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

[jalopi]

sorry to hear that

+1

[Stanley Rockafella]

I have a 99 a4 quattro.

sorry to hear that

[anabolice30]

I have a 99 a4 quattro. It's not an e30, but it's a blast to drive, especially does well in bad weather.

[Dj Buttchug]

daily drive an e34 and love it

[varg]

240sx matches near every one of those requirements. before anyone starts ranting about how their enthusiast tax has made them overpriced, may i direct you to this thread

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=356907

240SX is an S-chassis Nissan, no?

And sure, E30s are getting expensive, that's lunatic fringe pricing though and isn't really indicative of the overall market. It won't be long before finding a decent E30 for a low price is as rare as doing the same with the S-chassis cars, with all of the drifters smashing them up, stancekids scraping the bottoms up and rusting the body panels, and collectors looking to "invest."

[Joe G]

I <3 my 944. Great looks, fantastic handling, but its SLOW. Picked mine up for $5400 from the second owner with 55k on the clock.

[jalopi]

First off, what objective characteristics make the E30 desirable?
-Relatively light
-Pretty reliable
-RWD
-Good handling
-Good quality
-Easy to modify
-Large aftermarket
-Relatively simple to work on
-Pretty cheap to buy and maintain
-Strong drivetrain
-Good engines (Minus the M40 and M42)
-Decent fuel economy
-Practical

Subjective characteristics?
-Good styling that ages well
-Nice interior

What else meets all of those? I'm kind of stumped there.

240sx matches near every one of those requirements. before anyone starts ranting about how their enthusiast tax has made them overpriced, may i direct you to this thread

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=356907

[varg]

First off, what objective characteristics make the E30 desirable?
-Relatively light
-Pretty reliable
-RWD
-Good handling
-Good quality
-Easy to modify
-Large aftermarket
-Relatively simple to work on
-Pretty cheap to buy and maintain
-Strong drivetrain
-Good engines (Minus the M40 and M42)
-Decent fuel economy
-Practical

Subjective characteristics?
-Good styling that ages well
-Nice interior

What else meets all of those? I'm kind of stumped there.

Well, when I was looking for a new project before I bought my E30, I was looking for fun and easy to modify, but limited by budget. I was looking at lots of cars, for example;
FB/FC RX7s (lighter and better handling, but not as reliable, lower quality, really poor fuel economy, impractical)
Z31 300ZX (heavier, worse handling, harder to work on, lower quality, far less reliable, worse aftermarket, impractical)
MR2s (lighter, better handling, decent drivetrain, pretty reliable, but a pain in the ass to work on, almost impossible to find in decent shape, probably the most impractical car you can buy, small aftermarket)

And a few cars here and there that would be disqualified for one reason or another, some were mentioned here already like Datsuns (can't find one that isn't mostly rust), RWD Corollas (can't find one for a sane price that isn't scrap), Miatas (I don't like the styling, don't like convertibles, and they aren't practical at all), E36s (seemed like the lowest quality BMWs I've ever looked at, don't like the styling, not a fan of the M50, most of the cheap ones are cheap for a good reason; they're junk), Porsche 944 (not very reliable, expensive to repair, most are falling apart, a pain to work on), S-chassis Nissans (finding one that isn't beat to shit and isn't expensive is like winning the lottery).

There are some that are mentioned here that I never even considered, mostly because they're FWD. Yeah, I get it, FWD cars can handle well and be fun, but if it isn't RWD, I'm not buying it.

[redsubdivisions]

E21? Its what got me into BMWs.

I'd rock an E21 for sure.

[CENTURION]

88-89 3rd Gen Honda Prelude Si.
that car was a lot of fun to drive. only complaint was oversteer.
revvy reliable and lightweight. oh and boxy

[N2MYE30]

E21? Its what got me into BMWs.

[LJ851]

The E30 is a pretty difficult car to replace.

You can have tons of fun in an older car like a 2002 or 510 but you are really going back two generations of cars and its noticeable.

Newer options tend to get more bloated and complicated and that is noticeable, too.

The E30 is truly a great mix of simplicity, lightness, and reliability that is fun to drive.

[Aleman]

Drifting is fun and those are damn good cars. Hard to find clean ones because of the drifters though.



I really like the MR-S but in Australia they are all semi auto and adding the clutch pedal to convert to manual seems like too much cost/effort. If you could get one in manual, it would be a great car. They look pretty damn good with a hard top but lack of space would be a killer if it was to be your one and only car.

Do something crazy and import a VS SS 5.0 Ute from Australia.

Or if it's old German metal you prefer...

http://countryclassiccars.com/mercedes-truck-1979/vehicle-details/?vin=4SXXTYSN2MLQ9SN6F

[pandaboo911]

I'm 6'3 200lbs and don't have any problems in either of the Miatas I have :/

[jalopi]

if you're under 6' tall, don't weigh more than 170lbs AND have a comfortable DD, get a miata. to beat its smiles-per-mile you pretty much need to be driving an exotic supercar while getting road dome from a supermodel

if you don't pass any of the three standards i listed don't get a miata. you will be a miserable person.

you say you like MR2's though, eh? the zzw's are OK if you really want a convertible, but if you want something REALLY fun that will try to murder you like an 80's lamborghini then get a turbo sw20. it's got a timeless design style, still looks relatively new by today's standards and is stupid fast if you do any sort of work to it