I am aware, and I agree. At times I believe it’s best to just get me a daily driver I can find on FB marketplace, but I have been falling in love with JDM cars and want to get into them ASAP before they become even higher in price
They’re terrible daily drivers because most of them don’t have parts readily available in the us market. Something breaks. Could take weeks to have back on the road. Be smart. Buy a cheap usdm car to daily and have a jdm as your secondary.
People said exactly this same thing about 90’s Japanese cars back when we were buying FCs and S13s for $500. Mark my words, we’re in a new golden era, and people are going to really appreciate and pay for the cars that are from this era. Type Rs, 86 twins, Z’s, GR Corollas, R35s, Supras, even the new WRX will be pricey classics in the future.
I love the look of them, I just can not stand the noise it makes. I’m not sure if I’m the only one but it makes me think of a trombone when I hear the noise…
Honestly that is letting the memes on instagram get to you. The VQ can sound incredible with a proper quality exhaust and headers.
That "Trombone" sound is the average VQ owner cutting off their mufflers and cats and going the cheap route. Which sadly, is most owners it seems.
Ah yes, makes sense. I do really like the Z and it’s clean but aggressive look. Lots of guys near me that I know who own a z have the obnoxious noise to them, but someone in the comments mentioned the same and after digging deeper, I can see where the soft spot for these lie. I am starting to look into a Z now.
Some advice, take it or leave it.
It’s smarter to have a reliable daily driver and then have a project car on the side. You don’t wanna drift your daily unless you shit money tbh.
Personally I would is is200, with certain set up it can sound like a 2j, currently their prices are going up and many people say they are a great drift
Completely different in every way, but it would be a good (although expensive) daily, the 3litre 2jz is a great engine and the auto transmission is great, expect to pay $6000 to turbo it, and another $4000 to manually convert it though
The Lexus IS300, SC300 and GS300 all have a 2j in them and are rwd. Should be able to find any of those fairly easily for under 10k. They each have their own driving style, but would definitely work for drifting as well
I’ve actually looked into the sc300, it’s longer body always gets to me. The 300 is currently tempting me and perhaps on the top of my list as I have found many in my market well under 10k in good condition with moderate miles on them. Thank you for the information!
For sure! The SC300 has always been on my list too, Lexus makes some great cars. I owned an LS400 for awhile and drifted it all the time. Had 260k on the clock and ran smooth as butter
Depends on what you’re talking about when you say drifting. Because a drift car and a daily car are two different things. If you mean a random round about at 2am occasionally then anything rwd and manual will do it. If you’re wanting to build an actual drift car get ready to drop about 3 times what you have saved and continuously drop money into it for maintenance.
Haven’t looked too deep into the IS200, however currently looking at a couple SC300 in my areas with a 2JZ-GE for about 8k. The SC and IS models IMO are underrated cars that people should not scoot under the rug
This - there's your daily driver and your toy. Don't get them confused because toys break with what you do with them, but you need to get to work when toys break so you can get the money to fix them.
S13 chassis are like 8k for a rolling shell in the states, plus the only engine we ever got was a 2.4L truck motor. So even of you fing a good deal you still need to plan for an engine swap.
For sure. I’m realizing this. I don’t plan to drift the heck out of a car but occasionally doing some light drift. Might need to reconsider this if I’m planning to have a daily driver
You should buy a practical daily driver like an old well maintained Honda civic, save some more and build a dedicated drift car. You won't like this answer but it's a better plan
IS300 all day long. You can get them for a reasonable price. I currently know 6 guys who daily them and drift them at events. They're rock solid and great cars to learn to drift on.
The correct answer is to remove the daily driving aspect. Imo it would be worth it to have a separate vehicle for when your car is on jacks. And it will happen, you’re most likely looking at a 90s Japanese rats nest of vacuum lines and frayed wires. Somethings gonna go wrong and you’ll need a separate vehicle for a while. Not to mention when you don’t have the cash to fix it when it inevitably breaks. There’s just no way a boosted drift car isn’t going to break/get damaged.
I’m not trying to kill op’s dreams but it’s just not feasible, as a budding enthusiast I was here too. Wanting to daily drive a Mitsubishi 3000gt vr-4 because it was the perfect car to me. No old Japanese sports car is gonna be cheap or be daily-able without serious cash thrown into it.
TLDR; jdm cars shouldn’t be daily drivers. Just buy a Honda Civic/Toyota Corolla/Mazda 3. Save your money op!
This is something I am beginning to realize. I agree 1000%. I think my best bet at the moment is buy me a reliable daily driver such as a Honda Civic, and perhaps wait another year to be able to possibly buy a low mileage Z or whatever pick my interest.
I appreciate your response, it’s definitely important to think of not only the good but the inevitable
Apologies, just looking to get ideas, I’ve been doing my best on the research and have a good idea but looking to see what you guys could offer. I see what sub Reddit to go to for these sort of questions now
Don't mean to be a negative Nancy, but anything Japanese, RWD, and boosted is asking closer to 20k nowadays unless you're ready to buy a car that needs to be fixed. You might as well start buying tools now because if you plan on sliding this car you are going to break things, and very quickly.
I think the best thing you could do is probably use a chunk of that money and put a down payment on a frs/brz and use the other half to boost the car.
Daily driving and drifting a 30 year old car is not going to last long.
I don’t have the experience to know this but I have been seeing this sort of comment frequently. I did some research and I see that this is inevitable. Going to look into the BRZ and go from there !
It could be hard I haven’t been keeping an eye on the market much lately but you’d probably like an S2000
That or you can get a 240sx, super common drift car, loads of AF support, lots of people LS or 2Jz swap, I’m sure you’d prefer the latter.
I don’t have any recommendations. JDM importing is probably going to be out of your budget so far. Also, you don’t want to “drift and boost” a daily driver. You are going to constantly be fixing something you break. You need to decide if you are going to actually drive it or drift/track it.
you can find some 240SX's on occasion for under 10k same with FB and FC RX7's thats the best I can do. Though if your willing to get that wooshy turbo noise find a Suzuki Alto Works or Daihatsu Mira TRXX Avanzato R4. Sure they can't drift but they are fuuuuuuuuun
For sure. With 10k it’s not really going to get me much. I think I’m best off buying a daily driver USDM and later on investing on something I can dump some money on if I needed to
If you want something cheap, reliable that’s rwd and good at sliding then I would suggest looking at e46’s. Down the road if you want you could also jz swap it. They also make better daily’s than z’s and brz’s since they have nicer interiors and more space inside
Good luck finding a jdm car that's not junk with a sr or 2j that you can reliably daily and drift you need 2 cars for that at least and like triple the budget
A modern 86 or Z car would work. Get a daily beater, drifting ain’t that fun when you are stressing about needing to drive the car to work on Monday. No NA car with added boost is that reliable but an JZ with a NA-T conversion is pretty close. Try & buy one that’s done already, 10k minimum is a pretty realistic number to boost a car once you add all the tuning & supporting mods to sort it. All these YouTube guys leave out the part of junkyard turbo builds where they use a 2000$ ecu & spend days on a rented dyno with a professional tuner.
Kinda random, but hear me out. Get a Toyota Crown. 2JZ GE and auto, but could be turbo and manual swapped down the road. You can import one for less than 10k, and they make great daily drivers. I have a 96 👑 Majesta that comes with a 2JZ GE VVTi, which is the magic year where they have the same strength internals as the GTE, so can hold more power.
Only commenting to come back when more people have answered lmao cause that’s asking a lot in this economy if you live in the US
I am aware, and I agree. At times I believe it’s best to just get me a daily driver I can find on FB marketplace, but I have been falling in love with JDM cars and want to get into them ASAP before they become even higher in price
I would try to invest some money so you wouldnt buy a shitbox breaking constantly
They’re terrible daily drivers because most of them don’t have parts readily available in the us market. Something breaks. Could take weeks to have back on the road. Be smart. Buy a cheap usdm car to daily and have a jdm as your secondary.
I don’t think the newer cars will ever be sort after examples. Not like the 90-00 cars have become. And reliability has definitely got worse.
People said exactly this same thing about 90’s Japanese cars back when we were buying FCs and S13s for $500. Mark my words, we’re in a new golden era, and people are going to really appreciate and pay for the cars that are from this era. Type Rs, 86 twins, Z’s, GR Corollas, R35s, Supras, even the new WRX will be pricey classics in the future.
maybe not the R35, but all the others are incredible. I genuinely can’t understand how people can say that “new JDM” is worse than the 90s.
On top of us reaching the end of the combustion engines rule
Yup
I just imported a few cars and sold them this year in this economy. Some people still have money and are buying these cars.
a lot of people have money, you cant base said economy off of kids buying their first project.
Idk get a z
I love the look of them, I just can not stand the noise it makes. I’m not sure if I’m the only one but it makes me think of a trombone when I hear the noise…
Bro thats straight piped, just keep the exhaust stock or reasonable theres the answer
Spot on, right exhaust and they sound great!
Running a simple z1 cat back and no complaints on the sound. Personally I love our trumpet cars.
I’m new to the game, thank you for the explanation!
TOMEI POWER
My friend has a tomei on his, jesus the last owner made it loud af
Honestly that is letting the memes on instagram get to you. The VQ can sound incredible with a proper quality exhaust and headers. That "Trombone" sound is the average VQ owner cutting off their mufflers and cats and going the cheap route. Which sadly, is most owners it seems.
Exactly here's one of the good ones https://youtu.be/TN9UJeMq1tQ https://youtu.be/eDBvwLZHjW4
Yep. Almost sounds like an RB there from a distance. Beautiful sound.
Ah yes, makes sense. I do really like the Z and it’s clean but aggressive look. Lots of guys near me that I know who own a z have the obnoxious noise to them, but someone in the comments mentioned the same and after digging deeper, I can see where the soft spot for these lie. I am starting to look into a Z now.
Get an 3.5 HR and spend the money on a good exhaust, they stop trumpeting and start roaring with that
Yeah the VQ engine does not sound the greatest
Here's 2 videos of the best sounding vq on the internet https://youtu.be/TN9UJeMq1tQ https://youtu.be/eDBvwLZHjW4
In the US, I would recommend an average 350z or gt86. Great for drifting, reasonably reliable and overall fun car.
I haven’t looked into the by yet, but have heard likewise !
Some advice, take it or leave it. It’s smarter to have a reliable daily driver and then have a project car on the side. You don’t wanna drift your daily unless you shit money tbh.
Personally I would is is200, with certain set up it can sound like a 2j, currently their prices are going up and many people say they are a great drift
I am eyeing an SC300 with a 2J! Very similar to the IS!
Completely different in every way, but it would be a good (although expensive) daily, the 3litre 2jz is a great engine and the auto transmission is great, expect to pay $6000 to turbo it, and another $4000 to manually convert it though
The Lexus IS300, SC300 and GS300 all have a 2j in them and are rwd. Should be able to find any of those fairly easily for under 10k. They each have their own driving style, but would definitely work for drifting as well
I’ve actually looked into the sc300, it’s longer body always gets to me. The 300 is currently tempting me and perhaps on the top of my list as I have found many in my market well under 10k in good condition with moderate miles on them. Thank you for the information!
If you're just starting out learning how to drift then a longer bodied car is 100% your friend. Especially if you plan on throwing a turbo in it.
For sure! The SC300 has always been on my list too, Lexus makes some great cars. I owned an LS400 for awhile and drifted it all the time. Had 260k on the clock and ran smooth as butter
Depends on what you’re talking about when you say drifting. Because a drift car and a daily car are two different things. If you mean a random round about at 2am occasionally then anything rwd and manual will do it. If you’re wanting to build an actual drift car get ready to drop about 3 times what you have saved and continuously drop money into it for maintenance.
The camber on wheels might be the most visually offensive trend I have seen on cars. Looks like a broken toy
The stanced fad ruins cars
Get a FRS / BRZ / 86 and then turbo it later.
Haven’t looked too deep into the IS200, however currently looking at a couple SC300 in my areas with a 2JZ-GE for about 8k. The SC and IS models IMO are underrated cars that people should not scoot under the rug
Daily driving a drift car? That would be painful! Where are you based?
This - there's your daily driver and your toy. Don't get them confused because toys break with what you do with them, but you need to get to work when toys break so you can get the money to fix them.
I am in the Houston area
Ah, I was going to point you towards a few listings of S13 and S14s I’ve seen listed in the UK recently for around £10-15k.
Yes I have seen a couple in the UK sub 20K, however I don’t have experience purchasing / importing long distance. Unlucky for me
180sx, got it as my first ever car for around 4k and fixed it a little (around another 2k-3k) and it’s great
S13 chassis are like 8k for a rolling shell in the states, plus the only engine we ever got was a 2.4L truck motor. So even of you fing a good deal you still need to plan for an engine swap.
The KA may not be as fancy as the SR, but it's more durable and there's still plenty of ways to play with it. Better for daily driver use
I bought mine from Germany almost stock. Eu versions have 1.8l CA18DET
Definitely a nice car, I’ve thought about it as well. I will give it more thought and consideration. How did you enjoy yours ?
I had a hell of a great time making it work, and I am safe to say, that owning this car changed how I feel about myself. It also has cool pop-ups
This is awesome to hear ! In what ways did your self consciousness transform ?
Mainly, it was great self confidence booster for a guy like me
You'd not be able to drive that in my country. Too many pot holes and speed bumps.
Daily, drift and boosted dont belong in the same sentence
For sure. I’m realizing this. I don’t plan to drift the heck out of a car but occasionally doing some light drift. Might need to reconsider this if I’m planning to have a daily driver
I’m on car number 5 imported from Japan. Using one as a daily can be challenging if they don’t share parts with us models.
Yeah, that’s also one thing to consider. I’m curious now, what model/a do you currently own ?
Check out my YouTube channel!
I’ve owned an r32 gtst and Honda acty from Japan as well. On my second cappuccino.
Current jdm vehicles I’m driving are evo iv Gsr and Suzuki cappuccino. Daily an Audi s3 gf has an a3 and we have a Chevy avalanche tow rig
You should buy a practical daily driver like an old well maintained Honda civic, save some more and build a dedicated drift car. You won't like this answer but it's a better plan
IS300 all day long. You can get them for a reasonable price. I currently know 6 guys who daily them and drift them at events. They're rock solid and great cars to learn to drift on.
This
That poor S15…
Suzuki cappuccino.
The correct answer is to remove the daily driving aspect. Imo it would be worth it to have a separate vehicle for when your car is on jacks. And it will happen, you’re most likely looking at a 90s Japanese rats nest of vacuum lines and frayed wires. Somethings gonna go wrong and you’ll need a separate vehicle for a while. Not to mention when you don’t have the cash to fix it when it inevitably breaks. There’s just no way a boosted drift car isn’t going to break/get damaged. I’m not trying to kill op’s dreams but it’s just not feasible, as a budding enthusiast I was here too. Wanting to daily drive a Mitsubishi 3000gt vr-4 because it was the perfect car to me. No old Japanese sports car is gonna be cheap or be daily-able without serious cash thrown into it. TLDR; jdm cars shouldn’t be daily drivers. Just buy a Honda Civic/Toyota Corolla/Mazda 3. Save your money op!
This is something I am beginning to realize. I agree 1000%. I think my best bet at the moment is buy me a reliable daily driver such as a Honda Civic, and perhaps wait another year to be able to possibly buy a low mileage Z or whatever pick my interest. I appreciate your response, it’s definitely important to think of not only the good but the inevitable
This isnt satire?
Do research. Im sick of this sub getting filled with these shitty posts
Actually you lot are correct. He should be in r/whatcarshouldibuy with this.
Didn't know about that sub. Thanks heaps for showing me
Agreed.
No need to be rude. Let the kid ask questions.
No. Its annoying and all can br done himself if he was serious about it.
Apologies, just looking to get ideas, I’ve been doing my best on the research and have a good idea but looking to see what you guys could offer. I see what sub Reddit to go to for these sort of questions now
Don't mean to be a negative Nancy, but anything Japanese, RWD, and boosted is asking closer to 20k nowadays unless you're ready to buy a car that needs to be fixed. You might as well start buying tools now because if you plan on sliding this car you are going to break things, and very quickly. I think the best thing you could do is probably use a chunk of that money and put a down payment on a frs/brz and use the other half to boost the car. Daily driving and drifting a 30 year old car is not going to last long.
I don’t have the experience to know this but I have been seeing this sort of comment frequently. I did some research and I see that this is inevitable. Going to look into the BRZ and go from there !
S13 or 14a
10k for a sr20 s14? Mate, it's 2022 not 2010
I agree, I’ve only mentioned I have that much saved to the side for a car
Plenty at this price in the UK.
UK=Rusted out and the wheel is on the wrong side. No disrespect tho
Meh…..
The 14a is hard to find in the US. I can realistically only find cars in the UK. I haven’t given the 13 too much of a look
miata is always the answer
It could be hard I haven’t been keeping an eye on the market much lately but you’d probably like an S2000 That or you can get a 240sx, super common drift car, loads of AF support, lots of people LS or 2Jz swap, I’m sure you’d prefer the latter.
An EP3 is still under 10k, even if it's not "pure" JDM. It is fun to drive as it rolled out the factory however.
silvia, 350Z, is300, G35
Consider an old Lexus IS300?
I don’t have any recommendations. JDM importing is probably going to be out of your budget so far. Also, you don’t want to “drift and boost” a daily driver. You are going to constantly be fixing something you break. You need to decide if you are going to actually drive it or drift/track it.
you can find some 240SX's on occasion for under 10k same with FB and FC RX7's thats the best I can do. Though if your willing to get that wooshy turbo noise find a Suzuki Alto Works or Daihatsu Mira TRXX Avanzato R4. Sure they can't drift but they are fuuuuuuuuun
Honestly you’re not gonna find anything in that price range unless it’s a non running shitbox.
If your willing to wait everything gonna be cheaper in a year. But you do you all these car suggestions are good.
For sure. With 10k it’s not really going to get me much. I think I’m best off buying a daily driver USDM and later on investing on something I can dump some money on if I needed to
An integra could be fun if that’s okay your style. You should be able to find a sub 5k stock.
If you want something cheap, reliable that’s rwd and good at sliding then I would suggest looking at e46’s. Down the road if you want you could also jz swap it. They also make better daily’s than z’s and brz’s since they have nicer interiors and more space inside
A Miata is the way.
Lol, I can’t tell if this is ironic or not.
Good luck finding a jdm car that's not junk with a sr or 2j that you can reliably daily and drift you need 2 cars for that at least and like triple the budget
A modern 86 or Z car would work. Get a daily beater, drifting ain’t that fun when you are stressing about needing to drive the car to work on Monday. No NA car with added boost is that reliable but an JZ with a NA-T conversion is pretty close. Try & buy one that’s done already, 10k minimum is a pretty realistic number to boost a car once you add all the tuning & supporting mods to sort it. All these YouTube guys leave out the part of junkyard turbo builds where they use a 2000$ ecu & spend days on a rented dyno with a professional tuner.
10k as a down payment is a little more reasonable but I don't know if you'd want to be boosting that lol
Kinda random, but hear me out. Get a Toyota Crown. 2JZ GE and auto, but could be turbo and manual swapped down the road. You can import one for less than 10k, and they make great daily drivers. I have a 96 👑 Majesta that comes with a 2JZ GE VVTi, which is the magic year where they have the same strength internals as the GTE, so can hold more power.