focalevo

What are some thoughts of the import scene. There have been a lot of heavy domestic hitters introduced here of late(neon SRT4,Focus SVT), just was wondering what you guys think of them.
I was thinking of maybe getting a new rice rocket to play around with, if anyone has something that they have been really happy with, post and let me know your thoughts.
I'm not too much of a Honda fan, simply because there are soo many of them, but opinions of anything are welcome.

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DerBlitzkrieger

all rice is bad.

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focalevo

NOTICE: Not to be a rice vs detroit muscle

(good idea for a thread though)

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Tech

the SVT Focus is *okay* but it's not a real contender in my opinion, it's just a sporty little compact.

the SRT-4 is a bad-ass mother f*cker at an unbeatable price.
running mid-high 13's stock is just insane. you will not find much if anything on the import scene that will beat that without considerably more money being spent.

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iwishiwascool

Just found it.

A first gen AWD DSM (eclipse, talon, laser) can be had for 3000 or less with an Boost Controller and exhaust it can be in the 12s.

All that in an import....and its not a freakin FWD Neon.

strife

I've heard good things about the Tiberon, and it had some of its styling done by some people at Ferrari.

And I love the wrx. Go for one of those if you have the cash.

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strife

DerBlitzkrieger

yeah, theres nothing quite like being upside down on your loan the second you drive the car off the lot...

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bahula04

what's your budget?

Tech

sorry, i should have said *new* car... you could also go get yourself a TT Supra, if you can find one, for less than a SRT-4 (~$20,000) and that would beat an SRT-4 too.

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-Tim-

~I swear sometimes i feel like i'm married to a child.
~You better watch who you're calling a child, Lois, cause if i'm a child than you know what that makes you? a pedophile. and i'll be damned if i'm going to stand here and be lectured by a pervert.

89transam

Yea any old v8 with boost will blow away a new 14.2 Neon for less money, but thats comparing apples and oranges

roger that

Doesnt run mid or even 13s, just 14s from what all I've seen.

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ducati999

You cannot beat the Srt4 for the money, if you are looking at new cars....I just watched a review of it today and all the guy had was praise for the car, well who wouldnt for a car that goes 0-60 in 5.9sec that only costs 20,000? With a change of the turbo, intercooler, boost controller you could make that thing scream, only problem it is a FWD car, so handling is limited..... the first gen dsm's are a good choice for an older cheaper car, but its gonna take more than a boost controller and exhaust to run 12's, probably a turbo change, intercooler, intake, exhaust and boost controller and then i could see 12's, those things are pretty insane....Supra's in my opnion are overpriced, and not worth it.....but I always just say buy an American V8, you can't beat the cost for the performance.....you just can't

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iwishiwascool

My roomate did 12.7 on the mods I listed + exhaust

Another DSMr ran 12.03 with the same + intake.

I have a 2g so I am in a different boat but 12s arent that hard for me either.

shakran

"I'm not too much of a Honda fan, simply because there are soo many of them, but opinions of anything are welcome."

Are you looking to be ultra-unique or do you want something that works? The reason there are so many hondas out there is because they're good, solid, cheap fun. Personally, when I'm shopping for something like a sport compact car, i'm not looking to be the only one on the planet with something, I'm looking for the most fun per dollar I can find and still have a reliable car. That's why I picked Honda. Of course, I picked an OLDER Honda and saved a lot of money too. New hondas, except the S2000, are crap.

if I were buying new, I'd be waiting a bit and picking up the EVO. Otherwise, I'd get the WRX Sti, but then i see a LOT of WRXs on the road lately so that's not unique either.


If you want unique, maybe you should try Orange County Choppers

Tech

yeah, sorry, i jumped it a little


but here is a list of the fastest times being run in SRT-4s and their mods. give you an idea of what these things can do!

http://www.srtforums.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1748

__________________
-Tim-

~I swear sometimes i feel like i'm married to a child.
~You better watch who you're calling a child, Lois, cause if i'm a child than you know what that makes you? a pedophile. and i'll be damned if i'm going to stand here and be lectured by a pervert.

stark6

my $0.02, be VERY carfull with a bost controller, the tendancy is to turn them up to high without proper support( bigger fuel pump, injecters, rails; and new managment (reflashed ecu, AFC, something like that) ). If there is not enough fuel the motor will run lean and you will destroy it. Also, if its a manual boost controller they tend to start to leak after a while, and that can lead to boost spikes.

If you manage to keep your motor together then you run into several other challenges. The turbo is not designed to run at those higher boost levels, so it will be out of its efficency range ( not really a problem, but it will make the air it compresses hotter, meanig you will either need a bigger intercooler, or you will begin to knock). After that you run into the problem that to meet emissions a lot of the cars have a cat in the uppipe before the turbo. These cat's are designed to run at a specific temprature, so if you do something that pumps up the EGT's then you run the risk of melting the cat and sucking parts of it into the turbine (which leads to one of the best first motor mods on these cars, a high flow uppipe ( no cat sometimes means illigal, but ohh well ) ).

Don't let this scare you away from the new turbo sport sedans, they are amazing cars, just don't get swept away by the fuss everyone is making about these cars. Most people don't realize that these cars are actually quite fast out of the box. Try learning how to drive one (no, not just in a straight line) check out autocross.com and go race it some, it will be a real eye-opener when you get your ass handed to you by an old VW rabbit. Take a driving school, I'd bet the instructor can beat you by > 5 seconds 60 second course. There is a ton to learn about car controll.

To recap:
1. by turbo sport sedan
2. learn to drive it ( SCCA, autocross, track days)
3. make it faster :
a. tires
b. struts
c. uppipe
d. get on a fourm and look around!

morlock

ITS A FRIGGIN 4 BANGER!!!!

Spyder_Venom

and its a friggin neon!

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89transam

Who cares about how many cylinders it has? Power is power.

But to get back on topic. I would say that truthfully I think it is worse when I see domestic rice.

How many of us have seen ,either first hand or pictures of, a riced out mustang? Makes me cringe.

And I would definatly say that a DSM , or any import for that matter, out of the box is not rice. The new neons are not rice.

Heres an emample.

Rice




Not rice

stark6

these are comming to the states also!!

http://www.lotuscars.com/press_release.html

iwishiwascool

Yeah bud thanks for the info, but Im a moderator of a 2000 member DSM site, Member to 2 national boards. I have extensive experience with turbocharged DSMs.
I do have these ground breaking supporting mods you speak of minus the superfluous mentioned ones. I was stating that it is very possible to reach the 12 second goal without them.

The stock 1g DSM turbo is efficient up to 19-20 psi. A knock logger and EGT, perhaps an O2 meter, are all you need to tune a DSM which can easily be done with an SAFC. Once again, not needed…..

The combination of a stock 14b turbo + stock 450 injectors + stock SMIC + rewired stock fuel pump with the addition of an MBC set at 19psi sets an almost perfect fuel map for a 12 second pass.

Any questions?

stark6

With the newer cars that focalevo is looking at the motors are much more ficlke and need a lot more work than the old DSM's (which you can just about do anything too ).

thadon

I like the old Chrystler Conquest and Mitsubishi Starion ... they were made before the Eclipse and Talons

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...&category=6181

But think about this ... a BMW 325IS from 1984 to 1991 is an inexpensive car w/ plenty of aftermarket parts, so for about $10k you can have a car that will whip M3 butt on the track ... I'm not talking about the brand new 330hp M3 though

MSD

That Conquest looks a bit stubby for my taste. I'm going to say that an old DSM car is a good choice. Go for a 4wd.

iwishiwascool

yes awd is a must.

phyzix525

Yeah those new EVOs are hot, but pricey. The nice thing about Mitsubishi is that in a year they will be half as much. I would buy a used WRX.

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EleqTrizi'T

Personally, I'd get a Nissan 350Z. I saw the twin-turbo kit Garret was preparing at SEMA. I had to change my pants. A barebones 350Z can be had for 22k.

iwishiwascool

you are speaking not of the current Z i assume.... That thing is a tank. The older TT setups are very nice and receptive to mods.

Twin 16Gs with a 100 shot to get ya off the line..... what else could you want.