Meshy911

Holy Balls, I had no Idea what I was getting into there. That's like a post college solid career type setup. My god. I feel like an ass now that you told me all this great information and I don't have the means to pull that off.

I appreciate all the effort you put into answering my questions and in such great detail as well. Thank you for that TA.

If turning her into a sleeper is out of the question for a long time coming what short term mods can I work on to improve performance or gas mileage or what have you?

Texas_Ace

I kinda figured thats what you would say once you really dug into it.

If your dad is good at DIY stuff you could do an LS1 swap but it would take a LOT of DIY and custom fab work and still run you $5-$10k once all is said and done and countless hours of fab time.

Far as cheap mods, there is not much that is worth messing with far as little things go, complete tune up is usually the best bet. A supercharger is the next step up and it is fun but you wont be fast, just quick.

Honestly, if you want a fast car, keep an eye out on craigslist and find an 80-90's era sport car and enjoy it. It is a buyers market, people are giving away nice cars.

I personally have owned 20+ sports cars and the most i paid for any of them was $3800 for a 93 R1 RX7. There are tons of good options out there that will be fast, look good, be a good daily driver and get way better gas mileage then the 4runner.

The MR2 is a real fun car and can get upper 30 MPG while making 325+whp and running 11's on a stock motor with just a turbo upgrade (ask me how i know). But there are lots of other options as well.

You could EASILY find a car for $4500 that was in good condition and way more fun then your 4runner will ever be. Thats what i would recommend personally.

Also it is a very good idea to have a second car anyways when you start working on cars, sooner or later you WILL need that other car.

tigertowncruiser

even with 10k in it , I wouldn't say it would be fast. it would be quick no doubt, but a stock new mustang gt would still beat you. It just isnt worth it. For less than 10k you could buy a stock 01-02 audi s4 , only chip it, and smoke most cars out there.

Texas_Ace

Yep, thats what i said. There are all sorts of options for much faster and cooler and more fun to drive and better gas mileage cars out there for cheaper then it would be to mod the 4runner.

Meshy911

So then are you suggesting that for what I want to do I should eventually get to the point of selling my 4runner and buy a car instead?

Texas_Ace

Nope, keep the 4runner for sure, you will want a second car once you start modding cars cause things WILL break.

I am suggesting you get a second car with that money you planned to use on the 4runner.

You said you would have about $4500 to spend on the 4runner by the end of the summer, that is enough to get you a nice car as a base for a really fast car or just a nice daily driver.

A stock sports car will be more fun to drive then a modded 4runner unless you go all out and then you might as well buy a porsche.

For $4500 you could get a mint NA MR2 or a nice stock turbo MR2. Or a whole bunch of other cars, 300zx's are nice, RX7's are as well but need to know how to work on them, MKIII supras are not bad, could even find a 3000gt or a stealth for that price although they are not that fast. Could even get an older BMW for that money and for a little more even an M3, they are under $10k now days.

Then you have all the usual suspects like mustangs, camaros, firebirds, transams, even older vettes. Thundbirds are also nice, the supercoupe is cool. There are TONS of options for nice fun cars in that price range that would be a better use of your money.

If you want to get into cars you WILL thank me later when you keep the 4runner and get a second car to have fun with and not waste money on the 4runner.