Cheapest 280bhp+ car out there

peasant

JHMEG ...just a general question ...

What exactly are you planning on doing with this fast car of yours. I can understand the craving for ever more horsepower ...but realistically ...what's the point?

On our roads the difference between 250 or 400 bhp is going to be neglible.

On back roads you'll only ever be able to use a fraction of the available power and on a good road where you possibly could put the boot down, they'll have you photographed and de-licenced before you know it

IMO a comfy cruiser with serious overtaking poke (like the Saab 9000 for example) would be far less frustrating in daily use than an outright racing machine whose potential you can't even begin to explore.

What's the point in sitting on a rocket if you can't ever flick the "ignite" switch?

JHMEG

Well, 160bhp is a lot funner than 100bhp, so I'm expecting a 280bhp car to be even more fun. Even a burn off the line at the lights is going to be more fun the more power there is available.

Max_Damage

^ Mondello track days would also be useful to burn rubber.

Atomic Pineapple

JHMEG wrote: »

Well, 160bhp is a lot funner than 100bhp, so I'm expecting a 280bhp car to be even more fun. Even a burn off the line at the lights is going to be more fun the more power there is available.

heres what you want:

http://www.sxoc.co.uk/vbb/showthread.php?t=323636

Nissan 200sx - Stage 2 291bhp

with bigger turbo and stage 3+ mods she'll be good for 350 - 400bhp

5,500.00 GBP = 7,482.58 EUR

really understated type of car too, i really love them and one of them is my next car! there reliable as well if you look after them with oil etc..

JHMEG

200sx/silvia is a popular with drifters at the moment, meaning it's not cheap.

2stageturbo

How about a Subaru Legacy RSK B4 ?
2 litre twin turbo 4wd,4 doors,big boot
280BHP as standard

Atomic Pineapple

JHMEG wrote: »

200sx/silvia is a popular with drifters at the moment, meaning it's not cheap.

your as fussy


the gto seems to be the best bet put on the thread so far?

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=867849

or a nissan 350zz?

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=752722

bo-bo

im not sure what your budget is or what exactly your use of the car will be but might i be so bold as to suggest an older mitsi evo?

my brother has an evo 4 at the moment and its savage - i was thinking of buying it off him to use as a track car.

tuning parts are readily available, as are spares and there are heaps of garages tuning them for reasonable costs.

they might not have massive bhp (about 230?) but their power to weight ratio is good and acceleration is awsome.

best of luck with whatever you choose.

smash

just think of power to weight ratio too, The GTO is great but it's big and heavy. I really want an S2000 or an Elise but the GTV V6 really gets under your skin when you take it for a spin!

JHMEG

In reality the 300ZX and the GTO are the main contenders at the moment. The 300ZX seems to have less toys but also seems to be more of a driver's car, so the priority at the moment is to see a few.

Biro

bo-bo wrote: »

im not sure what your budget is or what exactly your use of the car will be but might i be so bold as to suggest an older mitsi evo?

my brother has an evo 4 at the moment and its savage - i was thinking of buying it off him to use as a track car.

tuning parts are readily available, as are spares and there are heaps of garages tuning them for reasonable costs.

they might not have massive bhp (about 230?) but their power to weight ratio is good and acceleration is awsome.

best of luck with whatever you choose.

No, they're around the 270bhp.

Healyc

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=655632

galwaytt

+1 on the S4 before John Gormally beats us all to it..........

I'm thinking of doing what you're doing, and am now selling my 968. 250bhp, manual, 4 seats, 156mph, 0-60 in 6.5 (I think........). But it's not cheap.

Time to do the Big Mad Thing before it's too late - it's not the petrol - it's the arseholes in Leinster House you need to beat.........

Biro

Or how about an RS2?

JHMEG

Have arranged to view a 300zx over the weekend.

Was interested to see it was very recently featured on Top Gear!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=sNta7RQVFyY

@unkle: could you change the title of the thread from 250 to 280.. thanks

unkel

JHMEG wrote: »

@unkle: could you change the title of the thread from 250 to 280.. thanks

Done!

unkel

JHMEG wrote: »

Have arranged to view a 300zx over the weekend.

Was interested to see it was very recently featured on Top Gear!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=sNta7RQVFyY

I like the looks of the 300 ZX. But I feel there's something dodgy in that Top Gear clip. The 350z should have won. It has less slightly less torque but is slightly more powerful. But at 1620KG, the fat 300 ZX TT weighs nearly as much as my lardy BMW 7-series V8

Kersh had a ZX TT for ages (maybe he even had two at the same time at some point). PM him for tips!

HJL

Something to consider would be a Fiat Coupe, 2.0 20v Turbo, 220 BHP.
Less than what you stated, but its something different, not many around, and they look pretty cool, and are pretty cheap on eBay too.

smash

unkel wrote: »

I like the looks of the 300 ZX. But I feel there's something dodgy in that Top Gear clip. The 350z should have won. It has less slightly less torque but is slightly more powerful. But at 1620KG, the fat 300 ZX TT weighs nearly as much as my lardy BMW 7-series V8

Kersh had a ZX TT for ages (maybe he even had two at the same time at some point). PM him for tips!

yea kersh had 2, he also had a GTO so he's the man to ask.

JHMEG

steve06 wrote: »

yea kersh had 2, he also had a GTO so he's the man to ask.

He must've liked them if he had 2!

@Unkel, ya the 300zx is fairly fat alright, and so is the GTO. Apparently the internals of the 300zx engine are good for 600bhp without any modifications tho, which should offset the weight a bit..

(CH3)2CHOH

Try something like this.

http://www.cbg.ie/Cardetail.aspx?CBGID=815675&ID=1629360&NumPics=1&Make=Subaru&Model=Legacy%20B4&frmFilter=

You can pick them up cheaper and they can easily be taken upto 300bhp.


Practical and reliable.

And good in the snow......:D

opeldave

peasant wrote: »

Here's why you want that turbo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ht6dWv-7gpQ

80 km/h to 170-180 km/h in how many seconds ? :D:D


And all in the one gear.

They calls it torque ...the one thing no (petrol) beemer ever had (except for the V8's)

There IS a world outside Munich, you know ...


@JHMEG ...sorry for going off topic ...but this constant BMW worshipping makes me narky

Im ashamed to be driving a bmw when there are eejits like e92 & his type posting crap about bhp-bhp-bhp.

I drive a e46 m3 & to be honest its definitly no faster in gear acceleration between that & my old saab 9000 2.3Full pressure turbo.Fair enough the handling in the m3 is obviously more focused but for everyday driving Id take the Saab!Attracts far less skanger attention & its very sublte
Performance motorings best kept secret & 400bhp with bolt on parts( available without opening the engine).

(CH3)2CHOH

Or even one of these.

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=872649

A real street sleeper

bazz26

I remember reading an article many years ago about the GTO where they said the only disappointment with the car was that it was packed with technology that took some of the pleasure away from the driver.

Would definately need to drive both the 300ZX and GTO to compare.

E92

Did nobody notice that that Saab was not a stock car? It went 1000 rpm into the red zone, cars don't do that if they've been unmodified.

JHMEG wanted a car with 280 bhp or more, not 230 bhp the Saab has.

The OP didn't ask about torque, if you want torque buy a diesel. So don't go telling me about "talking bhp crap"

opeldave

E92 wrote: »

Did nobody notice that that Saab was not a stock car? It went 1000 rpm into the red zone, cars don't do that if they've been unmodified.

JHMEG wanted a car with 280 bhp or more, not 230 bhp the Saab has.

The OP didn't ask about torque, if you want torque buy a diesel. So don't go telling me about "talking bhp crap"

he asked for a car with 250/280bhp or more & not a debate on how bmw managed 192bhp from a 2.5 NA in 1991 ya know.& they are faster than other cars with similar/higher bhp figures so they are still kinda revelant

E92

opeldave wrote: »

he asked for a car with 250/280bhp or more & not a debate on how bmw managed 192bhp from a 2.5 NA in 1991 ya know.& they are faster than other cars with similar/higher bhp figures so they are still kinda revelant

I realise that but if you read my post you will see that this was in response to a post by mick.fr(about the fact that NA BMW's had the same power as turboed models from rival cars of the time), and not for a second did I suggest that the OP should go for a 325i which had 192 bhp in E36 guise.

opeldave

E92 wrote: »

I realise that but if you read my post you will see that this was in response to a post by mick.fr(about the fact that NA BMW's had the same power as turboed models from rival cars of the time), and not for a second did I suggest that the OP should go for a 325i which had 192 bhp in E36 guise.

ok fair point & it might have had 192 bhp but not a very healthy torque curve
& Bmw even adressed this themselves by introducing VANOS a couple of years later in 93/94ish?

Biro

E92 wrote: »

Did nobody notice that that Saab was not a stock car? It went 1000 rpm into the red zone, cars don't do that if they've been unmodified.

Not necessarily... there are a few unmodified cars that I've been in that the limiter is set higher than the bottom of the red line. From what I can remember, a civic vti goes about 600rpm into the red line before the limiter kicks in.

Atomic Pineapple

Biro wrote: »

Not necessarily... there are a few unmodified cars that I've been in that the limiter is set higher than the bottom of the red line. From what I can remember, a civic vti goes about 600rpm into the red line before the limiter kicks in.

my integra type r does the same.

the best you can do is shortlist a few cars and test drive them which jhmeg has done so just lets us know how the test drives go

JHMEG

Drove down the country today to view a '92 300ZX as arranged. Nearly didn't go as the weather was so bad but by the time I got there it had stopped raining, tho the road was still wet.

Well holy fook, what an experience! The owner said the lad he bought it off said it was 400bhp but he admitted that he had no proof. But the driving experience was like this: into gear, let off the clutch, a small bit of accelerator, gently accelerating, boost building... full boost.. back wheels start spinning and back of the car is kicking from side to side.. followed by phwoosh sounds from the dump valves as I have to take my foot off the accelerator to get the car back under control! It spun the wheels in every gear, no matter the speed. I say every gear, I never got into 5th as I couldn't control the power to get it to bloody well go that fast without breaking traction and fish tailiing! And I was driving with an extremely light right foot.

So.. I dunno if all 300ZXs are like that, but I would need training to be able to keep it under control in the wet. It scared the bejaysus out of me.

Up to now the most powerfil RWD cars I've driven a fair bit are the LS400, 535 and S320. All very civilised, and none with turbochargers.

Need to drive another one, maybe one that the owner claims is 280bhp! May also be forced to look at the GTO for its 4WD safety.

PS. My Civic VTI redline is at 8k, rev limiter at 8.5k

KidCapree

either way they will absolutely flaah u with car tax. How much is it yearly for an engine that big?

JHMEG

Not concerned about how much 6 months road tax will cost.. this is a last gasp effort while petrol is still affordable..

E92

KidCapree wrote: »

either way they will absolutely flaah u with car tax. How much is it yearly for an engine that big?

€1,291(assuming the 300ZX is between 2901 and 3000 cc).

JHMEG

@Unkel: Another Top Gear vid, this time with *all* the Z cars up against each other including the 300ZX and the 350Z.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeNZluEhydE

unkel

Dodgy, I'm telling ya! They all seemed to start at different times too :rolleyes:

A new 350Z goes to 100km/h in 5 point something seconds. A 70s 260Z (the one that had a close call finish with the 350Z in the clip) is slower than a current Nissan Qashqai diesel. Say no more...

cpoh1

Are you sure you're ready for a big bhp rwd car? I came from a fast fwd background to fast rwd and it took a while to get into the swing of things.

My advice is this, buy an r32 gtst skyline with the 2L turbo rb20 engine. A standard one will have 230ish bhp and is perfect to start off driving a rwd turbo car. They are easy on juice and cheaper to tax than a 300zx. Theyre also cheap out to buy even for a very clean standard one and less than 1500 spent will have her up to 270odd bhp which is more than enough and still keep her super reliable and good on juice.

Stay well away from a gto theyre pure muck.

monster1

ford escort cosworth, sierra cosworth??

Armin_Tamzarian

Personally for 280+ BHP I'd recommend a Supra.
With a Skyline in second place.

Seeing as your budget won't stretch to a Supra what about
a Turbo MR2?
Here's a 240BHP one.
They usually sell for €3000 - €4,000 + VRT.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1994-TOYOTA-MR2-2-0-GT-TURBO-REV3-RECENT-IMPORT_W0QQitemZ230208025025QQihZ013QQcategoryZ18290QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

JHMEG

unkel wrote: »

A new 350Z goes to 100km/h in 5 point something seconds.

From what I've read the 300ZX sits squat on its rear wheels by design (it has 4ws) in an effort to minimise wheelspin at launch. 0-60 times therefore are apparently not truly reflective of the car's performance.

@cpoh1, no I'm not sure about seriously powerful rwd -- I had great difficulty in handling that 300zx yesterday! Normally I'm quite confident and I'd say I'm a bit of an expert in controlling my little 1.6 dohc vtec in deliberate slides etc, but by jaysus the 300zx is a different beast.

Good advice there re the Skyline. Maybe I should start with something that isn't going to bite my hand off -- hence I was thinking 4WD rather than limiting the power.

@Armin, personally an NSX, R34 GTR, Supra and RX-7 are what I'd like, but don't seem to be within budget (well maybe just about a tatty RX-7). Re the MR2 I need back seats.