Suggest me a future beater

[niky]

The rear LSD, or lack of, is the issue for the standard Forester and base Imprezas (I don't even know if you can get a WRX in your price range... don't live in dollar country at the moment... ).

Yes, you can get them to oversteer on dirt, through the same tricks you can get an FWD to oversteer... but the length of the slide will depend on the center diff bias. The Forester's bias doesn't feel all that rear-ward, so no go unless you spend a lot in modifications. Otherwise, you've got a wagon that's slightly less understeery than a midsized-sized FWD car.

The Legacy and regular Impreza are much better at holding four-wheel drifts than the Forester... the Impreza is easier to hold it in... lighter car... the Legacy's rear end is heavier and snappier. Watch the headgaskets, though, if you're buying a car with engine trouble, those are a pain to replace.

If we're talking about backroads... old Nissan? Old Datto? A 510 in orange with a Confederate flag painted on the roof?

(EDIT: Must be psychic... it actually exists!)

 

[RVDNuT374]

Even though it's front wheel drive, a Ford Taurus/Mercury Sable from the late 90's-early 2000's fits your criteria nicely. With a good factory suspension, the high output V6, and a nice set of aftermarket tires, the Taurus/Sable is suprisingly fun to drive for a family sedan.

 

[Barracuda]

I wish I still lived in New Hampshire, there's outbacks going for $1500 there, down here good luck finding one under 5k. Damn the south with it's lack for awd vehicles for snowy weather.

Outback (In the town I used to live in too )
Forester (Even though I wouldn't buy one now that I know about it, but the price difference still pisses me off)

 

[Eric.]

Here we are talking about FWDs not being any fun so we look at SUVs instead.

 

[buickgnx88]

SUVs can be fun, just look at the Wrangler. *shrug*

 

[Eric.]

If my daily commute was up a rock wall, sure. Otherwise I'd hate the day-to-day unnecessary harshness of the suspension, dreadful fuel economy, relatively pathetic power, etc etc.

 

[McLaren]

I'm really trying to figure out what a FWD car can't do that a RWD can when it comes to what you are looking for (based on your posts of course). You want a beater to get you around, with decent gas mileage and be reliable. Nothing in that criteria has anything to do with drivetrain.

If anything, a FWD is THE best car for such a criteria.

Diablo, you're making a big mistake here. You're looking for a car to play around in, not a beater. You want a beater, buy a Toyota & use the 'Cuda to as your weekend toy.
Trying to buy a 2nd car for the same purpose though, is a quick way to find yourself back in the For Sale Ads.

 

[Barracuda]

Here we are talking about FWDs not being any fun so we look at SUVs instead.

An outback and forester are SUVs? They're wagons to me. From what I've seen they manage 20-26 mpg, that's pretty damn good to me.

If anything, a FWD is THE best car for such a criteria.

Diablo, you're making a big mistake here. You're looking for a car to play around in, not a beater. You want a beater, buy a Toyota & use the 'Cuda to as your weekend toy.
Trying to buy a 2nd car for the same purpose though, is a quick way to find yourself back in the For Sale Ads.

I barely have the money to keep one of my cars insured (thank god for the Pell Grant), let alone keep two cars ensured just so I can use the Barracuda on the weekends. Plus the Barracuda needs a bit of decently expensive work before I think about putting her back on the road.

Sorry but it's not negotiable.

 

[LSX]

'86 Merc 190E 2.3 Cosworth M5, BLK/BLK. Very cool car, has all it's records, BUT, and it is a very large but, it has 240K miles on it. However it looks clean. I'd sport it. 4,500$ try and talk 'em down, that's a shat ton of miles. COOL car though. It's in Bradenton.


Clean '87 E30 Drop top I6. White with a navy top on white leather, 3,800$ @ 137K miles. Clean, but I'm not sure about the rag top, E30's are sweet cars though. It's in Naples.

Both manual cars, both super cool, just need to work the price of that Merc.

Been watching both for a while.

DO IT DO IT DO IT.

Edit:

** The Ford Ranger. Its one of those vehicles that just won't die. You can pick up a 2000 Ranger for less than $4000 these days, and that's absolutely crazy. The 2.4L four-cylinder models, with a stick, apparently average 23 MPG. How on Earth that happens, I don't know. Hell, I'm half tempted to go look for a used one. Just to throw my crap in the back and do whatever.

Yeah, I'd like to echo this about the Ranger as well. I had a '97 2.3L 5spd, I bought for 500$ from a roofing company. Cleaned it up, the odometer stopped at 150K+ three years before I bought it. I put that truck through hell. Even after it was wrecked, it still ran great and drove fine. Best truck/car I ever had, ugliest too. But damn it was ready to go anywhere anytime. Can't go wrong with a 4 cylinder Ranger, they really are great trucks as beaters go. It was squeakier than a bed in a brothel though. I guess that's my only complaint. My cousins '04 Ranger was squeaking like crazy too, but it was due to worn suspension, my '01 3.0 Edge didn't squeak at all, but had the heavy duty suspension. I miss owning a Ranger...

 

[McLaren]

I barely have the money to keep one of my cars insured (thank god for the Pell Grant), let alone keep two cars ensured just so I can use the Barracuda on the weekends. Plus the Barracuda needs a bit of decently expensive work before I think about putting her back on the road.

Sorry but it's not negotiable.

If it's not negotiable, then be smart about it & buy a car you can actually use as a DD first. Leave the idea of wanting a "toy" alone.

You have 2 cars. Using both as your toys is just plain stupid, esp. since you just said one needs work before going back on the road. That means your other one is going to be your main source of transportation & the last thing a car like that needs is to be stressed & beat on.

Do what we do down here. Buy something to commute in, & spend the rest of the money fixing up the 'Cuda. Otherwise, you'll be spending 'Cuda money on a busted DD.

 

[Eric.]

Exactly what McLaren said. Find something cheap and reliable. The obligatory Civic, Accord, Corolla, Focus, and other smaller, reliable cars that will get you from point A to point B. That's what a beater does. And those are probably just as fun to drive as a 4000lb Subaru with the same power.

 

[Rotary Junkie]

Honestly... Good FWD > average AWD.

From what I've seen, Legacies and Imprezas (at least the latest models) feel quite dead to drive. Little feedback, lots of traction, reasonable handling. I drove a 5-speed Impreza, 6-speed Legacy and CVT Legacy, all in base model trim and 2010 models, then went back to the Mazda6... Each time (all of the above were on different days) the Subarus simply went where you pointed them with no real feedback (nothing through the steering, not much through the body, nothing through the clutch in the 2 manuals) whereas the Mazda will do whatever the hell you want it to and tell you how much it hates it or not.

It's reasonably safe to say that a Probe/MX-6, Celica, Integra, Prelude, etc will be a better drive than an Impreza/Legacy/Forester simply due to the different intents present. A WRX or 2.5RS may be better than the base model, but it's likely to be out of budget.

 

[Barracuda]

If it's not negotiable, then be smart about it & buy a car you can actually use as a DD first. Leave the idea of wanting a "toy" alone.

You have 2 cars. Using both as your toys is just plain stupid, esp. since you just said one needs work before going back on the road. That means your other one is going to be your main source of transportation & the last thing a car like that needs is to be stressed & beat on.

Do what we do down here. Buy something to commute in, & spend the rest of the money fixing up the 'Cuda. Otherwise, you'll be spending 'Cuda money on a busted DD.

I'm not looking for it to completely be a toy, as it is I only have gas money for school, I just want a car that has the ability to be semi-fun when I want it to. I've had the 740 for a short while and I've only messed around with it probably three times so far. Once on a bunch of dirt roads because my friend bought me a tank of gas, and the others in a grass field near my house because I felt like it (being close to the main road it's pretty much two or three donuts then get the hell out of there).

To be honest if the Volvo could get better I wouldn't think twice about keeping it, but it has so many problems on top of not as good as I'd like gas mileage even if it was running right.

The BMWs surprised the hell out of me how relatively cheap they are, they're definitely going on the list. I'll have to put a list in the first post of all the cars I like so far.

 

[McLaren]

I'm not looking for it to completely be a toy, as it is I only have gas money for school, I just want a car that has the ability to be semi-fun when I want it to. I've had the 740 for a short while and I've only messed around with it probably three times so far. Once on a bunch of dirt roads because my friend bought me a tank of gas, and the others in a grass field near my house because I felt like it (being close to the main road it's pretty much two or three donuts then get the hell out of there).

Playing in fields & doing powerslides in this car is just going to bring it closer to new parts.

Safe your fun for the 'Cuda.

The BMWs surprised the hell out of me how relatively cheap they are, they're definitely going on the list. I'll have to put a list in the first post of all the cars I like so far.

That's a very, very bad idea. BMWs don't take well to the kind of "fun" you want to have, unless you're absolutely going to keep it strictly as a DD.

 

[Barracuda]

Playing in fields & doing powerslides in this car is just going to bring it closer to new parts.

Safe your fun for the 'Cuda.

It will for my Volvo at least. It's sad because it's only just creeping up on 200k, I feel bad for whatever terrible terrible life it had before I got a hold of it.

That's a very, very bad idea. BMWs don't take well to the kind of "fun" you want to have, unless you're absolutely going to keep it strictly as a DD.

Why's that? I would assume body wise it wouldn't like it, but I wouldn't drive a BMW in a grass field or on dirt roads. The only reason I have in the Volvo is because it has good ground clearance.

I don't see what's so horrible about every now and then giving a car a little beans. Is the driveline really that fragile that getting the tires going for a few seconds (I wouldn't do burnouts) every now and then would cause major wear on everything?

 

[buickgnx88]

If my daily commute was up a rock wall, sure. Otherwise I'd hate the day-to-day unnecessary harshness of the suspension, dreadful fuel economy, relatively pathetic power, etc etc.

All false, if he finds himself a 1997-2006 TJ Wrangler. They used a coil sprung suspension, which certainly softened up the ride quite a bit. They were able to get mid to high teens for the city, and even low 20's on the highway with a light foot (which is good for what is essentially a brick). They came with a 4.0 inline 6, with 180hp and 222ft/lbs torque at only 2800rpm (later models had 190hp and 230ft/lbs at 3200rpm), which gave it plenty of pickup as well as low speed power for off-road. Heck, I have an easy time getting to 60 in my YJ with a measly 125hp! Of course, there is also the benefit of a Wrangler having a removable top, which is perfect for Florida weather!

 

[Barracuda]

Wranglers are very expensive unfortunately. Cherokees are cheap and everywhere, but the gas mileage and reliability are pretty much the same as my Volvo, not too good. They're tanks though, a friend of mine has one and it's amazing that it still runs after what he's done with it.

 

[buickgnx88]

Haha yeah, Wranglers do keep their value (fortunately or unfortunately, depending on which end you're on ).

 

[LSX]

All false, if he finds himself a 1997-2006 TJ Wrangler. They used a coil sprung suspension, which certainly softened up the ride quite a bit. They were able to get mid to high teens for the city, and even low 20's on the highway with a light foot (which is good for what is essentially a brick). They came with a 4.0 inline 6, with 180hp and 222ft/lbs torque at only 2800rpm (later models had 190hp and 230ft/lbs at 3200rpm), which gave it plenty of pickup as well as low speed power for off-road. Heck, I have an easy time getting to 60 in my YJ with a measly 125hp! Of course, there is also the benefit of a Wrangler having a removable top, which is perfect for Florida weather!

And those 4.0L engines are hard to kill, like really hard. The wiring of one of my Cherokee's ('91) gave out before the engine at 350,000+ miles. Fuel consumption with the automatics I've had has been rather high. Finding a manual Cherokee is hard to do.

 

[mustangGT90210]

Haha yeah, Wranglers do keep their value (fortunately or unfortunately, depending on which end you're on ).

I've always wanted one, but could never afford. When the cheapest ones you find that are driveable are $3500 for a 1990 with 175k on it, you learn fast, depreciation, or lack there of is a b*tch!