Cheap drag car ideas!

[sweep]

Having been to the Pod at the weekend on a RWYB day, I'm hooked.

I'm now scouring the classifieds for something RWD, cheap and that could have a bit of potential with some work..

Any ideas? XJ? LS400? Autos I know, but with everything ripped out and packing 280bhp, the LS can't be a bad idea?

[micrat]

I had this exact convo with my housemate the other day...

I used to have an old Jaaaaag...






Literally stripped and ragged about as a running joke...3.2 auto...only ran 17s haha!

My current train of thought on a cheap drag car would be...

Lexus, as mentioned...

One of the higher powered versions of a jeep cherokee, stripped out as much as pos, maybe with the 4wd gubbins removed to save weight, and some less off roady tyres... (got beefy drivetrain and a big 6 or v8 already etc)



A nice supra...



Obviously if you get into the world of engine swaps etc its a different story altogether!

That said..power isn't everything, my old civic with about 110bhp ran rings around a lot of bigger machinery, gained more in weight loss and suspension than I ever did with power mods! managed to get to 15.7 1/4 which for the power was more than impressive!

[zippyobrien]

Less is more here.

Light as poss, you want it to have a strong gear box ( rules a lot of French curse word out)

Corsa red top, or sabb turbo lump. Jack the back up. Some sticky front tires.
A friend of mine has a nova red top , pretty std engine with a big shot of gas running 12s.

[mrvincent]

Take on Smart car (With blown up engine...) Add 4 cyc Bike Engine (GSXR CBR Etc...) and Game On for about £1000 !!!

[Deleted]

I know it was done by 'those' people but this was fast and under £1k iirc..



Lightweight bike-engined cars are a good shout too

[qwerty]

E36 Compact. M50 2.5. Big turbo.

[spandelly]

Lexus soarer stripped to the bare bones. Either the 2.5 or the v8 can be found pretty cheap and will be lighter than the 400.

[sweep]

Some very interesting ideas so far! I'd like to avoid auto if possible, but it's going to be a case of whatever the hell I can find I think!

I'm budgeting around £1500 including any modifications, less would be better as I really wouldn't care if it broke

A friend asked why it needs to be RWD, and the only reason I can come up with is so that I can do rolling burnouts when it's not at the strip

[stefan]

This was mine for the UK power tour this year


30L 24v v6 auto partly stripped out and a big shot of gas sold it last Saturday

Now looking for my 2015 power tour car, may go diesel this time but if I run out of time I will put the NOS on my new to me Jeep XJ 4.0L

[sweep]

I had thought diseasel too, maybe a W124 300TD? They seem to be tuneable.

[smurf]

What about a tuk tuk with a 1100cc bike engine stuck up its jacksie?

[Dez]

various people are pulling strong figures out of small, FWD VAG diesels at the mo. theres vids going round of an obviously fairly budget arosa with a 1.9 pulling 10s at the pod.

but if you wanna see real crazy times with diesels, look to cyprus. people over theres are getting single figure times out of ford and vauxhall 4 cyl diesels...

[stefan]

Try looking on here for merc 300td tuning www.superturbodiesel.com some people are getting big power from to om606 3.0l in line six diesel

[mylittletony]

Volvo 940 turbo?

pretty easy & cheap upgrades to 250-300bhp, RWD, relatively light (compared to lexus/jag - 1400kg stock) strong (solid) axle, well documented upgrades up to 500bhp+

or fit the same engine to a 340/360 for lighter weight.

[stevecrx]

I got a 15.1 in a Honda Prelude 2.2 VTEC Manual with no interior. I'm sure there was more to come, and with your budget Nitrous or a cheapy turbo conversion are both possibilities.

[EmDee]

£1500 you say?

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/191342779426

^These are perfect for it but make sure it's a V8 and not a 3800 V6 (although they're actually fairly good too with some forced induction - 'member the Regal GNX?).

[sweep]

Sept 30, 2014 9:40:12 GMT mylittletony said:

Volvo 940 turbo?

pretty easy & cheap upgrades to 250-300bhp, RWD, relatively light (compared to lexus/jag - 1400kg stock) strong (solid) axle, well documented upgrades up to 500bhp+

or fit the same engine to a 340/360 for lighter weight.

I was actually looking at 940s for a project anyway, that certainly might be the way to go!

[VIP]

Sept 30, 2014 11:57:52 GMT EmDee said:

£1500 you say?

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/191342779426

^These are perfect for it but make sure it's a V8 and not a 3800 V6 (although they're actually fairly good too with some forced induction - 'member the Regal GNX?).

80's Yanks are so strangled you could probably run down the strip faster.

[EmDee]

Sept 30, 2014 14:25:54 GMT VIP said:

80's Yanks are so strangled you could probably run down the strip faster.

Ha! Truesay, but on the other hand it's a V8 for £1500

Step 1: remove smog shiz
Step 2: buy huge charger
Step 3: win at life

[sharkattack]

BMW. Just pick one and get cracking. Dirt cheap and plentiful with infinite tuning potential. You can build them to handle as well so it's more versatile than a pure drag car.

Yeah can can get quick FWD cars and diesels but then you're already failing on some level.