300zx vs 3000GT

I am trying to build a high proformance street/strip/track on a tight budget, and I have been doing my reserch on what car to start with. I wanted somthing that I would not have to rebuild every other weekend so almost any American car I can afford are out of the question (NOTE: I am not a ricer I like whatever works I don't care what country it comes from) as well as some of the finiky imports like the GSX; and I wanted somthing that I could get for less than about 6k so I'll have some money left to tune it with. So no 93 and up Supra, and seeeing as the pre 93s are lacking in HP, overweight and have a bad habit of blowing headgaskets I have to count out the supras altogeather :disappoin so basicaly I am left with the early 90s 300zx and the 3000GT vr4 or possably the Gen2 rx7. Do yall have any sugestions? I am hoping to reach about 550-600 bhp. How do the engines, chassies, and aftermarket compare for these cars?

i bet a lot of people are going to get pissed about this thread.


Dont get the RX7 or VR4 if your worried about reliability. i would buy a z32 or ls1 camaro.

I am not trying to piss anyone off, but I own a ford and I have worked on many a GM. I am not impressed with how well either one of them have held up. Now mind you I really like the newer camaros GTOs and vetts, but they are out of my price range, if I had the money to I would go out and buy one of the new 500hp z06s right now it is by far the fastest car you can get for less than 60k. So don't get me wrong I am not a die hard ricer that thinks Amercan cars suck, and civics are godsent. If it goes fast, corners well, and does not break I love it. in fact I'll make an edit to my post to keep people from getting offended OK.

Dont get the RX7

Assuming he could find one in his price range, why not?

Hows about a first Gen Eclipse GSX, hell even a second gen would work fine, they dont ALL suffer from Crankwalk. Civics can be made to go fast if you wanna spend the cash, but so can EVERY car in reality.

Whats your price range, we could work from there...

yup, your gonna get flamed! its a stupid thread to start with. how can you have a strip and track car both in one? A car set up for 1320s will not make it past a chicane at highway speeds! and a track car with loads of suspension upgrades wont run any faster on the strip!

anyway I got a 3000GT and I can tell you the VR-4 is not ideal for either track or strip. sure you can make our cars fast but after you are done you would of been able to afford 2 C6 Zo6s! our cars say it all in the name "GT" meaning "Grand Touring", these things are set up for highway and road course.

A car set up for 1320s will not make it past a chicane at highway speeds! and a track car with loads of suspension upgrades wont run any faster on the strip!

Ya know, I was agreeing with this...but J&H can do both (if you consider hill climbs/AutoX tracks) pretty well.

Assuming he could find one in his price range, why not?

Hows about a first Gen Eclipse GSX, hell even a second gen would work fine, they dont ALL suffer from Crankwalk. Civics can be made to go fast if you wanna spend the cash, but so can EVERY car in reality.

Whats your price range, we could work from there...



Well, although those cars can be made seriously fast, he is concerned with reliability so an old rotary wouldnt be a good choice imo.

For the last fucking time, the rotoray's are perfectly good motors. They get shitty miliage, and thats about it. HTe only reason they had reliability problems is becuase of the uber restrictive exahust set up. Anyways, most RX-7s you can get now have new motors in them, and have a three inch dp/exhaust, and should be perfectly reliable.

rotorays get sucky milage because they have a very poor surface to volume ratio, but I love them anyway, I think people misunderstood what I am trying to do I wast to build a car that can run low 11s or high tens, and hold respectable times through a racetrack, while still being street drivable is that too much to ask? I don't think so I have seen an out of the box vette do it why not a modified 300zx it has a rock solid engine a tough tranny and a bomb proof rear diff with the exceptiom of the everything but the pistons and rings is supposed to be good for up to around 600hp. am i barking up the wrong tree is a supercharged bigblock the only way I am going to get the kind of speed I am looking for?

Where are you going to get a Turbo 300zx for 6grand?

look up the TMV on a 93 300zx $5,283 at edmonds. Of course actuly finding one for sale is another matter altogeather.

look up the TMV on a 93 300zx $5,283 at edmonds. Of course actuly finding one for sale is another matter altogeather.
Yeah, they usually sell for a lot more than that. In my area 91-93 Vr4s sell for 7-8.5k. I'd look into a smaller car if i were you, like a MR2, 240sx, etc that will handle a little bit better. RX7s are nice, when they're powered by a LS1.

300ZX TT? VR4? FC RX7?

Some of my fave cars! But if it were down to 2: The Z and the 3000GT. It'd be really hard for me to choose one... but as biased as I am, and I tend to stick with what I'm familiar with, I would pick the TT Z32. But less than $6k? Have you even researched prices on Z32's???? IMO if you do in fact find a Z32 TT out there (don't get me wrong... there are some out there) you are going to spending alot more $$$ in maintenance... and from experience these cars ain't easy to work on and it ain't cheap either! And I have an NA!

Where are you going to get a Turbo 300zx for 6grand?

not only that but if you want to run 11s to high 10s you might as well get your zo6 cause in this cause its going to run you to get to those times.........for sure...

its not locked yet (which it will be soon)

do not buy a 300ZX, about teh only people that can work on them and tune them up in many areas is the dealership, i've talked to a FEW mechanics that say they refuse to work on them, that and labor is expensive, tedious and long, unless you have a 300ZX specialist near you dont get one

RX-7 is in the Same BOAT! difficult engine to work on and not many people to do it the RIGHT way, also they are slightly expensive i think, but thats my opinion

3000GT vr-4 has a cramped engine bay and i've heard its somewhat difficult to work on (but not as bad as the other 2), not a clue though b/c i've never seen one modified and only one stock for that matter, i've heard its not a good idea, its heavy and it has a fairly limited ceiling for performance compared to its counterparts during the 90's

people that race do not have goals for HP numbers, that is unless you just want something that has the high horsepower, whattimes do you want to achieve and how easy it will be for you to get there is anotehr thing alltogether, the best options i've found are

1g Eclipse / DSM AWD turbo (12's for less than 5000), easy to work on
~1987 Buick Regal T-type, GN, GNX (12's for less than 1200 setup), very popular, easily modable, fastest production car of the 80's
~Anything w/ an LS1, yes torque and good gas mileage, they can be had for cheap and if you don't want to have to deal w/ boost, you can all-motor it to the 10's i've heard
~Supercharged Buick Regal (newer models) can be done
~5.0 mustang, yes its a ford, but its the infamous 5.0, i've heard of easy 700hp builds...never seen one, but the guy i talked to was confident
~Ford Taurus SHO--have you seen these things?? look them up!!!
~Sentra SE-R (b13 chassis) do a det swap or a vet swap and watch the numbers DROP, as you HP goes up! amazing little machines

if your on a budget, 4cyl motors are the cheapest to maintain and fix and usually the easiest too, the first is my fav. choice b/c there are DSM guys EVERYWHERE

Japanese "supercars" kinda suck in that they take a lot of money as well as cost a lot of money to get and mod, besides that they ROCK!

You want a track car that can also do 10s/11s in the 1/4? And on top of that, you're on a tight budget? You know they are ALL direct trade-offs of each other?

And this is the STREET RACING forum, not the "build a car that's gonna cost me much blood, sweat and tears" forum.

fast=$$$$$$$$
11s-10s= 1. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
2. Better live with parents
3. Oh and did I mention money

One of the only cars on here that can really kick ass on the street/strip/track is JH's MR2. And that was NOT a cheap car to build. Good luck with your budget racer dude, you're gonna need it...

I dont think J&H is all about the car though, that man can drive! I bet I give him my car as is and he'd still spank on a hill run. He just makes it work that way but how many people out there are as baddass as him?

I dont think J&H is all about the car though, that man can drive! I bet I give him my car as is and he'd still spank on a hill run. He just makes it work that way but how many people out there are as baddass as him?


Oh he's a talented driver, that's for sure. But you gotta admit, his car is no joke. It's amazing that he can go mop up on a hill run one weekend, then put drag slicks on it without changing the suspension around and run 11's another weekend.

Cars like these are not cheap to build.

^true that^

Wow.. I didn't bother to read this thread thinking it was a race... didn't think it was a budget racer thread.


Well, everything that can be said.. has... good luck mang.