Advice
Gallery7
LET'S face it. If you're shopping for a performance car these days, new or used, you're going to need pretty deep pockets. Gone are the days of picking something up for pocket change, with the cost of both new and used cars spiralling for any number of macroeconomic reasons.
But what if you were armed with $20k and were determined to buy something that would still put a smile on your dial? What are the options?With this in mind, we decided to set a challenge across our motoring titles from both the new and enthusiast car segments.
The rules were very simple: Trawl the second-hand classifieds and find an example of your ideal performance machine for less than $20,000. And it was first in, best dressed – once a particular model was gone, it couldn’t be chosen again.
Some surprised us with their choices, both in terms of what managed to sneak in under the budget and how deep some were willing to bury their pride for a slice of relatively inexpensive fun.
LET'S face it. If you're shopping for a performance car these days, you're going to need pretty deep pockets. Gone are the days of picking something up for pocket change, with the cost of both new and used cars spiralling for any number of macroeconomic reasons.
But what if you were armed with $20k and were determined to buy something that would still put a smile on your dial? What are the options?With this in mind, we decided to set a challenge across our motoring titles from both the new and enthusiast car segments.
The rules were very simple: Trawl the second-hand classifieds and find an example of your ideal performance machine for less than $20,000. And it was first in, best dressed – once a particular model was gone, it couldn’t be chosen again.
Some surprised us with their choices, both in terms of what managed to sneak in under the budget and how deep some were willing to bury their pride for a slice of relatively inexpensive fun.
Mike Stevens – Publishing Director, Digital
7
Cards on table time. I'd rather a 370Z, but have you seen the prices on them? Even one that was built at much the same time as the extinction of the dinosaurs is now pretty serious money. While there were a couple that came within budget, upon reflection, I think I'd rather go for a 350Z and net a tidy example with some cash in the kitty for tyres and some sort of aftermarket infotainment upgrades. (Yes I'm a gadget nerd, leave me alone.)
Wandering around a recent Highball cars and coffee event, it struck me that the 350Z's understated styling has aged a little more elegantly than I thought it would, although I still find the front end a little dull to look at.
While you miss out on the later car's clever throttle blipping manual downchanges, the gearbox in the 350Z is sweet enough that you're not going to want to miss out on doing it yourself.
It still feels analogue, because it is. The 206kW 3.5-litre atmo engine can still haul. And remember we all thought it was a bit heavy when it was first unveiled? 1450kg isn't going to raise too many eyebrows these days, when a Lotus Emira weighs 1405kg.
Andy Enright, Wheels Editor
7
This one's hardly an obvious choice, but if you want to go quick and go completely under the radar for absolute peanuts, hear me out.
Nobody is ever going to give the amorphous and inoffensive shape of the PD-gen Hyundai i30 SR a second look. Why would they? It's about as intimidating as a Tony Abbott shirtfronting.
Although the days are gone when you could pick up a three-year old example with a couple of years of warranty left and still come in way under budget, the value proposition still stands up.
As standard, you get a 150kW car with the clever 1.6-litre Gamma II turbo engine that can run in both Atkinson and Otto cycles. You might need to freshen up the bushes and dampers for that just-out-of-the-showroom body control and a new set of Pilot Sport 4 boots would also be on the list. After that, we can get a bit devious.
Tunehouse can give this engine a 30kW tickle with a THR Powerport plug-and-play chip, giving you a relatively modern and reliable hot hatch with contemporary safety and infotainment that could dip into the sixes to 100km/h and would never attract the wrong sort of attention. 241 horses for this sort of money? That’s one heck of a bargain, and only you will know.
Dylan Campbell – Contributor, former Wheels editor
BMW 130i E87
7
I know someone who just bought one of these, and if they’re reading this they might chuckle! But it’s quite a smart buy, really. Compact 1 Series shape, subtle but sporty looks, BMW interior that’s aged fairly well (not that I’ve ever sat in one). Then there’s the short wheelbase, the fact you can get it as a six-speed manual, and it’s rear-drive and powered by an atmo 3.0-litre straight-six with a respectable 195kW/315Nm stock.
Weighing just 1375kg, the car’s acceleration of 0-100km/h in 6.1sec is pretty good, but that, along with the engine’s personality, could be easily improved upon. They can go for about $13K, so you could spend the rest on an intake, exhaust, ECU, cams, half-decent tyres and a diff – if all those things can be had for $2K total. And a few IOUs.
Cameron Kirby – Wheels Comparisons Editor
7
I’ll pause to let you get the laughter out of your system.
Right, with that out of the way, let me explain why everyone else has missed a trick by not picking the humble Hyundai Excel as their performance bargain. While they are trundling along observing our ever-lowering speed limits, I’ll be at the race track engaging in a slipstream battle that’d make a NASCAR driver envious.
In recent years, the Hyundai Excel has become the must-have race car in Australian motorsport, with big names like Roland Dane, Will Brown and Paul Morris all getting into the grassroots category. The racing is tight, budgets are small and grids are bulging.
Between 1994 and 2000, roughly 200,000 X3 Excels were sold, making them plentiful and dirt cheap – some Hyundai Excel race grids can reach into the 60s!
Finding a donor car is the cheapest part of building an Excel racer, while ready-to-run racers range between $6000 and $28,000. Our $20,000 budget falls right in the middle of that window and is bang-on for what you’d expect to pay for a turn-key example in good condition.
See you at the next track day, chumps.
Angelo Loupetis, Unique Cars Art Director
7
As a long-term XR6 Turbo owner, I could not go past this iconic model. Introduced in 2002, the turbo Falcon has cemented its reputation as a performance icon in Australia. The forced 4.0-litre Barra has become the motor of choice for many people seeking a powerful drivetrain that can easily provide more grunt.
A BA-BF XR6T will set you back around $8-15K, and prices seem to have climbed over the past year with fewer cars available on the market. The BA is now 18 years old, so many cars are showing signs of neglect and wear. Paint fade and brittle interior plastics are common problems, along with bulging roof linings, but if you are patient I would opt for an original, low-kilometre car that you can modify if you desire.
Cars sitting under $10K generally show substantial wear and are in need of some TLC, and BFs equipped with the ZF six-speed auto or optional six-speed manual command a premium over the BA. A custom exhaust and ECU tune can add substantial kW to your car for reasonable money, and the list of modifications available locally is endless.
My advice is to secure a car now before prices head further north.
Alex Affat, Wheels Journalist
7
Once upon a time, I would have taken that $20K and run towards a single-turbo Skyline or something of the sort. Except $20K buys less and less in the late-model Japanese sector these days; meanwhile, the humble 86 has depreciated off a cliff and you can easily enter the market with that sort of money.
It won’t have the same street cred or win a traffic-light grand prix (trust me, I used to own one), but for the sublime modern chassis you’re getting, there really isn’t a better platform for the dollar. For every net-dwelling ‘JDM’ fan who decries the Germanic Supra or bloated Z Proto, let us remind you there exists this classical coupe.
There’s a wealth of aftermarket support out there, so invest in a decent set of hoops and some high-temp brake pads and you’ll likely learn more about driving and have as much fun as piloting anything else on this list.
Simon Telford, Content Director, Enthusiast
For the longest time, the existence of the Hyundai Veloster SR Turbo barely registered in my consciousness. When I first saw the odd three-door design, I immediately wrote the Veloster off as the successor to the long line forgotten Hyundai sporties that ran from the S-Coupe, to the Coupe and finally the Tiburon.
In less-enlightened times, we would have tagged the lot as 'hairdressers cars' - sporty looks, without any sporty performance to speak of.
Then, I had the opportunity to drive a Veloster SR and discovered that they are indeed a genuinely fun thing to punt on a twisty road. And no, it isn't in the same class as a Civic Type R, nowhere near it. But I also don't have the talent (or points on my license) to really push the best of the hot hatches to their limit, so something like the Veloster is perfect for me.
And there are plenty of them on the market, many with quite reasonable clicks on the clock and in quite good nick. Sadly the much-improved 2019 update is out of our price range, not to mention harder to find.
Downsides? Besides the fact that someone might see you driving it, the front seats are quite low-slung and you may find them a bit of a chore to heave yourself out of on the daily commute. The back seat isn't really a place for anyone but kids, but with the rear seats down, you'll have quite a lot of room for everything you'll need for say, track day fun times.
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