I don’t know about the rest of you guys, but The new Acura RSX-S makes my drawers wet thinking about a turbo kit w/nos slapped on it OOOHHHH AHHHH. This bad boy has 100hp per liter(2.0)from the factory. Talk about having a Corvette for lunch. Whats your favorite?
A Caterham 7 Superlight R500 would mop the floor with any other car. Can you say 127hp/L? & it’s the fastest car ever to go around the Nurburgring, faster than McLaren F1s, Jaguar XJ220s or any Ferrari (& especially any Acura 
). 230hp & it only weighs 1000lbs & it’s faster to 100km/h than most motorcycles.
My two friends have a Corvette z06 and a new RSX type S. We decided to race them one night and by about 150 MPH I think I needed binocular to make out the Acura. Yea I suppose with Turbo and NOS you might beat the Corvette but have you see the turbo charged Vette? They got it up over 223 MPH. How’s that for speed?
The Corvette you’re talking about I’m assuming is the Lingenfelter. That badboy will set you back about $200,000. Yep those cars are da shit but a little out of my price range. The the RSX-S with turbokit/nos $35,000 at most. Even a stripped down Vette is gonna run ya at least $45,000. With 200hp and a turbo adding about 60% (320hp) give or take a few hp(add some nos and now we’re talk’n). Even without any nos I think this RSX-S would give that Vette a little more run for its money. Besides did your friend with the RSX-S have governor disabled because that would have had something to do with it. I’m not sure what that car’s “shutoff speed” is but a lot of cars unless disabled is 120mph or so.
I’m waiting for the new RSX Type R which should be here within a year or so. How’s 220 ponies from the same engine sound. The Mitsu Evo VII is also on the way and it will make many people forget the Acura or the WRX.
BTW You can buy a 97/98 corvette for much less than 45K. I know its not new like the Acura but if we are comparing prices… Slap on the nitrous and goodbye Acura.
For whats its worth I dislike nitrous. It has one purpose: drag racing. It is useless in autocross and roadracing. But it is a very good way for rice drivers to “inflate” their horsepower. I have met way too many import drivers who give their hp readings and then tack on a extra hundred. When in reality a 100 shot would melt heads in most ricers.
Hey do any of you gear heads know how much a trubo charger for a '93 honda accord would run me? I talkin one that isn’t too expensive but would add a good amount of HP. Thanks guys.
The RSX-Type S isn’t shit. It’s a nifty car from Honda/Acura, but it isn’t all that great. I’ve had an Acura Integra Type R for the past two years. It’s sold as of tomorrow. I’m getting a 1992 Toyota Turbo MR2 as a replacement. And I’ll be making performance mods to it. When the WRX Sti Prodrive and the Mitsu EVO come to the states (late 2003/early 2004), I’ll look into purchasing one of them. I love those two cars and would prefer an all-wheel drive car with plenty of turbocharged horses! Until then, look for me in a sporty MR2. If all goes well, I’ll be running 12-second quarter miles in no time. Now, if only I could afford a Nissan Skyline.
Why didn’t you like your Acura? I know the new VTEC-i engines are supposed to have more pull throughout the entire rmp range vs the old @ about 4,000rpm to really start pulling. I’ve been kinda busy lately so I haven’t heard too much about other cars. Could you give me some specs. on the new ones you described? You might make a believer out of me yet. Besides I’m not planning on buying another new car for about 2yrs so anything could change. The RSX-S is my fav. for now and if they come put with a Type-R w/220hp fac. and thats without turbo or anything. Slap a kit on and you’re pushing 350hp. I don’t know about you, but that would be plenty enough for me in that little ass car. I scare myself enough as it is.=) P.S. Wasn’t it Audi that makes the WRX?
rice rockets suck!!! they are ugly and sound like shit!!! get a real car, a muscle car. Once you tune up a v-8 you will be addicted and never go back. I know the rockets are popular but why? they all just look like cars that some librarian would drive. you can make anything go fast with enough money, but you can never replace the feeling and sound of a muscle car or the lines of the old or new vettes, vipers, mustangs. GET A REAL CAR!!! BE A MAN!!!
Muscle cars are obsolete in todays world. They are for the selfish who do not care about the environment or the future of human kind. The big engines guzzle precious oil resources and pollute the environment much worse than an import. If you think the type of car you have determines you manliness then you have some serious insecurities. Plus imports can go a lot faster with much smaller engines. I know I would like to have a car that costs less to buy and operate.
Uhh, okay, but muscle cars are still WAY more environmentally friendly than the bastion of suburbia, the SUV. It doesn’t seem right to get bent out of shape at car hobbyists when the real enemies are status conscious soccer moms.
Yeah SUV’s are way more of a problem than the old muscle cars. Most of muscle cars are driven occasionally, for fun, not for transportation. And I bet a lot of these kids are pulling the emmission systems out of their little imports to make them go faster, thus making them less environmentally friendly.
James, I have nothing against the RSX. Yes, the new VTEC-i engines are an improvement, but there is only so much you can do with a car that has high compression (which the Type R and RSX Type S have). Also, front wheel-drive cars are not the best for making fast. Realistically, more than 300 hp to the front wheels makes it too hard to put the power from the tires to the ground (wheel spin). A rear-wheel or all-wheel drive car is a true sports car. Like I said, the RSX is a good car. It’s a Honda, so you know it’s reliable and sporty. But I personally would rather go with rear-wheel or all-wheel drive with a turbocharged engine. I love my Type R, I’m selling it to get out of some financial stress and so I can buy a car with cash and not have car payments…which will allow me to do some performance mods. So I’ll be able to run low 12’s in the quarter mile. The Type R is very hard to upgrade (high compression) to get any amount of power w/o actually having to disable the VTEC engine or replace the engine. And there is nothing like the feel of turbo boost compared to a naturally-aspirated engine. I have smoked the RSX Type S on the track and on the street numerous times in my Type R. And I’ll be smoking many more cars when I get my MR2 Turbo.
As for the WRX, it’s made by Subaru. The WRX that they have now is pretty cool, but the STi Prodrive will be the real deal (260+ hp, forged pistons, stronger engine and tranny, limited sleep in the front and rear, six-speed, all-wheel drive, etc). The only competition in that price range ($30-$38K) will be the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution (nearly same specs as the WRX STi Prodrive, but a few tenths quicker). I’ll keep you posted!
I’d agree that turboing a high compression car isn’t too smart but how many people would be dumb enough to use the stock pistons anyway? The price of low compression pistons is nothing compared to the overall cost of turboing a honda. If you run boost into the stock RSX or type-r engine you can’t go much higher than 5-7 psi on street gas. Not really worth $3,000. Most people get lower compression forged pistons anyway since turbos can easily ruin a stock cast piston. All you do is remove the head and add new pistons, you don’t need to replace an entire engine or even pull it out. I think the more important point is the traction issue you mentioned. Not to mention the engine managment you have to pay for since the stock ECU will not tollerate boost. Also just to clarify the WRX comes with a limited slip differential already as does every subaru currently made. Wasn’t sure if your saying the normal wrx doesn’t come with one??? Some of the Sti’s come with three viscous limited slips, a front, center, and rear! Good luck with the MR2, its an amazing car especialy if you get the turbo version, you can upgrade to a better turbo much easier than with a naturaly aspirated engine. The performance suspension made by TRD will give amazing handling (around .9 g’s), and you get the advantage of a factory waranty! Don’t forget to buy a rollbar for it since most racing tracks don’t allow convertibles without them.
When I was talking about the WRX having limited slip, I was referring to the fact that the STi has front and rear, whereas the regular WRX only has rear (or is it front?). Yes, you could change the pistons in a honda/acura or other high-compression car and then turbo it, but like you said, you have to run 5-7 pounds of boost. It’s not worth that kind of money. Also there are the other issues, i.e traction. I did buy the 1992 turbo MR2 today. So I’ll be doing mods to it soon. I don’t need a rollbar until I run under 12 seconds in the quarter mile. It will be a little while before I need to take that plunge!
Anyone thinking about the nissan 350z. Under 30grand…pure thrills baby!!
Don’t forget to upgrage the brakes when you get that thing that fast! The nice thing about toyotas is that you can swap their parts. Just go to the junkyard and check out the brakes on different toyotas many of them will fit right on without needing bracketts; toyota makes great brakes. All the master cylinders can be swapped too! As a funny side note my 88 toyota pickup has 4 piston calipers up front and they bolt right on to an old nissan z-car; I think its the 280z. Old/light sports car with huge calipers! Check out Sport Compact Car magazine, they have built up one or two crazy MR2’s. I thought you wanted to run in the 12’s not below 12 in the 1/4 mile!!! Thats going to be pretty damn hard if you want to keep it as a daily driver, i.e. rough idle, possibly stalling frequently at stoplights, tricky engine managment, etc. It can be done but I’m going to assume thats a long-term goal??? Regarding the high comp. honda I meant you could run 5-7psi before lowering the compression ratio. If you lowered the compression ratio to 8:1 for example you could probably get away with 15 psi of boost, but yes it is a pain in the ass to add all that crap anyway. Your smart to just start out with a turbo car to begin with. So what are you adding to the MR2 to start with?
You won’t believe it, but I gave the car back to the dude that was selling it. I had my mechanic check it out, and it turned out to be a total rust bucket. The entire underbody of the car was horrible! Bolts all rusted away, rods had fallen off, the brake lines were dangling, the fuel line was about to rust off, the gas tank was going to fall out because the bolts and ties were rusting away. So I didn’t keep the MR2. It looked good (interior/exterior) and ran pretty good, but I couldn’t keep a car that would cost thousands to repair. It was bad. And you know what? After driving it for a day, I wasn’t all that impressed with the car. So now I’m looking for something else. I really am holding out for the WRX STi, so I may just buy an older, cheaper car for now. And save up my cash to get the WRX STi later. We’ll see. At this point, I’m fed up with looking for cars and dealing with people that aren’t completely honest about things. Maybe I should just get a sport bike and an old beater car to ride around in. Then I’ll have all the speed I need! 
Yeah, I just went through an experience like that with my truck. It was rustier than I expected once I got to repairing it(I fixed up the truck’s entire break and suspension system). The guy I bought it from must have never changed the oil because 45 minutes after getting on the highway to drive from Connecticut to Savannah Georgia, to go back to college, the engine siezed. Luckily I got over the hump in the road or I would have had a stalled truck in the middle of the road! I never should have bought that damn truck! The MR2 doesn’t have great stock handling but with the TRD package and some poly bushings it turns into a damn go-kart, but I suppose it wasn’t meant to be. Messing with a rusty car, is a nightmare! Shopping for used cars is also a serious pain in the ass! The Sti is an amazing vehicle, but you can grab all the parts for an sti wrx from Japan or the UK, from tuners in the US and stick them on the normal wrx(this is only cheap if you can do it all yourself). You might also want to try a 2.5 RS. They have more tunning potential because of the larger displacement, but then again you end up with the same issues of adding a turbo etc. But the 2.5RS will take all the sti brakes/suspension etc. I’m pretty sure the sti will be comming out soon since the lancer will be here and it will have roughly 20 more horses than the regular wrx. Don’t get the wagon wrx, for some reason the foot-print is slightly narrower. Subarus are great cars, I’ve been driving in subaru’s my whole life and the engineering in them is extreemly thorough! My mothers wagon has 260,000 miles and is still on the original factory clutch!!! That’s the same car I learned to drive on, it should be dead by now but it just doesn’t want to go! If you want a really fast dirt cheap car you can always get a second generation RX-7. The third generations are nice but one ping(detonation) and the engine is GONE! The rotary engine makes a ridiculous amount of power, and they’re DIRT CHEAP. Only problem with those is knowing someone who can fix a rotary engine.
Geez, rice burners being the “ultimate” in streetable horsepower? Excuse me while I split my pants laughing. Sure you can put 100 hp + on a cylinder, but do you know how long those cylinders will last? Not too long my friend. Nothings ever going to replace cubic inches when it comes to generating horsepower, and more importantly, torque. Do yourself a favor, get a v-8, or better yet a v-10 or 12.