Best 1st tuner car

[ThePistolKnight]

Hey all,
I have recently built a westfield kit car and am now looking for a fairly long term project that involves tuning and modifying rather than the building of a car this time round.
I am leaning fairly seriously towards a widely used tuner car as a first project in this field, as it would appear that any parts and assistance I may want would be far more easily available, just wondering if anyone had any thoughts on their favorite car for this or just some friendly advice.

Much appreciated.

 

[obi_waynne]

Hi there Pistol Knight, good to meet you.

I am impressed with two cars as far as tuning potential goes.

The Supra Turbo is a sheer monster in terms of power gain on standard internals. There are lots of specialists around and plenty of parts available.

I also rate any other car fitted with the VAG group 1.8T engine. These can take 350bhp on standard internals, are very well built and have plentyof potential.

Other cars worth considering include the Nissan Skyline - see the project threads on here for ideas on tuning them up.

I guess I should really ask what is the car going to be used for and are you planning a full engine rebuild or just adding a few performance parts to the standard block?

 

[aston]

Saab 9000 2.3 turbo, can take over 400bhp on standard internals, for £1000 you can buy a car and get 300 bhp out of it. performance bargain that can't be beaten.

 

[ThePistolKnight]

Well thanks guys, the car is mainly used for a bit of fun every now and again, not an everyday thats for sure. I basically want a car to make a monster of my own.
supra and skyline were sort of on my mental short list waynne so thats good to hear. in respect to what to do I think I would go to any length really but as long as I felt it would be beneficial to the car, value and time wise but if I felt it would be really worthwhile I'd definately think about rebuilding a block, relish the challenge if you like.
Aston, thanks for that, had never crossed my mind, although I do have one query: isn't that a front wheel drive? how does it handle the power then? or would I be splashing money on top diffs?

Cheers

 

[aston]

the saab is front wheel drive but the engine will mate with the GM/Vauxhall Omega box for a rwd (right wheel drive) application, if you buy "Practical performance magazine" you will see they are building a 500 bhp mk2 Ford Escort using the saab engine (Standard) an Omega gearbox and one massive turbo. amazing, a 500 bhp Escort (RWD) for not too much cash. man "What a car!"

If you want to know what these engines are capable of, telephone saabflight www.saabflight.co.uk

 

[WLBjork]

waynne, I take it you mean the newer (and obviously underpowered) 1.8T FSI engine (160hp stock) rather than the older 1.8MPI (150hp stock)?

 

[obi_waynne]

No actually the Older 150hp MPi engine. There is still not much around for the newer 1.8T FSi engine and there were a few weaknesses on early models from what I hear.

Theoretically the newer engine will see bigger gains but as no one has really pushed it that hard yet you will be on new ground and have a lot of trial and error to do yourself.

The older engine did come in other flavours up to 225bhp - Audi TT Cupra R etc... A quattro drivetrain will really give you some fun in the corners without the oversteer dramas associated with RWD (Unless that is what you want.)

 

[pgarner]

theres not much around for the new FSI as there isnt many upgrades for the FSI injectors and those that are available cost a nice pretty penny. those that are doing major work on them are blanking of the FSI and gong back to the older MPI setup.

the older one, even with 150bhp, can be taken to around 260 without too much work. there are a few cars out there with over 600 at the wheels

 

[ThePistolKnight]

Thanks again for all the help guys, getting closer and closer with the awesome advice.

Therefore opinions? http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif...page/1&anchor=advert200941343107373&logcode=p

 

[ThePistolKnight]

or http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif...iceasc&anchor=advert200939342529241&logcode=p#

 

[turbonutter69]

Alright buddy both your posts got stuck in the moderation queue as you require 10 posts to be able to upload pics and links. I've approved it for you mate have a wander round the forum you only need 2 more posts to reach 10.

 

[MasterAuron]

Crikey I could have both of those for what I've spent on my Punto so far! :blink:

They both look fine PistolKnight. Personally I'd go for the newer, lower mileage one, unless you're planning on rebuilding and replacing everything anyway, then it doesn't really matter. Don't like the front bumper on it though but I'm not the one buying it!

 

[ThePistolKnight]

Thats for approving those for me, very grateful.

Wouldn't mind redoing it but for the difference in price it doesn't seem worth it really. I thought the newer one was nicer although bodykits aren't a huge priority for me on a big project as I want the car to be my own if you know what I mean and thus might change them anyway at some point.

Take it the crikey is an alright thing MasterAuron?

 

[MasterAuron]

Take it the crikey is an alright thing MasterAuron?

Yeah just surprised at the price of good GTS-T's these days! Cheap as chips!

I should probably add too that my old man has a Supra TT and I have driven it. Personally I'm not a massive. Didn't feel fast because of its size and it was very wallowy on the corners. Right animal on the private motorway though, you can be crusing along then look down and you're doing 150 . I'm used to rapid hot hatches mostly though.

 

[teaszer]

Saab 9000 2.3 turbo, can take over 400bhp on standard internals, for £1000 you can buy a car and get 300 bhp out of it. performance bargain that can't be beaten.

Gotta Fully agree with aston - my dad has had abot 7 of them - cheap as chips and go like rocketss

 

[obi_waynne]

Are you still around? What did you go for in the end? How is the Westfield doing?