I had a similar approach when I bought my first one in late 2008. Had to meet a similar criteria and carry roof racks.


Other than the clutch comment, agree with everything above. May need to consider a clutch if you do a LSD and run semi's, but there's been cars with 150-170kwat on stock clutches with 150-180,000kms. Being light and tyres spinning takes some of the pressure off the clutch. But always safe to keep a clutch budget just in case.

As the car gets more modded, it can be a bit more difficult to find good mechanics. Also, given the age of these cars, there's not too many tuners around these days, so takes a little more searching, going aftermarket ECU, or build the same as someone else and see if their tune is available (you didn't hear that from me). Sourcing used parts is also somewhat of a challenge, so that can get pricey buying all new parts for a $6k car, e.g. my LSD cost $3k and I pulled the gearbox out and reinstalled myself (didn't open the box myself). But you can build a fast, reliable car for reasonable dollars, there's a few build threads on the forum with tried and tested results.

If the cars for track, I'd chase something with some tasteful mods to get you running and not too bothered with mileage. You can than mod from their to suit yourself.

But for the power they can produce and being comfortable to drive daily, there's not much else in the market. XR4 won't make the power, but probably a better stock chassis, Ralliart Colt - each to their own, probably a better stock base car for hard driving, but a little compromised for daily.