Fastest Car for under $15k

I got a 92 Honda Accord Ex 4dr. and I want a different car so what is the fastest car for under $15k? For street racing. It doesn't matter what drivetrain it is along as it not FWD. It doesn't matter what brand it is. Along as it is fast!!!!

you need to be a bit more specific with what you want, rwd fwd awd, import domestic european, fries shake supersize...

Are you gonna be drag racing/street racing, or doing autocross? Do you want a domestic or an import? How important is gas mileage, insurance costs, reliability, comfort/luxury?

fries shake supersize...

Sure they're under 15k, but I don't think he was looking for them.

Are you gonna be drag racing/street racing, or doing autocross? Do you want a domestic or an import? How important is gas mileage, insurance costs, reliability, comfort/luxury?
In addition to this, is age important on the car?

5.0 Mustang or early LS1 F-body ('98 or '99)

dsm=best bang for buck
1

dsm=best bang for buck
1

not much can match the modability of a DSM motor!

get a 99 camaro ss

Get a 86-87 Regal T-Type, they're a little cheaper than their GN counterparts

I 2nd the dsm...but of course I'm a bit biased

but get the 2g dsm for 6k, then mod the hell out of it with the remaining 9k = 1 helluva street car

Get a 5.0. It can be put into high 9's in the right hand w/ $15k.

Getting a $6k DSM is a big mistake. The are extremely unreliable. Not to mention for $6k, you get a high mileage Eclipse.

If you do really need a DSM. Get a 1st gen Talon. Cheapest and fairly reliable.

the FC...with 15,000 you could buy a 3rd generation Turbo FC and get HP numbers around 350 and keep it as reliable as your gonna get in a daily driver rotary...and still have cash left over for some upgrades to make it handle even better...

5.0 stang, f-body, DSM (many people got his path, i think overdone), or even dip into some European. You can come across a fast car at a good price often. Look through places like autotrader.com

I have a couple friends w/ 240's and they are pretty quick, ur limit is 15k, so the car itself would be half that, then turbo (or sr20 swap) if you went turbo free the exhaust, build internals and do suspension, tada, ur running 13s
keeping it N/A go headers, CAI, exhaust, tuned (no chips use A/F tuners), tires, light rims, yank weight out of it, suspension (est. 15's to 14's)

and 240s got rwd

stock: Eclipse GS-X, (1 (one)k-15k depending where you look)

Get a '96 cobra with the aluminum 4.6 block for roughly 8-10k, then get a supercharger or turbocharger for it. Should get you deep into the 12s, more likely 11s, and handle very well.

There are a ton of fast cars out there for under $15K. I saw a v6 firebird that was twin turbo and was once an indy pace car. It was around $11,000. So, if you look real hard, you can find some nice stuff out there.

Get an e36 m3 and you'll go real fast no where with a lot of cash.

Don't bother with European sports cars, they cost way too much...you get a nice ride and a nice interior, but I don't think you care about that for street racing. For straight-line racing, your best bet is a Fox Body 5.0 Mustang or a Camaro Z28 (both the LT1 and LS1 are good motors). The Eclipse GSX/Talon TSi AWD are also very easy to make super quick, but their reliability is highly questionable. The 240SX is good too, but you're gonna have to do forced induction or a motor swap to get any power out of it. Forget the RX-7 (FC3S or FD3S), you pay too much for what you get. Ditto with the Supra TT, 300ZX TT, and 3000GT VR-4. Integras and Civics can get pretty fast, but it requires a lot of money and I'd advise against it. The Buick Regal T-Type/Grand National are excellent, but they are very hard to find, seeing as how they haven't been made since 1987. Also, if you find a decent C4 Corvette, those are very fast.

My top three picks:
1. 1993-2002 Chevrolet Camaro Z28/Pontiac Firebird Trans Am
2. 1987-1993 Ford Mustang LX 5.0/GT
3. 1990-1994 Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX/Eagle Talon TSi AWD

I'd vote for either a 96-97 SS Camaro (with the 305 hp) or any V-8 98-up F-body

the FC...with 15,000 you could buy a 3rd generation Turbo FC and get HP numbers around 350 and keep it as reliable as your gonna get in a daily driver rotary...and still have cash left over for some upgrades to make it handle even better... the third Gen is FD.... and i agree with the 96 cobra and supercharge it.

if you had the FWD option i'd go for an old ford taurus sho at one site they build them for you and for the price of a contour (14k or so) you can outhandle bimmers and out accelerate vette's...i don't know about going w/ ford though

if i put 12,000 into my mr2 (to bring total cost to 15k) i could have a 1900 someodd lbs, 350-400rwhp BEAST.

the money to spend on a car doesn't matter as much as knowing what to spend it on.

and not forgetting some may go to repairs

I got my '92 vette with 30k miles for only $14,000. I would recommend a '98-02 Camaro SS, though. You can get one in great condition and low miles for about 12k i think, and have some left for a couple nice mods. I get smoked by LS-1s all the time, and they have a backseat so you can cruise for chicks with your friend. :)

1g E/T/L

Price for unmolested/slightly molested is around 2-3k. Stroker, trans, supporting mods, big turbo, etc. (I can elaborate furthur)

I do like the idea of the SC'd Cobra, however.

call me nuts

but I say you grab a mazda [rx3, rx4, old rx7, 323, etc] and drop in a 13bt..

good times!

You're nuts. ;)

dsm=best bang for buck
1

Uhh, beg to differ. SBC or Windsor Ford. Hands down biggest aftermarkets in the industry. Not bad for 40 + year old technology...

Or you could invest 15000 into an Omhi GLH-T or a Turbo Shadow/Daytona, that would be one mean sucker, since only about a grand would go to buying the actual car...

I agree with Foxbody 5.0 or LS1...

87-93 5.0 Coupe (Notchback), extremely easy to find AND modify. Just to give one example there are over 50 different Heads for the ole 5.0 motor after the introduction of the DART 195's last month. See my sig. (including the price of my car 3200 from a junkyard, didn't run worth a sh*t) i'm up to 12,000 dollars. That combo will get me into the 11's, high elevens. Keep in mind, that's without boost.

also forgot to say that 12,000 is the price including all my chassis and suspension mods like springs, subframe connectors, and shocks/struts. Oh yeah and exhaust which was 1400 by itself. It DOESNT include a custom dyno and computer chip will be approx. 500 dollars. after that it'll probably be around 13000 but that's ur price range. when you do get a car will you be turning the wrenches or taking it to a shop? cause my 12-13k price doesn't also doesn't include taking it to a shop, i turned the wrenches myselft to save money. it was hard but i learned a lot about my car.

My 'stang is up to around the 13000 mark, but mine cost $5500 to begin with. Lots of fabrication and all work was done by myself. Hoping to have it all done and turbo'd by the end of the winter, goal is a bit over 500rwhp for daily driving.
Oh and about $3000 of that is one engine rebuild that lasted about 500 miles due to ingested metal. Currently doing my second rebuild which will be 10x better and cost about half of my first. I was young and foolish.. the other $4500 is interior/paint/exterior and suspension/chassis and a new transmission, as well as some rear end bits and pieces. I think if I had known what I was doing from the start, I would have been able to buy and build the entire car for $11,000.

How about a '98 or '99 Pontiac Trans Am. Lots of power under the hood of that car (WS6) :evillol:

you could also try a 90-96 300ZX TT ($8-10,000) and upgrade the Turbos and intercooler. VVVVV just making sure u can read it VVVV

uhhh

thats a pretty big sig.

uhhh

thats a pretty big sig.

is this better?

300ZX TT or a 99 Camaro SS would be my two choices...the ZX being first.

you could also try a 90-96 300ZX TT ($8-10,000) and upgrade the Turbos and intercooler. VVVVV just making sure u can read it VVVV
Waste of money. Spending 8-10k to start off with better produce a faster car (see: Mustang) than a stock TT Z.

I still say Stang or DSM.

Actually, the 93 appears to be pretty impressive. :smile:

Supra!! Gotta get a Supra

uhh supra, under 15k????

My friend is selling his 92 Talon TSI AWD with the lucky combination of 6 bolt motor and 4 bolt rear. He is selling it for $6k(negotiable) with helmet and datalogger. Runs 12.04 in the 1/4. He worked at a mitsu dealer as a mechanic before Mitsu started doing bad. Its well maintained, clean, never had engine problems with it(yet). I don't think he put $6k into the car including purchasing the car itself.

here is a link about what a FWD DSM can do for under $3500:

http://www.94tsiawd.com/Goodwill.html

def an fbody. for 3k you can get a perfect lt1 for less than 3k you can have 450 NA whp and they have if not the biggest the second biggest aftermarkets for everything. you can make the car go fast stop fast handle and look cool
really how many cars are geared from the factory to potentially go 250mph, all you need is the power to get thier and thier is not a singal motor out thier with more potential than a sbv8

Classic SE-R's can be had for as low as 800-900 dollars. Won't be pretty, but it'll be able to get out of its own way ;). I've even seen some already-turbocharged ones running 12's or lower that sell for 5,000 dollars - and the owners made profit on the sale. :)

DSM is the fastest way to get speed and power really fast with just 2000 bucks in it.

Again, if you just wanna drag race and you can launch really well, get a Z28. The DSM is pretty simple to get a good time with because of its AWD, but it's got nothin' on a V8.

kman, did you see the post I put? the guy ran a 11.8 in the 1/4 for like $3100 including the cost of the FWD DSM. Buy a Z28 and see what you can do for $3100, including buying the car.

I would get a camaro with an LS1. I dont know much about camaros but a friend tells me they are good engines.

kman, did you see the post I put? the guy ran a 11.8 in the 1/4 for like $3100 including the cost of the FWD DSM. Buy a Z28 and see what you can do for $3100, including buying the car.

ive seen kids put less than that in a civic and be faster. you can do anything cheap but you have to know what to get and where to get it and be willing to do the work yourself.

now look at it this way after that initial 3k how much time will this person spend tyring to keep the car thier.. i have a friend with a gs-t who did it right and spent at least 10k on his car he had 353whp at low
boost

he experienced crank walk. had to get the motor rebuilt. spent again almost 10k on that but it was done to "race car" specs. forged everything 2.2l ultra lightweight valvetrain. ported/polished head... the works on this engine he hasn't showed me the dyno yet but the car walks street bikes from 100mph...... ya sure thats great and all but he spent 20k not including the car the get it thier and be reliable... o ya and it went through 2 motors.

now your gonna say he did somethign wrong but, those cars are notorious for crank walk. so eventually your gonna have to rebuild the motor and be out of a car and money.

my lt1 with 164k on it have never so much as given me a headache i beat the snot out of it and it loves every minute of it. i have spent minimum money on it and have a car that will outrun most anything outhandle most anything, and sounds mean doing it. i know people with well over 200k on thier fbody, who run 150hp shot of nitrous all the time and have never had problems.....

im not gonna argue over wich car with this mod to that mod will go faster. i will say this. with enough money anything can be fast.... if your worried about how little money to spend on something to make it go fast. you pay for what you get, so just go out and buiya street bike. do a little research on what you want to do with a car, do you want to run 9' or are 13.5's good enough for you. keep in mind 9's on the street is very unstable and 13.5's are enough to beat almost antyhing out there. even if a guy is driving a 12 sec zo6 chances are he doesn't know how to launch the car on street tires so if yyou learn how to drive you will be all set. if you do your own work and have all the tools and just want something to go fast really cheap then a mustang will be the best thing for you, they have one of the biggest aftermarkets and are pretty quick to begin with. if you are looing for something with a bit more potential go with an fbody, if you like the import scene go with an eclipse, if you like the idea of a sleeper find yourself a dodge spirit turbo or even the turbo mini van , they are by far the cheapest motors on earth to work on and very very very powerful, incredibly easy to work on. my friend just got a new piston for his shadow 15 bucks, not on ebay, from a retail store. o ya he got the car for 500 dollars, with 83k on it. two dents in the body, no rust. even if he puts 500 into it and gets it into the high 12's he has only spent 1k.

just make sure whatever you get you are happy with, if you like it enough you will find the time and money to make it do what you want

now your gonna say he did somethign wrong but, those cars are notorious for crank walk. so eventually your gonna have to rebuild the motor and be out of a car and money.


They are only "notorious" to noobs and other brand owners. The 1g's are FAR from "notorious" for anything but responding well to mods, and a shitty second gear syncro.

Everybody has a "friend" who "got crankwalk". I have only met 2 people in real life who have, and I know LOTS of 2g owners, not to mention the countless 1g owners.

I still say any turbo regal. Talk to Hypsi87, i believe he said he's put 1300 into the engine and has gotten it into the 11's.

They are only "notorious" to noobs and other brand owners. The 1g's are FAR from "notorious" for anything but responding well to mods, and a shitty second gear syncro.

Everybody has a "friend" who "got crankwalk". I have only met 2 people in real life who have, and I know LOTS of 2g owners, not to mention the countless 1g owners.


i know 4 people out of 7 dsm's in my area who have had "crank walk" none of them are noobs. anyways i was just telling it like i see it. whoever started the thread will read everything and make thier own edjucated decision

hmmm...I dont hear about a lot of complaints from mitsu owners about that...What i do hear a lot of is the shit quality of the clutch and tranny. People always seem to have problems with those.

95 Civic Ex
Stock
If u want some come getcha some(minivans exluded i hate gettin beat by em')holla!!!

After asking my dad and some friends they said that you could go with a Honda CBR 1100 and be running pretty damn fast...but as for cars, they say that a 00+ Mustang Cobra would be their choice, or a Camaro SS.

And I know this may sound very nooblike...but I've never heard or read about crankwalk...what the hell is that??

crankwalk happens when the crankshaft starts moving around its housing. This causes the crankshaft to, at some point or another, wear into the thrust bearing heavily. This will cause the crank to eventually move a plate that will smash into the crank angle sensor, break it, and shut the car down.

sbc....cheap, reliabe, HUGE aftermarket

Jesus...crankwalk would not be something I would like to experience then.

if your gonna buy an f-body (camaro z28/pontiac transam ws6) make sure to get a 98-02 model. Sure the LT1 is a good motor but it is no match for a LS1. it takes mods just to get to stock LS1 territory. my friend bought an automatic ls1 f-body for 9000, he bought a stall for 1000, long tubes and full exhaust for another probably 1500 and had all this installed and he is under 15000 and he ran a low 12 before he put the long tube headers on it. LS1's just cant be beat for the money

well thier is a huge debate on weather the lt1 or ls1 is better. one has good top end one has good bottom end. they both have massive aftermarkets. they both have tons of potential. either one is a good buy.

I found a twin turbo rhd supra for 2800...