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New Here -- And 'ring Weapon Of Choice


FourBanger
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Hey guys, new member here,



hopefully I will be studying abroad this fall and next spring at the Goethe Institut Frankfurt — only about an hour away from the fabled Nürburgring Nordschleife.



The plan is to choose a Euro-market-only (by that, I mean a car never released in the ‘States) car to daily drive while living at Frankfurt and to also use on the ‘Ring during weekends. Ultimately, the plan is to bring said car back to my native Chicago.



I want something sporty, light, relatively reliable, affordable to maintain, manual, economical, on the small side — and most importantly of all, hopefully not another BMW. I am looking into Ford Sierra Cosworths RSes, and was curious as to their reliability.



My maximum price range is roughly 7,000€, so no Lancia Delta Integrale Evos!


Think outside the box — hopefully this can be fun for you all to play with the idea if you were doing this dream trip yourselves!



Vielen Dank!


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Well you can have something cheap and fast, fast and reliable , and releable and cheap - but you will find it very hard to find something cheap, fast AND reliable!

A Sieirra or Escort Cosworth is fast - but very expensive to buy and to run - you will pay a lot of money for a good one the Sierra only wieghs 1200kgs and can be fettled up to 400Bhp and 400ft-lbs

I don't know what is sold in the states or not, the STs and RSs (eg - st225s) are rebadged as SVTs but are basically the same

It may cost a lot to import/ sip the car - it would be worth finding out how much 1st to budget for it

There must be a car cars/ that are rare and valuable in th US but realatively cheap in the UK/ Europe - i can't think which off the top of mu head

Does it have to be RHD/ LHD?

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Here are some ideas -


BMW M3 or M5 - older ones are withing your budget - a bit obvious but at least people will have heard of them when you get back to the 'States - There is a diesel 330D that can be madeas quick as an M3 with just a remap


Scooby Impretza turbo - again bit obvious but can be made VERY quick (400-600Hp in light car) with relative low cost - older ones are within you budget - the Mitsubusi EVO tends to be a bit more expensive but again, older ones may be within you budget


A lotus Espirit turbo is a good car to take round the "ring some are within your budget - a cheaper alternative to a Ferrari - some 70s/ 80s Ferarris may be withing your budget but of course you would need to grow the "magnum" mostashe if you got one of these!


You could get a Masarati biturbo - interesting car - slated in many quarters


The rear engined Porsches (911/ + derivatives) tend to hold their value - but some front -engined 944 or 928 are within budget - the 928 is a fast car (180+ mph)


Since this is a Ford forum i must mention the Mondeo mk3 ST220, not as fast as some of the cars mentioned and realatively difficult expensive to tune, but a grast handling car and will reach 150mph with a long enough bit of road, very good value and a lot of car for the money


The Focus ST225 can be made very quick with very little outlay, a remap alone brings it to 270Hp 400+Nm, and with a bit more work, 350Hp is withing reach without breaking the bank - this would be a serious alternative to an EVO or impretza turbo


If you know where to look there are quick cars that can be picked up for "peanuts" - big, thirsty cars are not that popular as seconhand buys, with the price of petrol over here


There was a car called the Lotus Carlton that was the fastest production saloon at the time (early 90s) a rare classic now, but they could be picked up surprisingly cheaply


There are some quirky cars that could be cheap to pick up over here that would be very rare in the States, There is a car called a Rover 827 Vitesse - although "on paper" it had a sluggish 7.4sec to 60 and a low 140Mph top speed, it can be hustled round a track surprisingly quickly, one held the saloon car lap record round the TT course for many years (record breaking 100mph lap- Tony Pond - 150mph+ inches from stone walls on some parts!) i can tell you at high speed the handling is much better than a Sierra or Escort - having owned one - the 2.7L v6 had a type of variable inlet geometery developed on F!cars, - so it had a very - wide/ lat power/ torque curve the engine was made by Honda and the NSX supercar engine was based on it


PS - if you are going to take a Fast 90s car "flat out" round the 'ring (or even the ST220) fit some bigger brakes 1st!

Of course these speeds would only be on the track - + the 'ring can be a dangerous place so be careful!

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I don't need it to be fast. As you said, "the 'ring can be a dangerous place so be careful!"

Cheap and reliable are the main goals!

OK, thanks for the info on the Sierra Cossie. Shame, really. I do adore that quintessentially 80s styling and the car's rarity in the 'States. Others have echoed that running costs are absurdly high though.

I also must note that some people are telling me to get a car to run on the ring separate from the one I take home. That way, I can have a newer car to daily and track while in Germany and then have a 25-year-old or older car (that is then excluded from our [stupid] emissions and safety standards) to bring home.

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At the moment these are my current top choices:

- E36 M3
- Peugot 306 GTI
- Volkswagen Corrado VR6
- Renault Clio
- Ford Mondeo ST220

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At the moment these are my current top choices:

- E36 M3

-Peugot 306 GTI

- Volkswagen Corrado VR6

- Renault Clio

- Ford Mondeo ST220

I would personally avoid the Peugeot and the Renault (Rubbish electrics - interior trim falls apart etc- "tinny")

The VR6 is an interesting choice - remember its just a Golf (Rabbit?/ Jetta) underneath and its not really very quick - it can be quite hard to find a good one

And everyone has an M3 - so that just leaves the ST220! :lol:

Though i did see this -

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/E36-BMW-M3-3-2-Evo-Road-Track-Car-FSH-Mot-Tax-/321176490860#ht_1757wt_1141

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I would personally avoid the Peugeot and the Renault (Rubbish electrics - interior trim falls apart etc- "tinny")

The VR6 is an interesting choice - remember its just a Golf (Rabbit?/ Jetta) underneath and its not really very quick - it can be quite hard to find a good one

And everyone has an M3 - so that just leaves the ST220! :lol:

Though i did see this -

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/E36-BMW-M3-3-2-Evo-Road-Track-Car-FSH-Mot-Tax-/321176490860#ht_1757wt_1141

Rubbish electrics, hmm? That is a concern.

As for the interior, however, I don't like luxury actually, especially when it weighs the car down! So the tinny feel wouldn't bother me. After all, I'd only own the car for less than a year anyway.

Keep in mind the Corrado was never released here in these here 'States, and you always want what you can't have! Sexy styling too!

The issue about M3s is that they're so !Removed! expensive! (In Germany, anyway) They seem quite reasonably priced in the UK though.

ST220 is a good choice. Seems exceedingly reliable and well-equipped. If I don't like the French hot hatches I find, I will very likely get myself a sporty Mondeo. Worry not!

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