ae86 vs. e30

[lennon]

my whole point was that the I is a better all around car. Not only is it a good daily, but it will handle the track much better. It's just how BMW designed these cars.
Here:
ETA: older folks who want a BMW but keep it civil.
I/IS: people who want to drive their car like a bat out of hell.

what about in 1984, what type bought the i/is cars then? oh yeah...

ive had two (edit: not "stock") eta's and both were/are faster than stock 325is from any speed up till around 75-100mph where they dont have the power to keep pulling as hard, but if youve been racing since 2nd or 3rd gear, the "I" car probably still wont catch up for a while. if that makes sense. 3.25:1 or lower rear end and a good chip does a lot. this is with stock motor of course, no crazy 885+eta frankenmotors here. 731 heads are not that hard to find though. i have one, theres always atleast one for sale online.

nonetheless, an "i" car would be better. for a set amount of dollars, often choosing a nice car with the "boring" motor works out better in the end, rather than getting the "i" car with bad paint/interior or something like that. i bet if you look for a few months you will find a great "i" in your price range though.

second edit: i would CERTAINLY not buy that car you showed us though. it looks like total shit and was obviously owned by a kid. you can get a clean 100% stock eta for that price or less off of someone who hasnt been driving the shit out of it cause he thinks its a race car. the last one i bought cost me $1200 and looks 1200 times better than that pile. it was all stock with mint vinyl non-sport seats, base model everything, great original paint. girlfriend drove it for months just as i bought it.

[nano408]

what about in 1984, what type bought the i/is cars then? oh yeah...

ive had two (edit: not "stock") eta's and both were/are faster than stock 325is from any speed up till around 75-100mph where they dont have the power to keep pulling as hard, but if youve been racing since 2nd or 3rd gear, the "I" car probably still wont catch up for a while. if that makes sense. 3.25:1 or lower rear end and a good chip does a lot. this is with stock motor of course, no crazy 885+eta frankenmotors here. 731 heads are not that hard to find though. i have one, theres always atleast one for sale online.

nonetheless, an "i" car would be better. for a set amount of dollars, often choosing a nice car with the "boring" motor works out better in the end, rather than getting the "i" car with bad paint/interior or something like that. i bet if you look for a few months you will find a great "i" in your price range though.

second edit: i would CERTAINLY not buy that car you showed us though. it looks like total shit and was obviously owned by a kid. you can get a clean 100% stock eta for that price or less off of someone who hasnt been driving the shit out of it cause he thinks its a race car. the last one i bought cost me $1200 and looks 1200 times better than that pile. it was all stock with mint vinyl non-sport seats, base model everything, great original paint. girlfriend drove it for months just as i bought it.

what if i get him to bring the price down to 1200? still no?

[Miasma]

sigh, childrenz

That is fucking epic.

[bats]

4AGE motor is bullet,grenade,bomb proof. Very resilient motor that loves been revved. I have two friends that have an AE86s, and love tossing them around. Entertaining and capable cars in the corners.

Value for money wise, I would get whichever is in better shape/better deal. They suffered the Initial D effect (an anime about the AE86), and their values jumped tremendously. Big in the drifting scene, they are overinflated last time I checked. For example a little under a decade ago, you could find a 100-120k, rust free Corolla GTS for about $1k-2k. These days, that is about $5-6k, no mods.

[whterice]

just buy the E30 you will be much happier with it I have owned 12 ae86 corollas in both hatch and coupe all gts models. The current price for a decent shape corolla is retarded since 95% of them out there are rusted in the rear 1/4 panels. Good luck finding replacement panels for a corolla as there is none out there unless you do a set of over fenders which will cost you for a decent set. Corollas will always be slow and require ALOT of money to make decently fast. Just buy the E30 and have a much better platform to start your build with

[etxxz]

has anyone ever driven both of these and would like to give me a comparison on how they each perform? i was looking for an ae86 but havent been able to afford one but came across a $2k 1985 e30 325e. i am now contemplating getting the e30 becauseit has racing bucket seats, short ram intake, remus exhaust, kyb struts front/back, sway bars, dynamics rear spoiler, 2002 325i rims/wheels. are they a hassle or problematic at all? oh and its has 114k

skipping all the nonsense replies. I have OWNED, driven and drifted both cars.

infact, the ae86 was my first ever car. Paid $100 for an SR-5 white hb (got pics!!) Blew the engine the first day and drove it on 2.5cyl for 6months untill dropping a silvertop in it (that would be the 20v 1.6 jdmtyte counterpart of the US 16V 4age)

To answer your question. The ae86 still seems like more fun to drive. The e30 outperforms it in EVERY single way. Even after swapping the 20v, trd japan suspension (8/6k) used TRD LSD, GTS rear end (caliper) conversion etc etc etc (also have pics!) i still made better use of my first e30. All the e30 needed was a half assed suspension setup to perform better (on the track, mainly drifting because that's why i got the 86 to begin with).

I enjoyed the 86 7months or so more untill i sold it to some philipino guy in MI for $3600... the Takumi tax was pretty high in 2006. I bought my first e30 shortly after. I'm in my third e30 and its one of the most badass (performance wise) e30s around. Tried an e36 and it didnt do it for me for the parts reasons (i'm a "all go, no show guy") Maybe i'll build an e46 after i do my masters degree in a couple years.

hope this helps. This reply is completely unbiased. I would rock another 86, but i wouln't waste my time building after all i've been through. "If your neighbors beard sets on fire, put yours in water" -etxx

my .02

[Wh33lhop]

Aaaand there you have it. I assume when you're talking about E30s you're referring to the M20B25 variety, am I wrong?

Feel free to elaborate further on why the E30 is better. ;)

[e30trooper]

i dont like the way those mr2's look and i have thought about owning a 240 but id much rather have a corolla if i had the chance. why 900?

becuase that eta is not anywhere worth 2k... missing bumpers, ulgy green rims, rusted paint looking hood. its an eta and do you knw how many miles, clean title?? like I said b4 Id pay 900 for that and nothing more. most likly the car has been abused

[Nic01101011]

If you grew up watching DTM/BTCC and dreamed of racing, get an E30.

If you grew up watching Initial D and dreamed of delivering tofu, get the Toyota.

I like this answer ;)

the toyotas are kind of cool imo, but not cooler than e30s, largely due to reasons related to the above quoted post.

id wait and try to find a nice 325i/s...

[nano408]

becuase that eta is not anywhere worth 2k... missing bumpers, ulgy green rims, rusted paint looking hood. its an eta and do you knw how many miles, clean title?? like I said b4 Id pay 900 for that and nothing more. most likly the car has been abused

he took his bumpers off cause he didnt like the way it looked but he has them and says hell put them back on for me. supposably the hood was done like that on purpose. 114k miles and clean title. he hasnt moved the car in over a month cause his alternator gave out. he said hes gonna replace it with a "new" one and a new alternator band

[nano408]

Aaaand there you have it. I assume when you're talking about E30s you're referring to the M20B25 variety, am I wrong?

Feel free to elaborate further on why the E30 is better. ;)

yeah i see your guy's point now...i still want to test drive it though just to rid my self of any doubts

[yert315]

what about in 1984, what type bought the i/is cars then? oh yeah...

ive had two (edit: not "stock") eta's and both were/are faster than stock 325is from any speed up till around 75-100mph where they dont have the power to keep pulling as hard, but if youve been racing since 2nd or 3rd gear, the "I" car probably still wont catch up for a while. if that makes sense. 3.25:1 or lower rear end and a good chip does a lot. this is with stock motor of course, no crazy 885+eta frankenmotors here. 731 heads are not that hard to find though. i have one, theres always atleast one for sale online.

nonetheless, an "i" car would be better. for a set amount of dollars, often choosing a nice car with the "boring" motor works out better in the end, rather than getting the "i" car with bad paint/interior or something like that. i bet if you look for a few months you will find a great "i" in your price range though.

First, in 1984, BMW didnt even have the I in their line up. And we are not talking about the 4-cylinder either. Of course it is an option, but that is another subject in itself. Any sensable person whould know that I am referring to the years when the 'e' and 'i' m20 were available thanks for pointing out the obvious though.

Second, you cant compare a modded e to a stock i. If you are going to compare cars, give both a fair comparison. Modded the same way, an 'I' will beat an 'e' every day of the week. You can't argue this. Stock for stock, the 'i' is a better all around car. When modded, the 'i' will still beat out the 'e' in nearly every aspect.

[wolfgangstbd]

4AGE motor is bullet,grenade,bomb proof. Very resilient motor that loves been revved. I have two friends that have an AE86s, and love tossing them around. Entertaining and capable cars in the corners.

Value for money wise, I would get whichever is in better shape/better deal. They suffered the Initial D effect (an anime about the AE86), and their values jumped tremendously. Big in the drifting scene, they are overinflated last time I checked. For example a little under a decade ago, you could find a 100-120k, rust free Corolla GTS for about $1k-2k. These days, that is about $5-6k, no mods.

bombproof isnt the word id give it. stock its decently reliable but its a fact its gonna be old. my brother got rod knock on his because he used to rice around alot. but it only takes like a day to take that engine out rebuild it(parts on hand) and put it back in. really simple and fun

[rThor432]

First, in 1984, BMW didnt even have the I in their line up.

Sure they did, I've had two of them -- 323i's. 150hp/150lb/ft, a close ratio dogleg box, and 3.25 rear ends. They are faster than etas, and arguably faster than the later B25i's (power/weight-- mine weighed 2500-2600lbs).

(Yes, I just threw that out to make the point, but they did have an I in the line-up.)

[yert315]

we're splitting hairs now