I think I finally settled on my next car!

[MusPuppis]

Ive been wracking my brain for a couple months now trying to decide what to buy in to once the SHO is sold and my next FA chunk floats in around February. After much consideration and an attempt at a realistic and reasonable budget I narrowed it down to either a 325i, Miata, Z or 1st Gen DSM. Once I settled on that list it was time to trim the fat and settle on a single car.. Budget is around 3-3.5k (hopefully, ha)

 

First, '93 325i (93 was the year they changed the styling from cool to stupid sexy). Best of the bunch honestly. Not the fastest, if I were to get one it would receive very minimal engine work, I'd tinker with the suspension and such and it would just end up a DD/Autoxer. Eventually it was knocked out of the running though due to cost. I found a few here and there in my budget but it was really too big a stretch. Finding one I could afford meant it was a little more 'used' than I cared for, or had a buttload of mileage on it. Repair and maintenance isnt all that cheap either. It hurt, but I crossed it off.

 

Second, 1st gen Miata. Nice from a couple angles. Its RWD, its small, its quick (relatively speaking), HUGE aftermarket, lots of potential. Best part? Cheap! I could get one around 1.7k, and have 1.3-1.8-ish to dump back in to it. Would be modding for speed at first (I cant really stomach selling the SHO for something noticeably slower..) then suspension/chasis work. Would be all around, little drag, little auto-x, lots fun. It got crossed out in the end though. I dont really want to buy a car and have to spend a month with the engine half torn apart while I try and work a turbo or the like into the mix. Its also really, really small. I like little, but I have a 200pd dog I cart around with me as often as possible and he needs some form of back seat.. He simply wont fit in the front seat. No way, no how. I'm also not a huge fan of the 1st gen styling. Now, the second gen (by the way, if Im misquoting the gen crap here, give me some margin for error, not well versed in Miata lore) are just sexy and if I could afford one, it would likely have won out based on looks alone. Oh, I'm also a big guy. Not tall, only 5 11 but Im stout and dont fit overly well in small cars, lol.

 

Third came the Z. Any Z, lol. God I hated to knock it off the list. I'm not even gonna list its attributes, were on a Z site full of Z lovers, I think we know what it has going for it. It got knocked off though for a couple reasons.. I dont want something old right now. Old cars have lots of problem. Old cars have RUST and I dont want to 'restore' my DD. I just dont. Also, I'm just not a fan of modding the L series NA and I dont want to do a damn motor swap as soon as I get the car. Amazing car, I want to drive one again so badly but for a running project, go faster/DD its just not practical.

 

All this lead me to the 1st gen DSM. Here we have speed out of the box. High 14 sec 1/4 mile with little more than turning the boost up and performing a couple of free mods (hacking the air box up, stuff like that). Here we have HUGE potential for more speed. Honestly, these little buggers see the 13's without that much work. Here we have a stout motor that can take an ass-kicking. Here we have a car I can buy in to well in my budget and still have money left over for the first string of 'mods' I intend to perform. It has a back-seat, pitiful but its there and Jeff can likely manage to fit. AWD makes me happy. Boost makes me happy. I really dont dislike the styling. They arent costly to work on really and when (I say when, not if) I blow the motor up, more are to be had, lol. Of course, they have their downsides to. They tend to be abused and buying one without lots of gremlins can be a task. The first gens DO NOT have crank walk issues, but the ONLY year I'll buy will be a 92. No crank walk in the 6 bolt motors and the '92 was the only year (atleast in the 1st gens, dunno bout the 2nd) that came with the 4 bolt LSD rear end. This limits my choices and makes finding one tough, but I'm patient. Well, thats a lie, I'm not. So Im giving all my money to a friend to hold for me.. lol.

 

I have a decent amount of experience with these cars as well and know my way around them, as well as a number of their quirks and common problems.

 

First mods.. Ha. Well, ideally, in a perfect world I would have 3.5k to spend. Buy in around 2.5k and have a grand to put in to the car. First thing I intend to do is pull the motor. lol. Yeah.. Pull it right the fork out. Do a thorough check and mainenance.. Timing belt, water pump, blah blah etc. Do everything I can to put it in tip-top running condition. Then clean the living crap out of everything.. Do to it what I did to the Festiva's motor. Some minor painting and touch-up stuff. Likely color match the valve cover and a couple other tidbits.

 

Next would be to rip the engine bay itself down. Strip it, clean it, scuff it, then spray it black. As a matter of fact, spray it black pearl! ha. Well, if the car itself is already black I'll just clean the bay up real well.. Eventually the car will be getting a re-paint unless I somehow luck in to buying a black DSM in excellent shape, which I doubt.

 

Put it all back together and start to delve into whatever is left of my budget. First go-fast junk will be good tires, Apexi N1 turbo-back exhuast, manual boost controller, real boost gauge (not a go fast mod really, but required IMO). K&N.. Blah. The usual stuff. Eventually I'd like to work out a big 16g, FMIC, short shifter and pretty much call it a day from the engine front.

 

Body mods.. Like I said, paint it black. Probably black pearl. Maybe maybe some constructive shaving. Very minor. Color match the side pillars on the roof. if you've seen DSM's you know what I'm talking about. Normally their trim black, that kind of satin color. I think the cars looks better with those painted to match the rest of the car. Oh and some stickers, a HUGe wing. Actually three huge wings bolted together and a body kit thats as gross and wretched as I can manage.

 

Suspension work would be minor. Slightly sportier springs to tighten it some and drop it a tad but really not a whole lot on the handling front.

 

I'd love to get the car in to the low 13's but I really dont have much desire to move past that.

 

I just wish the SHO was worth modding but I just cant stomach putting the money in to it. 182k miles on the odo. FWD, very nice motor but expensive to mod and the cost to get it into the mid to low 13's is HUGE compared to the DSM.

 

Blah. Sorry for the long rant. I dont think this serves any reasonable purpose.. but its here none the less. *shrug*