Hey, i'm new here and am in the market a "new" car.prefferably under 6K. I've been looking into a couple eclipse, preludes, zx2s, focus, cavalier z24 and a couple others...i was wondering what the performance potential is for the cavy. Since this car will serve as a daily driver (for now) and a track car (drag/ time trials) i want something with potential and the 150hp on the 2001 z24 caught my eye....any opinions on any of these cars? Thank you.

take the focus and zx2 out of the picture...

the less expensive out of the remaining is obviously the z24, and its power is decent. however, if u can shell out some extra bucks id get an h22 prelude, but i dont know if youll find one under 6k. same for the eclipse, the only eclipses youll find under 6k are gonna be the 4 cylinder ones, again, if u can shell out extra cash, id get a V6.... the prelude is still quicker though.

this is assuming ur looking into more recent models... 00 + z24, 00 + eclipse, 97 + prelude...

Well i'm looking into the 2nd gen. eclipse. Just the GS 4cyl model, but it has good aftermarket support. Any idea on the 1/4 mile time of the z24?

Out of your list above, the Prelude is head and shoulders above the rest. In straight-line performance, the Cavalier and NA Eclipse are pretty well a toss up. Out of the box, the Eclipse will pack the Cavalier for lunch in handling. Both have the aftermarket support necessary to be improved, however.

Still, all things being equal, if its in your ballpark, Prelude.




1989 Z24 Convertible - Dust Covered
2006 tC - Dust Covered, but driven more

The preludes i can afford are in the 1993 year range and are looking about $5K. These are the SI models.

There's also a couple 1990 nissan 300zx's...but i'm kind leaning away from them b/c of High miles (118,000 non-turbo) and (156,000 twin turbo) I don't need something thats just going to have to be fixed every couple months.

If the 'ludes aren't beat to high hell and have under 125K, the above comments still hold true.




1989 Z24 Convertible - Dust Covered
2006 tC - Dust Covered, but driven more

70K miles on the one i'm looking at...

300zx is a pain in the butt to work on.

PsychoticPirate (vidgod) wrote:300zx is a pain in the butt to work on.

Yeah, i've heard that, kinda makes me shy away from it a little.

I would say Prelude first, but you can get a pretty nice Focus ZX3 for the same price as an older, more used Prelude. I personally think the ZX3's are really nice cars - they handle great, have good power, awesome interiors, and lots of after market support, should you decide to go that route. Heck, you can buy an SVT suspension for less than $300 and really make that thing handle.

he mentioned hes looking for performance potential, and the focus has almost none. even the SVT focus is slow as hell, for being a "special edition"

I always liked the 97+ preludes.
Pros. a tasty car matched with a supercharger, great handling, reliable, great aftermarket support,
Cons. independent suspension fills up trunk, expensive used, fuel economy is fairly poor for a 4 banger.







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