Be realistic: What IS a car that is a good replacement for a E30?

[TimKninja]

Have you owned one?

Because yes I work on mine a decent bit, but it is still light years ahead of my e30. Also, I put over 100 miles on mine every day. Still in love.

No but I work at an Audi/BMW performance shop. And i work on them oftenly.

Would rather have an E30. I can see the appeal to B5 S4s I understand it. But you need alot of money to maintain them. MUCH MUCH more costly then an E30 to maintain. Hence not a good replacement.

I barely have to work on my S50 swapped e30 at all and I drive it 100 miles a day as well.

[Exodus_2pt0]

Have you owned one?

Because yes I work on mine a decent bit, but it is still light years ahead of my e30. Also, I put over 100 miles on mine every day. Still in love.

[TimKninja]

You should try one, best 8K I have ever spent.

Hard to work on maintenance whores blah blah blah.

We are all hear because of the love of machines. How can you hate on a Twin Turbo v6 that is capable of 500AWHP on stock internals, with a 6 speed bulletproof transmission and AWD? If you say that without the Audi emblem 90% of you fuckers would be watering at the mouth.

And for the record, I have put 30k on mine since October and while it hasn't been without some issues, it has reliably gotten me to work each and every day.

And no, I ain't mad. I'll purchase a Candlelit massage by none other than Slammin' himself for each of you fuckers if you keep me around with my blaspheming mouth.

EEEEETA, I'll even throw in a happy motherfucking ending.


I'm going to whore this car until I get 3 R3V'rs to buy one.

No . Don't buy one of these .

Great great car in theory . Bullet proof engine , bullet proof Trans , fast as fuck . But it ends There . A B5 S4 will completely fucking drain your wallet all of the time . All of the time . It's been rumored Audi put a $100 bill slot on the dashboard that just takes your hard earned money and burns it .

-11286 front Control arms
-Rear wheel bearings every 20k
-aux water pump . Fucking terrible
-EGT Sensors ($500 a peice)
- turbos will eventually go. Drop the engine cradle to replace them
-etc Etc


NOT. A good replacement for the e30, something you'd need to consistently be working on and dumping money into all of the time . You'd end up driving the e30 more . You could buy a set of coilOvers for your e30 for the cost of the EGT sensors on your Audi . What sounds better ?

I don't give a crap what emblem is on the front of the car . It depends on what the car actually is on the inside .

[whitebulat22]

Now that I've thought about it, many cars check most of the boxes but none check all. Except the e36 compact, but who wants to admit that one.

The svt focus is a nice little low cost secret. Handling, good engine, 6 speed getrag.

The Fox horse is the e30 of mustangs. Next gen is the low priced e36, then the svt cobra is the coveted e46 csl, the fat one after that is the e90 stang. They all line up nicely.

The two 240s are definitely the closest things to e30s ever made. Just the stereotypical cultures are all completely alien to one another.

[rturbo 930]

If anything happens to my E30, a Miata or an S2000 is likely what will replace it. An S2000 is the only 'new' car that I really want, and it would be really nice to be able to buy a car and just drive it for once.

[Vincent Brick]

I'm hoping to replace my E30 with an S2000 in a couple years if I can come up with the money and a place with a garage. E46s are getting affordable now, but I'm not sure if I want a car that complex and large, not sure I want to continue owning German.

[lukeADE335i]

2 series for me down the track I think, once the e30 has run it's course - which will probably be in another 5 years or so... I'll pick up a 5 year old one.

[Todd Black 88]

I have a 135 msport cab, and if I were going to replace my e30 I would seriously consider a 135 coupe/stick. It's a fun car.
If I could swing the cash, a 1M in that orange/red colour.

[Exodus_2pt0]

On that note, one can snag a great condition stock B5S4 for a little more than some of you are paying for E30's nowadays!

[mrcheezle19]

And no, I ain't mad. I'll purchase a Candlelit massage by none other than Slammin' himself for each of you fuckers if you keep me around with my blaspheming mouth.

EEEEETA, I'll even throw in a happy motherfucking ending.

Quoting this because I want a damn massage

[mcgillaguddy]

I've had 19 cars, and 4 of them have been e30's. For an equal replacement, I can't find one. To me, the e30 is old enough to feel raw & simple, but new enough to feel sturdy & reliable. With that said I have had cars that let me relive a bit of the e30 joy:

Porsche 914 - the cheap Porsche that still has an engine sitting in the right place (behind you). From my experience, much more e30 like than the 944. Find a 914/6 and you'll be very happy. It still misses the e30, I think it due to it's age it just feels a little more raw than put together, the balance the e30 handles so well.

Porsche 911 - my fathers 1970 911 delivers a lot of e30 likeness in the chassis & handling department. The drive-train shares no similarities though. Obviously price is a huge issue here.

Mini Cooper - for a newer vehicle, it definitely hits some of the traits of an e30, and they are great to DD. With a little modifying it could be a pretty strong replacement. Personally, I sold my mini to buy an e30 instead of putting money into it. Worst thing, it will always be FWD, unless you like huge projects.

e28 - I had an 87 535is which most definitely hits a lot of the e30 points, but loses it in the handling. It has a very e30 feel inside and out though. Super satisfying car to drive, and I regret selling it 100%.

I think an e36 m3 would be a good option. You can pick up a good condition automatic super cheap and then swap it. It will be cheaper and in better condition than 99% of the manual e36 m3's out there right now.

[DEV0 E30]

FRS/BRZ needs a good competitor. I'm hoping the new concept 510 / tribute becomes a reality and fills that void. I'd give that car a test drive. I'd like to see Hyundai try to get the formula right for a RWD car too.

The 2 series I suppose is the modern equivalent in BMW terms, looks better than a 1 Series too. I mean I did consider a 135i. But I think anything over $20k isn't really a good "replacement" to an E30. Sure many of our community can be seen as cheap, because many of us are young... or just cheap, but then there are those of us who have owned these for 10 years or more like myself. Nothing lasts forever, and our market has been interesting the last few years. I realize what they sold for originally and comparing new to used is a weird sliding scale, but you have to first look at your budget with any car. What can you get with 5, 10, 15, 20k. Then, maintenance costs.

Going to disagree on the Miata. Miata is fun but makes a terrible DD. I enjoyed my e30 as a daily, my Miata barely gets driven because it is only good for short spirited drives. Too loud and uncomfortable for commuting, and the gas mileage isn't even all that impressive given its size and horsepower.

I'll be honest, I've never driven one. Just heard good things. Known a few with different generations. Is yours fuhrazed out? I guess I didn't realize they'd get that sort of review but it makes sense. I figured the newer gens would be a good mix too, but again I don't have any experience.

[Exodus_2pt0]

I drove a few 370Z's for predelivery inspections at Nissan.

Solid cars, very fun experience and the power was great. Didn't push it down any back roads because I liked my job, but the trips to the gas station had me tempted to make one my own.

The rev-match downshifting was spectacular.


That said, while the constant variable valve lift is an engineering masterpiece, the price of the adjusters was around 1k a pop. And according to the Nissan Technical school, they must be replaced once removed. I never got a chance to verify, but that right there made it a grand to start every time you pull one off for any unrelated repair.

Seriously though, that shit was awesome.



Essentially swapping cams with a tune? Yes please.

[e30onBBSs]

Be realistic: What IS a car that is a good replacement for a E30?

"Curvy" in the online dating profile sense :giggle: Since it weighs 500lbs more than a 325. If any sports car on the market is remotely comparable to an E30 it's the FRS/BRZ. Everything else is too heavy and large and not focused on the "driving experience"

Hahaha true but it has nearly double the power of an m20 and isn't as aerodynamic and sorted as a frs. e30 is boxy and probably has good center of gravity but not like the frs and it's a 4 banger, granted the 370 is a v6.

I agree that the frs is the most experience oriented but the experience of the sorted rear end and the predictability of ABS, PS, traction control, cats, etc is not similar. I can't see a stock frs ever giving me that feeling of "at any second the rear end might slip 😏" where as in the 370z it's probably way more raw and almost sketchy at times which is something I love about the e30.

370z has ps abs traction control too but turning them off would be more e30 than frs

[varg]

370z. To me it's a curvy e30

"Curvy" in the online dating profile sense :giggle: Since it weighs 500lbs more than a 325. If any sports car on the market is remotely comparable to an E30 it's the FRS/BRZ. Everything else is too heavy and large and not focused on the "driving experience"