It's time for me to start driving

[evilmegamonkey]

and I need a car.

Preferably Front-Engine Rear-Wheel drive.

How hard is it to find a 180sx on the East Coast of North America?

Is there a website where I can find tracks near me?

How much would insurance be for a 180sx?

Last but not least, how much are modifications for a 180sx?

[boganbusman]

No offence, but if you need to ask all of those questions, then you should be buying a front wheel drive car.

[steelsnake00]

and I need a car.

FWD. Cheap. Something you can crash, survive and learn from.

[PSZeTa]

To sum it all up: Do you want to die young?

Yes - RWD, modifications, track racing
No - FWD

[evilmegamonkey]

I plan to die young.

Can some one just answer the questions please?

[Zero260]

I dunno about the east coast, but over here on the west coast S13s are pretty common. The problem is finding one that's mechanically sound, stock, no cracks in the dash, etc. It's just hard to find a solid S13 to build off of.

To find tracks near you try using the "Find businesses" feature on http://maps.google.com. Type something like "raceway", "speedway", or "motorsports park" in the first field, and then your city in the second field. Check out the track's website and you can usually find if they have open track days where you can drive the track. There's usually a fee (maybe $50-$100) and you'd have to rent safety gear if you don't have some.

Check out aftermarket part websites for modification prices. http://www.modacar.com should give you a good idea. Use Google to find other sites.

You should find a forum on S13s and just start reading through topics. You'd learn a lot more that way.

[evilmegamonkey]

I cant find any site that has the 180sx specifically.

There's alot of the 200sx

[RedCarDriver]

180SX eh? I assume you're sort of referring to the North American 240SX as you are in the US... if you search for "180SXes in North America" you will probably get fewer useful results than "240sx in North America" or whatever...

Anyways, for a first car, yeah, a S13 sounds like a good choice. Heck, if you had more money than that, I'd spring for a 3rd gen Supra or FC RX-7 or something, but an S13 sounds good too.

Also, if you want to modify it, remember that the North American S-Series cars don't have SR-series engines available, thus giving them less potential or whatever (I guess... I don't know much about this).

[Zero260]

Lol, I figured you meant a 200SX... Because 180SXs were only sold in Japan. 200SXs have the same platform though.

Just research it instead of asking us. Use Wiki and Google.

[Danyutz]

http://www.nissansilvia.com

[steelsnake00]

How hard is it to find a 180sx on the East Coast of North America?

As the 180SX is an import I've really got no idea. Someone is welcome to correct me if I'm wrong but I believe the 240SX was the only model of S13 released in the 'states. That's a 2.4l I4 without a turbo, but still RWD. Imported 180SX use the CA18DET engine which is less reliable than the later SR20DET, which was featured in the 200SX and Pulsar GTi-R. Additionally, the CA18 and SR20 swaps are quite common.

If you want to know about S13's Grez is the person to ask, I don't know much about the S13.

Is there a website where I can find tracks near me?

There certainly are in the UK. Though I suggest that google would be your friend for finding tracks in your local area. That or just looking on a map.

How much would insurance be for a 180sx?

For an import, if UK import markets and insurance pricing are anything to go buy, for a new driver a fair bit more than a US-market car. This is mainly due to the fact that parts for imports are much more difficult to obtain than those for domestic market cars.

Last but not least, how much are modifications for a 180sx?

Depends what you want to do. Pricves can range, anything from a few £/$ for a set of polyurethane suspension bushes to tens of thousands for race specce'd engines. With the SR20, the most common mods include remapping the ECU, running a larger downpipe and exhaust, upgrading the air filter or fitting a cone filter, replacing the T25 turbo with a T28 from a V-spec car (combined with larger injectors and an uprated fuel pump), boost controllers, suspension upgrades (ranging from lowering springs to full remote resevoir damper coilovers), uprated brake pads.

If you've got money to modify, the world's your oyster.

Anyways, for a first car, yeah, a S13 sounds like a good choice. Heck, if you had more money than that, I'd spring for a 3rd gen Supra or FC RX-7 or something, but an S13 sounds good too.

As a first car? That's absurd. You only really start to learn how to drive properly AFTER you pass your test. Trusting someone with no real driving experience with a high performance car is utter suicide. It's best to learn your limits in something slow and predictable which won't kill you if you bin it.

High performance cars are only really suited to drivers with experience who have found their limits and who can afford to pick up the pieces if anything goes wrong. None of the above points is usually applicable to a young learner.

[donaldgladden]

Its rare to find a 240sx with the "strawberry nose" but the more blocky versions are meduim rare. the newer 240sx's are almost the same and go for about 2500-6000.

[evilmegamonkey]

The 180sx is the North American equivilant of the 240sx? Are you serious?

I read that they were completely different cars.

Some one verify this?

And $2500 is VERY reasonable.

[steelsnake00]

The 180sx is the North American equivilant of the 240sx? Are you serious?

No, the 180sx and 200sx are the rest-of-the-world S13 coupé. The US only got the naturally aspirited 240sx besides imports, whereas the rest of the world (besides Canada) got the turbocharged 4-pot.

[evilmegamonkey]

Facepalm

I just dont get why I never liked the 240, but as soon as I saw the 180 I fell in love.

This is basically what I want

http://videos.streetfire.net/video/240s ... 155732.htm


And yes, I know that's alot of money for mods, I dont plan on having it finished in like a week after getting it.

[Zero260]

Are you kidding? They almost look exactly alike.

And that car you see in that video would scare the living f*ck out of you. Don't expect to get your car going that fast for at least a couple years. Even pushing a stock 240sx will scare you for a while until you're used to it.

Just curious, do you even have your license yet?

[xHaZxMaTx]

Don't think you're going to have a supercar for a first car. I'll give you 3 minutes before you kill yourself.

[Striker94]

@hazmat-may i ask what was your first car?

And if could get any car as your first, what would you get?

[boganbusman]

@hazmat-may i ask what was your first car?

Don't ask . . . he might hurt you. Or me.



*runs*

[Koenigsegg_Rox]

It's a touchy subject...

[steelsnake00]

@hazmat-may i ask what was your first car?

And if could get any car as your first, what would you get?

Mine was a Mk4 VW Polo 16v. It's a good example of a first car because it was cheap, it wouldn't have mattered had I crashed it into something, it was relatively safe being FWD and quite well built, and it had enough power to make it fun without being dangerous. Eventually, after a year or so's experience I started modifying it, then shortly before turning 19 sold it and bought a Golf GTi 16v.

That's the kind of thing you want in a first car. Once you pass you're test your instant reaction for a few months, or until you have a crash/major scare, which ever comes first, is to rag the living shiznit out of it, because it's a thrill.

Do that in a RWD car and it will turn round and bite your in the bumbum. For first cars, FWD with decent handling and not too much power, certainly nothing more than about 140bhp, is always the way forward, unless you want to buy something big and heavy like and old BMW 3-series. My old best mate had a 318iS and it was heavy enough to feel safe and tail happy enough to make sure that you didn't boot it everywhere.

That was, until a recycling truck drove into the door in London and wrote it off.



First car = not too fast, safe, FWD, predictable handing
Second car = quicker, possibly RWD, still predictable handling (1-2 years after first)
Third car onwards = whatever you want (2-5 years after second car)

By the way, I've been driving for nearly 10 years now. You would do well to heed my advice

[xHaZxMaTx]

@hazmat-may i ask what was your first car?

1992 Mitsubishi Eclipse GS (I think it's a GS; it may just be the base Eclipse...). FWD, 92 HP. ...I'd be hard pressed to even make the tires chirp off the line.

And if could get any car as your first, what would you get?

1st Gen. Mazda Miata. Yes, it's RWD, but I haven't killed myself in my dad's car, yet.

[chimpzrl]

My first car was--well it still is, really--a 200hp RWD/4WD SUV. I crashed it only once in more than two years and it is still going at 247,000 mi.

[TheStig]

Hmmm makes you wonder eh?
Being ignorant, thinking I know everything better then everybody else in the world, being better then everyone else and being able to take on the entire world...

Don't you wish you could be 16 again.

[PSZeTa]

My first car was--well it still is, really--a 200hp RWD/4WD SUV. I crashed it only once in more than two years and it is still going at 247,000 mi.

A 200hp 4WD SUV is ofcourse, remarkably similar to a 200+hp RWD car that is fairly lightweight.

No.