New to the forums, but not to drifting

[traegerm]

Hey guys, I'm new to the forums, I've been scoping it out for a while and I think I've read just about every post here.

So far the only technique I've been able to use was the E-Brake as I have a FWD Mercury Tracer (POS stationwagon in other words)

I decided to take it out last night as the ground was wet from melting snow, and at about my 30th time around I hit a patch (LARGE patch) of ice, lost all traction did about 5 360s and finally hit a curb at about 25 MPH, I hit it with my front left wheel and it bent the crap out of my strut tower, and that little arm that goes to the power steering (cant remember what it's called... Hydraulic actuator??) normally this wouldn't be too bad but the transmission is already just about dead and it's been dying so slowly that the engine has been hitting the rev. limiter (6200 RPM) almost constantly for the last month and a half.

So that car is screwed not worth the time or money to fix.

So now I'm asking your guys' opinion... I'm a 19 year old college student with no money, I need a car thats going to last me at least 2 years of my aggressive daily driving and moderate drifting, definatly want a manual RWD car, it has to be cheap, reliable, fun and fast, and be easy on my insurance (never been given a ticket (or even a warning) I work 3rd shift at the local 7-11 and give all our County Brownies whatever they want for free so the dialogue when I get pulled over is usually "oo hey Traeger, I thought you were working tonight??" "nope called in sick, just hanging out with some friends" "ok well have fun" "see ya tommorrow")

I've wanted an S13 ever since my dad sold his back in the early 90's. Would this be a good choice, or is there something out there thats better for me (I found a FC up in Niles, MI which is only 15 minutes away for cheap, but I hear less then great things about their reliability)

If I found an S13, how hard, expensive, and benifical is the oo so common engine swap.

I know I have more to say but can't think of it right now so I'll leave you all with this, thankyou in advance for any comments.

[RMS13kid]

yikes

well sorry to hear about your accident.. but i'm sure you're glad you got rid of that wagon. Now you can get what you want... i'd think with your interests a s13 would be ideal. I purchased mine for a very good price and it was really clean. The engine still runs strong with 180k+ on it... for a "typical" sr20det swat.. majority of the shops in the US will do it for 3k that's including warning harness, motor, labor, etc...

The one thing that you might want to consider if the KA24de you get with a 240 has low mileage... you can try a turbo kit. The iron cast block of the KA versus the aluminum SR has more potential in handling higher boosts... so if you get a good setup running... it could possibly be better than a sr swap. (plus from what i heard it's cheaper at the end).

I'm assuming your getting into drifting ... just fyi... don't think swapping a engine into your future RWD will allow you to drift perfectly. You should actually get your suspension done first. Look into full coilovers for a full track setup w/ a rougher ride.... or a combination of struts and springs for a daily/drift car with a smoother ride. There are more things you should replace since the 240sx is pretty old. You can replace/add bushings, control arms, torsion bars, front/rear upper strut bars, sway bars, etc...

Then brakes... you might want to replace the existing single piston calipers with bigger ones and get new pads + rotors... (doesn't have to be cross-drilled)... i could go on but yea...

Basically a 240sx is cheap, fun, lightweight, and most importantly RWD... good luck.

[pom_sandhu]

get a s13.
easiest car for drifting (with my experience)

practice with it and then mod it.

[traegerm]

hmmmm... well huge change of events!

So, I was at work last night, and it was slow, so finally I get a customer he gets gas and then looks around at some food, he is VERY well dressed I goto Chicago alot on the weekends and some of the clothes he was wearing cost more then my yearly income. I noticed something wierd though... He had a huge lump on his back, I was another one under his arm, finally when he came up to pay I saw the thrid lump (on his hip) and saw what it was through his open jacket HOLY $^&#* A GUN!!! Ok so tried not to panic as hed pulls out a money clip, "thats going to be 21.34" now this moeny clip was huge like carrying a monkey wrench in his pocket, he starts flipping through some bills, I'm guessing he flipped through about $5000 in 100 dollar bills before he finally found some smaller ones.

Then he said, "I thought Ryan was working tonight" then I told him that I took over for him cause cause he just bought a new car and wanted to vroom vroom around town, "really, that bastard was supposed to call me, I found a car for him" "oo yeah what kind" "oo just a 2003 Dodge Viper GTS" "#$^@& &#*$* *(#&*$ How much does that cost???" "$9,000"

SO I looked into it and this guy is for real Ryan stopped by later that night and hes been to one of this guys hangers at the local airport where he had stuffed 50 cars 2 boat and a helicopter.

Now that I'm done with my rambling I want to ask a new question, and feel free to add anything to the first question also. But I want to know what you guys think are the top 5 coolest cars, and why. I am going to try and work this guy to my advantage, I found out he is a heavy gambler and he's able to get these ^*$&$ INCREDIBLE prices through the casino owners who will do anything to keep someone there spending their money.

Thanks again.

[Drift For Food]

Sorry to hear about the car. You sound a bit...um...rough with your cars. I don't know if anything will hold up to what you seem to do in them, lol.

An S13 sounds fine for a new, used car. It has good potential and you'll love the rwd a whole lot better than the fwd you had.

From the way you describe your driving, I'm curious how much you have drifted yet? As well, how well is your understanding of drifting and its many technqiues?

I say this because, the e-brake wasn't actually the only option you had with your Tracer, feint and braking techniques are others that can be applied to a fwd platform.

As well, you seem to have a nack for beating the tar out of your car. Despite drifting being a bit rough on cars and their components, it still is an art of finess and control. One can still remain relatively gentle on a car despite exposing it to the stresses of drifting. This requires some restraint on your part and some modification of technique to perform smoother, less forceful drifts.

It's not all yanking the e-brake and bouncing off the rev limiter. In fact a tap on the brake, flick of the wheel, and some light throttle work can get you drifting easily and smoothly if done right and with a well set up car.

Now your Tracer wasn't a well set up car, and it does require some "persuation" to get the thing drifting. The S13 will do a bit nicer stock. Still, you'll want to think about suspenion changes down the line to help make the car behave how you like.

Do some learning. Take physics if you haven't already done so. Learn how this mechanical world of ours works. Learn about weight, acceleration, and traction. Learn how springs, shocks, and swaybars work.Learn about drifting and it's techniques. Learn about car concepts like weight shifting and traction circles. Know what you're doing. Know why you're doing it and how it works. Actual understanding, true understanding is a powerful thing.

After you get an idea of what you're doing, go out and practice. Take it slow and easy. Safety first. Practice, practice, practice. As well, always get a feel of the car first. Learn the car. Feel comfortable driving the car. Learn the limits of the car. This will make drifting easier. The more time you put into learning the car and getting a feel for it, the more drifting will become easier and safer.

The last two paragraphs biggies in terms of learning to drift and drifting safely.

[traegerm]

Hey Drift for Food,

Haha yes I am very rough with my cars under normal daily driving pedal is to the metal unless there is a car in front of me or a stop sign coming up which is rare in our sparsely populated parts of Indiana and South Bend, but when drifting it's a whole new story.

I first started drifting probably in early 2002, when I decided to "borrow" my father's old POS Volvo and go for a joy ride for a few hours, this was also the first time I had ever driven a car all by myself so I let loose. It had RWD and while going through a turn way to fast realized I could flip the rear end out by just pushing a bit on the gas. Tried it a few times at different speeds and paths and it was hella fun but it was getting late so I had to return the car before everyone woke up (or a cop pulled me over)

Yes, with a normal FWD car you could feint, but for some reason the power steering on the wagon didn't like it even with a very light feint it felt like the PS suddenly froze for a second or two, which resulted in two VERY close calls with ditchs... needless to say I didn't try that again in the wagon. I was extremely happy when my dad bought a new Audi A6 Twin Turbo (AWD) as it allowed me to practice feinting and working on general control (although it felt incredibly heavy to me (it is a large car))

As far as for what I plan on doing to whichever car I end up getting suspension is top on the list, as well as a set of high tread life tires for the boring world of daily driving.

I'm pretty sure I understand most of how drifting works, I'm a science geek and completed 2nd level physics my junior year of HS, and I've always seemed to be able to work out why things happen the way they do without diving into the books. The only thing I have totally no grasp of is the toe heel thing cause I've never seen it and it's never really been explained to me.

Hahaha yeah, I love the advice in the last paragraph "Take it slow and easy." I always have taken my drifts way to fast especially for the Tracer that things suspension was so loose that it's been on only two wheels quite a few times.

Anyways, thanks for the advice DfF... It's nice to come into a forum and the first thing out of someones mouth isn't "OMG WTF STFU N00B!!1!1!" and everyone else too. Thanks for the help and wish me and my finicky camera luck.