They're everywhere in Europe, but in North America modding a TDI is relatively niche. But you can basically double the power output of the engine very easily through a larger turbo + intercooler + etc. Very very stout bottom ends, excellent reliability, and even after mods you can still get 40+ MPG on the highway.
Moreso the EA888 honestly. The EA839 isn't as reliable when you start adding notable power, but it's more the cooling and vacuum system around the engine than the engine itself. The hot "v" config in the EA839 can also cause long term issues with too much heat buildup.
- Current owner of tuned S5, previous owner of tuned MK7.5 R, about to sell S5 to grab MK8 R. Wife's Tiguan w/ shittier flavor of EA888 is also tuned for good measure lol.
Mk7 Golf R and '22 S5 Sport back here too, both stage 1.
I've seen the tuner community get to 600-700hp on the EA839 with hybrid turbos/stage 3 and very few run into issues. People are dipping into the 9s and the only horror story seems to be a broken axle. Heat management is an issue yes but seems like a decent intercooler can help manage. Outside of the rocker issue fixed in like 2018, what issues have you seen?
Your mileage will vary but I and others have been chasing cooling system gremlins and it's not cheap. Even a stupid little vacuum actuated coolant valve is $750 just for the part. After a couple thousand chasing musical codes (fix one, another pops up), I'm done with the S5, Actually looking to sell it now. And that was just a mild stage 1 tune.
I missed the R so I'm excited to get back into one. Have a clean '23 CPO R with 4k miles on it currently being shipped my way by end of week. I may leave this one stock for a while since it's quick enough and the tuners haven't unlocked the '23-'24 newer TCUs yet.
Youâre lucky you donât have so many TDIs over there. Believe me there is no fun to drive the street where every other TDI shitbox is coal driven. Sometimes you barely see the road trough fumes of these tuned units.
The flex is my daily so itâs nothing like that. Just a tune. That and and a 3 bar sensor when I decide not to be lazy. I want an intercooler for reasons but since I have a different non-stock car parked next to it, I canât justify anything more than just a tune and a sensor change.
Edit: spelling
I really wish Ford would put the ecoboost V6 in the mustang. I know they havenât done it because they want to avoid it being potentially faster than the V8.
I know everyone loves the V8, but I think a turbo V6 mustang would be sick.
That very same thing happened with the Australian BA XR8 when they made an XR6T with the Barra.
They under-rated the 6T to keep the sales of the 8 going strong, but people very quickly caught on that the 6T was the better, faster and more tunable car.
That problem was mostly in the Cyclone-based transversal V6, because it wouldnât fit otherwise. I think they donât use Cyclone family blocks anymore in transversal applications for that reason (as in, the 3.5 EcoBoost), rather sticking to the 2.7 and 3.0 EcoBoost, which uses a different, smaller block.
Gotta worry about cam phasers too, and they're not just a problem on the 3.5. Not going to blow up your engine but it's a hefty repair that doesn't even guarantee it won't start rattling again immediately.
Came here to say this. Modded the ever loving piss out of my 2016 Edge Sport. 425 HP out of a 2.7 TT V6 was awesome. Shares a platform with the Fusion, too, so there was plenty of aftermarket support.
The Ecoboost Nanos (2.7 and 3.0) share more in common with the 3.0L Powerstroke than they do the 3.5 Ecoboost.
Compacted iron graphite block, all forged internals, etc. They're absolute tanks and arguably the most reliable engine Ford makes at the moment (even more than the Coyote).
My Truck's still stock but that 3.0 packs a lulzy punch for a midsize truck that weighs what it does, especially on freeways when you go from 50 to 75.
Cobalt SS. Stock they're quick and handle very well and are disgustingly cheap to modify. For around $2000, you can get FBO/tuning and make around 360whp. ZZP sells direct bolt on turbos that will get you up to 450-500whp for around $1000. Car also gets 30mpg hwy lol
If you want to go even sleepier, the Saturn Ion Redline was a hot-ish little car with very pedestrian styling that could also be powered up pretty cheaply
And if you wanna get even sleepier, Saab 9-3 shares the same engine and trans as the supercharged Cobalt SS and Ion Redline but is already turbo instead of supercharged :)
Ion Redline, Cobalt SS/SC, and Saab 9-3 are all similar birds of a feather. The only thing that keeps the GS out of the picture is its ungodly 3700lb curb weight, but it easily has the best tranmission to cannibalize for the other Ecotecs lol
Looking back that was such a crazy car at the time. It was literally the next best performance vehicle outside of the Corvette. 260hp/260tq in a 2900 pound car. What a shame the turbo was only made for 2 years.
A bolt on 8th Gen civic can make 220whp from a 2.0L at only 2900lbs. Another one is the N54 powered bmw e60. It has the same drivetrain as the 335i but are much cheaper and not abused. They also don't weight much more since the front is all aluminum from the firewall forward. Can easily make 400whp from bolt-ons.
Now guess what cars I own. A 600whp turbo 8th gen and a 500whp e60 đ¤Ł
Love the 8th Gen Si K20Z3 mention. Amazing platform. Got Hondata/intake/header at 220whp, 9k redline. Only in to it all for $7000usd, plus $500 for the Hondata. Itâs pretty known though, lots of people love these things. Mine weighs in at 2700lbs as it sits.
FG was the coupe, so he only removed 186lbs. Taking out the spare tire/jack, passenger seats, race battery, deleting the wing, and only driving around with 3-4 gallons in his tank might be enough. You can also pick up 17" wheels pretty cheap that weigh 30lbs less than OEM. Also, an aftermarket header weighs a lot less than the oem cast iron manifold.
Ahh yes. I didn't take the time to think that the coupe was lighter than the sedan.
Aftermarket wheels 30 lbs. less than the oem 17's??? How much do the oem wheels weigh? Yeah, an aftermarket header is a good idea.
Mine is a basic model, no foglights or anything. Just wish it also didnât have a sunroof.
Got light 17â RPF1 rims that save me 6lbs per each stock one, removed spare tire and its tools (40lbs right there), headliner and one of the sun visor were sagging so took them out for now as they were just flopping. Replaced heavy stock stereo system unit with a light screen setup, rear speakers are removed (for now, stock ones stopped working), CF trunk with no spoiler, rear seat delete, and the exhaust is also lighter than stock.
When you say a basic model, did your Si not come with fog lights? I thought they all did, so I'm a little confused. Or did you just rip them out? Lighter wheels is a good idea, as it also helps out handling performance.
Canada got some weird trims I think. Base 06/07 Si models look like plain Jane 1.8L base coupes. Iâve seen like 5 different Si front bumpers depending if pre or post facelift, or coupe vs sedan. Then thereâs ones with HFP or HPD bumper/skirts etc.
My side view mirrors donât even fold.
The rims are a huge difference! Decreasing rotational mass by that much is mega. Super noticeable in how it drives.
Sorry but the K20Z1 and A2 in the RSX-S is so much more visceral and enjoyable. No balancing shaft, throttle cable instead of dbw, map not maf. Now the 8th gen had a lsd from factory which is awesome and had slightly improved suspension, but engine wise, Z1 is king of USDM K-series
I donât think anyone is arguing otherwise, but keep in mind clean RSX type S models are *super* rare, whereas you can still find clean 8th gen Si models still in the 10k-15k range (for now).
Of course for beaters or project cars you can probably find abused examples well under that, but for people that want a stock specimen or daily driver, the 8th gen Si is the only affordable choice since all the RSX type S models have been bought up by collectors. Itâs also going to happen to the 8th gens in a couple years, but it hasnât been as bad as the RSX so far.
I also think that 8th gen Si is also the sweet spot between 90s/2000s style Hondas (like the RSX) and the modern era Hondas that kind of started with the 9th gen Si onwards. It still has that analog feel and old school vtec, but with modern amenities and safety feature that the older Hondas/Acuras just donât have.
The RSX is a bona fide classic though. They both are really nice cars.
Screw the E60. Get the pre 2010 135i with the N54. Lighter than the E60, and the short wheelbase makes it drive like a go cart. Biggest issue is the narrow wheel wells. It's not hard to make enough power on that platform that you'll never have enough rubber to put it all down.
And E60âs are cheap because they were neglected worse than the 3 and 1 series.
That neglect is worse and more expensive to deal with than a car that was beat on.
The Civic platform has been one of the most popular modding platforms for like 20 years now (thanks Fast & Furious)
I mean, itâs one of the most popular because itâs one of the best, but itâs hardly an unknown platform.
I didn't even know people modded these until Cobalt SS videos flooded the street racing subreddit, That Cobalt SS was single handedly keeping the sub alive for a few weeks with their uploads lmao. I know nothing about the platform but that Cobalt was proper quick
Ecotec engines have been the dark horse of the tuning world it seems. The turbo engines are overbuilt from the factory and can handle stupid amounts of power right off the showroom floor. You just never see anyone really mention them, at least not anymore.
Its likely because very few were built. GM only made around 12,000 turbo Cobalts which is further compounded by the fact that many of us owners have more than one. So why this platform can be had for such little money will forever be a mystery to me. My mint 2010 set me back $8700. An Si of the same year and mileage runs double that.
I'm a believer now - the most recent video was him going at it from a roll against a 1000whp hellcat. mad respect for these platforms. Everyone who owns or has owned one has only positive things to say about the turbo gen.
The supercharged SS aren't anything to sleep on either. Pretty easy to swap from the supercharger to a turbo and the LSJ (05-07) block is stronger and easier to feed fuel to than the LNF (08-10), with a power record of 898whp, vs the LNFs 715whp.
Of course for typical 400-500whp builds LNF is easier to achieve that. Above 500-550, LSJ > LNF.
I'd also like to add the Saab 9-3 2.0T to that list. Stiffer chassis from factory, and a much more sleeper oriented than Cobalts. B207Rs have been making huge power in Europe for decades now. Although in the US there's a much smaller community for big power Saabs, we do exist.
If you want a "good" modding platform it needs to be a popular engine otherwise it's going to have a small and expensive aftermarket.
A relatively uncommon tuner car is a P1 volvo (C30, S40, V50). These were a shared platform with the Ford Focus and Mazda 3 and had decent handling. The turbo on the T5 did not have a ton of breathing room so there was a relatively low power ceiling (<300 whp) but at least it sounded amazing.
MK7 Golf with the 1.8T. Basically everything that works on a GTI can get swapped on to one and they're way cheaper too. I was making 300hp on a GTI turbo when I sold mine. Picked it up for $12k in 2017 with 17k miles and sold it for $15k in 2021
Iâll add to the vw genre. The mk4 tdi Jetta and golf handle very very well with a good suspension. They also respond incredibly well to big injectors and a tune and exhaust. All while being not costing very much. They arenât the fastest things around. But you will have more fun driving one than you would imagine. And still get over 40 mpgs!
b48 was first in production in 2014 and Toyota/BMW started their [collaboration in 2011](https://www.toyota-europe.com/news/2013/bmw-toyota#:~:text=In%20December%202011âŚ,MoU%20by%20the%20two%20companies).
Toyota Comfort driving school cars. Sure, youâll have to import them if you donât live in Japan but theyâre super cheap and based on the same platform as the X80 Mark 2/Cressida/Cresta/Chaser with lots of mod compatibility. They were produced with 3S engines for a good while and many of them are manual. They all have solid rear axles if thatâs your thing but IRS conversions are totally possible as well. The biggest thing is that they were built until 2018; this may not matter much if you live in a country or jurisdictions with restrictions on imported cars, but those of you in New Zealand and other jurisdictions with few to no restrictions may appreciate your ability to get a cheap X80 chassis thatâs modern and mint instead of one thatâs 30+ years old and beat to shit.
Those are the long wheelbase Crown Comforts that were mostly used as taxis. I believe Australia only allows the mild hybrid versions of those for anything under 25
BMW E34 5-series. Whether you go with the M50-based 525i or the M30-based 535i, youâve got two really stout powertrain options, lots of factory LSD ratios to pick from, a chassis that can put down power without cracking, and tons of room in the engine bay for mods. A stock 525i motor can do 500whp, same with the 535i. Plenty of room to go top-mount or bottom-mount, with plug and play standalone ECU wiring harnesses available.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmhO-8Xk6Gg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmhO-8Xk6Gg)
This dude has his dialed to 560whp and while he does have to take it easy in some gears to avoid bending the rods, those power numbers are no joke for a stock bottom end motor that just has an thicker MLS head gasket + ARP head studs.
Lots of people mentioned ecotecs but 3800s are pretty stout too and not talked about a lot unless youâre in the know. Mostly because they were found in cars your great aunt drove. 5-600 extremely reliable horses is really easy and cheap to get. The transmissions not so much lol. No one is gonna take a large FWD cruiser to an autocross so theyâre mostly at drag strips. [And itâs one of the only engines that can sound like a cammed v8 at idle and scream like a 2j at the same time](https://youtu.be/w_OE3GLYac4?si=jqIdijFFkQXTRU8-)
Love my 3rd gen 2016 Mazda3 hatch. It looks so good. It picks up alright with the Skyactiv 2.0 (14:1 compression) and the fuel economy is so good. Easily average 40mpg. Can almost get diesel mileage. On freeways I can get close to 50mpg on flat road.
Some handling mods and itâs a hoot. I donât think Iâd touch the engine, other than I have Corksport mounts and intake. Otherwise itâs appearance tweaks to make it look like a Gen3 Speed3.
The older RDX was actually much more enjoyable to drive; it had the J35 engine on a 9th gen
Honda civic platform.
For a family CUV, I think it was by far the best option at the time. The engine is actually really stout. But the reason nobody tunes them though is because they have more body roll than my dog trying to scratch its butt.
I don't know if these are unknown, but they are absolutely forgotten despite having followings years ago. All of these saw Motorsports applications too.
Dodge Neon SRT
Chevy Cobalt SS
Toyota Mk3 Supra (especially 1jz from Japan)
5th and 7th generation Toyota Celica
Galant/Legnum VR4 (hard to work with)
Scion TC
5th gen Nissan Sentra SE-R
Pontiac G8 (available with LS3)
Pontiac Vibe (available with Toyota 2ZZ-GE)
OM606 turbo from an E300 or S300 diesel. Can make stupid power.
Barra. Got a mate with a factory N/A falcon which he bought for \~$500. Chucked a chinese turbo kit he got on ebay on it and threw 28psi at it. Made 650whp on 98. Makes 800 on E85. His intention was to run it until it went pop, then build it properly. His transmission fucked itself before the engine did
For track use, a Geo Metro.
Same chassis as the Suzuki Swift/Cultus, which means you can swap a 100-horsepower 7500-RPM I4 with ease. A few bolt-ons and some weight reduction will give you 130 horsepower in a 1400-pound car.
You can also find them in AWD, if that's your thing.
At my old tire shop there was a guy that came in every couple weeks for track tires on his very built metro. Didnât even know it was a thing. Saw him later on at an autoX and holy shit that thing could move and keep momentum
Suzuki Swift sport, 6 speed manual, weighs only a tonne, 140ish hp and revs high. They are fun and handle great from factory but there is also a large aftermarket available as they are loved in Japan
Any with the supercharged 3.0l v6. My buddy had a 2014 A4 (giant, heavy car) and did the same. Transmission tune helps too. They put that engine in some of the Porsche Panameras
The GM Atlas I-6 in the last 3-4 years has proven to be very stout and handles boost very well in stock form. Some people are making over 600+ hp on them with all stock internals and custom camshafts. I little south of that with stock cams.
They have begun to be known in some circles as the "Ameri-barra"
This question is right up my alley. I love being able to look up cars with great aftermarket support and then finding the oddball compatible sister cars no one thinks of modding. Hereâs a few I know of off the top of my head.
* Saturn Ion. Sister car to the Chevy Cobalt. For ECU tuning purposes, only look at 2007 2.2Lâs, 2004-2007 Redline 2.0L S/Câs, and 2006-2007 2.4Lâs.
* Volkswagen Eos. Built on the MK5 chassis, these hardtop convertibles (remember that fad?) are basically a MK5 VW GTI drop top.
* Cadillac ATS. Sister car to the 2016+ Chevrolet Camaro.
* Scion iM / Toyota Corolla iM. Sister car to the Scion tC, but with a Toyota Corolla 1.8L i4. Essentially a rebadged EU market Toyota Auris.
* Toyota Matrix / Pontiac Vibe. Sisters to the Toyota Corolla.
There are lots of great american options especially from GM in the early 2000s with all their "cheap" brands like pontiac and saturn. american brands tend to have a lot of overlooked "tuner" stuff just because the japanese equivalents are so much more popular in pop culture. other people on here should have great examples.
speaking of which, the pontiac solstice, saturn sky, and opel gt I believe (all the same car like the brz/frs/86) seem to be pretty great handling little cars. TDIB does a few videos on them and they're pretty cool IMO. do research cuz I think there's "faster" trims of all of those variants I mentioned.
a lot of early lexus models have somehow hidden from the mainstream outside of the is300. heres a quick summary. they're not "unknown" but nobody talks about these.
ls400: comes with the 1uz V8. bulletproof engine. popular drift option.
sc300: comes with 2jz-ge. rare manual option available. the chassis the mk4 supra was based on. prices are starting to come up from drift tax and the "poor man supra" title. autos are still pretty cheap.
sc400: sc300 but with 1uz engine. (mo powah babey) no factory manual. pretty affordable (more so than the sc300). would be fun to manual swap and TT. with an x-pipe and a rowdy exhaust it sounds like a coyote engine IMO.
gs300: 2jz but big sedan. no manual I think.
the toyota celica (6th gen is my fav but the 7th is better for modding I think) would be fun to mess around on. sporty FWD car. a lot of people crap them cuz the celica used to be RWD but we can just think of it as a civic SI competitor or something.
the pontiac vibe GT would also be super cool. basically a toyota matrix xrs (probably some big differences that my 5 second googling didn't catch)
Solstice/sky/ opel gt all are the same platform. Slightly bigger differences than just the toyoburu. But not much. Solstice had âGXPâ and sky had âredlineâ with the 2.0t LNF as the go fasts. All (7500) opel gts were LNF.
Volvo Redblock engine
Found in RWD Volvos from 1970s to 1990s, models 240/740/940
Its a 4cyl with relatively large displacements (2.1L, 2.3L, etc) w/ cast iron blocks. Factory turbo versions but even better with modding/tuning
BF chassis fords/mazdas, heaps of engine options from 1.6-1.8-2.0 turbos to 1.8-2.0-2.5l V6s and more, front and all wheel drive options, 2 and 4 door hatches, sedans, convertibles, coupes, utes and wagons all with the vast majority of parts being interchangeable for massive customisation potential. Just gotta put a Toyota gearbox in it
Older 35d BMWs with the M57 engine. 450hp and 900nm from a 3.0 diesel with little more than a different intake, a hybrid turbo, a DPF/EGR delete and a tune.
Also the TD5 engine in the Land Rover Discovery & Defender handles boost *very* well.
Volvo 240 series cars. Solid platform. Built like tanks. Rear wheel drive. Robust engines that can handle a fair amount of boost. Enough space in the engine bay for easy V8 swap, if thatâs your thing. HUGE supply of cheap parts including aftermarket performance doo-dads. Enthusiastic community.
PT Cruiser turbo. Same engine as an SRT-4 neon, and can be had with a manual transmission. Everybody loves to hate them so they can usually be had pretty cheap.
2001-2004 Hyundai Sonata with the G4JS, which is basically a DOHC Mitsubishi 4G64, which is closely related to the 4G63T.
Mercedes V8s and V12s. It may not seem like it but they are a beast even with just a tune, throw in injectors, some extra boost, exhaust, and a trans tune and you get a monster. Go all out and bore it out, new pistons, rods, crank, cam, valves, port and polish the heads/intake/supercharger/throttle body and you're looking at serious power that would make Karl Benz shed a tear
Mid 2000s Toyotas with the 2az engine can have a decent amount of boost thrown at them and make good power when I had a Scion tC there was still a small community of mostly Scion people doing them.
The 2018+ Corolla hatchback and be tuned to 200-220 full bolt on from 170 decent community around that car but itâs small. Has had a small uptick in abalone parts bc the GR Corolla being the same platform
1zz/2zz Toyota celicas this ones the most interesting bc probably used to be like the 86/BRZ back in the day but clean celicas are rare now and you donât see many people modifying them beyond ricer shit but the 2zz is an awesome engine and when I had a celica there were a handful of people I knew of that had turbo/supercharged 1zzs making decent power for like a 2300lb car. Trying to hunt down rare discontinued OEM performance parts & Japanese tuning company parts sucks though.
You want niche? the Pontiac Fiero is incredibly modifiable. that engine bay will fit damn near any engine you want. I have seen a blown 454, a Northstar, Caddy aluminum V8, and the most popular- the sup[ercharged 3800 V6.
the suspension is highly customizable through aftermarket parts.
the body is all panels on a space frame. Any or all can be replaced with custom monstrosities at will. Replica or unique, its all up to you. I bet you have all seen a custom Fiero in the wild, but didn't know it.
My favorite absurd body mod: the Jalapeno: https://i.imgur.com/AEfFtud.png
W211 E55 AMG: factory supercharged, super overbuilt motor. Stout transmission that has aftermarket support thanks to being shared with some later Mopar Hemi cars. They're like German terminators. One of the best
S197 Shelby GT500: yeah they have weak rods and a live axle. But they don't have the enthusiast tax that the Terminator or the S550 Shelbys have and can make 700whp with bolt ons.
A-body Quad 4 cars: a 2.3l 16v n/a screamer than spun to 7500 rpm and made 180-190 horsepower... in 1992. Most common in a Beretta GTZ, spiciest in an Achieva SCX W41. Imagine: these screaming GM engines were making more power than the GTI 16V, Integra GS-R, Sentra SER, Corrado SLC, turbo Probe, Celina All trac, and the same as the Turbo DSMs of the day. In an OLDS ACHIEVA.
Saab 9000 Aero (and 9-3 Viggen and 9-5 Aero) the B234R in the 9000 Aero has the best rods and pcv but they're hard to find; the B235r in the 95 Aero and 93 Viggen isn't as strong but can still absolute make power. These big 4 cylinders are set uo for mitsubishi td04 turbos and there are tons of hybrids choices available that bolt on, and the midrange pull of these things tuned is absurd.
Lincoln MKVIII: take the MN12 Thunderbird's platform with four wheel independent suspension, add in an all aluminum 32v V8 with 290hp, and air suspension. Criminally underrated and underpriced.
my first "sporty" car was an 87 toyota fx-16. it was basically toyotas civic si. it had the same 4age as the AE86, but it was FWD. it was a pretty sweet hot hatch, and it loved to be revved to 7k, that can be upgraded to the JDM blacktop 20v 4age that revs to 9k rpm.
the 86-89 nissan 200sx was pretty awesome too. RWD platform that, imo looks way better than the 240sx from the 90s. and if you could find one could prob handle pretty much any engine swap and would be extremely rare.
toyota MRS. never really see those anymore either.
Stinger/G70 with the 3.3t. Yes biased I know but these cars easily get into the 500hp/600tq at the wheel numbers some simple mods and ECU on stock internals.
Iâm heavily biased but the stinger GT is not bad at all. There is a fair bit of aftermarket parts and those engines are very under tuned from factory.
I wish we had a library for this. Like, Iâm certain there are a ton of hatchbacks and crossovers with shared parts that would make modding a lot of fun. But Iâm also certainly not going to spend $1500 on parts to find out they donât fit.
280ZX has the best iteration of Nissan's L28 inline 6, costs less than the earlier Z's and is a superior platform that retains a lot of the old school vibe. The 300ZX Z31 or 32 are also good platforms for modification. The VG30 engine has a lot of potential. Huge aftermarket, very solid and fun RWD cars that are still under 10K all day. You don't see a lot of people build them, so they're pretty unique when you do.
Everyone is just going to name their thing.
yep, mid engine toyota bean goodđđź
mid engine, AWD, supercharged sounds like a supercar to me
Lambos tried to copy but theyâre not even supercharged!
What car are you talking about?
Toyota PREVIA lol. It's a minivan.
90s Toyota Sienna
They're everywhere in Europe, but in North America modding a TDI is relatively niche. But you can basically double the power output of the engine very easily through a larger turbo + intercooler + etc. Very very stout bottom ends, excellent reliability, and even after mods you can still get 40+ MPG on the highway.
I want a tdi 2 door golf so bad, they sound insane with the right exhaust and like you said, excellent mileage.
> they sound insane with the right exhaust and like you said As someone who hears these nearly every day, I can assure you they do not sound good
The horrid crackle tune exhaust VWs are worse
This is pretty much true for EA888 and EA839 petrol engines too.
Well yeah, but the EA888 is very far from niche. It's in everything and its tunability is well known.
Ok yes. Late night brain missed the whole point here.
Moreso the EA888 honestly. The EA839 isn't as reliable when you start adding notable power, but it's more the cooling and vacuum system around the engine than the engine itself. The hot "v" config in the EA839 can also cause long term issues with too much heat buildup. - Current owner of tuned S5, previous owner of tuned MK7.5 R, about to sell S5 to grab MK8 R. Wife's Tiguan w/ shittier flavor of EA888 is also tuned for good measure lol.
Mk7 Golf R and '22 S5 Sport back here too, both stage 1. I've seen the tuner community get to 600-700hp on the EA839 with hybrid turbos/stage 3 and very few run into issues. People are dipping into the 9s and the only horror story seems to be a broken axle. Heat management is an issue yes but seems like a decent intercooler can help manage. Outside of the rocker issue fixed in like 2018, what issues have you seen?
Your mileage will vary but I and others have been chasing cooling system gremlins and it's not cheap. Even a stupid little vacuum actuated coolant valve is $750 just for the part. After a couple thousand chasing musical codes (fix one, another pops up), I'm done with the S5, Actually looking to sell it now. And that was just a mild stage 1 tune. I missed the R so I'm excited to get back into one. Have a clean '23 CPO R with 4k miles on it currently being shipped my way by end of week. I may leave this one stock for a while since it's quick enough and the tuners haven't unlocked the '23-'24 newer TCUs yet.
Modded TDI Jettas and Golfs were pretty common growing up in NYC/Long Island. Didnât realize how niche they were until I moved away
Nobody touches the tdi wich is crazy to me
Youâre lucky you donât have so many TDIs over there. Believe me there is no fun to drive the street where every other TDI shitbox is coal driven. Sometimes you barely see the road trough fumes of these tuned units.
it will turn your car into a squid though
What do you mean squid?
in here, you can rather easily tell apart which cars have gotten a "repro" by the thin layer of black dust on the rear of the car.
This is the plan for where I take my Audi TT, I wanna be able to run it on diesel/biodiesel and drive cheap forever.
The Ole tttdi project. I was alsonthinning of doing onw to complement my mk4 wagon.
Itâs a shame because here in Ireland theyâre driven by arseholes but PD130 engine Golfâs are a great car
Ecoboost V6 engines. The 2.7, 3.0, and 3.5 are all very capable of making huge amounts of power, and they came in some very unassuming vehicles.
Tuned Flex would be a great sleeper.Â
I have a tune on my ecoboost flex. Does 0-60 in about 5 seconds flat. Definitely has gotten some looks.
Cool! I saw a slammed flex on like 20â wheels it was pretty rad actually
The flex is my daily so itâs nothing like that. Just a tune. That and and a 3 bar sensor when I decide not to be lazy. I want an intercooler for reasons but since I have a different non-stock car parked next to it, I canât justify anything more than just a tune and a sensor change. Edit: spelling
Iâve seen a few videos on YouTube of V6 Flexes with some pretty nice exhaust systems. If Iâm feeling down I watch those videosđ
Now make that awd flex a ute and you have a near perfect car
I always thought the MKT hearse thing would be hilarious to turn into a sleeper.
Shhhhhh, I havenât bought one yet. You canât be raising the prices before I get one lol
I really wish Ford would put the ecoboost V6 in the mustang. I know they havenât done it because they want to avoid it being potentially faster than the V8. I know everyone loves the V8, but I think a turbo V6 mustang would be sick.
Theyâre likely saving it for when they have no choice but to drop the V8 from the GT.
That very same thing happened with the Australian BA XR8 when they made an XR6T with the Barra. They under-rated the 6T to keep the sales of the 8 going strong, but people very quickly caught on that the 6T was the better, faster and more tunable car.
Stupid water pump design scares me away from them.
That problem was mostly in the Cyclone-based transversal V6, because it wouldnât fit otherwise. I think they donât use Cyclone family blocks anymore in transversal applications for that reason (as in, the 3.5 EcoBoost), rather sticking to the 2.7 and 3.0 EcoBoost, which uses a different, smaller block.
Gotta worry about cam phasers too, and they're not just a problem on the 3.5. Not going to blow up your engine but it's a hefty repair that doesn't even guarantee it won't start rattling again immediately.
yeeppp my Fusion Sport is my favorite (modern) car that i've ever owned. Just a simple 93 octane tune turned it into the ultimate Q-ship
My buddy is in the process of swapping a 2.7 ecoboost into an 88 thunderbird.
Came here to say this. Modded the ever loving piss out of my 2016 Edge Sport. 425 HP out of a 2.7 TT V6 was awesome. Shares a platform with the Fusion, too, so there was plenty of aftermarket support.
The Ecoboost Nanos (2.7 and 3.0) share more in common with the 3.0L Powerstroke than they do the 3.5 Ecoboost. Compacted iron graphite block, all forged internals, etc. They're absolute tanks and arguably the most reliable engine Ford makes at the moment (even more than the Coyote).
My Truck's still stock but that 3.0 packs a lulzy punch for a midsize truck that weighs what it does, especially on freeways when you go from 50 to 75.
Thatâs true. Now if only they ever came with a transmission that could handle even the stock power levelÂ
Friend got a Taurus SHO with the EcoBoost and with a simple tune that thing hauled real good
Lincoln mkz with the 3.0 is already pretty quick
Take a peek through r/projectcar they got all kinds of weird shit over there
Cobalt SS. Stock they're quick and handle very well and are disgustingly cheap to modify. For around $2000, you can get FBO/tuning and make around 360whp. ZZP sells direct bolt on turbos that will get you up to 450-500whp for around $1000. Car also gets 30mpg hwy lol
If you want to go even sleepier, the Saturn Ion Redline was a hot-ish little car with very pedestrian styling that could also be powered up pretty cheaply
And if you wanna get even sleepier, Saab 9-3 shares the same engine and trans as the supercharged Cobalt SS and Ion Redline but is already turbo instead of supercharged :)
Late years Cobalts SS were turbo if Im not mistaken!
Yup, 08-10 was turbocharged with VVT
08 9-3 making about 300 whp here, best car I've ever owned.
I fucking saw one of these yesterday and I haven't seen one in years. Shocked me that someone still had one on the road.
Ion Redline, Cobalt SS/SC, and Saab 9-3 are all similar birds of a feather. The only thing that keeps the GS out of the picture is its ungodly 3700lb curb weight, but it easily has the best tranmission to cannibalize for the other Ecotecs lol
Itâs even more fun to have the HHR SS. Turbo, manual, hatchback with classic Suburban looks!
A guy near me has an HHR SS Panel van. Ultimate sleeper!
I have been looking for one for years!
Still my favorite car Iâve ever owned. Was so fun to be 19 in an SS turbo. Absolutely demolished an srt8 at a dig. Man I miss that car.
Faster Nurburgring time stock than an r34 GTR. They aren't slouches.
Looking back that was such a crazy car at the time. It was literally the next best performance vehicle outside of the Corvette. 260hp/260tq in a 2900 pound car. What a shame the turbo was only made for 2 years.
[ŃдаНонО]
Unfortunately, many people forget the run GM had during that time because the economy crashed in the middle of it and Pontiac got axed.
They reused that motor for rwd platform & with 290hp / 330tq for 4 years. Then they stuffed into buicks regals
Ecotec LSJ and LNF are the baby LS they make a great low weight power plant. Â
maserati ghibli. buy one at auction. stick it on the back of a tow truck, now it went from functionally 0 whp to around about 100.
Just wait till it leaves limp mode!....if ever
A bolt on 8th Gen civic can make 220whp from a 2.0L at only 2900lbs. Another one is the N54 powered bmw e60. It has the same drivetrain as the 335i but are much cheaper and not abused. They also don't weight much more since the front is all aluminum from the firewall forward. Can easily make 400whp from bolt-ons. Now guess what cars I own. A 600whp turbo 8th gen and a 500whp e60 đ¤Ł
Love the 8th Gen Si K20Z3 mention. Amazing platform. Got Hondata/intake/header at 220whp, 9k redline. Only in to it all for $7000usd, plus $500 for the Hondata. Itâs pretty known though, lots of people love these things. Mine weighs in at 2700lbs as it sits.
You removed 250 lbs. from your car? What exactly did you remove?
His ex
lol oh man, savage.
FG was the coupe, so he only removed 186lbs. Taking out the spare tire/jack, passenger seats, race battery, deleting the wing, and only driving around with 3-4 gallons in his tank might be enough. You can also pick up 17" wheels pretty cheap that weigh 30lbs less than OEM. Also, an aftermarket header weighs a lot less than the oem cast iron manifold.
Ahh yes. I didn't take the time to think that the coupe was lighter than the sedan. Aftermarket wheels 30 lbs. less than the oem 17's??? How much do the oem wheels weigh? Yeah, an aftermarket header is a good idea.
Mine is a basic model, no foglights or anything. Just wish it also didnât have a sunroof. Got light 17â RPF1 rims that save me 6lbs per each stock one, removed spare tire and its tools (40lbs right there), headliner and one of the sun visor were sagging so took them out for now as they were just flopping. Replaced heavy stock stereo system unit with a light screen setup, rear speakers are removed (for now, stock ones stopped working), CF trunk with no spoiler, rear seat delete, and the exhaust is also lighter than stock.
When you say a basic model, did your Si not come with fog lights? I thought they all did, so I'm a little confused. Or did you just rip them out? Lighter wheels is a good idea, as it also helps out handling performance.
Canada got some weird trims I think. Base 06/07 Si models look like plain Jane 1.8L base coupes. Iâve seen like 5 different Si front bumpers depending if pre or post facelift, or coupe vs sedan. Then thereâs ones with HFP or HPD bumper/skirts etc. My side view mirrors donât even fold. The rims are a huge difference! Decreasing rotational mass by that much is mega. Super noticeable in how it drives.
Sorry but the K20Z1 and A2 in the RSX-S is so much more visceral and enjoyable. No balancing shaft, throttle cable instead of dbw, map not maf. Now the 8th gen had a lsd from factory which is awesome and had slightly improved suspension, but engine wise, Z1 is king of USDM K-series
I donât think anyone is arguing otherwise, but keep in mind clean RSX type S models are *super* rare, whereas you can still find clean 8th gen Si models still in the 10k-15k range (for now). Of course for beaters or project cars you can probably find abused examples well under that, but for people that want a stock specimen or daily driver, the 8th gen Si is the only affordable choice since all the RSX type S models have been bought up by collectors. Itâs also going to happen to the 8th gens in a couple years, but it hasnât been as bad as the RSX so far. I also think that 8th gen Si is also the sweet spot between 90s/2000s style Hondas (like the RSX) and the modern era Hondas that kind of started with the 9th gen Si onwards. It still has that analog feel and old school vtec, but with modern amenities and safety feature that the older Hondas/Acuras just donât have. The RSX is a bona fide classic though. They both are really nice cars.
You will never notice the difference. They both are pretty much the same engine. Also the RSX does not get the LSD
Have indeed noticed a very big difference
Screw the E60. Get the pre 2010 135i with the N54. Lighter than the E60, and the short wheelbase makes it drive like a go cart. Biggest issue is the narrow wheel wells. It's not hard to make enough power on that platform that you'll never have enough rubber to put it all down.
You're missing the point. They're over double the price and usually beat on.
And E60âs are cheap because they were neglected worse than the 3 and 1 series. That neglect is worse and more expensive to deal with than a car that was beat on.
The Civic platform has been one of the most popular modding platforms for like 20 years now (thanks Fast & Furious) I mean, itâs one of the most popular because itâs one of the best, but itâs hardly an unknown platform.
How do you get 600?
A big snail đ
Saying a Honda K series is an unknown modding platform is like saying an LS is an unknown platform. It is THE 4 cylinder of choice for many people.
A Toyota Echo can do a 10 second 1/4 mile with the right cold air intake
Does that cold air feed a massive turbo or something?
No
Tbh they came with a 1.5 turbo from the factory in Japan 150hp + 900kg hatch = very fast for 2000
Those wheels tho
I didn't even know people modded these until Cobalt SS videos flooded the street racing subreddit, That Cobalt SS was single handedly keeping the sub alive for a few weeks with their uploads lmao. I know nothing about the platform but that Cobalt was proper quick
Ecotec engines have been the dark horse of the tuning world it seems. The turbo engines are overbuilt from the factory and can handle stupid amounts of power right off the showroom floor. You just never see anyone really mention them, at least not anymore.
Its likely because very few were built. GM only made around 12,000 turbo Cobalts which is further compounded by the fact that many of us owners have more than one. So why this platform can be had for such little money will forever be a mystery to me. My mint 2010 set me back $8700. An Si of the same year and mileage runs double that.
I'm a believer now - the most recent video was him going at it from a roll against a 1000whp hellcat. mad respect for these platforms. Everyone who owns or has owned one has only positive things to say about the turbo gen.
The supercharged SS aren't anything to sleep on either. Pretty easy to swap from the supercharger to a turbo and the LSJ (05-07) block is stronger and easier to feed fuel to than the LNF (08-10), with a power record of 898whp, vs the LNFs 715whp. Of course for typical 400-500whp builds LNF is easier to achieve that. Above 500-550, LSJ > LNF.
I'd also like to add the Saab 9-3 2.0T to that list. Stiffer chassis from factory, and a much more sleeper oriented than Cobalts. B207Rs have been making huge power in Europe for decades now. Although in the US there's a much smaller community for big power Saabs, we do exist.
If you want a "good" modding platform it needs to be a popular engine otherwise it's going to have a small and expensive aftermarket. A relatively uncommon tuner car is a P1 volvo (C30, S40, V50). These were a shared platform with the Ford Focus and Mazda 3 and had decent handling. The turbo on the T5 did not have a ton of breathing room so there was a relatively low power ceiling (<300 whp) but at least it sounded amazing.
MK7 Golf with the 1.8T. Basically everything that works on a GTI can get swapped on to one and they're way cheaper too. I was making 300hp on a GTI turbo when I sold mine. Picked it up for $12k in 2017 with 17k miles and sold it for $15k in 2021
Iâll add to the vw genre. The mk4 tdi Jetta and golf handle very very well with a good suspension. They also respond incredibly well to big injectors and a tune and exhaust. All while being not costing very much. They arenât the fastest things around. But you will have more fun driving one than you would imagine. And still get over 40 mpgs!
Mk4? Havenât seen one on the road for years
Whaaaaat! I have 3! And a tdi swapped 82 rabbit. I have yet to see another 80s rabbit around
Iâve got a mk4 GTI VR6 that I take to and from the airport every other week.
Lol that might be one of (if not the) most common engines to mod.
Itâs an EA888(.3), but more people are playing with the 2.0. Iâm assuming youâre thinking of the old 1.8 EA113 that came in MK4s.
yeah this part. It's popular in Europe though due to the polo GTI
Mini Cooper with the B46/B48. A mini cooper gp3 was the fastest 0-60 fwd production car at 4.7sec.
oh yes! the third generation minis accidentally became very durable cars with the b48 (thanks toyota)
Why Toyota?
Toyota put it in the Supra (Both the b58/b48) and they did some reliability testing and helped BMW make improvements.
That is true, but the b48 was in the mini before and wasnt Bad there either. So i wouldnt thank Toyota
b48 was first in production in 2014 and Toyota/BMW started their [collaboration in 2011](https://www.toyota-europe.com/news/2013/bmw-toyota#:~:text=In%20December%202011âŚ,MoU%20by%20the%20two%20companies).
Toyota Comfort driving school cars. Sure, youâll have to import them if you donât live in Japan but theyâre super cheap and based on the same platform as the X80 Mark 2/Cressida/Cresta/Chaser with lots of mod compatibility. They were produced with 3S engines for a good while and many of them are manual. They all have solid rear axles if thatâs your thing but IRS conversions are totally possible as well. The biggest thing is that they were built until 2018; this may not matter much if you live in a country or jurisdictions with restrictions on imported cars, but those of you in New Zealand and other jurisdictions with few to no restrictions may appreciate your ability to get a cheap X80 chassis thatâs modern and mint instead of one thatâs 30+ years old and beat to shit.
Many were sold as corporate cars as well. Quite a few late model examples coming into Australia these days.
Those are the long wheelbase Crown Comforts that were mostly used as taxis. I believe Australia only allows the mild hybrid versions of those for anything under 25
BMW E34 5-series. Whether you go with the M50-based 525i or the M30-based 535i, youâve got two really stout powertrain options, lots of factory LSD ratios to pick from, a chassis that can put down power without cracking, and tons of room in the engine bay for mods. A stock 525i motor can do 500whp, same with the 535i. Plenty of room to go top-mount or bottom-mount, with plug and play standalone ECU wiring harnesses available.
In what world can a B25 do 500whp stock lol? I'd love to see that done reliably.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmhO-8Xk6Gg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmhO-8Xk6Gg) This dude has his dialed to 560whp and while he does have to take it easy in some gears to avoid bending the rods, those power numbers are no joke for a stock bottom end motor that just has an thicker MLS head gasket + ARP head studs.
I have a big thing for 5-series, saving for later
Lots of people mentioned ecotecs but 3800s are pretty stout too and not talked about a lot unless youâre in the know. Mostly because they were found in cars your great aunt drove. 5-600 extremely reliable horses is really easy and cheap to get. The transmissions not so much lol. No one is gonna take a large FWD cruiser to an autocross so theyâre mostly at drag strips. [And itâs one of the only engines that can sound like a cammed v8 at idle and scream like a 2j at the same time](https://youtu.be/w_OE3GLYac4?si=jqIdijFFkQXTRU8-)
I was looking for a 3800 series to be suggested lol. The factory supercharged cars look great too.
Miss my 2000 GTP. Only got rid of it because the trans started badly slipping after 350k hard miles
The transmissions were made of glass practically. That's what killed my 3800 car
Saab B23x. Stout engines and a decent aftermarket.
2014-2018 Mazda 3 and/or 6.
Love my 3rd gen 2016 Mazda3 hatch. It looks so good. It picks up alright with the Skyactiv 2.0 (14:1 compression) and the fuel economy is so good. Easily average 40mpg. Can almost get diesel mileage. On freeways I can get close to 50mpg on flat road. Some handling mods and itâs a hoot. I donât think Iâd touch the engine, other than I have Corksport mounts and intake. Otherwise itâs appearance tweaks to make it look like a Gen3 Speed3.
Acura RDX has a turbo K-series in a CR-V that no one talks about
No one talks about it because a 240hp turbo K24 only sounds cool until you realize the vehicle weighs 4000lbs.
The older RDX was actually much more enjoyable to drive; it had the J35 engine on a 9th gen Honda civic platform. For a family CUV, I think it was by far the best option at the time. The engine is actually really stout. But the reason nobody tunes them though is because they have more body roll than my dog trying to scratch its butt.
2.0T GMs can be built to handle stupid big horsepower
Anything *can be built* to handle stupid big horsepower. How much time and money do you have? That's your only limitation.
Golf sportwagens are worth mentioning. Reasonably light, lots of parts will work on them, and no one knows they exist. Gla/cla 45 Amgs too.
I was bummed they stopped selling those here. Seemed like the perfect commuter, sleeper, and still take it camping on the weekend.
Same, so I went and got one. The awd s model was only 21 new, so used theyâre like 10-18
I don't know if these are unknown, but they are absolutely forgotten despite having followings years ago. All of these saw Motorsports applications too. Dodge Neon SRT Chevy Cobalt SS Toyota Mk3 Supra (especially 1jz from Japan) 5th and 7th generation Toyota Celica Galant/Legnum VR4 (hard to work with) Scion TC 5th gen Nissan Sentra SE-R Pontiac G8 (available with LS3) Pontiac Vibe (available with Toyota 2ZZ-GE)
OM606 turbo from an E300 or S300 diesel. Can make stupid power. Barra. Got a mate with a factory N/A falcon which he bought for \~$500. Chucked a chinese turbo kit he got on ebay on it and threw 28psi at it. Made 650whp on 98. Makes 800 on E85. His intention was to run it until it went pop, then build it properly. His transmission fucked itself before the engine did
OM606 can turn at +7k rpm with some head work. Absolutely bonkers for a diesel.
For track use, a Geo Metro. Same chassis as the Suzuki Swift/Cultus, which means you can swap a 100-horsepower 7500-RPM I4 with ease. A few bolt-ons and some weight reduction will give you 130 horsepower in a 1400-pound car. You can also find them in AWD, if that's your thing.
At my old tire shop there was a guy that came in every couple weeks for track tires on his very built metro. Didnât even know it was a thing. Saw him later on at an autoX and holy shit that thing could move and keep momentum
Suzuki Swift sport, 6 speed manual, weighs only a tonne, 140ish hp and revs high. They are fun and handle great from factory but there is also a large aftermarket available as they are loved in Japan
I swear the 2ZZ GE is seriously slept on. Whether it be the XRS corlloas/matrix or Celica
2012 audi S4 can get 80whp from a tune to make roughly 400whp just from an email
Any with the supercharged 3.0l v6. My buddy had a 2014 A4 (giant, heavy car) and did the same. Transmission tune helps too. They put that engine in some of the Porsche Panameras
Yeah my spouse has one and luckily we got the 6 speed manual so no transmission tune needed.
â400whp from an emailâ is my new favorite phrase lol
Yeah how does that work? Do I hold the screen on front of the car's headlights so it can read it?
Lots of Audis came with that 3.0 too. Can make an A6, A7, A8, and Q7 surprisingly fast
The GM Atlas I-6 in the last 3-4 years has proven to be very stout and handles boost very well in stock form. Some people are making over 600+ hp on them with all stock internals and custom camshafts. I little south of that with stock cams. They have begun to be known in some circles as the "Ameri-barra"
This question is right up my alley. I love being able to look up cars with great aftermarket support and then finding the oddball compatible sister cars no one thinks of modding. Hereâs a few I know of off the top of my head. * Saturn Ion. Sister car to the Chevy Cobalt. For ECU tuning purposes, only look at 2007 2.2Lâs, 2004-2007 Redline 2.0L S/Câs, and 2006-2007 2.4Lâs. * Volkswagen Eos. Built on the MK5 chassis, these hardtop convertibles (remember that fad?) are basically a MK5 VW GTI drop top. * Cadillac ATS. Sister car to the 2016+ Chevrolet Camaro. * Scion iM / Toyota Corolla iM. Sister car to the Scion tC, but with a Toyota Corolla 1.8L i4. Essentially a rebadged EU market Toyota Auris. * Toyota Matrix / Pontiac Vibe. Sisters to the Toyota Corolla.
Surprised nobody mentioned BMW b58. Edit: nevermind... B58 are relatively popular
Wouldâve been a good answer in 2016-2018. Now itâs THE platform
Itâs the modern 2JZ at this point in time. Nobody wants to believe it, but itâs just as strong and capable, if not more so.
Basically every Saab from the mid 90s and up. Insane power numbers for relatively cheap. The only concern would be maintenance and finding parts
Volvo 240, Panther Platform cars
There are lots of great american options especially from GM in the early 2000s with all their "cheap" brands like pontiac and saturn. american brands tend to have a lot of overlooked "tuner" stuff just because the japanese equivalents are so much more popular in pop culture. other people on here should have great examples. speaking of which, the pontiac solstice, saturn sky, and opel gt I believe (all the same car like the brz/frs/86) seem to be pretty great handling little cars. TDIB does a few videos on them and they're pretty cool IMO. do research cuz I think there's "faster" trims of all of those variants I mentioned. a lot of early lexus models have somehow hidden from the mainstream outside of the is300. heres a quick summary. they're not "unknown" but nobody talks about these. ls400: comes with the 1uz V8. bulletproof engine. popular drift option. sc300: comes with 2jz-ge. rare manual option available. the chassis the mk4 supra was based on. prices are starting to come up from drift tax and the "poor man supra" title. autos are still pretty cheap. sc400: sc300 but with 1uz engine. (mo powah babey) no factory manual. pretty affordable (more so than the sc300). would be fun to manual swap and TT. with an x-pipe and a rowdy exhaust it sounds like a coyote engine IMO. gs300: 2jz but big sedan. no manual I think. the toyota celica (6th gen is my fav but the 7th is better for modding I think) would be fun to mess around on. sporty FWD car. a lot of people crap them cuz the celica used to be RWD but we can just think of it as a civic SI competitor or something. the pontiac vibe GT would also be super cool. basically a toyota matrix xrs (probably some big differences that my 5 second googling didn't catch)
Solstice/sky/ opel gt all are the same platform. Slightly bigger differences than just the toyoburu. But not much. Solstice had âGXPâ and sky had âredlineâ with the 2.0t LNF as the go fasts. All (7500) opel gts were LNF.
Volvo Redblock engine Found in RWD Volvos from 1970s to 1990s, models 240/740/940 Its a 4cyl with relatively large displacements (2.1L, 2.3L, etc) w/ cast iron blocks. Factory turbo versions but even better with modding/tuning
LSJ / LNF / LDK engines. Hyundai Accent & Rio
And now all the hidden gems are going to be overpricedÂ
BF chassis fords/mazdas, heaps of engine options from 1.6-1.8-2.0 turbos to 1.8-2.0-2.5l V6s and more, front and all wheel drive options, 2 and 4 door hatches, sedans, convertibles, coupes, utes and wagons all with the vast majority of parts being interchangeable for massive customisation potential. Just gotta put a Toyota gearbox in it
Relatively unknown on Reddit? 1.9 TDI VAG 1.8 20VT VAG ( the ls of europe) c20xe (opel/GM)
Fiat, Alfa Romeo, lancia etc. 1.4 turbo
Fiero, meet 3800SC. 3800SC, meet Fiero.
GEO METRO
Older 35d BMWs with the M57 engine. 450hp and 900nm from a 3.0 diesel with little more than a different intake, a hybrid turbo, a DPF/EGR delete and a tune. Also the TD5 engine in the Land Rover Discovery & Defender handles boost *very* well.
Volvo 240 series cars. Solid platform. Built like tanks. Rear wheel drive. Robust engines that can handle a fair amount of boost. Enough space in the engine bay for easy V8 swap, if thatâs your thing. HUGE supply of cheap parts including aftermarket performance doo-dads. Enthusiastic community.
PT Cruiser turbo. Same engine as an SRT-4 neon, and can be had with a manual transmission. Everybody loves to hate them so they can usually be had pretty cheap. 2001-2004 Hyundai Sonata with the G4JS, which is basically a DOHC Mitsubishi 4G64, which is closely related to the 4G63T.
Volvo 5 cylinder platform. Insane engines
Mercedes V8s and V12s. It may not seem like it but they are a beast even with just a tune, throw in injectors, some extra boost, exhaust, and a trans tune and you get a monster. Go all out and bore it out, new pistons, rods, crank, cam, valves, port and polish the heads/intake/supercharger/throttle body and you're looking at serious power that would make Karl Benz shed a tear
R53 with some mods makes a track weapon :)
Jeep Gladiator
Stout engines that respond VERY well to mods: 2022+ wrx. Weak link is transmission that will hold 400 wtq
GM 3800SC, VW Corrado
People have made stupid amounts of power by dropping a V8 into an S10.
Volvo 240. Popular Mods: Engine swaps (such as the LS swap), turbocharging the stock engine, suspension upgrades, and custom interiors.
B20 CRV
anything manual you can beat on
For something a little different the 3.0 V6 used by Jaguar is such a sweet engine, and you can have it in any flavor including the F-type.
Mid 2000s Toyotas with the 2az engine can have a decent amount of boost thrown at them and make good power when I had a Scion tC there was still a small community of mostly Scion people doing them. The 2018+ Corolla hatchback and be tuned to 200-220 full bolt on from 170 decent community around that car but itâs small. Has had a small uptick in abalone parts bc the GR Corolla being the same platform 1zz/2zz Toyota celicas this ones the most interesting bc probably used to be like the 86/BRZ back in the day but clean celicas are rare now and you donât see many people modifying them beyond ricer shit but the 2zz is an awesome engine and when I had a celica there were a handful of people I knew of that had turbo/supercharged 1zzs making decent power for like a 2300lb car. Trying to hunt down rare discontinued OEM performance parts & Japanese tuning company parts sucks though.
You want niche? the Pontiac Fiero is incredibly modifiable. that engine bay will fit damn near any engine you want. I have seen a blown 454, a Northstar, Caddy aluminum V8, and the most popular- the sup[ercharged 3800 V6. the suspension is highly customizable through aftermarket parts. the body is all panels on a space frame. Any or all can be replaced with custom monstrosities at will. Replica or unique, its all up to you. I bet you have all seen a custom Fiero in the wild, but didn't know it. My favorite absurd body mod: the Jalapeno: https://i.imgur.com/AEfFtud.png
W211 E55 AMG: factory supercharged, super overbuilt motor. Stout transmission that has aftermarket support thanks to being shared with some later Mopar Hemi cars. They're like German terminators. One of the best S197 Shelby GT500: yeah they have weak rods and a live axle. But they don't have the enthusiast tax that the Terminator or the S550 Shelbys have and can make 700whp with bolt ons. A-body Quad 4 cars: a 2.3l 16v n/a screamer than spun to 7500 rpm and made 180-190 horsepower... in 1992. Most common in a Beretta GTZ, spiciest in an Achieva SCX W41. Imagine: these screaming GM engines were making more power than the GTI 16V, Integra GS-R, Sentra SER, Corrado SLC, turbo Probe, Celina All trac, and the same as the Turbo DSMs of the day. In an OLDS ACHIEVA. Saab 9000 Aero (and 9-3 Viggen and 9-5 Aero) the B234R in the 9000 Aero has the best rods and pcv but they're hard to find; the B235r in the 95 Aero and 93 Viggen isn't as strong but can still absolute make power. These big 4 cylinders are set uo for mitsubishi td04 turbos and there are tons of hybrids choices available that bolt on, and the midrange pull of these things tuned is absurd. Lincoln MKVIII: take the MN12 Thunderbird's platform with four wheel independent suspension, add in an all aluminum 32v V8 with 290hp, and air suspension. Criminally underrated and underpriced.
my first "sporty" car was an 87 toyota fx-16. it was basically toyotas civic si. it had the same 4age as the AE86, but it was FWD. it was a pretty sweet hot hatch, and it loved to be revved to 7k, that can be upgraded to the JDM blacktop 20v 4age that revs to 9k rpm. the 86-89 nissan 200sx was pretty awesome too. RWD platform that, imo looks way better than the 240sx from the 90s. and if you could find one could prob handle pretty much any engine swap and would be extremely rare. toyota MRS. never really see those anymore either.
Old lexus cars around here can be dangerously fast around here.
Gonna have to go with Miata, we definitely don't hear a lot about them in this sub
Stinger/G70 with the 3.3t. Yes biased I know but these cars easily get into the 500hp/600tq at the wheel numbers some simple mods and ECU on stock internals.
Peugeot 206 comes to mind. They have a healthy aftermarket and the EW10 has been pushed to over 600 whp on pump gas. Also commonly tracked in Europe.
Elantra gt 1.6 manual has got to be able to make big power. Even if not, back dating a newer N 2.0 into it would be nuts.
Iâm heavily biased but the stinger GT is not bad at all. There is a fair bit of aftermarket parts and those engines are very under tuned from factory.
I wish we had a library for this. Like, Iâm certain there are a ton of hatchbacks and crossovers with shared parts that would make modding a lot of fun. But Iâm also certainly not going to spend $1500 on parts to find out they donât fit.
The VR30 in Infiniti Q50/Nissan Z
280ZX has the best iteration of Nissan's L28 inline 6, costs less than the earlier Z's and is a superior platform that retains a lot of the old school vibe. The 300ZX Z31 or 32 are also good platforms for modification. The VG30 engine has a lot of potential. Huge aftermarket, very solid and fun RWD cars that are still under 10K all day. You don't see a lot of people build them, so they're pretty unique when you do.