I know that some Dopers don’t like the idea of taking a standard Japanese car and modifying it with performance parts to make it faster, but I can certainly see the appeal, and if I was significantly richer than I am now, I’d go for it in a big way.
No we’re not all spoilt rich kids with too much money and a bad attitude. For me, a big part of the appeal it is the idea that you’re taking a faceless, boring econo-box, and changing it into something exciting, different and individual. You’re giving a personality to something that didn’t have one before - you’re lifting it above the crowd, and you’re making it your own.
Most importantly, however, you’re making it go FASTER! I’d love to take a Mazda RX-7 or a Toyota Supra, and turning it into a Ferrarri-beating, road-melting, soul-destroying, g-force-monster street machine!
I’ll admit that some people go crazy with the cosmetic modifications, and end up with something that just looks tacky, ridiculous, or both. Some guys have cars have serious sexy “Fast and the Furious” looking cars that scream “race me!” but only have standard engines in them, which is kind of like a body-builder who looks hard but has nothing but padding in his posing-pouch. All talk and no trousers…
Best thing about japanese cars, however, is the fact that they are usually so reliable. A Honda civic wil last for years if you don’t trash the engine with nitrous oxide.
So to all the other rice rocket pilots out there - stand up and be counted! Be proud of your machine!
My 1989 Corvette has: new shocks, new radiator, new transmission, new instrument panel, new wheels, new brakes…
…oh yeah…
and 500 ft-lbs of torque.
I assure you, nothing with sreet tires is faster to 75. Faster than that, i’m not interested. Throw a slalom at the end of the race, and i’ll probably be quickest THERE too.
my 240sx with a dang sr20det engine conversion. about 2500 lbs and near 300 ponies. I drool. Did I mention REAR WHEEL DRIVE? and IRS with 4 wheel disc brakes? When Ferrari makes a front wheel drive car I may consider bowing to the crap from the FWD world. Not likeley though.
Honda is a nice family car and a good one at that. The 2000 is another different beast hoever. I drool on it as well.
Or I’ll stick with an antique LaMans winner. Triumph GT6 (I have three) 1900 lbs on the scale. Antique inline 6 cyl. Twin side draft Stromburgs. 4 wheel indepenent suspension. Looks like a Jag XKE that went through the drier on high. 12 heet long. about 3 feet high and it’s a hard top! 4’1" wide at the widest!
I bought this car on 4/1/1976, that was the first time. I bought the same car again back in’98 from the guy I sold it to in '80. He did a frame off restoration. I may have some rice but more importantly I have a Brittish Beefeater. A car that has history. The total run for the whole world is what? somethong like 18,000 or much less?
Hey tuna, I lived in a GT-6 for six years. I’d love to have it back. Damn sporty wheels, even if it was a damn dual-carb lorry engine in Spit high-heels.
There’s a difference between getting a car and having actual performance mods done to it and getting a car and putting huge rims, a giant spoiler, and a “Type-R” sticker on it. The latter is usually what those websites like Rice Cop and Beaterz are making fun of.
I always thought it would be great fun to buy a 1980s Hyundai Excel or Yugo, leave the body totally stock, and heavily modify the powertrain. Talk about a “sleeper” car! I think that would give much more satisfaction than a Civic with a body kit and chrome wheel covers, but a dead stock engine.
When I was in high school (back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth), there was this guy that we alway made fun of, he drove a Gremlin and was always talking about making it fast (we called it “the hi-po gremlin that will never be”), one year, he shows up talking about this mystery car that he and his dad had worked on all summer, he shows up in a Pinto! and starts talking about how fast it was, we laughed until he started it, it had a 454!, he and his father had added some real frame rails underneath and removed the front clip and tied it together so it slipped on over the engine, it took 2 people to remove the clip and it was a tight fit but DAMN! if you could get the tires hooked up it would SCREAM!!!.
So far, if the mechanic that fixed it is correct, with the exception of the Corvette (we’re still not sure) my roomies Civic will beat all of the cars mentioned in this thread.
Civic Si with approx 220-240 wheel hp. We’ll find out the actual numbers next week, if he can get into the dyno shop.
vas- all hobbies are ridiculous. And not all normal kids can afford the payments on a new Maxima or TL, but can afford a cheaper, mid-late 90’s Civic or Integra and save up for performance parts.
I couldn’t agree more. Slapping cosmetic modifications on your car without beefing up the performance will only make you look ridiculous and get you burned at every light into the bargain.
It’s not supposed to be about empty posing and posturing and a “wannabe-gangsta” attitude. It’'s supposed to be about taking something that’s standard and off-the-shelf, and turning it into something better that is unmistakeably yours.
Oh, and I have no problem with American cars, BTW. They keep the roadside-rescue crews and repais shops in business, and thus provide value jobs and help stimulate the economy
“Civic Si with approx 220-240 wheel hp. We’ll find out the actual numbers next week, if he can get into the dyno shop.”
The SR20DET conversion for the 240SX puts in about 300 hp into a rear wheel drive car. That’s with a stock Nissan SR engine. It can be improved. It wasn’t stock in the U.S. 240SX (aka the Silvia in the rest of the world) because of emission laws.
Civics are cheap cars that one can modify for not a lot of cash. The only thing wrong with them is they are front wheel drive. This does give them 4 wheel independent suspension though. It also gives them an advantage in slippery conditions like mud and snow.
Most rice is just that though. Spoilers from Satan’s nightmares, front clips to match and exhaust tips about 4" wide attached to stock exhaust. What really makes these cars fast though is the collection of decals they put on them and they cost a lot less than engine mods.
Yo, Ringo! You lived in a GT6?! from the drivers seat I can open and close every window in that car includeing the rear wing vents without taking my eyes off the road. That must have been some cramped living! I once drove mine about 1500 miles on a road trip and that was bad enough. I love that car but 20-30 hours in it make my legs hurt a bit. Esp. where the console and my right leg meet.
Tunabreath- I had forgotten that car was in the thread. You’re right, if it is tuned properly and driven well, it should be able to beat the civic. Maybe.
Is it a stock turbo sr20det or have the turbos been upgraded? Last night he got in a test of wills with a Z06 and, while he lost, it wasn’t by much.
Regardless, a Sylvia conversion is sick as hell, and I would love to see it. Are you doing the full conversion, or just the engine swap? As for improving the engine… other than upgrading your turbo’s, there’s not a lot that really needs to be done. sr20det can handle some pretty serious numbers. It’s a very strongly built engine.
Regardless, lets not forget that we’re in this together. Mad props, however, to your machine.
Tristan I didn’t mean to imply that I was going to modify my 240, I’ve just seen conversions on the net. There’s a shop in N.J. that does turn key jobs. VERY pricey. As I remember the stock turbo (that’s what the t stands for) SR20DET in the S15 is somewhere around 300bhp. The complete S15 conversion also gets a 6 speed tranny. If (and when) I put more money into a car it will be my '68 Triumph GT6. I have spare carbs and a friend of mine is a machinist, he has offered to make an intake manifold to accommodate 3 carbs. That combined with a ported head, bigger valves, a hotter cam and a longer stroke to increase CCs from 2000 to 2500. It may or may not be Civic fast but it will be thrilling.
I used to have an '86 Civic 1500Si and a '81 Accord. Both nice cars. My favorite Japanese car was my '85 Corolla GTS(rear wheel drive). I was following a Porche one day and I looked down at the speedo. Over 125 MPH with room to go! I don’t know who was more surprised, me or the guy in the Porche seeing a lowley Toyota on his tail in his rearview. Once I saw how fast I was going I backed down. I don’t think they bother with trials in Va. when you’re going that fast, I think they just shoot you and push the car off the shoulder.
That’s the same car my (now ex)wife was driving when she passed a N.C. state trooper and the car he was chasing. No kidding. Zoom, Zoom.
