What would you rather have for a comfortable daily:

'09 MS3, dvd/bluetooth/nav, fully bolted ~300whp, white with tinted windows, fwd, good storage with fold down seats, climate control, light sensing xenon headlights, rain sensing wipers

OR

'93 Lexus SC300 with a swapped in 1JZ-GTE, sorta bolted, probably 250whp, white with tan leather, climate control, heated seats, on coilovers, needs a new stereo, needs a few other little things to make it 100%

MODIFIERS TO DECISION

I already have the MS3, and I'm making 500/mo payments on it for a few more years. If I get the SC, it'll be paid off in a year and I wont have the MS3 payments (not giving details of this deal, suffice it to say thats how it works).

The MS3 is just about complete, as in I wont modify it more....or at least much more. Hamish finally released ecuedit for it, and hopefully someone smarter than Cobb will find the module for injector phasing, allowing the car to reach higher than 400whp levels.

That said, if it happens I'll end up with a 3076 on the MS3, and eventually a built bottom end. more than 350whp on a fwd car is a recipe for epic fail on a daily though, so that's still up in the air.

MS3 is also new, has 9200mi on it, and I've put 99% of 'em there.

Now on to the SC.... It's a good swap, very clean. The car is in 85% condition, everything works except the 16y/o cd player, but...its 16 years old. I'd get a new one, maybe another DNX series Kenwood Nav.

The car sounds really nice with the I6, but after some research, it'll take some decent money to make it fast, i.e. single turbo swap, tuning etc... somewhere in the area of 4k or so to break the 350whp area.

It's comfortable, if I don't compromise it. Meaning raise it up a bit, as it currently is dumped, possibly changing the coils out for something smoother, not sure on that though.

So if you made it through the lack of organized thought on my part, to sum it all up, if I got the SC, I would be one less car payment in a year. I'd still have a fun tuner car to DD if I wanted, it'd take some decent money to 'finish' the car as the kind of DD I like. Doesn't have the storage of the MS3.

If I keep the MS, I have to make the payments, I hardly drive it (or the SC if I got it, really. Evo ftmfw). It can haul a **** load with it being a hatch. It gets 26-30 on the freeway, and its actually quite luxurious. Also, barring anything unforseen, it's modded as far as I want to go with it, so not much in the way of expense there.

Discuss.

 

it seems to be a financial question so go where the dollars make the most sense (SC). Besides, the MS3 cant go anywhere else on power and its essentially an unsupported platform and Mazda is in questionable standing with the divorce from FoMoCo.

The real question is why you want to get the SC (swaps are seldome error-proof and a 16 year old car will have lots to repair about it no matter how nice the condition is Unless the chassis was shelved for a dozen of those years). get a nice effecient DD and put the $$$ into the evo for power/pimphand. Lots of folks go with a wimpy civic or the like.

 

The SC is the deal. One for the other, in a roundabout sort of way.

 

For a daily, I would go with the MS3. Why would you want a swapped older Lexus for a daily? You're asking for hangups or problems that you will have to attend to and fix. That would not make a reliable daily no matter what kind of deal you're getting.

And in my opinion, you can daily a high horsepwer FWD car no problem in WA. However, if all this is for making less payment or whatnot, you should roll a Toyota Camry or Honda Accord or something. They make wonderful daily drivers.

 

i would probably be looking at an entirely different DD.

 

Sad to say, but I would be looking for a Civic.

 

I should clarify... it'd be a DD in the essence that it wont be a crazy project car. My Evo is my project AND my DD. The only time I've driven the MS3 in the last 3 months was to move it from one spot to another lol. By DD I mean something I can drive and have fun with on occasion, and when I take the motor out of the Evo and build it.

The only reason I'd get the SC is so I can get out of paying for the MS3.

 

from what i read you yourself like to keep MS3. Lexus would have issues one after another since its quite old. All rubber parts going to start failing.

 

Just curious, but why do you not drive the MS3? Drive that thing! You're paying for it, enjoy it while you have it man. I know someone with an MS3. It's a cool car. Handles good, it's decently quick, and you have a little hatch. It's got DD written all over it. haha.

 

Ditto. Drive that thing.

Its kind of like having a girlfriend and not ****ing the **** out of her, while she is draining your bank account dry.

 

I will be soon lol, clutch started slipping on the Evo, time for it to go under the knife!

 

sell the MS3 to get rid of the monthly and buy something you can pay off in a year and call it a day! thats what i would do...

 

wrx wagon > *

 

^ fail Vince.

 

*when compared to the cars listed in this thread.