Horespower on the cheap.What would you look for?

[Slim Pickens]

Anyone else have a hankerin for some serious "scare ya" horsepower?I will admit drooling over the Bitchin Rides style of restomods,but who has money like that to spend on a car?I want a Bitchin Rides type car but I don't even have a Roadkill budget.

How would you even go about doing something like this?I'm not able to do the work anymore,and to be honest,a lot of it would be out of my range of experience anyway.Maybe buy a structurally sound clunker,and find someone to do the rest??

I'm just dreaming I suppose,probably couldn't afford it anyway.Still..it'd be a gas.

 

[f-e]

Did you get the VW phaeton over there? Modern unwanted car, with something daft like an audi W16 in there. IIRC the vag were pissed that merc stooped down to making a hatch. So they made a vw that should of been a bentley. Totally worthless car, because who wants a huge featureless vw that costs more than a house.

It's a great limo, or you could pull the engine and associated components.

 

[shithawk420]

I got a Passat.not fast but love it.but there's absolutely no doubt about it.the new Corvette with the mid engine is the fastest car for the money.around 450 HP for under 60 grand.goes 200mph.im to scared to go that fast

 

[Slim Pickens]

I appreciate the responses.That VW Phaeton would be a good choice for a cruiser...and the Passat would for me,take a backseat to the Golf GTI..if I were looking for import handling and performance.I've actually considered the GTI before.

What I want is power.I can't afford a Corvette,no matter the year.Another choice would be a used Cadillac CTSV.Those can be had in 600+hp LS motors,but the price for something in the '12 range is 30k or so.I'm not inclined (nor financially able) to do something like that.Plus I have some reservations about reliability in power train components.

The better choice might be an '04-'06 Pontiac G8 6l or similar.Those put out a meager 400hp,but mods can boost that,assuming one is able to shell out the cold hard cash.Probably a pipe dream for me,but one can dream.Right?

 

[GOT_BUD?]

You can find decent examples of 2009ish Pontiac GTOs which are rebadged Holden's with LS motors. Even better if you can find a manual, because those will handle north of 800 hp if you don't launch them.

I've never wanted a Corvette. Until the C8. That is supercar performance for mid-luxury sedan pricing. And it finally has the engine where it belongs.

 

[armedoldhippy]

co-worker has a Chrysler 300 that is scary fast. he won't drive it anymore & has put it up for sale. hmmm...

 

[Lester Beans]

Chevy Camaro, affordable and modifiable. Get a blower and you can squirrel around the streets like a madman!

Few shots of nitrous even.

.

The new Corvette is a sexy beast!

 

[TychoMonolyth]

The wife just got rid of her G5. Trying to follow her was like losing at Mario Carts every time. She could take a city or country chicane at 3 times my speed.

Just like ...
Bing bing bing...Ricochet Rabbit.

 

[Brother Nature]

Get a motorcycle, but not a Harley... Nothing wrong with Harley's, just not fast bikes without a lot of tinkering and $$. For straight up "scare ya" horsepower, not much better than a bike for a low budget, plus they're a lot easier to work with than a car.

 

[shithawk420]

What brother nature said.im by no means an expert.by I don't know how you could get the speed and performance with a car for under 60 grand that goes 200 mph.guess a used Corvette for 30 grand might do it.otherwise I just don't know.building a car would probably be even more expensive unless you get lucky and know someone.im more than happy and eager to learn from you guys with an answer to this question.i love to get knowledge about cars.i think I remember a kid getting really lucky with a used GTR for like 30 or 40 grand but that's definitely not an everyday deal.i mean,what's the point of going 200mph if you don't have the performance? You gonna drag race? Cadillacs are nice but don't have the performance.now that I think about it my buddy an 80s V12 jaguar.that had performance and speed.maybe look into that.scsred the shit out of me in that thing

 

[armedoldhippy]

Get a motorcycle, but not a Harley... Nothing wrong with Harley's, just not fast bikes without a lot of tinkering and $$. For straight up "scare ya" horsepower, not much better than a bike for a low budget, plus they're a lot easier to work with than a car.

used to see in bike rags where guys took Kawasaki motors & put them in Norton or Triumph frames so you had speed AND handling, and without breaking the bank...

 

[Brother Nature]

Yeah, Japanese reliability with the beautiful English build, hard to lose. Those old original Nortons go for big bucks these days though.. In one of our recent lock-downs we took the 125cc 2-stroke engine out of my rusty old Suzuki farm bike and placed it into a makeshift drift trike. Fuck that was fun for a good ole redneck mobile, took a good 24 hours to blow the cylinder too hahaha.

 

[mexweed]

you'll get bored of it and think it's not that fast anymore and be pissed about the insurance in a couple months, and then you will have to repair something at some point which will generally not be be cheap

 

[St. Phatty]

A 1000 pound dune buggy with a 200 horsepower engine.

Or a 3200 pound Camaro with a 400 horsepower engine.

 

[Three Berries]

That stuff just gets you killed or arrested.....

Currently have a Hyundai Genesis Coupe 2L turbo with ~300 hp.

 

[Lester Beans]

A 1000 pound dune buggy with a 200 horsepower engine.

Or a 3200 pound Camaro with a 400 horsepower engine.

For the Camaro at 3200 lbs you will need 650 bhp to run the QM @ 10's. Which is considered a "fast" street car.

Cheapest way to achieve that is Big Block crate engine with nitrous. Personally I'd spring for the Chevy 632 ci engine which gets you around 800 horses without a power adder. A squirt of nitrous will easily put you over 1000.

The real question is making that power usable. The rear end needs to be a proper 4 link and the tires need to be BIG as you can. Spend the money on a Rossler or similar trans and do some chassis work because power is useless without sneakers as they say.

20-25k to run high 9's-10's is a good number to plan on spending at the minimum.

 

[St. Phatty]

For the Camaro at 3200 lbs you will need 650 bhp to run the QM @ 10's. Which is considered a "fast" street car.

Cheapest way to achieve that is Big Block crate engine with nitrous. Personally I'd spring for the Chevy 632 ci engine which gets you around 800 horses without a power adder. A squirt of nitrous will easily put you over 1000.

The real question is making that power usable.

What about weight on the rear end so the tires get better traction ?

= adding 3 passengers.

 

[midwestkid]

Fast for cheap is a crotch rocket.

Option 2 is a small block in a light car with a small shot of giggle gas

 

[944s2]

It’s a rabbit hole,,,,,
my CLK 55 AMG had a re-map that took it from 370bhp to 400bhp and better 0-60mph and gas usage,,,,,
never noticed the difference to be honest and my previous SL55 AMG had 500 bhp from the factory,,,,,
a beast in a straight line but factor in a very wet and cold night then the 500bhp becomes a liability and trying to put that power down in inclement weather was scary in the least and terrifying at most,,,,
different story in our Golf R ,,305 bhp and sticks to the road like glue but it’s 4 wheel drive,,,,
launch control in the pissing down of rain ? Easy Peasy,,,,s2