OK, I might just get myself kicked off this board for saying this, but it's something I've been thinking of for a while. Now I love my new RA and think I can have a lot of fun with it at the track, but when it comes to true drag race these cars (aka 4 cycl's both domestic and foregin) cost way too much for the speed you get. Good example; I work with a guy who owns a 1996 firebird, he runs 11.6's in the quater and total cost thus far including the car is $16,000, and he feels he hasn't paid as much attention to performance as he would like. I guess I just don't know how much it costs to get power from these cars, but I do know that for about $10,000 dollars I can build a 1000 hp motor, trans would cost about $3,000, rear end would be about $2500, figure about $15,000 for frame and the rest thats about $31,000 for a 2800 lb car that should run in the 8's. I hope I haven't offended anyone, but can yo see what I mean. I can't see myself building a true drag car from one of these. Oh, well just my 2 cents anyway.

 

Well, I bought my RA as a strict daily driver, and I really have no intention to build it up for drag competition. I don't think Mitsu had that intention in mind either when they released this model. It was basically released to compete up against SER's and Mazdaspeeds...not to be built up to run insane times at the track.

I guess this would be a debate between the people who stand by their car as a daily driver, and those who bought it to build into a true race car. Sure, this car can be built into a full-on dragger, but that wasn't Mitsu's intention; therefore, you'd have to spend more to get that same level of performance.

Besides, when I look at it, I have a quick, well-performing fun car that I can zip around town in and rely upon for a long time, rather than some 8-year old firebird that may be crazy-fast but could also explode at any given time. But to each his own. Just my 2 cents!

 

It makes no real sense to get a lancer as a drag car.... You can get an awesome deal on a used ls1 (pick your flavor) or stang.

 

I didn't mean just the RA, but even the evo and sti. I'm not saying that these are not great street cars ( i think they are great street cars), but in a drag race there is faster for cheaper. As for reliability, my friends firebird is far from blowing up the engine (lt-4) was freshend last summer and it's never seen snow; I don't think it's anymore likely to blowup than a suped up eclipse or evo. Once again I'm not saying that lancers and the like shouldn't be fixed up, I want to do some stuff to mine; but if I were going to compete in a drag race, I wouldn't use one of them. But to each their own.

 

You are comparing apples to oranges here. The Evo is PLENTY fast for ANYBODY. That car stock for stock is faster than your everyday Firebird and Stang. It also come fully equipped to pull REALLY REALLY low 11's without touching the internals to the motor. So does the STi. The thing that makes these cars more fun to get that fast is simple, you get to beat those big displacement V8's most of the time with a 4 banger and since they are AWD, you can still drive them every day without wondering which direction you are going to be facing in an intersection. But once again...to each their own.

 

I completely agree with you, quantum. Sure, someone could drop a ton of cash into a car like ours and see results, but is it worth it? I guess it would all depend on what he/she is trying to prove.

I think the big difference is that the EVO/STI etc... were created as Rally cars, with those kind of intentions in mind. Sure they do have power, but they also have well-tuned suspensions, etc...

btw...wasn't ******* on your boy's firebird either...I guess the point I was trying to make was that I certainly wouldn't use that as a daily driver, but it's good to see that he doesn't. That car has to be pretty quick, though.

 

If fast for cheap is what you want then why stop with a newer firebird? Buy an old rusty 70s car and drop a motor and tranny in it. Buy a gimped 90 talon with no engine or tranny for a $1000 and sink $15K into it. That'll run better than 11.6s.
The RA, STi, EVO, etc. are all new cars. Last time I checked the firebirds and stuff were selling for a similiar price new (back when they were available).

 

I would like to point out that The Evolution is legendary for its razor sharp steering and in some countries, drivers like to make right hand turns and not necessarily drive in straight lines all the time. Honestly, I liked the ralliart alot for its steering, and not just raw hp. American Muscle is about driving as fast as you can in a straight line while consuming as much gas as humanly possible. Japanese cars are about quality and overall performance especially in a straight line. These are generalizations of course, but I'd rather have my old 120 hp del sol than a firebird anyday.

 

Drag would be fun, but as stated above^^ handling is also important an a "true" race...

and yeah, for a lot less money you can go find used cars that are just as a fast...for about $2000-3000 you can find a used XR4TI...well if you can find one ...that's came with a turbo and 173 Hp stock, and if IC'd with a few good mods will pump out well over 200hp...highest I've heard of was a guy that modded it to 450 Hp....

But when looking at new cars of course cost goes up as the car is new...and the for sale value hasn't depriciated...and as far as that goes I think the RA is a damn good value...would sure as heel beat my Saturn for the same $...

 

maybe because lancers, evos, and stis arent meant for drag racing. durrrrr

 

I agree with ALL of that until the 120 hp Del Sol part...lol. I am too tall and fat for that car...lol.

 

I sold a 12 second 88 supra turbo to upgrade to a more economical daily driver that I can still take to the track and put up respectable times with minor tuning. I go to the track because it's a damn good fun, I dont go so I can gloat about having the fastest times....

 

Ok, the point of my post was this. If you want to build a true drag race car (street legal or not) for competing, not a street car you drag race; then it's much much cheaper to go domestic and big displacement. I do like the firebird, but I wasn't saying that it's the best, If you read above i said it was a example. Personally I would use a late sixties corvette if I wanted to do classic and fast quater times. Anyway, I just used the evos, and sti once again for example. Even a used supra or what ever will still cost you much more to go 10's than a built domestic, now I'm sure there are ways to slant this, but lets face it; all pro drag cars are runnig 8 cycl's, it's just more efficent, theres probably a way to get 2000 hp from a 4 cycl, but it's gona cost a lot more. As for road racing; some weren't meat to turn on a dime, but they are build for different purposes, btw a well setup bird or camero can handel pretty well, especially if you know how to drive drift. Now I don't have a problem with anyone fixing up their daily driver for fun and seeing what it does at the track (I plan on doing that), but if your going to compete then you had better be ready to shell out a lot of extra cash if you want your 4 cycl to keep up with that dude next to you in the big old nova thats running a supercharged 502 thats puting out not only about 900 hp, but about 860 fl/lbs of torque. That is my point.

 

IT's called RALLIART not dragART!
b

 

If you want handling and steering get an MR2 spyder...thats what I used to have. It has 140hp but weighs next to nothing so it has the pickup of our car ..but it handles better than most luxury roadsters and can easilly out maneuver our car... if you want massive speed though it is not the car for you ..but it is a very fun car to drive on windy back roads...makes you really feel like you are in grand turismo or any other video game.