orion84gsl

iTrader: (5)

Well after an attempt to sell my FB as a whole car gave me nothing but two low ball offers I've been mulling over the idea of parting her out. Main reason being after attending the September Sigma Time Attack at Cayuga I fell in love with being out there thrashing my car. However, this chassis needs some serious work before it's ready for more as well as keeping it safe for road use. At this point there are far too many rust issues and maintenance needed to justify fixing them as well as throwing more money into upgrades as I improve on track. All that on top of the fact that the aftermarket for this chassis is severely limited which means many custom (expensive) parts. Things like my front lower control arms which are completely one of a kind can quickly add up to a very high cost/benefit ratio. I have put a lot of money into buying quality parts for this car and the theory is that I can probably make back more by parting it than selling it as a whole for much less than what I want for it. All the proceeds will of course go to getting the replacement ready.

So my head has been churning thinking of a replacement and I've been leaning heavily towards an older Audi A4 Quattro. Mostly because I've been seeing them on kijiji in the area for cheap, they are all wheel drive and have better aftermarket support than an FB. I can't afford an FD otherwise I would go that route. As long as it's got a solid body and doesn't leak from every seal it's a better starting point than what I've got.

I've considered the Miata but want a solid roof and frankly although I know they are great track cars they just don't appeal to me. Also have thought BMW 3 series but finding an inexpensive example that isn't a basketcase looks to be a lost cause and the M3's of any vintage are out of my price range. I'm not being cheap but given that I'm going to gut it and eventually upgrade or replace most of the running gear I don't want to break the bank on the initial purchase.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated. I'm going to be getting into the garage soon to tear my toy down so be on the lookout for a part out thread.

23Racer

Audi's are nice cars and can be quick but are much $$$$ to build reliably for track use and parts are pricey. How about looking at an FC as a track car. They are cheap, you can stay 13b or easy to swap in a (gasp) V8 and they are very well engineered with lots of easy part knowledge and availability. Mine goes very well and would still be street able if it didn't have the cage.

Eric

gio64

iTrader: (1)

For what it's worth, I have sold a 2002 A4 1.8 T Quattro at the beginning of the year.
I can confidently say that I have never owned a worse car in my life. Nice to drive around and fun as well, when it works. And that is the key. The car was a bit high on Kms, however, I have always thought German cars were "better" because of their reliability. The car was a POS. I am not going to list all that went bad and had to be replaced, suffice to say that in the end, I wanted to place a bomb under it and set it off to watch it die. The day the future "lucky" owner was coming to pick it up, it died on my while I was trying to get to my daughter's game. Fuel pump went bye-bye. Lost 400 bucks on the sale.
If you are looking at tracking the car, probably this wouldn't matter to you, but pretty much each and every piece of coated plastic inside had peeled, buttons in particular, changing the symbols on them in to unreadable blotches.
I also don't know if you would enjoy the handling characteristics, the car is nose heavy and I have experienced once "snap understeer". I remember joking with my son about it.

rx7racerca

iTrader: (1)

German cars as a rule suffer poor reliability. Engines may be solidly engineered, and the cars generally fun to drive, but the electronics, fuel, cooling, and other systems tend to be major problem areas after a few years. BMW 3 series tend to be fairly solid cars, but can suffer from cooling system problems common to German cars (a lot of plastic housings, rad tanks, heater cores, pipes, and water pump impellers that start to weaken after a few years), and you have to watch for damaged subframes and rear suspension mounting points on the E36s and E46s - higher horsepower versions or track use are prone to tearing out the suspension mounts.

You will be sorry if you buy an older A4 - take it from someone who has owned two of its platform mates, the VW Passat (Plus the mostly unrelated Jetta GLI). The driving experience was great, but I've never had cars that were so unreliable, or that had so much downtime for repairs and troubleshooting. The 1.8T engines are also known for having sludging issues, in addition to the notorious VW/Audi coil and cooling system failures, although chances are by now, the original coils have been replaced. Turbo failures also seem common.

23Racer

My VR6 Passat was about the nicest driving street appliance I have owned. Was awesome right up to when the warranty ended then a constant stream of odd issues like power window motors going out, front wheel bearings wearing out in 20,000 kms, coil packs (I replaced 4 that's right 4) plastic coolant pipes, drivers door that wouldn't close when it dropped below freezing quickly.

Every6thing big was great, it was just the constant stream of small things that cost huge dollars that finally made me get rid of it, but on the highway at 160 kmh..... I loved it.

Eric

rx7racerca

iTrader: (1)

Yes, my VR6 Passat wagons were great driving cars - I made it to Lethbridge from SE Calgary in an hour and 15 minutes once, and it was not stressful (suffice to say, the average speed on that trip was a bit north of 160). But I'd forgotten the goddamn door latches freezing in the open position when temps dropped quickly - I carried bungy cords all winter to hook the door pulls to the seat sliders, it was so regular. One rear power window never worked, nor did the cruise in the one car, despite having replaced all parts in the system with known good ones - it was like it was fricking possessed. The cooling system problems were endless, and the 4 front drive axles in 160,000kms... and wheel bearings... When I had to remove the dash to replace the heater core, I saw what a god-awful mess the electrical wiring, fuse panel, and general layout were - it looked like a rat's nest, literally. Oh yeah, also replaced the oil pressure sender 2x - leaked through the housing, and in the one case, sent false low-pressure readings, leading to me needlessly replacing the oil pump...

orion84gsl

iTrader: (5)

Yikes. That is not what I want in a car for lapping. I'm still looking around. E36/E46 coupes and sedans seem plentiful and cheap though most are high mileage. From everything I've read the engines in them will mostly keep running until the earth implodes. A nice balanced rear wheel drive is probably my best bet. It's a shame a good 240SX is hard to find for a low price.

As far as cooling systems, that was one of the first things I intend to upgrade once I get whatever it is I'll end up with so certain things aren't a concern. Basically anything that you would want upgraded or refreshed for on track reliability will be addressed before I spend anything to go faster. Might do the smart thing and not spend a dime on the engine. Took me a lot of procrastinating to finally do the rad in the FB. Last thing I want is to cook a high mileage engine.

Any other suggestions? Looking for an FC seems like a good idea since at least I'll be able to use a lot of the parts that are on my FB instead of taking a loss on the sale or worse, not being able to sell the parts at all.

Mazda RX-7 EFINI TYPE

Those E36's (non-M3) have a lot of weak points. But the parts are relatively easy to find. Some of the key upgrades would be subframe re-enforcement plates, trailing arm re-enforcement plates, shock tower re-enforcements plates & upgraded front LCAs.

But I would go for the FC...lol, as I'm sure most of us would...or find a clean FB shell

sctRota

iTrader: (2)

Get an FC, can't go wrong with an FC or look for a e34. As said above, all these cars have weak spots, the best thing would be an FC imo as you can swap so many things in if rotaries are a bit of an issue and put anything from a v8 to some random sr20det lol i unno. I have an FC shell but imo you are better off grabbing a 5 bolt FC which has more wheel setups and junk to play around with

misterstyx69

iTrader: (142)

heh..someone here wanna buy a good FC?

sctRota

iTrader: (2)

Still have my na ported s5 engine sitting around, I guess I never ended up going back to the FC game

Buggy

iTrader: (8)

If you end up looking for an fc or even a clean fb let me know. I know of a clean SA that is looking for a new good home and an FC as well. Also, if you're looking for an awd vehicle to track I would personally suggest a wrx. God I loved mine! Only car I've driven that I would actually consider trading my T2 for. They are strong and only really need a few mods to be fun. I bought mine with the suspension, brakes, exhaust, and tuned already for cheap and it was a machine!

tommyeflight89

iTrader: (4)

I am from London and am back there frequently.

Not much advice on the Audi, but I can say that I would be very interested in buying up some FB parts!!!

Edit, I found your old F/S thread.. tons of awesome parts.