New autocrosser goes car shopping, needs advice

JenniferBedell · **Posted:** Wed May 19, 2010 11:09 am

Some of you met Amanda Klepper, who came with me and Becca to the chick school last month. Amanda's Taurus is DOA, and she is in the market for "a compact sedan or coupe, like a civic or a corolla." She is not picky about whether it's 2-door or 4-door. Since I am mostly oblivious of the "more than two seats" market, I was hoping someone could suggest affordable models that would be ideal for a novice autocrosser so I can point her in the right direction.

Thanks in advance!

DickRasmussen · **Posted:** Wed May 19, 2010 11:14 am

Price range?

JamesShort · **Posted:** Wed May 19, 2010 11:16 am

JenniferBedell wrote:

Some of you met Amanda Klepper, who came with me and Becca to the chick school last month. Amanda's Taurus is DOA, and she is in the market for "a compact sedan or coupe, like a civic or a corolla." She is not picky about whether it's 2-door or 4-door. Since I am mostly oblivious of the "more than two seats" market, I was hoping someone could suggest affordable models that would be ideal for a novice autocrosser so I can point her in the right direction.

Thanks in advance!

I'd suggest the 00 and lower chassis Civics. They have as much power as the 01-05 Civics but have the much better double wishbone suspension in the front. The engines are tanks (and if you do have problems, which is rare, full swaps are ~$500) and the car is cheap and easy to work on. Clutches last forever, axles are easy to put in. Clean 5 speed EX 99/00 models can be have for ~4-5k nowadays (5spd sedans are harder to find in EX trim).

JenniferBedell · **Posted:** Wed May 19, 2010 12:45 pm

I'm waititng to hear a firm price range, but seeing as she was hoping for something like a civic with < 60k miles, I'm assuming $10k or so?

Vincent Keene · **Posted:** Wed May 19, 2010 1:13 pm

I'm guess she doesn't want to buy your MR2?

JenniferBedell · **Posted:** Wed May 19, 2010 1:32 pm

Trust me, it crossed my mind! :lol:

JamesShort · **Posted:** Wed May 19, 2010 1:32 pm

JenniferBedell wrote:

I'm waititng to hear a firm price range, but seeing as she was hoping for something like a civic with < 60k miles, I'm assuming $10k or so?

Yeah, this would put her wanting a 7G civic (01-05).....wouldn't be as good as a 5G/6G civic from an autocross perspective, but not a bad car though. The 7G front struts are known to fail early so make sure they are in good shape.

Steven Carter · **Posted:** Wed May 19, 2010 4:48 pm

early WRX would be a good choice. Late model E36 328is or even the E46 chassis 325 could do well also, although I'm not sure her mileage requirement would fit as nicely. Tough to find a 5G/6G Civic with that kind of mileage too...

BriceJohnson · **Joined:** Thu Apr 13, 2006 7:33 am **Posts:** 2230

A used mazda3 is much more capable out of the box than a civic IMO. It would be in her price range, get great gas mileage (especially if she opted for a 2.0L, which isn't much slower than the 2.3 for autocross). You also will get a lot more car for your money than you would in a civic or a corolla. The used market undervalues mazdas and overvalues honda/toyota. Even the 2.0L has 148 hp and a lot more torque than either the honda or toyota equivalent. Step up to the 2.3 and you've got a good 40 ft lbs extra torque and 30 extra hp. The suspension is better for autocross, and the brakes put a civic/corolla to shame.

If she would like to co-drive mine at some point to get an idea of what it can do, I'd be glad to let her give it a try.

If her budget is less than a 3, the older protege5's are also quite capable, just not quite as nice as a daily driver.

JamesShort · **Posted:** Wed May 19, 2010 4:58 pm

Steven Carter wrote:

early WRX would be a good choice. Late model E36 328is or even the E46 chassis 325 could do well also, although I'm not sure her mileage requirement would fit as nicely. Tough to find a 5G/6G Civic with that kind of mileage too...

^^Yep, I saw a 2000 coupe with 85k and that is very low for a Civic.

I'd probably stay away from the early WRXes honestly....they are cheap enough that lots of teenage new drivers are buying them and abusing them....plus the 02-03s don't have particularly great trannies.

JamesShort · **Posted:** Wed May 19, 2010 5:00 pm

BriceJohnson wrote:

A used mazda3 is much more capable out of the box than a civic IMO. It would be in her price range, get great gas mileage (especially if she opted for a 2.0L, which isn't much slower than the 2.3 for autocross). You also will get a lot more car for your money than you would in a civic or a corolla. The used market undervalues mazdas and overvalues honda/toyota. Even the 2.0L has 148 hp and a lot more torque than either the honda or toyota equivalent. Step up to the 2.3 and you've got a good 40 ft lbs extra torque and 30 extra hp. The suspension is better for autocross, and the brakes put a civic/corolla to shame.

If she would like to co-drive mine at some point to get an idea of what it can do, I'd be glad to let her give it a try.

If her budget is less than a 3, the older protege5's are also quite capable, just not quite as nice as a daily driver.

Yeah ST Civics suck....they are utter garbage

.

Steven Carter · **Posted:** Wed May 19, 2010 5:01 pm

JamesShort wrote:

Steven Carter wrote:

early WRX would be a good choice. Late model E36 328is or even the E46 chassis 325 could do well also, although I'm not sure her mileage requirement would fit as nicely. Tough to find a 5G/6G Civic with that kind of mileage too...

^^Yep, I saw a 2000 coupe with 85k and that is very low for a Civic.

I'd probably stay away from the early WRXes honestly....they are cheap enough that lots of teenage new drivers are buying them and abusing them....plus the 02-03s don't have particularly great trannies.

Brice--great points!

All 10k sport sedans suffer this...E36 M3, Civic Si, wrx etc etc. If you can find one driven by a responsible adult-ish driver then that's a different story.

I don't follow muscle cars too closely--How do Mustangs and other FS cars do in the depreciation vs wear n tear world?

BriceJohnson · **Joined:** Thu Apr 13, 2006 7:33 am **Posts:** 2230

JamesShort wrote:

Yeah ST Civics suck....they are utter garbage

.

I'm assuming she wants a daily driver, not a 500 lb/in sprung back breaking shit can (thats really fast). You were suggesting civics that AREN'T fast. Its the civics that are 20+ years old that are the fast ones.

JamesShort · **Posted:** Wed May 19, 2010 5:38 pm

BriceJohnson wrote:

JamesShort wrote:

Yeah ST Civics suck....they are utter garbage

.

I'm assuming she wants a daily driver, not a 500 lb/in sprung back breaking shit can (thats really fast).

No doubt, just giving you crap

. Didn't say they'd be faster either, she asked about daily driven, budget civics/corollas and I'd rather have a 00- Civic with the double wishbone front suspension if those were my criteria. However, 10k opens up the doors a good bit wider.

Karl Shultz · **Posted:** Wed May 19, 2010 5:53 pm

It might be impossible to find one, but Toyota made a version of the Corolla with the 180HP Celica GT-S motor in it. I've never seen one in person, but supposedly, they exist. That'd be a cool car.

SVT Focus would be good too, and even cheaper.

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