Blair for Perth WRX you have

Skylines Australia if you went Skyline
SilviaWa if you went S13 or need cheap pills
Toymods for ... well nothing really cheap Toyota worth modding, and no an AE86 does not count, jza70 supra is too heavy and old
Perth Rotary if you want to go early RX7 - though I do not advise this at all.

Just to name 4 clubs you could use for advice if you didnt go WRX. Of course there is your generic forums like antilag which seems to have a little from each genre.

I still think a GC8 or even a RS is a good base to start from.

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BN01, my 2 cents...

From someone who has built a GC8 to do track work, please believe me when I say, what ever figure you have in your head in terms of maintenance and repairs, you need to double it, add 1000, then double it again and take away 2

IMO, what ever your budget is, use only half to purchase the car itself, because once it gets on the track, whether it be modified or stock as a rock, things WILL break/wear out.

I don't proclaim to be a whizz behind the wheel, but in my 3-4 years of racing the GC8 it became apparent quite early on that the WRX is quite a forgiving car. Lots of lovely safe under steer to contend with, and plenty of grip around corners. So you might say, "sounds perfect" - but the problem is that this doesn't really teach you how to drive. If you want my advice, get the basics of car handling down first, and IMO that means RWD. If I had my time again I would be going for an S14 or one of the Silvia families. They're cheap (depending on vintage), lots of spare parts around and a much less forgiving car to drive (read: you learn much more valuable lessons). Once you've got the basics down, then go for the 4WD EVO, WRX, GTR woteva and apply the rules you've learnt - I guarantee you'll be faster for it.

My final though, don't think that woteva car you buy now to track is going to be the car you'll always race in. With that in mind, buy something cheap like a 180SX, don't spend too much on it (save it for repairs and maintenance) and just drive it. 'Seat time' is what it's all about - because after a while you'll be beating people who have spent $$$$$'s on their car, but just don't have the experience to peddle the damn thing.

Here endeth the lesson!!!

Al

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Kiss My RS

Dont use your daily, write it off and there will be headaches all around.

Ive been considering the same as you.. options were using a 02 sti or evo 7 and making them my daily also, but i came to the above conclusion. Depending on your purchase budget... theres B-reg GC sti's for 7-10k from JWS or a B-reg 02 sti wagon for around 15k. 02 Sti sedan B-reg is about 20k, which is so close to the cost of a road reg one that its a waste of time.

If you want to get something and not be afraid to kill it, start off with a shitbox sr20det machine or an old RS liberty. Just be prepared to put hard $$ limits on your mods and expect the most expensive things to break.

Personally, im going to get into karts I think its going to be so much kinder to my wallet.

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[S]kid[S]

Depending on your category they arent overly modifiable and therefore probably dont help the OP, but i agree with the starting in karts.

I like smokah's idea of the RS Liberty...

true that. as has been said, an S13 could be an ideal project due to being cheap, light, and an abundance of parts. Even an NA manual S13 with a turbo strapped on the side can be fast (ASG have one at 260hp!)

BUT if you are going to go WRX.. here is what i'd say & were i in your position now with my knowledge, what i would do.

Return the wagon to stock and sell. You could probably use those rims on a WRX anyway, or sell them seperately for more cash.
Buy an EA falcon, VP commodore or some such wagon with a tow bar. This has to be reliable enough to be your daily but grunty enough to pull a trailer. This is then your support car, with room for a second set of wheels, jack etc in the boot and enough grunt to one day tow a car trailer.

Buy a GC road registered car. You should be able to pick one up for 2-6K running & lic, cheaper not running (I got mine for 4k 1.5 years ago and then saw one for 2k a week later) Keep it lic, its easier that way. Try aim for a 4WD car, and preferably 98+, these will be more expensive but better.

Buy a GC half cut. Make sure its in the same year group as your chassis, to save headaches with the interior. ver1-2-3 (93-97) or ver 4-5-6 (98-00). WRX if its what you can afford, but aim for an STi or even better an STi Type RA. If you can afford an STi, then an exhaust & retune will net you more than enough power to get yourself in trouble.

Keep it stock. Look at Brendons car, AFAIK its a stock V6 RA with an exhaust and an Autronic, and it was quick enough to win Dutton (obviously Brendons driving was a big help). so you do the conversion. Bribe a certain someone with coronas.

from there, grab a set of those HSD's ballsac sells. they are cheap, decent by all accounts, and have plenty enough adjustables for you to understand what they do. I'd then sava da money and get a ... MoTeC. Fuck what the haters say. It will be decently cheap for a GC anyway. But the advantage of that is you can learn the basics of tuning, data acquisition & interpreting etc for the ecu & software that many ARC and V8 Super car teams use. Not only will your car have a cool sticker, but it will also help you learn towards something which will actually benefit your career.

from there you do the interior stuff like my car, strip all the shit out, get light weight bucket seats and harnesses, maybe a half or full cage or whatever floats your boat.

as soon as your car is driving, start learning it. As Alex said, seat time is the key. There are tenths in the setup, but there are seconds in the driver! Take your car to gravel autocross events or just go up in the hills on a weekend or something (in a controlled environment!) gravel will exagerate your cars reactions and on dry tarmac you will be ready to react way ahead of time. do mc events etc whenever you can and play with your setup etc.

if you want to chat , call meh

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MY93 Impreza GX 1.8L, 0hp, 0nm

fucktard posts deleted

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MY93 Impreza GX 1.8L, 0hp, 0nm

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may the forced induction be with you

Ah there we go, was waiting for Alex and Matt to have their say Your opinions are much appreciated fellas.

Matt, will have a chat to you soon.

My alternative to all this btw, is to find someone else who wants to go halves in the little venture so we have enough dosh to do it properly. Any takers?

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Honourable Member for The Darkside

MY07 Mitsubishi Ralliart Colt

I think Matt's going to have alot to say about the pro's and cons of "going halves" in a car as well Blair ....

Another option - find something fairly modded out of Japan, then return it to stock, and re-apply the mods one by one.

Sounds wierd but at least youll know that you have everything sitting to go and youll get to learn how the stuff comes on and off. Not going to be hard to swap suspension back to stock stuff etc etc.

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