is a reason why the car is so expencive. Plus there are less and less of these cars. People crash them, beat the hell out of them. If you want, you could get a nice '95 Supra for 25k with 40k miles. They're around, you just gotta keep on looking. Keep in mind automatic Supras are faster in a streight line and little more reliabile than the 6 speed. I am pretty sure you focused on the 6 speed. All I can say is good luck with finding a good 6 speed.

Now, about the street legal turbos, I don't see a problem. Get any turbo. Then when it's time to go and do emmisions just turn down the boost, regulate air and fuel ratio with AFC and have some mad cats and it should pass no problem.

MadMaxSC400

about the Supras.. well, yeah, but spend that much money and you can get a number of cars to do 11s. I see your point about people beating on them, though- I hadn't considered that. I really want to get a manual transmission. As for smog, it wouldn't be a problem, but this is The People's Soviet Socialist Republic of California. That means that the laws don't make sense because they were enacted by ignorant people. So, I could have a turbo I-6 SC300 that made less emissions, but the way the law is written you can't have *ANY* part on the car that does that if it's not put through the unnecessarily expensive and drawn out C.A.R.B. process. However, I think that I'm going to go ahead with it anyway... there's more than enough "reasonable" shops around here. Now I need to find a car....

DIrEctQL

A number of cars that can do 11 sec. in 1/4 mile for 2,000 dollars? Like what? BTW, Supra can do 12 sec. in 1/4 mile without spending any money on it. Freemods alone can up the horse power to above 400 hp.

The Ikon

1988 - 89 Porsche 944 Turbo S......

*Weismiser, Dinan or Autothority chips $300 - 600
*K&N cone filter w/adapter $85.00
*Manaul boost controller $100.00 or Electronic boost controller $400
*larger free-flo muffler $55 - $200 depending on preference in look, brand etc...

Should get you to mid 12s... I saw this in Turbo Magazine in 96' or 97'...

*Larger turbo $600 - 900 @Turbo City depending on turbo size
*Hi performance clutch $500 - 800 depending on company used
*plus a few other mods... cams, extrude hone manifold..throttle body etc... $???

$???You should be in the 11s or very low 12s....

DIrEctQL

Okay, that's not 11s and then what does that care do stock? Sounds like a typical turbo car.

The Ikon

1988 - 89 Porsche 944 Turbo S...... 1/4 13.7 - 13.9 fastest times I've seen stock...

*Larger turbo $600 - 900 @Turbo City depending on turbo size
*Hi performance clutch $500 - 800 depending on company used
*plus a few other mods... cams, extrude hone manifold..throttle body etc... $???

$???You should be in the 11s or very low 12s

DIrEctQL

That doesn't sound like something below 2000 bucks. LOL.

meanboy

Ok, some people might stone me but how about a Mustang? I just picked up a recent mag and they mentioned that www.turbodrivenconcepts has some 49 state turbo kits with CARB cert pending. 5.0's are pretty cheap and most any mod is out there to modify it. Big brakes, etc. are readily available, and short block stroker motors are pretty reasobable as well. It's not very sophisticated, but it's cheap fun, and the mustang community is huge. Oh, and cheap to fix too.

Lexus' are pretty smooth and reasonably fast. I think if you remember that you will be satisfied with your car.

Bean

iTrader: (1)

I've got a great idea... how about you move out of California

that place sucks, I've said it time and time again; i'd rather live in the place I live (podunk Mobile, AL) with NO emission laws than california...

Atlanta is very nice I've heard; as is nearly anywhere in Florida; especially P'cola and Panama City.

as for good cars stock; no there's not many at all anymore because of those emission laws that the federal govt keeps attempting to copy from California... if they had emission laws like AL does; then there would be plenty of turbo cars running around
a couple good cars that have just come out are the new Maxima, the new Altima, the WRX, even the RSX Type-S if you don't mind driving a honda... both of the new Nissans can do mid 14s stock and are based on the VQ platform which is getting a lot of new aftermarket support... unfortunately they are FWD as is the RSX

the new 350Z looks nice if you like the looks; it will be out next year with 300hp and a 6-speed and weighing in around 3000lbs... thats good for low 13s; and its sure to handle really well...
the RX-8 if you don't mind the looks will be nice too
its supposed to have 250hp N/A and weigh in around 2600lbs... and of course it will handle like mad...

as far as the potential of SC300s go; its the same potential as a Supra... put a little money in one and you got an evil sleeper/luxury car... thats why I bought mine... and because I hate the way the fugly front-end on the Supra is; or else I would have bought one of those

DIrEctQL

I understand what you mean, but it's still a Mustang. The amount of things that break in it would cost you money and time as opposed with other cars just money. I don't think turboing your mustang is cheap too. Mustangs are mustangs. Have you ever taken a Mustang to 140 mph? It feels like it's going to fall apart. Take your SC or a Supra to that speed and beyond and it will be very smooth. I remember a while back there was a story on some people who were trying to do the impossible and make the Mustang go 200 mph. They did it and right after they did it, the engine blew up.

meanboy

My point is that if you want something cheap you can bring to the track and drive it back home from the track, you can look at Mustangs. What's a nice, clean, 6sp supra tt going for in your neighborhood? You probably don't know because there are few supra tt that are up for sale. An older fox body might cost $3-4k, and are plentiful. I think 10-12k in mods would make a stang competitive, and reliable. And for the most part...smog legal. Not many cars have the kind of tuner support the mustang has.

Mustangs do not break contrary to what some think. I know because I owned one for ten years. The most likely scenario is that the car was crashed or stolen before it broke. The only time my car failed to start was when the alternator went out. $70 later, I was ready to roll. Someone, tell me how much a Lexus alternator is? $600-700k? How about a supra?

Toyotas are nice and reliable. I have a Corolla and a GS and they both are fine cars. And they have good resale value, at least for now.

If you can't find a supra and you hate American cars, you can always buy a RX-7 TT or a 300ZX TT. Madmax, check out the yesterday's Chronicle for the advertisements.

DIrEctQL

Might be some truth behind that. If you drive the mustang slowly and don't race much then yes, it will be somewhat reliabile. Also, I belive older mustangs used to be more reliabile than the newer ones. People around here who do race rebuild the engines in their mustangs quite frequently. I do know some people who drove their mustangs (but didn't race) and didn't have a problem. Most of them sold it with 120k miles and because the tranny and/or engine were going out slowly. Heh. They did regular maintnance and always had problems with their freaken electronics.

The Ikon

My wife got a new Mustang for graduation from college in 95' and we still have it too. It has 128,000 miles on it and it has been just as reliable as the Lex. The only monies spent on the Stang was for a battery $60 bucks, 2 set of tires @ $80 ea. , head gasket after Mother-n-law ran the car hot and blew head gasket... and tune up... Plus we have put it to the test too..

Now features and comfort is another thing... Also the 300ZX 90 -96' is a sure fire winner.