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recomendations for first autocross car


The Other Nick

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After going to the autocross last weekend down at Columbus Motor Speedway i am hooked on wanting to try my hand at doing it. That being said i know the miata is a cheap platform and usually does very well. I wanted to know some of the things to look for on one that i need to stay away from. Common issues stuff along those lines. i have found a few on the old craigslist for 2k or less. Any advice would be much appreciated.
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First question I would ask, are you planning to do this competitively or just for lolz? Miata due to its such a popular platform so your field you compete with CAN be quite large. But, its hard to argue with a $2500 Go-Kart convertible
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90-93 miatas have weak crankshafts. Look at the crank pulley for any wobble.

M94-97 have the 1.8 and is a much better engine stock.

 

They are dead reliable and stupid cheap to mod or repair.

 

Common issues are bad soft tops, finish panel on back or car cracked, cluster hoods that are broken and rusted rocker panels.

 

 

I used to build spec Miata cars, had a turbo'd NA as a daily and known them inside and out.

 

Another great cheap autocross car would be a 91-95 MR2

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Miatas would be better if they weren't mostly 25 year old rust buckets by now. You could also consider a bmw e36, they're fairly popular and fun to drive.

 

I hear golfs are pretty fast too with the right kind of tires?

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Miatas are defintley great starter cars. I dont know how big you are but if your over 6' your going to be pretty uncomfortable in a Miata. S2000's are and alternative and BRZ's/FRS'. The BRZ/FRS are a little more roomy inside.
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just do it with the mustang. Come around every turn buried in the throttle sideways and smiling.

 

wife and I's entry car into auto-x was an E30 325i bmw (a 1991 convertible 5speed). It was a great car stock because it was very neutral handling and not super fast but not slow.

 

I think in the auto-x beater for under $3K category these are the cars I would look for if just starting out:

- E30 BMW

- E36 bmw

- Porsche 924/944

- MR2

- Miata

- honda civic/acura integra/CRX/Del Sol

- fox mustang

- Slick roof 3rd gen camaro/firebird.

- C3 & C4 corvette

 

All of these are cars with solid aftermarkets that sell handling pieces, most can be easily had for under $3K and some for under $1500, all have potential to grow with your driving ability, and all have been road raced competitively for years and have a huge knowledge base to leverage off of.

 

I was going to suggest your daily driver, but I see that it is a ford ranger, so unless it is lowered probably best not to use that. What does your significant other drive? maybe you can borrow that for a day?

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I had the white 90 miata with the hard top. Feel free to take it for a spin at the next autoX to test it out.

 

Ohio miata owners on facebook has some nice cars and parts for sale. The 90 to 93 cranks are not an oem issue. It's due to poor rebuild. Both of my 90s have had the cap beat out of them with zero issues.

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Probably have $3k in differed maintenance too.

 

easily if you cared if they remained street cars.

 

However if we are talking a gutted purpose built car, things like the AC not working and the weather stripping not sealing are inconsequential.

 

When it comes to things like the corvette, mustang, or F body, if you are paying $3K for all the body bushings under the car and a brake job, then I have a bridge to sell you. The most dangerous thing about buying a 3rd gen is having to go to the trailer park at night to have the title signed over.

 

with the E30, if you do your own work there isn't much that needs looking after and it isn't expensive. Both lower controls arms, all the bushings, a guibo, and 4 bargain shock and springs should be less than $1000. Hopefully cars with drivetrains that sound like bags of hammers being dropped down a staircase are not considered.

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just do it with the mustang. Come around every turn buried in the throttle sideways and smiling.

 

wife and I's entry car into auto-x was an E30 325i bmw (a 1991 convertible 5speed). It was a great car stock because it was very neutral handling and not super fast but not slow.

 

I think in the auto-x beater for under $3K category these are the cars I would look for if just starting out:

- E30 BMW

- E36 bmw

- Porsche 924/944

- MR2

- Miata

- honda civic/acura integra/CRX/Del Sol

- fox mustang

- Slick roof 3rd gen camaro/firebird.

- C3 & C4 corvette

 

All of these are cars with solid aftermarkets that sell handling pieces, most can be easily had for under $3K and some for under $1500, all have potential to grow with your driving ability, and all have been road raced competitively for years and have a huge knowledge base to leverage off of.

 

I was going to suggest your daily driver, but I see that it is a ford ranger, so unless it is lowered probably best not to use that. What does your significant other drive? maybe you can borrow that for a day?

 

debated on putting the stock wheels on it and trying it. its sbc powered with a th350 tranny with all the goodies to go in a straight line suspension wise so it would have more body rolls than kirstie alley.

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Miatas are defintley great starter cars. I dont know how big you are but if your over 6' your going to be pretty uncomfortable in a Miata. S2000's are and alternative and BRZ's/FRS'. The BRZ/FRS are a little more roomy inside.

 

I'm 6'1 and fit great and plenty of space in a Miata. The S2000 on the other hand I didn't fit at all. That interior design is terrible.

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Miata issues are pretty obvious, rust, neglect, fucked up top, ricer mods. In mid-91 they went to a more durable long nose crank shaft, but it wouldn't keep me from buying a good early car. The cars are relatively the same underneath from 90 to 04 and parts are cheap because they rarely break.

 

When I wanted to do the same thing a few years ago the Miata is hard to beat. It's so good out of the box, easy to work on, and reliable. Not to mention they are fun and forgiving cars.

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Good luck finding an E30 or Fox v8 manual worth a shit for 3k.

 

Miata is probably the cheapest way to get a solid autocross car.

 

+1

 

If you want to keep it under $2500 the miata is the way to go. You might be able to find a roller fox and drop a heart back into it for around $2500. A running one @ that price point will almost certainly be 250,000 miles with a lol-list of problems.

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debated on putting the stock wheels on it and trying it. its sbc powered with a th350 tranny with all the goodies to go in a straight line suspension wise so it would have more body rolls than kirstie alley.

 

There is way more too auto-x than the car. In fact the entire first year of you doing it is really just learning how it all works and how to retrain yourself for a different kind of driving. That's why most people just recommend you starting off with what you have already.

 

I was kidding about you using a 7 second fox mustang to run a parking lot full of cones but hey, if you want to try it go for it. Just have a good attitude about it when start collecting cones and getting lost in the course. On the one hand it seems like a lot of car to manage, on the other - at least you will know if you like it or not. Just remember to swap out the 90/10 drag shocks also.

 

I would take robochan's offer of trying it out with his miata if I were you. that sounds like an awesome offer.

 

nobody said I could score a clean, maintained E30 for $500 but I did. Sure it was a friend deal and it had a light hit in the nose but it was mechanically fine and in 5 years of ownership i put less than $800 in the mechanical of the car. The odds aren't really in your favor these days with price but it doesn't mean you shouldn't look. I can't argue with miata being the "cheapest" way but not everyone likes miatas, plus if you already have a bunch of fox body spares then you might as well leverage that.

 

I had a friend who started auto-x with a stock 1984 camaro ZF slick roof. v-6 car with a manual and v-8 suspension parts from the factory. $600 car 5 years ago. did it for 2 years and then switched to an integra. if the camaro hadn't thrown a rod it probably would have kept using it. The car was also his daily.

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