Might have found a car that will make me sell he Audi.

[Exodus_2pt0]

My Brother just tossed the thought of trading his 150,000 mile E36 M3 Sedan (manual) for my Miata. (2000, 38k, manual).

He wants a good autocross car.

I was going to sell he Miata if we get the 4runner we are hoping for.

So, if we go for it, I'm thinking I'll keep the M3 and sell the Audi.

WWJD?

[Exodus_2pt0]

The part that I didn't mention, is that I'm on a long term quest to build a stupidly fast car. The S4 is an easy 11 second car, but a very expensive 9-10 second car.

The way I see it, I could sell the S52/5 speed on here. With that money and some of the money from selling the S4, I could get myself a nice ls3/t56 to start. (Or a 5.3 and boost the shit out of it. I would kind of like an aluminum block, but I'm getting ahead of myself anyway.)

[Stanley Rockafella]

do it

[markseven]

Sell the Audi. With the proceeds buy an LS3 + trans to swap into the Miata.

[stonea]

I'm not gonna lie, I think it'd be a lot cooler than the S4

[ccsdo5]

dude I think a E36M3/LSxTurbo is friggin awesome (even cooler if it has four doors ;D ) Jon Volk has built one if I'm not mistaken.

[Exodus_2pt0]

Ye I've been reading up on it a bit this afternoon. My brother is going to sleep on the idea and get back to me.

If it happens, I'll have some considering to do. When I dropped the 5.0 into my e30 I really missed the straight 6. Kind of thinking as a first step with this after selling the Audi, just turbo the s52 and be as fast or faster than the Audi is now.

Any idea what kind of power the trans and diff in those can take? I haven't put much time into this yet since it's still a maybe, but I'm thinking detune the S4 and sell it without the methanol and wideband. I imagine an s52 is good or ~450-500whp with a thicker gasket, no?

[stonea]

I've seen some crazy numbers pumped through the ZF transmission. I don't see 500 hp being a problem.

[varg]

At first I was thinking, is this guy crazy? Because even though I don't like Audis I wouldn't sell your Audi for an E36 M3. But an E36 M3 with an aluminum block V8? I can get behind that. No way on the iron block 5.3 though.

[Exodus_2pt0]

Sell the Audi. With the proceeds buy an LS3 + trans to swap into the Miata.

The more I think about this, the greater the chances if the deal with the E36 doesn't go through. A cammed ls3 in that car would be an absolute monster.

Plus, as gay as it sounds, I think I have my favorite driving experiences in the Mazda. Worked late last night, hour and fifteen minute drive home at 11:30pm with the top down is a pretty cool experience.

[varg]

LS3 M3 sounds better than LS3 Miata to me, though I'm biased as I hate convertibles. As much as I like to thump my fist about muh weight and muh balance, Miatas (properly done of course) with aluminum V8s stand to gain more from the power than they lose from shifting the weight distribution towards the nose heavy side by a few % (between 2 and 4 from what I've read).

[ThatOneEuroE30]

I could get myself a nice ls3/t56 to start. (Or a 5.3 and boost the shit out of it. I would kind of like an aluminum block, but I'm getting ahead of myself anyway.)

t56 is shit. the synchros are glass. If your looking to build a straight line car you want a powerglide, you lose to much time banging gears.

[Exodus_2pt0]

Yea I just can't bring myself to go Auto. I want to keep my options open, not necessarily looking for straight line only.

[E30 Wagen]

I've never understood the point of ls swapping a perfectly fine running e36 M3. For ~$6000 you get a very competent sport sedan that will do everything you want. If you just want to build a fast project car, then why not find a cheap base model e36 and swap that instead? Find a car with a blown engine for like $500 and have fun modding a car that nobody will miss.

[Exodus_2pt0]

Well in this situation the car is falling into my lap, and the drivetrain will net me $2k towards ls3 godliness.

Talked to my brother more tonight, kind of locked the deal in by offering up my 1.8 NB rust bucket as a track rat for him to sweeten the pot.

If this happens, cammed ls3/t56 is first order of business. Been looking around, and the drivetrain on eBay (surely cheaper if patiently stalking craigslist) is around $6-7k.


I'll be coming from a ~450awhp sedan, so ~200rwhp would leave something to be desired.