New to Import Scene- First car: Show vs. Go

Alright, I searched all day through the forum and find nothing but 16 year old drama king/queen kids looking for a 900hp 1st car... Anyhow, I've been a muscle car buff all my life, but the girlfriend has a 78 camaro, and I like more than 8mpg, so its time to hit a different scene.

I'm wanting to jump into tuners/imports, and am unsure which route to take. The car will be my primary car, and I wanna toss on some mods, but nothing too extreme. I think I will be taking the show route, as I plan on getting a Hayabusa for the GO side of me.  

I'm looking around at new cars, but wouldn't be above going a few years old. I'm also open to spending between 10k and 25k (financing higher numbers, of course )...Right now, I'm leaning heavily towards Scion tC, or Civic Si, but I'm open minded. I want a head-turner that is fun to drive (and can be fun to DRIVE if you know what I mean). Something with affordable body and performance mods.

Any suggestions, opinions, and the likes are welcome.  

Well general rules of thumb when getting a car your wanting to tune a little. 1. Comes stock with a turbocharged/supercharged engine 2. Needs to be RWD or AWD. Those are the 2 main simple rules:P. With the pocket book like you have I would probably look into possible a- Mazda rx-7. The rotary engines in them require more pampering and are harder to find a mechanic for but the car cleans up extremely well and runs great (1.3L twin turbo rotary. 255hp/217ft-lb tq pushing a 2800lb curb weight. RWD). Theres actually a post on the "What do you drive" post under "Tuner Cars" on page 7 of a guys yellow rx-7.

Other cars to look into but may be out of your price range- Toyota Supra, Nissan Sklyine, Nissan 240sx, Nissan silvia, Toyota mr2 turbo, Subaru impreza wrx sti, Mitsubishi lancer evolution, Mitsubishi 3000gt vr4, Mitsubishi eclipse gsx. There plenty of more out there but thats all i can think of off the top of my head right now.

As for the TC, There is becoming a fairly large aftermarket for the car including turbochargers, superchargers etc. So that may not be a bad idea and they are also some very clean looking cars as well. But i dont know too much about them so ill leave that to someone else:P  

He wants to do a show car. If he wants to do show, than by all means he should pick a civic or acura integra, or scion tc, becuz there enthusiasts are much more show oriented and there are a lot of show mods available for those kinds of cars.

THe cars you listed are much more race oriented, something that this man said he is not interested in doing, I would hate to see him buy a silvia, and then go out and slap some subs, dvd players, an ebay bodykit and some underglows on it, for a car that had a whole lot more potential for being fast, than being a show car.  

Actually, I've been researching the RX-7, and it seems right up my ally. There are tons of mods available to make it look pretty, BUT, it can also be uber fun to drive. I am not above slapping some performance mods, maybe a lot of them, on one of these and having a blast. I said I would PREFER 'show' because I wanted a 'busa for my 'go', but...why not do a bit of both on the same platform?

Who says a show car can't pack 350-400hp when its all said and done? :-P

Speaking of which...anybody know anything about the Houston scene? Give me a shout if you're in the area.  

To own a true show car you need atleast 2 things, preferably 3. You need a dedicated daily driver, a hayabusa is not a daily driver btw, since there incredibly dangerous, if not impossible to drive in the rain and snow.

2nd, you need a garage, garages are practically required, since youll be doing so much work on the car to make it into a show car, and even if the work is being done at someone elses garage, the garage is still required because you need a safe place to park this car, as criminals and cops will tend to hastle you for owning one, whether it be ripping spoilers and dvd players off your car, or ripping out your interior and thoroughly searching your show car.

3rd, youll need a trailer if you plan on doing any traveling, low hanging lips on bodykits have a tendency to chip and scratch. I know a guy with $70,000 put into his Toyota, he said the worst mistake he did was putting a bodykit on it and planning on driving it often, he has spent more money maintaining his bodykit, than it would cost for a fresh paintjob! Figure in on spending several hundred, if not thousands a year, to repair cracks and chips in the paint on a bodykitted show car, otherwise, only trailer it from show to show.



Personally, I dont like show cars. They cant be driven without being hastled with by the police or vandals keying your $5000 paintjob when your not looking. To have a lot of money in the exterior of your car and daily drive it is ludicrous way to spend your cash unless you have a near limitless cash supply. I like having lots of money tied up in my engine, because nobody can rip my $2400 turbokit or $5000 swap out easily, and theres not a lot of cars that have my engine to swap it into, unlike hondas.

I think going fast, is being a show car in itself, the mods that matter to me arent dvd players, nice interiors, subwoofers and bodykits, its engine mods, traction mods, cooling mods, etc. If all you wanted was 350-400hp, christ thats nothing for most cars that come built for racing from the factory. 400hp really isnt a whole lot if thats all your asking for, just buy a RX7 or Supra nd put $500-$1000 in mods into its engine, and your there, *** my stock 2.0 turbo came with 240hp stock, but is easily capable of 400 crank hp on its stock fuel system with about $1100 or so in engine bolt ons if you count ebay parts, the key is buying a car built to be raced from the factory. I put down 303whp earlier this week on the dyno, which comes to 365 crankhp, and that was with the car not really running %100 on a 98 degree dynorun, with just a few minor bolt ons and a 50trim turbo.  

Great post, thanks for the info. When I say show car, I mean a car that has more emphasis on looks than racing. I don't intend on actually entering it into shows, but I'm not against it if things work out right. I want a ride that I can drive to work and back, but also get out on an open freeway (or track) and have some major fun with. I wanna toss on some vertical opening doors, running lights, and a few little extras.

Since my first post, I've done a lot of research into RX-7s and Eclipses and the like. I think with the RX-7, I can throw $2k-$4k into the looks of it and be very happy, then put another $2-$3k into the performance and have a car I can really love.

Thanks again for all the info!  

maybe a mitsubishi lancer ralliart
those things are beyond fast stock
and if u add some engine parts, it will be insane
the problem is, there may not be enough aftermarket parts for it
i have a plain mitso lancer 2009 ES and it rocks  

if you wanna make a car that runs good and looks nicepick a 240sx and do a sr20det engine swap. if you paint the car a dark gloss color than you dont have to worry about punks messin with it. the darker the car the more incogneto it becomes.the 240 has nice lip kits that go on the body or you can pick up a r33 or r34, matters on year of the 240, i prefer the '91.  
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the godfather has spoken

The scion tc is def the way to go for a show car but you may want to get a RWD because yur used to muscles.  there really isnt a big difference except for handling aspects.  

^sadly even a scion could likely out handle a 78 camaro.  the camaro would simply have better off the line grip  

Dont go show, its ugly as hell, expensive and you dont get anything in return. You`re only gonna impress those kids who dont know anything and watch fast and furious and old adults who dont know much about this "scene" and think its all about bodykits.

The stock bumpers are usually much nicer anyways. Just by changing to some lowering springs u can change the stance giving you car a whole new agressive look, much better then any  body kit could do.
POWER, thats what really gets your blood flowing and actually impresses people. If sitting in a booth next to your riced out car for 8 hours makes u excited then go for it. I know id much prefer going to a track and breaking timed goals, and meeting other REAL enthusiasts who are into the same as me, not a bunch of 12 years old fast and furious fans.

Are you actually gonna sit in the back and watch movies? sit in some booth next to your car? Get laughed at since your a ricer? Youre not gonna get anything from doing a show car. When you go the "Go" way not the "show" way it pays back since your having a *** load of fun on the track and you got a badass car.

You pick :

Show(riced)
you could be doing this
http://youtube.com/watch?v=PJMHsW_xgpw&feature=related

or
Acutally have fun and go FAST