So I want my first car to be a rwd shitbox with a manual, and my 3 best options seem to either be an S13, Fox body...

goddamn will you meme lords just bite the bullet and recommend him the toyobaru?
it is literally your best option op
>rwd
>low power shitbox same as the other 3
>comes with lsd and will actually pass emissions
>can be modded to hell and back

>tl;dr just buy a toyota86/subaru brz

Those cost many times more than what OP mentioned.

he's asking for a shitbox not a pile of garbage

you seem like every typical 16 y/o wanting a 240 or miata. however, these options being so over populated will cost you out the ass. if you're going to pay the drift tax, use the extra money to get an mk2 supra P type (inline 6 with LSD) or a Z31 300zx. (or z32 if your hands are small enough). they'll cost you far less.

forgot to add, i got my z31 for $2,700 94k miles no rusk, no leaks, no issues or anything. got my mk2 supra for 21 hundred just needed an alternator but had some rust. if you keep searching what everyone wants you're going to pay a fuck ton more for that demand and end up with trash

i'm sorry you got triggered user, stay buttblasted that you'll never be able to afford a toyobaru and join the rest of the world into the future kek

get a fox body

You'll find a 240sx in good condition in California if you dedicate about 3 months to checking CL daily. Be prepared to travel a few hundred miles.

>professionally swapped RB26 240sx on craigslist with 527 bwhp for $5,000 less than an FRSlow

first car? and also manual?
get like, a toyota celica or a scion tc or an acura rsx, fastbacks are super practical and look good

Without reading the thread....

>s13
Hard to find an unadulterated example. Pay no more than $5k

>foxbody
Stay away from GT, get a V8 LX. Pay no more than $7k

>miata
NA if you plan on keeping it. Shoot for 1.8L. Pay no more than $6k

Volkswagen Beetle

>700 lb hunk of iron sitting on front wheels
wow i bet that thing handles GREAT

>tfw the RSX would be the perfect car for me if it was RWD
I know there's nothing wrong with FWD but it's just not my thing.

Why not third gen F-body> better handling than the fox and just as large an aftermarket.

You almost honestly have a better chance passing tailpipe (but of course not visual) with a well running SR than ye olde truck engine.

An SR is a legal swap in California.

And you should have no issues smogging with a CA anyway.
I pass smog with a carb'd AMC 248 literally a tractor engine from like 1950.

>An SR is a legal swap in California.
uhh i don't think so, tim

>motor never offered in the chassis in America
>federal legal
>CARB legal
Pick one.

Was the SR never sold on a production car in the US?

The SR20DE was used in the US, notably in the Nissan Snetra SE-R, and Infiniti G20, but the SR20DET was never used in the US market.

Honestly you'd be better off just building up a KA24DE or doing a different swap.

never in S-chassis, and turbo version was never sold in US at all

100% foxbody. Best performance. Just as good if not better aftermarket. Just as cheap as a miata these days

E30 3 series

CARB is for aftermarket.
If the engine was sold on a production car in the US of the same type and it's newer than the engine it's replacing you can swap it.
But, I guess the SR was never sold in the US. I always thought one of the old US infinitis had it.

I'd smog it and then swap every 2 years anyway desu.

But you have to deal with that wet noodle chassis that takes a bunch of braces and work to handle as good as an F-body, nevermind a modified F-body.
Not only that but Fox-body prices have been on the rise lately. Theyy aren't as good a deal as they used to be. If you HAVE to go Mustang, you're better off with an SN95, which uses an updated version of the Fox chassis. The SN95 is cheaper than the traditional fox 90% of the time and you CAN still get the 5.0 in them. But it still won't handle as well as an F-body.

He means the S13/S14 chassis never got the SR engines in America. The SR20DET was never offered in America at all. The SR20DE naturally aspirated was offered in the FWD Nissan Sentra SE-R and Infiniti G20.
However, you're better off building the KA24 that comes with the S13/S14 than swapping in an SR20DE.

Ah. Too bad the honda K series never came in a rwd car or they would probably be in everything.

You're really ignorant about the law.
>If the engine was sold on a production car in the US of the same type and it's newer than the engine it's replacing you can swap it.
It's a herculean task to get a potentially legal car through the BAR processes. Herculean. Something a few enthusiast communities do with dozens of people in threads / in person helping a guy spend years of his life to do. Go read the V6 SW20 swap threads if you don't believe me.
>CARB is for aftermarket
CARB applies to every car being sold in California, less some examples like pre 1975 classics. If you transfer the title of a registered car in California CARB and the smog inspections are involved.

Chassis, make, model, etc doesn't matter. Just has to be from the same type of car. ie passenger car.
But yeah, since it was never sold here it won't be.

I think it also has to be originally longitudinal. And only for the fact that the stock manifolds and emissions has to fit, but I don't know about that. You could just cut and re-weld the collector for longitudinal orientation..

Wat, you cn bolt a K series to any rwd car

No I'm not ignorant about the law at all. Lol.
The SR20DE is a legal swap the DET isn't.

Carb doesn't apply to cars. It applies to aftermarket or 3rd party parts used on production cars. Like cats and manifolds.
Engines themselves don't get carb'd just parts on them.

not legally in CA without carb approved manifolds.

>CARB applies to aftermarket
Cut off your egr and see what your smog ref says about CARB when you get sent to him~

A 325i or the super etas are the only ones worth getting and it's impossible to find those much below $10k these days. If you can find a 318is with an m42 those are good but have the "mini M3" tax despite being slow as fuck.

I live in Australia tho, idk how things are in the US but if it's similar to our E30 market they're not a good choice for a first car unless you absolutely want an E30 and won't settle for anything else. E36s or E34s are better choices at this point in time since those markets haven't been boomer'd yet.

t. Guy who fell for the E30 meme

He won't say anything about CARB he'll say I'm missing the egr as per the required federal emissions. You don't know what CARB is.

the eta is garbage what are you talking about.
you can find eta engines for like $200.
and clapped e30s are still 2k like always.

>CARB doesn't enforce federal laws within California
You're the one that doesn't get this shit. It's really quite simple.

Yeah it is really simple I can't believe you don't get it.
You should go to the CARB website and read what they do and how it differs from the state inspection emission component requirements.

How about you settle for a decent 90s pickup truck and call it a day.

This. CARB is involved in every part of the emissions process in California, not just modifications. California has the strictest emissions requirements in the country. That's fine, what I don't like is how retarded some of the CARB laws are like that you can't put in an engine older than the car, even if it meets emissions.

I'm kinda glad I live in Connecticut so I don't have to deal with CARB. Our emissions regulations are among the top 5 strictest in the country, but we have no law on the year of the engine, and cars over 25 years old are exempt from emissions. There's actually legislation in our system right now to make all 1999 and older cars exempt from emissions.

>gas
>rolling the pos
>lame
>people want me to haul their shit
>gas

The foxbody actually looks good though, unlike the f-body

>gas
What did he mean by this?
>lame
Sorry.
>people want me to haul their shit
Learn how to tell people no, you sperg.

The Fox is also more expensive. Looks are subjective. I think the F-bodies are gorgeous for the time-frame.

they are.

Top fucking kek

Not even OP but kind of want a late model firebird now

If I buy a shit v6 auto firebird would I be able to throw in a crate 350 and transmission relatively easily? Would the rear end be able to handle it?

>If I buy a shit v6 auto firebird would I be able to throw in a crate 350 and transmission relatively easily?
No. The subframe is different. You'd have to get the subframe from a V8 car

>Would the rear end be able to handle it?
Depends on the 350 crate engine in question. the unmodified one GM sells that's like 200-something horsepower? Sure. Others? maybe not. The 10 bolt isn't especially strong. You'd want to change the rear end. Depending on your budget, you could get a Moser engineering 1 bolt or Ford 9" on the relatively cheap side of things.
If budget isn't much of an issue, Heidts offers an IRS conversion that includes a Ford 9" but it's pricey.

What I would do is get a 5 speed manual Firebird or Camaro with the 3.1L V6, swap to the 93-95 3.4L F-body V6, then swap on the heads and intake manifolds from a FWD 3500. You'll end up with a compression ratio around 11.5:1 or 11.6:1 depending on the headgasket, and comparable horsepower to the 350 from a small 3.4L V6.
wot-tech.com/gen-1/gen-3-hybrid-setup.html
This hybrid setup is actually so common, these guys sell a kit to make it go smoother.
wot-tech.com/3-4/3x00-hybrid-street/strip-cam-kit-p485.html

Pic related, similar hybrid setup on a 94 V6 Camaro 3.4L, but with 3100 heads and manifolds instead of 3500

>Moser engineering 1 bolt
*12 bolt.

Fox

Why get a fox when an SN95 is cheaper, uses the same platform, and has upgrades over the normal Fox chassis?

>join a local car group, theyre cheaper and better quality than someone on craigslist
>make sure its not massive so you dont get shitty cars out the ass
>its name should be along the line of Dirft Sales ____, JDM ____ and along those lines
be careful of these though they are usually legit but alot of them will drop a ruined car worth 4 k for 10
>just sit and wait, scroll and turn on notifs so you are the first to jump on good deals

i got my first car (r32) for 5 grand in my area with minimal rusting and everything else was fine except the seats and the spoiler which was fucking disgusting and i took it off. i got my second car from the same group which was an almost complete stock s14 for 9 grand and 120k km

Not in my case but a lot of people hate the look of the sn95.

>Tfw like the look of everything on fox platform and the fbody platform
I'll probably never own one anytime soon.

The 5.0 sn95s in my area ate just as much as a beat up fox. I got lucky 3 years agp and gpt a fox for 500 from a family freind. Its conv/ auto but foxbodys are honestly fun/comfty cars.

Only pic i have of it.

Fox body is the easiest option, and maybe the best option.
>Part support
>Simple to work on
>Easy to find one.

>Wanting a shitbox
>Caring about looks

Foxbodys are likely going to be harder to find than sn95s

sn95s are the next in line to get the "drift tax"

First 240sx
Second Foxbodies
Third Miatas
Fourth sn95s

What is next on the list for "drift tax"/I know what I got?

240 is like 130 hp, right? theres actually a mild aftermarket for them like cams and stuff, but still...You're talking camming and building a DOHC to rev to 8000 to hardly make 160 or 170 hp, lol.

The miata? Same deal with the power, probably even more aftermarket out there in terms of Auto crossing or tracking them.

The fox however would weigh a few hundred more pounds, but have a SBF as a building point. I think they do over 300 hp with cam and bolt ons. Then theres stroker kits. Also plenty of aftermarket for their handling and such

this guy is right OP. The options you want are also what every other teenage kid wants so the prices are ridiculous. I would reccomend you get a r32 gtst you could maybe find one for like $5k and get to 350-400 whp with another $2k

I don't want a skyline, the parts for them are too damn expensive and hard to find. I'd rather get a soarer or a chaser.

>However, you're better off building the KA24 that comes with the S13/S14 than swapping in an SR20DE

Sr20det is the same weight as the non turbo ka24de. Sr20de is a good 80 pounds lighter than either and makes the same power as the KA. I swapped a s14 sr20de in a s13 hatch for shits and giggles 8 years ago, ended up being a pretty fun car to drive and got over 30mpg.

Ka-t, for dat power.