Jump to content
SAU Community

  

26 members have voted

You do not have permission to vote in this poll, or see the poll results. Please sign in or register to vote in this poll.

Recommended Posts

A quick background..... I am currently a green P plater (in QLD) till october of 2013.

I have an R33 GTS series 1, learnt to drive in it and have used it ever since.

Now it's a nice looking car and if I spent a little more money on it it would be a schmick car, but it's quite a big car, fairly slow, doesn't handle amazingly (has some potential) and isn't great on fuel. Not as bad as i thought with the police, only been pulled over three times in over a year (they never even went over the car just breath test) must be because i don't drive like a dickhead all the time and ALWAYS BE POLITE TO THE POLICE!

Now about a month ago i started looking at buying a 180sx (turbo) as a second car to work on for experience. The 180sx was my first love, so beautiful. Test drove a couple and love how they handle. If i were to buy a 180sx i would apply for an exemption (I don't want any questions or personal input on the matter of how and why) and also use it as a daily along with the Skyline.

My other choice is to buy an NB MX-5 (1.8L) from 1998 - 2000. Heard they handle amazingly, fuel efficient and with some coilovers, nice offset rims, hardtop and a Garage Vary front lip look sexy!!! Only problem is the MX-5 might be a little slow unless I get some cams, port polish, shaved head straight up.

So here's my choices:

1) I can keep the Skyline and buy a 180sx

2) Keep the Skyline and buy an MX-5

3) Sell the Skyline and have just the MX-5 as a daily and then get a 180sx when i have my open license

4) Sell the Skyline, buy and MX-5 as a daily and also buy a 180sx as a project/track car

5) Spend about $5000 (motorsport discount) and work the Skyline(keep NA) and get about 200rwhp, coilovers and sway bars.

Please tell me what you think. I do love the Skyline and it would be sad to see her go but I'm looking for something more fun, take to the track every now and then. Any other reasonable suggestions welcome!

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/389850-at-a-bit-of-a-crossroad/
Share on other sites

Not a bad MX-5, dont mind the NA but prefer NB. Either way would be a beast.

If i wanted a track only car I could probably use one of my dad's cars to tow anything and a prado would be good, do some 4wding but it's not for me sadly hahah.

So maybe get rid of my beloved Skyline, get an MX-5 as a daily which could also be used a bit at the track in the meantime, would be a fun car and look pretty sexy.

Then maybe get a 180sx in the near future, doesn't matter if it's not in great condition and work on that.

Endgame...... Have two nice track cars that are street legal (wouldn't go crazy modifying them).

do you HAVE to have 2 cars? for a start, unless you are keeping the skyline as a stock daily, dont spend a cent on it. its na. just let it get you from A to B. If you buy a 180, i guarentee you will stop driving the skyling, and realise hoe average an na r33 is compared to a 180sx. so keeping it will be pointless. as for an mx5.. REALLY? like, yeah i get.. "they handle like a go-cart and blah blah blah, but REALLY?

in summary, your on your p's. wait it out. if you want a new car NOW, buy a forester and drive ya mates round in comfort. if you still want to go fast and shit in 2013, deal with it then.

Well I like the idea of having two cars so that I can have one car in bits and still drive around. Driving a 180sx was amazing, you can just feel it's a light car and it just made me want one even more.

I like the idea of an MX-5, small, fuel efficient and good handling but still, just thinking of the 180 just makes me fall in love again.

GAHHH why does this have to be so difficult?!!

Importantly, both the MX5 and 180 will be a hell of a lot more fun than a NA R33. As for the MX5 and the 180, you have to ask yourself what you want from a car.

The MX5 is convertible, handles like a go kart, is fuel efficient, and has been very popular for tarmac rallies and club days. So it definitely has the cred to be a great car. Downsides are that MX5s are quite slow in a straight line unless modified, are as practical and have as much storage space as a shoebox, and you can only take one passenger along for the ride.

180 will be faster in a staight line, has 4 seats (you can squeeze two people in the back for short trips), is a hatchback with a bigger boot than a MX5, and will be easier to mod. Drawbacks are that the 180 will consume more petrol and won't handle as well as a MX5.

EDIT: based on your last post, you should get a 180. The best car to own is the one that you think about all the time and get excited about.

Edited by ras1983

Option. .. f?

Spend money on R33, but not on the engine. Coilovers, swaybars, brakes (5 stud conversion?) The works suspension wise. Build a RB30/25DET. Drop in in October 2013.

Also, i'm intrigued by how you'll get an expemption. A work exemption if you work at a mechanics won't let you daily drive a turbo 180sx around.

Hold onto the Skyline until you have your full license and then flog it off and buy whatever takes your fancy (personally I'd go a 33 GTST over the NA MX5 or 180sx).

I wouldn't spend a cracker on the GTS.

Sell NA POS NA Skyline, buy MX 5.

Your stock MX5 will smoke most stockish GTSTs, Chubbs runs a 1:13 around wakefield in a 85ish kw MX5, I was 1:11 but in a 350ish kw GTST.

A MX5 is the best handling bang for your buck car money can buy.

With some good suspension, brakes and tyres it is budget performance at its best.

Wish I had got one instead of the boat.

Thanks for all the input guys!

Well this is what i'm thinking of doing, put on the side skirts, rear pods and wider fenders i have for the skyline (maybe even get a GTR front bar made in plastic) so that it looks a little meaner.

Buy the 180sx; just a clean and lightly modded one for track and some street.

In the end the 180sx won't handle as great as the MX-5, but it's a big step up from the skyline and most of all I will be surrounded by the beloved Nissans.

I do like the idea of building a nice RB25/30 as I love the sound of the straight six, but for now I think the 180sx will be great. Who knows, maybe in the future ill come back to the sweet sound of an RB!

If I was you I wouldnt waste money on "doing up" a NA Skyline, keep it stock and use the money saved on parts for the 180.

It will not be cost effective to upgrade the brakes, suspension, motor and all the other bits and peices for the NA, they are too heavy for the small amount of power they make.

Why have a car that looks quick but wouldnt pull the skin of custard, when you use the money to build a wicked quick 180.

If I was you I wouldnt waste money on "doing up" a NA Skyline, keep it stock and use the money saved on parts for the 180.

It will not be cost effective to upgrade the brakes, suspension, motor and all the other bits and peices for the NA, they are too heavy for the small amount of power they make.

Why have a car that looks quick but wouldnt pull the skin of custard, when you use the money to build a wicked quick 180.

Because your on P plates. Fact is it takes time to get everything working right, might as well go about it all while on your p's because you've got nothing else you can do, then when you get your opens your car's ready to handle the extra power of an engine upgrade, if that's what you're after

A NA to Turbo swap? FFS, better to keep NA stock then sell it when you get you blacks, then buy a car that was made to have a turbo, otherwise you will spend a shit tin of money in upgrading everything, and then maybe you will not be able to get it registered.

Remember that to do this and keep it legal the cost and engineering behind it will be a major PITA.

In the end do what you want, if you have money to waste then go for it.

Ok so it looks like most people agree it's a waste of time and money to spend anything on the Skyline so i guess I need to move on from that.

Guess the only way forward is to buy something that handles better and in the case of my skyline being NA, also more powerful.

So for me, a large criterion is also looks. in that case it looks like the 180sx is for me and i can pick up a decent condition one for around the same price as an mx-5

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • Well, after the full circus this week (new gearbag, 14 psi actuator on, injectors and AFM upgraded, and.....turbo repair) the diagnosis on the wastegate is in. It was broken. It was broken in a really strange way. The weld that holds the lever arm onto the wastegate flapper shaft broke. Broke completely, but broke in such a way that it could go back together in the "correct" position, or it could rearrange itself somewhere else along the fracture plane and sit with the flapper not parallel to the lever. So, who knows how and when exactly what happened? No-one will ever know. Was it broken like this the first time it spat the circlip and wedged itself deep into the dump? Or was it only broken when I tried to pry it back into place? (I didn't try that hard, but who knows?). Or did it break first? Or did it break between the first and second event of wierdness? Meh. It doesn't matter now. It is welded back together. And it is now held closed by a 14 psi actuator, so...the car has been tuned with the supporting mods (and the order of operations there is that the supporting mods and dyno needed to be able to be done first before adding boost, because it was pinging on <<14 psi with the new turbo with only a 6 psi actuator). And then tuned up a bit, and with the boost controller turned off throughout that process. So it was only running WG pressure and so only hit about 15-16 psi. The turbo is still ever so slightly lazier than might be preferred - like it is still a bit on the big side for the engine. I haven't tested it on the road properly in any way - just driven it around in traffic for a half hour or so. But it is like chalk and cheese compared to what it was. Between dyno numbers and driving feedback: It makes 100 kW at 3k rpm, which is OK, could be better. That's stock 2JZ territory, or RB20 with G series 550. It actually starts building boost from 2k, which is certainly better than it did recently (with all the WG flapper bullshit). Although it's hard to remember what it was like prior to all that - it certainly seems much, much better. And that makes sense, given the WG was probably starting to blow open at anything above about 3 psi anyway (with the 6 psi actuator). It doesn't really get to "full boost" (say 16 psi) until >>4k rpm. I am hopeful that this is a feature of the lack of boost controller keeping boost pressure off the actuator, because it was turned off for the dyno and off for the drives afterward. There's more to be found here, I'm sure. It made 230 rwkW at not a lot more than 6k and held it to over 7k, so there seems to be plenty of potential to get it up to 250-260rwkW with 18 psi or so, which would be a decent effort, considering the stock sized turbo inlet pipework and AFM, and the return flow cooler. According to Tao, those things should definitely put a bit of a limit on it by that sort of number. I must stress that I have not opened the throttle 100% on the road yet - well, at least not 100% and allowed it to wind all the way up. It'll have to wait until some reasonable opportunity. I'm quite looking forward to that - it feels massively better than it has in a loooong time. It's back to its old self, plus about 20% extra powers over the best it ever did before. I'm going to get the boost controller set up to maximise spool and settle at no more than ~17 psi (for now) and then go back on the dyno to see what we can squeeze out of it. There is other interesting news too. I put together a replacement tube to fit the R35 AFM in the stock location. This is the first time the tuner has worked with one, because anyone else he has tuned for has gone from Z32 territory to aftermarket ECU. No-one has ever wanted to stay Nistuned and do what I've done. Anyway, his feedback is that the R35 AFM is super super super responsive. Tiny little changes in throttle position or load turn up immediately as a cell change on the maps. Way, way more responsive than any of the old skool AFMs. Makes it quite diffifult to tune as you have to stay right on top of that so you don't wander off the cell you wanted to tune. But it certainly seems to help with real world throttle response. That's hard to separate from all the other things that changed, but the "pedal feel" is certainly crisp.
    • I'm a bit confused by this post, so I'll address the bit I understand lol.  Use an air compressor and blow away the guide coat sanding residue. All the better if you have a moisture trap for your compressor. You'd want to do this a few times as you sand the area, you wouldn't for example sand the entire area till you think its perfect and then 'confirm' that is it by blowing away the guide coat residue.  Sand the area, blow away the guide coat residue, inspect the panel, back to sanding... rinse and repeat. 
    • The detail level is about right for the money they charge for the full kit... AU$21.00 each issue, 110 issues for a total of $2,300 (I mentioned $2.2K in the first post when the exchange rate was better). $20/week is doable... 😐
    • If planning on joining us for the day(s) please indicate by filling in this form. https://forms.gle/Ma8Nn4DzYVA8uDHg7
    • You put the driver's seat on the wrong side! Incredible detail on all of this. It looks like you could learn a lot about the car just from assembling the kit.
×
×
  • Create New...