Quickest car for the lowest amount of money?

messymess

With the price of second hand cars the way they are, I was wondering how quick (acceleration and top speed) can we get for the lowest amount of money?

Doesn't matter if the car looks like a **** box or has an engine swap. But it should be road legal and not a kit car.

I wish I had a link to start this off with but I don't ... anyone want to get the ball rolling?

ShadowHearth

Any old big lexus or BMW 7serries. Seen good few 740i with 4.4 v8 for less them 1.5k eu

mickdw

Its a good question. I shall have a think about that.

MR2 turbo would be a contender acceleration wise anyway I think, €2000 would buy a ratty but mechanically sound one (less would get a crap one on yellow plates), all jappers so limited to 180kph but derestricted 150mph should be seen, wouldn't fancy that myself though.

Nissan doctor

Lots of old jap stuff going for pennies now. My old R32 skyline with fairly minimal mods was able to outrun one of the above mentioned 740i's and R32's can be had starting at about €1500 now too...

darragh o meara

I suppose some of the early impreza sti's would be in the running here. Theyre starting to become very cheap recently as are the celica gt4's both can be bought for about 2k and both are seriously quick.

Moving up the price scale you could pick up an e36 M3 which im lead to believe are very quick too, but unfortunately ive never driven one yet

Funny this thread came up cos i was only thinking about getting a cheap fast car earlier, leaning towards the celica gt4 at the moment as ive been through the impreza sti and evo phase.

I reckon the extra weight and transmission losses of the 4wd would be a disadvantage in this particular thread, if we were sticking to OP

kona

Is it even possible, I mean if you follow the Triangle of Cheap/fast/Reliable, and you can only pick two, it wouldnt seem so, Doesnt matter what it says on paper, crawling is faster than a knackerd car sitting in your garden swallowing cash.

Id Imagine The fastest car for cheap would be one with a engine conversion

Nissan doctor

RoverJames wrote: »

I reckon the extra weight and transmission losses of the 4wd would be a disadvantage in this particular thread, if we were sticking to OP

Depends on the situation where the car needs to be quick....

kona

kona wrote: »

Is it even possible, I mean if you follow the Triangle of Cheap/fast/Reliable, and you can only pick two, it wouldnt seem so, Doesnt matter what it says on paper, crawling is faster than a knackerd car sitting in your garden swallowing cash.

Nissan doctor wrote: »

Lots of old jap stuff going for pennies now.

all three possible

garhjw

lancia thema 328

Ferris

300zx TT
Toyota Soarer TT
Nissan Skylines (turbo'd)
Nissan 200sx
Galant vr4

All that springs to mind. If maintained properly they'd be pretty reliable, especially the Soarer.

Eric Cartman

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1842849 haggle to 3200 euro or so - Audi S8

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1929113 haggle to 2500 or so - BMW 750i (Lovely sound off the M73 V12 too)

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1941185 lovely lexus V8 - 1900-2k

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/976792 - BMW 840 , even nicer if you can strech to an 850

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1581398 M5 if you like VRT

TheAnswer

garhjw wrote: »

lancia thema 328

Do you mean an 8.32? I don't think you'd pick one up for pennies. The rarity of that model would have given them some value I would have thought.

Tragedy

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1894166

Eric: You're making the mistake of thinking large engined = automatically fast. The 840, LS400, 750i are all around the same 0-60 as for example a Saab 9-5 Aero(2.3l Turbo), Fiat Coupe(2l Turbo) or Volvo s60 T5(2.3l Turbo). I'd hazard that 90's Evo's and Imprezas would be even faster.

garhjw

TheAnswer wrote: »

Do you mean an 8.32? I don't think you'd pick one up for pennies. The rarity of that model would have given them some value I would have thought.

yea maybe, all i know is it has the engine from the ferrari 328 in it. think i saw it on top gear or some other motoring programme years ago. didn't realise they were rare...

ShadowHearth

I know big ass BMW with v12 wount be fast in 0-60, but after that it will just be pushing and pushing.

And I thought we looked for cheap and fast. Not cheap, fast, economical, easy to run and repair .

1.5k for v8 or v12 is a winner in my books lol.


I loved idea of soarer too. Can be very cheap these days.

As for 2.3 Saab... It's fast, but I don't think it's cheap. And if you find one cheap, I bet it will be dead...

Tragedy

Plenty of cheap 9-5 aeros over the last few years, I keep an eye on them as I wouldn't mind an estate as my next car

ShadowHearth

Would it be on a mark of 1.5k eu m8? There was time when I wanted one badly too...

TheAnswer

garhjw wrote: »

yea maybe, all i know is it has the engine from the ferrari 328 in it. think i saw it on top gear or some other motoring programme years ago. didn't realise they were rare...

Just 3980 (plus 64 "numbered" ones) were sold worldwide!
Just 9 were sold in the UK and none here so the expression "hens teeth" springs to mind.

The engine was based on the engine from the Ferrari 308, not the newer 328 and it was heavily modified to better suit a weighty saloon body.
It barely produced 200BHP in cataylised form so it was no rocket!

Tragedy

Depends on which you want. I was holding out for an 02+ model(slightly updated and more powerful engine). I did see some 00 and 01 Aero's for under 2,500 last year, but haven't been checking as often this year

Seen a few 02's going for under 3,500 which is a big improvement

Ferris

Forgot about fast volvos:

S80 T6 2.5k

locteau

Porsche 924 turbo or 944. Great value, cheap insurance.

Tea 1000

garhjw wrote: »

yea maybe, all i know is it has the engine from the ferrari 328 in it. think i saw it on top gear or some other motoring programme years ago. didn't realise they were rare...

As said, the Ferrari 308 engine. Class car for sure, especially for the time, but the 2 litre Turbo Thema was actually a tiny bit quicker in a straight line.
I'd say the 300ZX would be one of the quicker cars you can get for buttons.

Thumper Long

I think you would be hard pressed to beat a GTI-R, will do sub 5 secs 0-60 with a little tuning, drove a few over the years, but never owned one, its still on my list, nowhere near as common as Evos's, imprezza etc

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1958824

Matt Simis

Tragedy wrote: »

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1894166

Eric: You're making the mistake of thinking large engined = automatically fast. The 840, LS400, 750i are all around the same 0-60 as for example a Saab 9-5 Aero(2.3l Turbo), Fiat Coupe(2l Turbo) or Volvo s60 T5(2.3l Turbo). I'd hazard that 90's Evo's and Imprezas would be even faster.

And you are making the mistake of using an arbitrary low speed like 60mph as as the only benchmark for fast. All those larger engined cars are designed as high speed platforms, in gear and top speed on them is more impressive than traffic light drag racing stats.

Bigus

Thumper Long wrote: »

I think you would be hard pressed to beat a GTI-R, will do sub 5 secs 0-60 with a little tuning, drove a few over the years, but never owned one, its still on my list, nowhere near as common as Evos's, imprezza etc

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1958824

i think to qualify should it not be on Irish plates ?

Matt Simis

LIGHTNING wrote: »

On the flip side those large cars wont stop/corner as well as a smaller car.

Yeah but stopping is the opposite of driving fast!
True though, if you live in a congested or urban area big fast cars aren't utilised well.

Thumper Long

Bigus wrote: »

i think to qualify should it not be on Irish plates ?

VRT €783

itarumaa

Eric Cartman wrote: »

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1941185 lovely lexus V8 - 1900-2k

32 mpg:) Sure if you drive constant 80km/h and never use the power, more like 18-20mpg is the correct figure, well for mine car anyway:)

ShadowHearth

LIGHTNING wrote: »

Also if your on track in one of those barges you can just push those jap tin cans out of your way

I honestly loled. That would be some show! fair play!

VolvoMan

I'd say the most affordable performance you can buy is either an old 850 T-5 or a Rover 600 Ti.

Tragedy

Matt Simis wrote: »

And you are making the mistake of using an arbitrary low speed like 60mph as as the only benchmark for fast. All those larger engined cars are designed as high speed platforms, in gear and top speed on them is more impressive than traffic light drag racing stats.

Which is fantastic, except the thread is quickest car, not fastest 70 to 90 in 4th gear or whatever obscure metric you might like to use(but good luck finding figures for).
Don't take it so personally

Also, I'd suspect the 95aero in particularly would keep up with any of the larger engines cars in gear, 0-60 let's it down as it tries to put 250hp through its front wheels but it has fantastic in gear pull.

Vertakill

Tragedy wrote: »

Which is fantastic, except the thread is quickest car, not fastest 70 to 90 in 4th gear or whatever obscure metric you might like to use(but good luck finding figures for).
Don't take it so personally

In fairness, what he's probably getting at is differentiating the likes of Glanza's (which are good up until 60) to some of the larger engined cars that are being mentioned here.


Cruising along at 60/70mph and being able to very quickly pull away from someone trying to 'race' you is fairly gratifying when you show them that they've no hope of catching you because they've a weeny engine.. :P

*That's aimed at the guy trying to race me on the N4 in a widebody 'drift spec' 1989 corolla on Friday evening!*

Cuddlesworth

Or you could just buy a motorbike. Can't be beaten on a price/performance/reliability measure.

Mr Benevolent

LIGHTNING wrote: »

Why do all of these type of threads always have somebody that says "get a bike"? If the OP wanted a bike he would have said that.

Yup, he might as well have told a handglider pilot to buy an F14

mcwhirter

I originally though of the Renault 5gt turbo, but they probably sell for quite a bit now.

But then I though of the saab 9-3 viggen

Conor_M1990

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/vintagecars/1775194

SurferDude41

I sold my much loved Honda V-tec Prelude for €800
This had 190bhp. The only reason why I sold it was high fuel comsumption, plus the road tax was over €850.....
Even though mine was an automatic, it still had a top speed of 140mph....

Big Nasty

This thread would work a lot better if we were given a budget of say, €2000 to find the fastest Irish registered car we can advertised online, regardless of handling ability or modifications.

MCMLXXV

MCMLXXV wrote: »

This thread would work a lot better if we were given a budget of say, €2000 to find the fastest Irish registered car we can advertised online, regardless of handling ability or modifications.

Good idea, lowest amount of money mentioned in the OP and there has been cars linked to that cost well over €5000 :pac:

ShadowHearth

RoverJames wrote: »

Good idea, lowest amount of money mentioned in the OP and there has been cars linked to that cost well over €5000 :pac:

Yup, got to agree. If we go as much as 5k then my 400 hp skyline would be fast too lol.

As he mentioned 2k is great price to work with. Plush we look not reliable or good car. But fast car )

Thumper Long

what is the definitition of fast and no not This is it 0-60, 0-100 or overall top speed?

messymess

MCMLXXV wrote: »

This thread would work a lot better if we were given a budget of say, €2000 to find the fastest Irish registered car we can advertised online, regardless of handling ability or modifications.

That's a great idea. Make it so!

n97 mini

Older Jap stuff. Insanely powerful for the money. Eg a 400bhp 300ZX can be had for a couple of grand.

messymess

Less talk, more links

Matt Simis

Tragedy wrote: »

Which is fantastic, except the thread is quickest car, not fastest 70 to 90 in 4th gear or whatever obscure metric you might like to use(but good luck finding figures for).
Don't take it so personally

Also, I'd suspect the 95aero in particularly would keep up with any of the larger engines cars in gear, 0-60 let's it down as it tries to put 250hp through its front wheels but it has fantastic in gear pull.

I dont get you. Im not using some obscure metric, Im pointing out that the mentioned big phat German cruisers (which I do not own) are designated "high speed platforms".. this is an actual real world thing and indicative of the roads in their country of origin and era they were made. To quote 0-60 as your sole benchmark of performance is shortsighted and pointless in the real world. Given the high top speed of something like a (delimited) 740/750/850i and its impressive high speed power and stability its clearly as "fast car". We are talking 170mph+ here.

Can I ask if you have actually checked any of the figures you keep making reference to? You have its trump card backwards, its 0-60mph (100kph) is more impressive than its other metrics.

--
Saab 9-5 Aero (uprated 2002 version, the older/cheaper one is slower)
0-100kph 6.8sec
60-100 6.5sec

BMW 740i 2000 - No turbos, just displacement, heavier car
0-100kph 6.9sec
60-100kph 4.5sec
--
Thats a pretty average showing from the Saab, but I would be under no illusions as its ultimately a turbo'd small CC engine tuned for lower speeds.
An 850i is faster again.

And I cant take it personally as I dont have an 850I or a 740i or an A8.


PS: Just to put my 2c in for the topic in question, the fastest cheapest car will most certainly be a boosted Jap performance car.

unkel

And in those big panzers, you actually do get the 0-100km/h times the manufacturer claims, because of the autoboxes most come with

The manufacturer times are not possible in manual cars, unless you are a professional driver and don't mind wrecking the clutch / gearbox once a week.

Tragedy

Matt Simis wrote: »

I dont get you. Im not using some obscure metric, Im pointing out that the mentioned big phat German cruisers (which I do not own) are designated "high speed platforms".. this is an actual real world thing and indicative of the roads in their country of origin and era they were made. To quote 0-60 as your sole benchmark of performance is shortsighted and pointless in the real world. Given the high top speed of something like a (delimited) 740/750/850i and its impressive high speed power and stability its clearly as "fast car". We are talking 170mph+ here.

Fantastic. Can you quote me where I said those cars aren't great long distance or high speed cruisers?

No?
Because all I said was it's a mistake to think that because a large car had a very large engine, it would be automatically faster accelerating than light cars with smaller turbocharged engines?
Correct.

Can I ask if you have actually checked any of the figures you keep making reference to? You have its trump card backwards, its 0-60mph (100kph) is more impressive than its other metrics.

Can I ask if you have actually checked any of the figures you keep making reference to? You have it's trump card backwards.

--
Saab 9-5 Aero (uprated 2002 version, the older/cheaper one is slower)
0-100kph 6.8sec
60-100 6.5sec

BMW 740i 2000 - No turbos, just displacement, heavier car
0-100kph 6.9sec
60-100kph 4.5sec

Lovely, you're comparing kickdown in an auto with 4th gear in a manual.

Would you like to quote 2nd gear figures for the 850i with 5th gear figures for the 95? They'd be about as apt and comparable.

I did some research, the lower powered(230hp vs 250hp), heavier(1740kg vs 1665kg) and automatic(so lacking the 20second overboost of manuals) Saab 95 Aero Estate does 60-100km/h in 5s. Unfortunately, 60-100km/h doesn't seem to be a metric tested by magazines or reviewers all that often so that's all I could find.

Also, the 95 will beat/match(depends on the website) the 850i in quarter mile and the e36 750i manual.

Thats a pretty average showing from the Saab, but I would be under no illusions as its ultimately a turbo'd small CC engine tuned for lower speeds.
An 850i is faster again.

The Saab isn't tuned for lower speeds anymore than a 750i, LS400 or 850i.

And I cant take it personally as I dont have an 850I or a 740i or an A8.

I'm well aware of what cars you have, including the 4 I've seen on adverts over the years(the beetle was strangely alluring). I'd take an S8 over the 95 in a heartbeat.


I'm also under no illusions about the Saab. It torque steers like a bitch, doesn't corner particularly well, isn't an engaging drive and an inline 4 sounds like an inline 4.
Unfortunately, I don't think you can say the same as you seem to have instantly dismissed it as a lesser car without even attempting to review it impartially.

Matt Simis

Tragedy wrote: »

Unfortunately, I don't think you can say the same as you seem to have instantly dismissed it as a lesser car without even attempting to review it impartially.

I dont think I dismissed it, it is a fast car, it is fast 0-60 but I wasnt really even talking about the 9-5, I was just reacting to the statement that a V12 750 isnt as fast as a smaller boosted car 0-60, which is true but the weighting people put on 0-60 (here and elsewhere) is way OTT given the real world and therefore misleading.

I accept you dont like the figures I quoted for the 60-100, Im not sure if you clicked the link, thats Saabs own in-gear performance metric, they used it when trying to sell an authorised Tuner special Aero. I assumed, perhaps incorrectly, that it was the best gear for that speed run, otherwise why quote it officially? I did a search for "Aero 9-5 ingear performance" and thats the best I found.
I think if the Saab really isnt tuned for sub <100mph speeds then it really should be given its CC, weight and platform. But if its as cheap as you say (hard to find) then its a perfectly valid option and personally I like the e85 tuner scene Saab's have which leads to mega boosted BHP.. shame about the FWD though.

Tragedy

Matt Simis wrote: »

I dont think I dismissed it, it is a fast car, it is fast 0-60 but I wasnt really even talking about the 9-5, I was just reacting to the statement that a V12 750 isnt as fast as a smaller boosted car 0-60, which is true but the weighting people put on 0-60 (here and elsewhere) is way OTT given the real world and therefore misleading.

It's faster than most smaller boosted cars, but 6.5s has been the standard for euro performance saloons since the early noughties and there are quite a lot of 2.0/2.5l Jap cars that will blow them all away(vr4, Skyline, Soarer, Legacy etc etc)

I accept you dont like the figures I quoted for the 60-100, Im not sure if you clicked the link, thats Saabs own in-gear performance metric

You're missing my point. You're comparing 4th gear with 2nd or 3rd gear. The older, heavier, less powerful Estate does 60-100 in 5s vs the 4.5s of the 740i.

They used it when trying to sell an authorised Tuner special Aero. I assumed, perhaps incorrectly, that it was the best gear for that speed run, otherwise why quote it officially?

Because 60-100 in 4th IS one of the more popular metrics for measuring performance, but 60-100 in whatever gear is fastest isn't.

I think if the Saab really isnt tuned for sub <100mph speeds then it really should be given its CC, weight and platform.

It's tuned for milemunching motorway cruising with the same limited top speed as the large engined cars mentioned.

But if its as cheap as you say (hard to find) then its a perfectly valid option and personally I like the e85 tuner scene Saab's have which leads to mega boosted BHP.. shame about the FWD though.

Agreed on both points :pac: