
Past that you’ll also want to consider how you will drive the car. If the car you’re starting with has a great suspension and braking system, often you can get away with lowering springs instead of coilovers, which can be a cheap way to make your car handle a bit better and look great, while also keeping the authorities happier, and your modified car insurance premium lower. So, each horsepower you add isn’t going to give you the same feeling on the butt dyno - especially for 0-60 times.įinally, consider what the suspension set up is like. Heavier cars are harder to improve overall because they have a ton of extra weight to lug around.
JDM UNDER 10K INSTALL
Yeah, a car without a ton of horsepower isn’t as fun, but if you can install a turbo, intake, exhaust, and get it tuned, it might be easy to add an extra 100 to 200 horsepower, even if you’re on a budget.įrom there, take a look at the weight. Take a look at the base of each car and how easy they are to modify. Do you want it to be easy to work on? Heavy or light? Old or new? Answering these questions will help you to narrow down your list of options. Things to Look For in a Tuner Carīefore you start your search for the right car, make sure to give some thought to what you want out of it. If you’re serious about getting a car to work on, reading through this list is where you start. To make your search easier, we’ve arranged the best options in every budget. Not sure where to begin? We’ve got your back with this fantastic list of tuner cars. You need to find something that fits your budget, has the right performance potential, and tons of aftermarket support. It requires a lot more work and research than just heading out to the sales lot and finding any ol’ car that looks aggressive. The challenge is finding the right car to turn into your masterpiece.
JDM UNDER 10K UPGRADE
But they don’t have to be! You can take an otherwise boring car, make some nice cosmetic mods, upgrade the heck out of it, and BAM - you have something that is a street weapon. A custom exhaust and ECU tune can add substantial kW to your car for reasonable money, and the list of modifications available locally is endless.Stock cars are boring.
JDM UNDER 10K MANUAL
Paint fade and brittle interior plastics are common problems, along with bulging roof linings, but if you are patient I would opt for an original, low-kilometre car that you can modify if you desire.Ĭars sitting under $10K generally show substantial wear and are in need of some TLC, and BFs equipped with the ZF six-speed auto or optional six-speed manual command a premium over the BA. The BA is now 18 years old, so many cars are showing signs of neglect and wear. The forced 4.0-litre Barra has become the motor of choice for many people seeking a powerful drivetrain that can easily provide more grunt.Ī BA-BF XR6T will set you back around $8-15K, and prices seem to have climbed over the past year with fewer cars available on the market. Introduced in 2002, the turbo Falcon has cemented its reputation as a performance icon in Australia. The choice between NA/NB comes heavily down to styling, and whether you want an airbag and some more safety features instead of pop-up headlights.Īs a long-term XR6 Turbo owner, I could not go past this iconic model. But an excellent chassis with a playful nature makes up for its lack of straight-line acceleration, and its Japanese engineering makes it superior to the old British sports cars it was inspired by.įind yourself a first- or second-generation (NA or NB respectively) MX-5 in good shape with no rust or modifications if you can.

Kilowatts? Ditto Mazda’s 1.6-litre four wasn’t exactly a powerhouse with its 85kW.

Power steering? Don’t need it the thing weighs 970kg. The MX-5 remains a reference point for what a good, simple sports car should be.

And it built a lot of them because they were very good. While prices are on the up, Mazda built an awful lot of the things, so they’re not exactly rare. Owning a Mazda NA MX-5 seems to be a rite of passage for motoring writers, but fear not – you could easily find one that hasn’t been owned by such folks, and for much less than $15K. Someone had to pick it, so it might as well be the guy who actually bought one.
