Prelude, Celica and the like

[dkmech]

I am jumping ahead a bit, but in a year and a half i'll be over 25, hopefully with a job and a 3 years no claims.

To celebrate that fact i was thinking of getting something like a honda prelude/toyota celica for 3-4k. These seem to be availeable with fairly small mileage(35-70k) aged 7-10 years. I looked at insurance and it appears to be about what i am paying for a 1.1 106 now for TPFT.

I was also considering Nissan 200sx(rear wheel drive - so not that good here as it rains all the time), an Impreza (probably cost too much, high mileage, thrashed to death, thief magnets, but a lot more practical), and mazda mx-6 (bit dull tbh).

If anyone has a Prelude/Celica or has any other ideas - please drop a line about your impressions.

I don't think i want a Saxo VTR coz that'll be same as my pug only faster, and i do want a bit of change.

[Moby-Dick]

what do you mean a 200sx isn't good in the wet ?

thats the fun bit ;-)

4k will get you a reasonable condition S14 or a cracking condition S13 with money left over for modding.

I prefer the celica to the 'lude , but that just personal pref ( and because you can get a turbo'd celica )

the MX-6 is a ford probe - are you ready for that sort of stereotype

[dkmech]

what do you mean a 200sx isn't good in the wet ?

thats the fun bit ;-)

Someone from my old clan had one - he spun it in the wet on the roundabout and was scared of pressing the loud pedal in the wet ever since, which is not what i want.

I prefer the celica to the 'lude , but that just personal pref ( and because you can get a turbo'd celica )

I like the Celica too, but i think Preludes will be a bit cheaper or have less mileage, as they seem to have a slightly boring image. Which i personally don't mind too much, but not to the extent of the probe/mx-6 pair.

the MX-6 is a ford probe - are you ready for that sort of stereotype

Yeah, the only reason i considered it was because it is not actually the Probe itself, if you know what i mean.

[5lab]

you DO want rwd if you want any sort of sports car. if you have any skill as a driver then you can control drift - sure you cant boot it in the wet round a roundabout without the rear sliding a bit but thats all the damn fun - rwd handle sooo much better in all conditions than fwd - you can put more power down on any corner and accellerate faster with rwd. DONT BE A FOOL. GET A PROPPER CAR

[Vimeous]

If you're on a budget avoid Imprezas and anything 4wd. They cost a ton of money to run in tyres, short-service intervals and the like. Although I'd love one a GT-Four is too damned expensive to run.

200sx. Need alot more care and attention than most. S13's like Mobys are great but an S14 will probably hurt your wallet less. Unmodded good ones are difficult to find.

Prelude will be older than the rest as they hold their value better. Good car if looked after but fwd. Vtec 2.2i best of them.

Celica like the Prelude are fwd and hold their value reasonably well. Plain GT best buy. Nice motor.

Cougar/Probe/MX-6 are not good enough but do have space to stick some passengers.

Have a think about MX-5, MR-2, 406 Coupe, Hyundai Coupe (F2 in old style V6 in new), Integra Type-R etc so-on and so-forth.

[dkmech]

Cheers.

I don't want a two seater. I am not expecting a really practical car, but i do want to be able to take 3 mates to the movies if i have to. Although i don't necessarilly want to deliver em in comfort.

never thought of 406es i have to say, will look into that, as for Hyundai - i hate the shape of the second generation, so may see if the first ones are suitable. Integra was a bit pricey i think.

And yeah, if it was a prelude i wanted 2.2 vtec without 4ws(i think thats just liable to break on me) and the GT celica too.

Cheers guys.

[Moby-Dick]

getting people in the back seat of a 200 is......difficult


as far as being scared of the car goes , with a bit of practice on an airfiled and the such like you can turn potential spins into gracefull drifts

http://www.sxoc.com/vbb/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=58

[dkmech]

I've been in the back of a 200, it wasn't comfy, but it was fun.

And btw, that same 200 was later written off into a pole if i remember correctly.

I'll still keep it in mind though.

[[GSV]Myocardial]

the 200sx is uber fun

I drive me mums one around, it's an auto but me mum don't care, and I just love booting it round a round-about, it drops a cog and bam the arse end is joining me theres a lovely big one near me too, that I can have the arse end out the whole way round, it's nice doing it more than once too, those journeys to the petrol station always seem to last a long time

Sure me dad could smell the warmth from the tyres the last time I took it for a spin

[[GSV]Trig]

Personally I think the Celica's are a bit gut less, even the 2Ltr GT, mind u the one I drove was a soft top so I guess it weighed a load...
The other one I drove was a 1.8 thing (ST?), didnt seem to have any low down grunt, nice comfy cars to drive tho altho I did find the gear stick a bit too long for where the armrest was...

[Stoo]

Mazda rx-8 with it's new rubbishrubbishrubbishrubbishel?

Jeremy Clarkson looked like he was having fun with it

Yeah, I know it's not the sort of car you're looking for and it's too new, but I wanted to be able to say rubbishrubbishrubbishrubbishel

[dkmech]

rubbishrubbishrubbishrubbishe...

Cough.

I mean rubbishrubbishrubbishrubbishel.

So far i am thinking a 2.2 vtec if prelude and 2l gt if celica, no autos, no funny 4 wheel steering, and no 4wd.

[Vimeous]

The Celica is a touch heavy so with the extra weight of a softtop I can understand the less-than expected grunt. ST's are poo with 114bhp but the GT has 173bhp and is a bit more handy. GT is 7.9secs to 60.

Others to consider and additional notes:
Alfa GTV (though rear seat v small) - good looking, check electrics
Audi Coupe (based on old 80) - lots of choice engines wise and should last a while
Fiat Coupe - roomy, fast as a turbo, ok as a 20v, plain 16v too slow, check electrics
Prelude - Get the boxy one as it has better rear space apparently
Corrado - Difficult to find a low mileage one but fantastic car to drive though not as fast as it could be

[5lab]

lancia delta therma. gotta be done

[hotpurple]

For more info on the 'lude check www.hondarevolutions.com. Buy a 2.2 VTEC 4th gen. You won't be dissapointed. Although, if you can get one i'd be tempted by an integra.

Chris

[DeludedGuy]

Very tough choice. Both cars have similar looks, both of them look great, you cant go wrong with them. But Go for a Celica, they have very nice body kits.

But if you do buy a prelude, note that u can fix some Toyota Supra body kits on it.