Starter drifter?

Hi peeps! I'm looking for a car to start to drift in. I know this has probably been asked before but I really can't make my mind up. I want the car to drift in as well as for normal driving round in. This is gonna be my first car.
I've made a list of potential cars below:

FC3S: I want this the most but I doubt I'll be able to get one as they are rare, pretty expensive (3000 pounds) and the insurance is not funny. Nice car though!

S13: Good alternative except in UK you can't get a SR20DET engined one. Only CA18 piece o' crap. Therefore no good.

AE86: Bit of a classic? Kinda rare and maybe a little troublesome to keep running well considering the age and the previous owner trashing it. Price is good though.

Mitsu Starion: No idea about drift potential but its V. rare and pretty expensive.

Isuzu Piazza: Looks gay but may have potential. Another super rare jobby.

EA11R: The Suzuki Capuccino. Expensive but handles like a go cart. Not sure if thats a good thing for drifiting... Looks cute!

SA22: Another good car with potential. I don't like the ball type steering though. Not heard good things about it (the steering).

ST185: Toyota GT4. Not sure if it is a good drift car being a seriously overweight 4WD. Cheap though.

Mazda 323 Turbo: Another 4WD but this time its lightish.

Well, that's all I can come up with now. My budget is about 3000 pounds including insurance! That is roughly about 2000 for the car only. I need to make my mind up! Please help! Any other suggestions would be welcome too!
BTW, my all time dream car is the LanEvo V RS. Man, I neeeeed one of them... One day...
Cheers!!

Sumo

CA18DET's are not so bad! Get the S13!

What you may look at is a old jag XJ-S It's a 12 with plenty of torque and comes with posi standard in the rear. I don't know the prices over there but take a look for a beater jag...

Look at the old ford Sierra's, if I remember right they are rear wheel drive. Later on you may want to install a posi(limited slip) or weld up the diff.

Look for old BMW's they have always been rear wheel drive.

Stay away from the rotory's . They are peaky and don't have much torque until you get into the higher rev bands. You'll go through a lot of clutches with them.

Becareful with Turbo equiped cars. Learn where the turbo kicks in. IF your not, the turbo will give you a boost when you least expect it and when you are probably in the middle of a turn. Learned this from driving the '93 Nissan twin turbo 300 ZX. I had this car step out of me in the middle of a turn when shiftting from 2 to 3rd in normal driving.

What you are looking for is a car with good TORQUE chartaristics. You want something that will be able to break the tires free fairly easily. Remember the old racers adage, it's torque that wins races, it's horsepower that sells cars...

ummm, buy an S13....

s13

im not sure how much 3000 pounds is but as far as i know the starion is not very expensive and has good potentiol

capuchino's r cool, to bad they never came 2 the us...

Well, I don't know who you've been talking to about the SA22C chassis RX7's, but I've driven one or two and they've got very positive steering feel and steer very sharply. You don't have to crank on the wheel to get the car turned (about 2.5turns lock to lock) and recirculating ball steering is incredibly sturdy. Heck, sprint cars and supermodifieds have been using them since the dawn of time.

Which is around the same time that Freddy Rahmer won his first feature at Lernerville. You know, Earl Baltes invented dirt. Two years later he founded Eldora Speedway.

while the S13 may be easier to find, the FC is a lot nicer, especially a TII. it would be well worth it to wait a little longer and find a good FC.

while the S13 may be easier to find, the FC is a lot nicer, especially a TII. it would be well worth it to wait a little longer and find a good FC.

Most Turbo FC's in the USED market are junk.... they may also prove very TEMPERMENTAL! Go with the NA FC if you must get an RX7! But personally I would go with an S13... those rotary-engines go KAPOOT after 100k!

GOOD GOD you're in U.K.

Get a capri V6, get a cortina, get a 1980 BMW 323i, get a Mk 1 MR2, the world is your oyester.

But watch out for those damn stoplight cameras, or drift past them, whichever.

Bunta's got the right idea.

Find a rally school and see if they've got a spare Escort MkI. That's all the drift action you'll ever need.

http://www.rallygallery.com/show/autosport%202003/autosport2003_img_4297.jpg
http://www.rallygallery.com/show/autosport%202003/autosport2003_img_4577.jpg
http://212.67.202.161/~markw/rallyingonline/online_reports/autosport%202003/03-000011-autosport.jpg

Or you could just take the route I took and dig up an MGB. Those drift quite well (though be prepared to catch them. Once the slip angle gets beyond one turn of countersteer, you're hosed)

Layla's got all the cool pictures. Mk1 escorts are small gods. In your haste, do not forget 2002's. They were actually as fast as the Lotus Cortina. Simplicity was the secret weapon of the 2002, but they might not be as good for drifting. I dunno, I've drifted my 2002 to my satisfaction.

Those Escorst rock! I always wanted a COSWORTH!

...not to be completely off topic... but what about the old SKYLINES, 510's, and Z's! Those are good Old School cars... anyone know if those are 'good' drifters?

HaHa, Yeah, I'm in the UK. Actually in Japan right now though. I think maybe an escort is a good idea but they are pretty hard to find. Cosworths are out of the question since they are EXTREMELY rare and insurance is big. Also I'd like to add, Fords are the boy racer (UK ricer) car of choice. Think of them as the UK Honda civics. Not got a good image over here as a serious car.
I'm actually thinking of getting a busted AE86 and doing a 20V implant. That'll get enough power but I don't know how difficult it is. Or I could try the supercharged version.
Turbo FCs are so cool. I really want one and if I could find one I would get it. Reliability isn't too much of a problem on rotaries if you look after them. Regular oil changes and they'll be fine.
Nothings decided yet because I've still got to save some more money. I'll see what's available then.
Thanks!!

Yeah, I've always liked those R30 skylines. They gotta be good drift cars. What about a Cressida? Those seem popular for drifting. What do they call Cressidas in Japan?

S14's are the easiest to drift(with the SR atleast) so if you have the money get that, the FC is a great car and not that hard to drift, S13 is a little harder bu with new suspension it's easy, the AE86 will be hard, cuz it has like 2hp... ok maybe 3 but still its weak, I still love the cars though and want one more than I want your mom, but enough of that...

sTUPID QUESTION BUT.... are 510's Skylines?

yeah I'll go for a FC pretty easy to drift.
well this is my opinion , cuz to me fell a pretty hard on a 240sx. or maybe cuz i am use too on my FC!!

There are no stupid questions, only stupid people.

No.

the only stupid question is a question not asked... or something like that :)

Yeah, I've always liked those R30 skylines. They gotta be good drift cars. What about a Cressida? Those seem popular for drifting. What do they call Cressidas in Japan?

Cressida's? Are they RWD??? I never seen anyone drift one of those... I dunno what they call those in Nihon... maybe just 'Cressida'? I would love to find an old SKYLINE... R30 or R31... those still had the RB series motor, right?

I know more about japanese cars than I do about sixties muscle cars. But my knowledge of japanese cars is limited. I pretty much just go on the knowledge that muscle cars are fun to drive, and japanese cars are all good.

Japanese cars were not compelling to me for the longest time because there really is no mystery about them. The japanese kinda started late in the game, so they basically just copy everybody. I am much more interested in them now, because the massive amounts of used japanese cars do contain some serious driving cars that can be had for cheap. This actually means a lot to me now that I know what is really important when it comes to cars. My Lamborghini Countach poster has been off of my wall for many years.

As for muscle cars, they are too expensive, and would probably just get me into trouble. I'm saying all this because it seems that you think I know when they put what engine in which skyline. I don't know jack about Skylines man. I've read one article in Car and Driver eight years ago about the R34, and driven them in Gran Turismo. I recently found out that Cressidas are FR's. I could talk about cars all day. Somebody smack me, I'm stuck...

The Cressida is called the Cresta in the land of the rising sun.

Also its similar to the chaser and Mark II.

I think that the late model cressida only came with automatic, im not sure.

The only Cressidas I've ever seen were all automatic. Somebody fill us in on this one please?

For those of you who are interested: 1 brit pound is equal to about $1.86 right now.
So, Sumo-Kun is talking about $5700 plus MoT

To answer your question, 1via; the Datsun 510 is not a Skyline. The 510's JDM name was the Bluebird.

Not that that discredits the 510/Bluebird. The 510 is one of the few Japanese cars that are recognized internationally as cult classics thanks to it's rampant success in the Trans-Am under 2.5L class, while the Bluebird sedan notched up several international rally victories, including (unless I miss my guess) the Safari Rally.

What about a Mazda 323, or a Starion Turbo. Or are those to scarce to use as a starter. The Cressida would be good, plus its a four door so it has an ease of use when not trying to drift. Not that you should drift with passengers. (unless you're stupid or you really know what you're doing)
Don't go out and get an '86 like everyone else, that's for me to do. HehHeh

How come it seems like nobody drifts MR cars, i.e. Lotus Elise (best car ever) Toyota MR Spyder, Mr2's ect. Or am I just posting this in the wrong place?

How come it seems like nobody drifts MR cars, i.e. Lotus Elise (best car ever) Toyota MR Spyder, Mr2's ect. Or am I just posting this in the wrong place?

They tend to have snap oversteer and are therefore not as predictable nor do they ahve the same balanc as FR cars. Thats why fR is preffered for drift, at least thats my understanding

you're in the UK!?
Get an escort for sure. But not a MK1, not enough of them left and not as strong shell as what you need, a MK2.
my (guaranteed) recipe for sideways escort fun:
-MK2 2 door shell (probably best find a granny spec 1.3 auto or 4spd, auto has bigger trans tunnel -bonus), as straight and rust free as possible.
-2 litre pinto with twin sidedraughts - all the power and torque you'll ever need. Mount it on a world cup crossmember and rally engine mounts.
-Get a very heavy duty clutch (spend a couple of hundred quid) to go in front of the factory 4 speed. I'd use the 4 speed since though it has crap highway gearing, the ratios are very close when you run a low ratio diff = great for drifting.
- bugger-all exhaust silencing, get one of those jap style cannons, they look teh coolness, on a cheap mild steel press bend 2.5 system, with extractors.
-Rock hard, lowered (not too far, you'll need some ground clearance) shocks and springs (try Ian Harwood, rally design etc). And get some adjustable lower TCA's, you'll want as much track and camber as you can get up front, it makes a difference.
-You'll need some form of axle hop/spring wind up control, I'd go with a rally designs weld in anti-tramp rod kit.
-Welded diff centre with a low ratio crown wheel and pinion from a 1.3 or 1.6 Van, oh and get the speedometer drive to go with it..
-RS2000 front disks.
-14x6-7" front wheels, 13" rears (up to 6" wide), good R-spec front tyres, cheapo crap on the back.
-Gut the interior, cut some sheet steel to cover the big hole behind where the back seat was, chuck some cheap fixed race buckets in.
-Pick up a cheap rev-counter and an oil pressure temp gauge and mount them inside somewhere, probably put the rev counter on top of the steering column.

If you buy bits at autojumbles, and pick up "Classic Ford" and scour the ads and classifieds every month, buying most of this stuff secondhand, you'll probably have a spare 1000-1500 quid left in the end, depending on how much work you do yourself!! and I guarantee you'll have as much fun as anyone, if not more.
I used to be able to hang the tail out like no-ones business with not half these mods, in my 1977 MK2 Van, 1.6 with extractors/open exhaust, locked diff, uprated rear springs, cut front springs (and lots of camber!),on 13x6.5" widened factory steels with 185/55 tyres. LOTS of fun, very predictable, go kart handling.

Ahh, so. I've heard good things from my european sources, (yes, even brits can drift:smokin: ) that the elise is quite astounding at drifting, if the driver knows the car well enough.

the Elise is one bad car, well from what I've seen and heard... but at 1900lbs I'd take one anyday! MR2's get drifted sometimes, but yet the mid engine makes the back end swing around really easy so you usually have todo slow drifts, which in D1 isn't worth as many points :)

my uncle has a Starion, 80 someting but I don't think its turbo, maybe it is, I forget haha but its nice, he doesn't drift it but its fast I know that much... never seen one drifted either... but I'd say they are too rare to drift... you can hardly even find parts for them!

MR is no good for a starter drift car, simple as that, far too snappy and unpredictable, and when things go wrong, they go REALLY wrong.

hmm coudlent helo notice the first few posts...


FUCK THE SR20 its CHEAP mae of ALUMINUM SODA CAN SHIT and only made cuz NISSAN WANTED TO MASS PRODUCE THEIR SHIT AND DIDNT WANT TO SPEDN SO MUCH MONEY ON THE REV HAPPY CA18 (which mine soon will be able to go no problemo up to 10KRPM) so they found something CHEAPER to make which is the SR so dont call it a CRAPPO and KEEP IT and MAKE IT FAST and a HIGH REDLINE is PERFECT FOR DRIFTING so go for the S13 which all u need are TEIN COILOVERS and u have yourself a DSRIFTER cuz 180HP is all u need

-ANTI SR

What about the Nissan Micra, arn't those RWD?
Or is that too outta your price range.

Micra/March is definitely RWD.
Whoa stealthj, you've got some rage!
The SR does have shortcomings but honestly, its much newer, there is better aftermarket support, and they respond better than the CA does to minor bolt on style mods.

The CA is good on paper, and mechanically, but then there are issues like head gaskets, turbo flange gaskets, crank angle sensor probs, faulty coils.....They can take more sustained revs than the SR though, and the block structure and valvetrain are stronger.

In any case the FJ20ET 0wns them both, stronger block, best flowing head and intake, strongest bottom end parts, good valvetrain design....More overall power potential, IMHO. Thats on paper, being 20+years old with jack all aftermarket support doesn't help, neither does the fact that they are rough, rattly old things, if indestructable....However theres a reason the fastest nissan fours in this hemisphere are FJ powered...

but anyways :D

Micra/March is definitely RWD.


You must be talking about the old march/micra because the new ones are definatly FF.

DOH! I could have sworn I typed FWD!
damnit!!
I swear I meant fwd. I don't think any generation of micra/march have been rear wheel drive, in fact the march would have been the replacement for Nissan's aging small rwd platform (ie the B-body cars, B10/110/120/210/310).

You guys are so lucky.
All RX-7s here are FWD.
And I believe they don't sell S13s and S14s in the Netherlands.
I want an S14... :confused:

maybe it was a conversion i saw. I swear it was a rwd micra though. I need to go back and read that article again.

You guys are so lucky.
All RX-7s here are FWD.
And I believe they don't sell S13s and S14s in the Netherlands.
I want an S14... :confused:

RX7's are NOT FWD !!

You guys are so lucky.
All RX-7s here are FWD.
And I believe they don't sell S13s and S14s in the Netherlands.
I want an S14... :confused:
__________________________________________________ ____________________
What's wrong with a Volvo. Especially if you're in the Netherlands.
It's not like it would be hard to get parts.
Plus it's original.

I thought it was weird to.
But I was looking for some info about them,
and one reliable site said it was FWD here.
Can it be they are FWD here.

checked it again.
All models up to '92 are front wheel drive according to them.
Everyone can make a mistake.
Can it be that european rx7s are different from american?

can you maybe put a link to that web site here so everyone else can see????

all rx-7's are front wheel drive? your info is wrong, sorry

I can give you a link:
www.autoweek.nl
For some reason I can't direct link to the car.
It's Dutch, but I think you can figure out a lot.
Just find Mazda in the left.

Rukasu, go a MK2 escort as well!
Surely you have them in the netherlands?
if you got an RS2000 you'd probably get all the good stuff the german assembled ones had, too.

I think I'll stay with the 200sx.

hey, you want to beat up an expensive late model car, or start with something that will be guaranteed get sideways easily and cheaply?