I've got a mate looking to buy a half reasonable car for about 4K. Looking for something a bit individual and not a Max Power type motor.

Been looking at Charade GTtis and Mazda 323 4x4 Turbos. Has anyone got any ideas.

I'd rather not have him driving around in my old Legacy I traded in for my MY00 as I'll feel guilty if it blows up.


AllanB

 

Rover 620 Ti. 4K has tons of kit, 200BHP, handles ok for a FWD(not in the wet) but great in a straight line. A real Q car. nobody will know what it is or what it does

 

allan,

i once owned a daihatsu gtti for 3 years covering 40K - amazing car. As long as they have excellent service history and don't smoke when driven hard then you should have no problems other than tired suspension.

Other 4K cars to consider:
nissan primera eGT (150bhp)
renault 21 turbo quadra (sp) fragile but v quick
nissan 200sx turbo
bmw 325
golf gti 16v MKII
fiesta RS turbo

to name but a few..

 

I'll second the Rover 620ti, its even got Recaro 1/2 leather seats. M reg average mileage car will be about 4k and theres loads to choose from.
Frankie

 

Allan

If happy with something older, good 91-93 Toyota Celica GT4's can be had for that kind of money. 4WD, 2L turbo, 200bhp lots of toys etc. Don't like the shape myself, but may suit.

Cheers

Ian

 

Also agree with the 620Ti suggestion.

Definately a great Q-car and especially good on the motorway.

I actually bought one as an interim car while waiting for my MY00 which is due next month...which means I'll be selling soon (P reg 30k) if anyones interested...

Matt

 

Possible suggestions:

Nissan 200SX (89-94)
Toyota MR2 (85-90)
Honda CRX (88-92)
Porsche 944 (if you can find an early cherished motor)

 

Second jjones on the Primera 2.0eGT.

I had one and it was brill. Handled well, loads of standard equipment but pretty anonymous.

Owned one for two years and gave it mega pain and it never ever missed a beat.

Other than that the 200sx is a good bet.

Happy hunting!

blubs

 

We bought a Civic Vti for just under £4k. Does 30mpg however hard you thrash it, revs to 8500 before the limiter kicks in and the suspension geometry is fully adjustable....

Handles sweet...

 

I had a charade GTti and loved it.

Great thing about it was that was relatively unknown so the M*x P***R types didn't bother me. It was a great introduction to Turbo'd cars with fuel economy and cheap insurance as a bonus.
Problems? none that I experienced but the car had a fDsh from the start.
Handling was a joke, so much so that the lift off oversteer was life threatening even before the limit! The seats don't hold you in either.
The interior is as flimsy as the bodywork, but overall its a great buy at £2500 for a minter.
At £4k there are better choices, I for one would go for a 205 gti 1.9, or a VTec CRX.

cheers

Justin

 

I second the Nissan 200SX turbo... turbocharger and a halfway-decent rear wheel drive chassis... mmmm.

 

TR7V8 coupe' or convertible!

Make sure the brakes are OK, and the rear trailing-arms are secure. Then just crank up that motor and listen to the noise!!!

Even beats my scoobysport exhaust.

Hmmm...Must talk to my dad about having mine back!

 

PS! - INSURANCE

Fully modified car, 3.5 litres, 170 horsepower, 200lbs/feet torque, worth about £3.5K, fully comp, unlimited mileage....£275!

 

An ickle bit max powerish ;-)

Escort RS2000, 1991,
'Bonnet Bump Version'
New Mongoose SS Exhaust System with De-Cat
New Front Brakes (Discs/Pads - about 6 miles)
New Gas Front shocks
New 16" Alloys
New Pioneer CD
12 monts MOT (Passed Saturday)
Just serviced (Saturday)
Approx 46000 miles
Pioneer In-Dash CD
Pioneer Direct Replace ment front speakers
New Battery
(Receipts for all the above)
White, all standard RS 2000 kit, Heated front screen, Recaros, Elec/Wind etc

Good Condition (should be most of its new ;-)

Got to sell it :-( --- Been given notice on my rented flat and i'm about to sell my soul to the Abbey National.

Offers around £4500.


[This message has been edited by Emlyn Taylor (edited 26-07-2000).]

 

I can recommend the 200SX too. I had a 1990 for three years.

Great car, performance is really good. It felt faster than the Scooby because the turbo seemed to kick in with more of a thump, however a glance at the speedo always indicates the opposite

The handling is also pretty decent (in the dry).

Cheap to run and maintain and fairly exclusive. You can go for weeks without seeing another one.

£4K will buy you a good one. The specification can be good too e.g. leather, air con, electrics....



[This message has been edited by davidw (edited 27-07-2000).]

 

Mazda 323 4x4 1800 Turbo, Viscous diffs, just had a copper head gasket fitted and it runs over 200 bhp. (Standard is 185).

It's black, it's got air con and it feels faster than my scoob.

Oh yeah, it's got a 3" hand built stainless system so it's a little too loud.

for 4K you'd have some change to buy new wheels!.

 

As a slightly more main stream choice - what about the 205 GTi (1.6 or 1.9). If you can find an unmolested one with FSH and <70K miles, you'll have a great car. Needs to have regular oil changes (like another car I could mention...)using the proper peugeot oil filters .

My preference would be for a 1.6 with the uprated engine (115bhp) and no power steering. Best handling front wheel drive car I've driven. Other thing to think of is getting hold of spares. There are loads around and there are plenty of independent specialist so you don't have to pay main dealer prices.

Build quality can be a little suspect, so shop around.

Chris

 

What about a Mk2 Golf GTi G60?

I've just bought a imported one Germany. It's a "Wolfsburg Edition" basically a Mk2 GTi with the Corrado G60 engine and running gear and a set of grrrrrrrrreat Recaro's. You can pick up a decent standard one for £4-4.5K and they look very descrete as standard and not at all Max P.

A Q car if ever there was one

The only problem is that they were only made in left hand drive but after an hour or so of driving you really do wonder what the fuss is about. I think the only people who moan about LHD cars are the ones that have never driven one

 

Weaver,

I seem to remember hearing somewhere that the superchargers need a very expensive overhaul at about 80k?

 

Golf GTi MkII 16v.
139bhp & you can tune it to buggery if you want.
I had one for a couple of years & pound for pound the best car I ever owned.
Quick, Economical, built like a tank & never went wrong - ever.
Parts are cheap from dozens of non-VW dealers.
You have to thrash the 16v engines to get real performance but thats the fun !

Ro.

 

I am in agreement with Mike Rainbird on this.
A Civic VTI can be got for 4K and is wiorth the money.
156BHP revs to 8600 great handling and brakes
great build quality.
I had one for 12 months and it was fab, i was getting 35+ mpg on the motorway and 28 thrashing the a*se off it. I did some work for Honda Cars UK and had a couple on conversations with the techie guys who recon that the engine does not get run in 'till 'bout 40K and will go on for 150-200k without any work regardless of how hard you drive it. the fuel ecomnomy gets better as the miles pour on as well. They are a bit anonimous although this is not a bad thing.

I had mine off of the speedo 'racing' a Lancia Intergrale - i was revving to 8000+ in top - 18miles per hour per thousand revs - 144mph+ - not bad from a 1600cc 4 door. this was on a slight slope, not a vertical one!. Oh the guy in the Intergrale did not seem to happy about it, shame!

 

If you don't mind going for something a bit older, what about Toyota Supra or Nissan 300ZX? Serious modding potential as well.