Okay fine, what's a good cheap RWD car then?

Status
Not open for further replies.
99-04 Mustang is probably a good bet.

I hate to admit this, being a former Ford guy (I have since become more ambiguous, but I haven't completely shed my blind allegiance to Ford products)

The F body cars - Camaro and Firebird - were faster in stock form than the Fox body Mustangs.

If you want to buy something that will be fast the moment you get it, get an F-body with an LS1.

I will now run from all the Ford guys here, and I will also try to avoid seeing myself in any mirrors.

1173_main_f.jpg


2002FireHawk.jpg


Edit: This isn't to say that the late Fox body Mustangs were particularly slow, they just weren't as fast. With that said, the Mustang will probably cost less.
 
Last edited:
Yea, i just found a $5000 91 notchback mustang in great condition. I know i could get him down to $4000. They are out there and they are cheap but very fun cars to play with
 
Crazyjeeper said:
I second (third?) the SN95 or New Edge mustang idea. My roommate has a 98 GT 5speed which I've driven and it is a hoot. It may only have 225 hp but it has a lot of torque and the manual gearbox make it a lot of fun.
Click to expand...

Lots of torque? :lol: Must be comparing it to 4 cylinders.

Viper007Bond said:
I guess in the right color with the right mods it can look less girly (the green one):
Click to expand...

Right mods? Like this?
 
Mr. Nice said:
The F body cars - Camaro and Firebird - were faster in stock form than the Fox body Mustangs.
Click to expand...

Only if the owner deleted the stock "dead hooker in the trunk" option when they purchased it. :p

Viper if a significant goal is to get the womanz, you'd have better luck with your dad's "cute" Triumph. Alas my Midget will soon be less cute due to the necessity of readding the federal bumpers.
 
Last edited:
Monaro. Duh.
Or if for some ridiculous reason you don't want one of them, then an old porsche.
 
Lekky said:
Monaro. Duh.
Or if for some ridiculous reason you don't want one of them, then an old porsche.
Click to expand...

They cost around $18-20k here for a 6.0L. Viper I believe wants a cheapish car for now.
 
Lekky said:
Monaro. Duh.
Or if for some ridiculous reason you don't want one of them, then an old porsche.
Click to expand...

Monaro = GTO in this context, already discussed.

Old Porsches have the same extortionate hourly labor charges as a 6 year old one. That makes them not cheap.

F-body fans, do tell us about what's involved in a spark plug change and how long it takes again?
 
Crazyjeeper said:
It certainly does compared to say, a Chevy Corsica LT.
Click to expand...

Hey, my V6 made 130 horsepower and 160 ft lbs of torque when new!!!! :lol:


(And I can completely 100% tell when I put my foot to the floor in 3rd or 4th trying to get on the freeway.)
 
LeVeL said:
I second the f-body idea. LS1 is just a much better motor than the 4.6 Ford.
Click to expand...

It's just a shame that the car it's installed in is such a pile. Again, why don't you tell the class about how much fun it is to replace spark plugs on an F-Body? Or where they located the ignition controller? Or how the visibility is out of the car?

There's reasons the SN95/New Edge Mustangs outsold the F-bodies by almost two to one. The F-body's serviceability is much worse and therefore servicing costs will be higher.

Cobol74 said:
Well Honda S2000 - Mugen powered one if they are available in US. Personally I'd stick to domestics or Jap, perhaps a BMW 3 Series being the only car worth thinking about off the top of my head that is a bit unusual. Or may be a Toyota MR2

http://www.carlist.com/newcars/2004/ncr_267.html
Click to expand...

S2000 Mugen not available here, regular S2Ks cost a lot more, early ones have the rear differential explode.

3-series of recent vintage are also rather expensive; BMW parts and service is legendarily expensive.

MR2 wouldn't be bad if he was just looking for a performance car, but he's looking for a 'Viper trainer' so mid-engine is right out.
 
Last edited:
I guess Viper should get something without TC and with a turbo to prepare him for "sudden acts of kicking tail" in a Viper :)
 
A man of Vipers means - expense?????

Oh Ok you are probably right - he did say he was getting all work and service done by a professional shop so. ?
wonder why they did not launch the Mugen S2000 in the US, emission I suppose? I was tempted then my sensible head said not until you are shot of all the kids. ?

I take you point on the MR2, so that leaves some domestics? You guys do not get French stuff so that lets out a whole raft of convertibles Citroen, Renault and Peugeot - pity they have their faults but can do a good job - my Pug 406 estate lasted 10 years and 117,000 miles plus (Oh OK a diesel but. ?) and no major problems at all - bits of internal trim fell off at the end.

What were those GM products? I think that they were re-skinned Astras so front wheel drive - shame.
 
Cobol74 said:
A man of Vipers means - expense?????
Click to expand...

If you check the thread, this car is only meant as a temporary 'trainer' to get him the skills he needs to run a Viper without instantly getting himself killed. He (apparently) wishes to spend as little as he can get away with so he can retain the money to eventually buy the Viper he wants.

Oh Ok you are probably right - he did say he was getting all work and service done by a professional shop so. ?
wonder why they did not launch the Mugen S2000 in the US, emission I suppose? I was tempted then my sensible head said not until you are shot of all the kids. ?
Click to expand...

The regular S2000 didn't sell well at all here, they probably didn't see a point to trying out a special edition. Most potential buyers noted that it was gutless off the line and slow in their 'normal' rev range. Those who knew what it was (essentially, it's a four-wheeled sportbike) knew how to drive it and loved it, but there weren't enough people to keep the model going. Even when they enlarged the engine midway through the run to improve low-end torque people had already decided they weren't interested in a car that had to be kept in the 'insane' end of the rev range (in their minds) to get any power and that was the end of that.

They should have called it the CBR2000F, perhaps more people would have figured it out what it was and how to use it that way.

I take you point on the MR2, so that leaves some domestics? You guys do not get French stuff so that lets out a whole raft of convertibles Citroen, Renault and Peugeot - pity they have their faults but can do a good job - my Pug 406 estate lasted 10 years and 117,000 miles plus (Oh OK a diesel but. ?) and no major problems at all - bits of internal trim fell off at the end.
Click to expand...

Most of those you mentioned are going to be fail wheel drive and not rear wheel drive, which is important for the intended application.

What were those GM products? I think that they were re-skinned Astras so front wheel drive - shame.
Click to expand...

Er, to what are you referring?
 
Last edited:
Yes I was joking on the expense front - we all know he is 'humoungsly' rich! :lol:

Yes sorry to mix up the fwd cars there. Now the GM stuff. ? I have to do some digging, may have it wrong anyhow but I am sure they did two seaters in the US - think that there were two different sorts. ...
 
Spectre said:
It's just a shame that the car it's installed in is such a pile. Again, why don't you tell the class about how much fun it is to replace spark plugs on an F-Body? Or where they located the ignition controller? Or how the visibility is out of the car?
Click to expand...
Viper said that he is going to get the car serviced, not work on it himself.
Also, an fbody is a much better "viper trainer" than a much slower mustang
 
LeVeL said:
Viper said that he is going to get the car serviced, not work on it himself.
Also, an fbody is a much better "viper trainer" than a much slower mustang
Click to expand...

You think that, maybe, just possibly, somehow a car that is more difficult for the owner to service might, I don't know, be more difficult for the guy he pays to do it instead?

Cars that are harder to work on take more time for a professional to repair or service. This translates into a larger bill and an emptier wallet. Sadly, with the F Body, GM appears to have designed the body first, then tried to shoehorn the driveline and everything else into it with the usual bad results that are to be expected from such a plan. The car is much more difficult to service as a result. 2 plus hours to change the spark plugs.

Also, while the Mustang starts out slower, it is very easy to make it faster. They made and sold a lot more Mustangs than F-Bodies, so bolt-on upgrade parts for the Mustangs are cheaper, sometimes laughably so.

The Mustang being a bit slower to start off is not a bad thing. He can ease into the RWD world and then upgrade the car to keep pace with him for peanuts.
 
How often are the spark plugs really going to need to be replaced?

Sounds like Viper doesn't plan on owning this car for more than a year or two top, while not putting many miles on it in that time, since he has no daily grind commute. Spark plug replacement seems like an insignificant point to make.

That said, if he has a better selection of Mustangs at a lower price, he should go that direction instead. The speed differences aren't great enough to matter really.
 
And I have changed them in far less than 2 hours.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top