Fully custom 818 or ....

[turbohips]

OK so I'm fortunate to have a great wife allowing me to have one more toy but I have to decide on what I want. Please feel free to enlighten me on things I might know about the following options along with why you would pick one out of the 3:
1. 2013 Nissan GT-R (stock due to budget)
2. Fully modded/custom 818
3. RCR Superlite (somewhat stock with LS7 or LS9)

[David Hodgkins]

You can come by and check out my Roadster if you want.

Are you gung ho on building? What are the objectives of the build? Street? race?

:)

[Kalstar]

OK so I'm fortunate to have a great wife allowing me to have one more toy but I have to decide on what I want. Please feel free to enlighten me on things I might know about the following options along with why you would pick one out of the 3:
1. 2013 Nissan GT-R (stock due to budget)
2. Fully modded/custom 818
3. RCR Superlite (somewhat stock with LS7 or LS9)

Used GT-R by a long shot.

[GUNS]

Depends on what your goals are, but if I had your budget I'd go with the RCR superlite.

[shinn497]

A 2013 GT-R is 90k. A RCR superlight is about 65k finished. And I think you would struggle to get that with a 818.

Really it is how you want to spend it. Honestly, I would just get the GT-R. Its a recognizable car, it would outperform the 818 and the RCR, and it has more than 2 seats.

[GUNS]

A 2013 GT-R is 90k. A RCR superlight is about 65k finished. And I think you would struggle to get that with a 818.

Really it is how you want to spend it. Honestly, I would just get the GT-R. Its a recognizable car, it would outperform the 818 and the RCR, and it has more than 2 seats.

An LS-7 RCR SLC will cost $90K+ to finish....trust me I looked into it. You could do $60k if you found a used LS-1 and did almost all the work yourself. Either way I think the SLC will outperform a stock GT-R.

The GTR is a fantastic car, but the SLC is completely unique and will look like nothing else on the road.

The 818 is for guys like me that want to build a super fast, reliable track/street car on a budget. Even if I could afford to buy an SLC or GTR, I wouldn't be able to afford to maintain it, or fix it if I put it into tire wall.

Here's a pic to help with your decision:

10800

[leetfade]

I don't know what it is, but I am not a fan of that SLC.. Something about it just bugs me but, to each their own.

In the end, it's your money and your choice. The crappy thing is, the only one you can go and drive right now is a GT-R (unless you know someone with an SLC).

The 818 will be the smallest of the 3 (not sure of the dimensions of the SLC) and probably give the most go-kart feel. The SLC is the most exotic look, and the GT-R is pure Japanese muscle car. Surprised an Audi R8 isn't in the list if that's where your budget is at.

Like someone already said, what are your goals? Do you even want to build a car or do you want something to roll into your driveway ready to turn-key and turn heads?

[Jeff Kleiner]

For the $100K it takes to get into a new GT-R or well built SLR I think you could have a fleet of 818s!

OR...

An 818, a roadster AND a Coupe! (that's what I'd do ;))

Jeff

[ClemsonS197]

Why no GTM? If I had $90k to drop of a GT-R I'd definitely consider a GTM. The Gen II's look great, and when you see one of the street it looks like nothing else.

[agepag]

Hands down the RCR, thats a purpose built race car for the street. If you build it right it will be untouchable, if I had the money thats the car I would be buying.

[0100]

That list makes no sense.

[Nuul]

I'm inclined to agree, it's hard to compare a $100K car to the 818.

[Mechie3]

Im in the no sense / lack of focus group. Like others said, what is the purpose of the car? Do you want turnkey or DIY? Do you want DD comforts?

[Evan78]

The list makes sense, he gets to buy ONE more toy.

Turbohips - what do you already own and what would you like to do with your new toy? How much would you like to be able to drive it?

We can all tell you what WE would do with it, but we're not you. I would choose the 818 because I think it'll provide the most fun per dollar spent. Repairs and maintenance are something to factor in as well. I want something I can afford to drive hard and break. I don't want to spend so much on the car itself that I am afraid to put it at risk.

[NonProfit]

818 & Waikiki condo.

[Etos]

I'm not even sure it's possible to spend $100k on an 818.

Assuming cost is no problem:

818 kit: $10k
Fully built with sleeves long block: 15k
Turbo kit with twinscroll exhaust: 10k
Built 5 speed: 8k
Wheels+tires: 4k
Brakes: 10k
Other components: 5k
Paint job: 5k
Fully custom interior: ??k
Someone to build everything for you: ??

So outside of the cost of interior and someone to build it for you that's ~67k. That's pretty much throwing everything including the kitchen sink at this with a build that could yield well over 600hp. You'd have to start getting into wasting money on retarded things to get it to cost as much as the other cars.

That said if it was my money, GTR all the way.

[Evan78]

LOL, I doubt he has a goal of spending $100k on an 818.

[shinn497]

10k breaks!?

[turbohips]

Thanks for all the input people I really do appreciate the interest in the thread. I'd like to build a car and have worked on many cars in the past. My DD is a 300c AWD fully modded with heads, cam, underdrive pulley, straight pipe, headers, programer, intake, exhaust, etc. and runs 11's in the 1/4. The thought of buying a car already put together is also an awesome reality that would be fast and easy. The budget does run enough to cover the GT-R and maintenance so that isn't a concern. I think with the GT-R I'd be more worried about modding it even further IE. Alpha 12 etc. I do like the fact that the RCR is a race car and wickedly fast and I get to put it together. I've looked into the Ultima GTR but won't support an old design and not being made from the good old USA. I don't think the RCR or Ultima looks all that great though. I've followed the GTM for many years now and see way too many issues with people building them so that's why that car isn't on the list. As for the Audi R8, it's nice but I feel not even in the same league as a GT-R for the track. I would like to drive to a track in the car and race it, then drive home without issues. I was at one point going to get an DB-9 but then thought it was too old and expensive for what it offers. I'm 38 BTW so still feel like a young buck and would like to play around on the streets/track. My decision date to purchase a car will be at the end of the year so I have time to explore a few options. I still appreciate the feedback so please keep the ideas rolling. Perhaps there are other cars I haven't even considered or looked into.
Regards,
Bruce

[Evan78]

Given your budget and consideration of the 818, the Aeriel Atom probably belongs on your list.

If you're looking for a track car that you can drive on the street, I'd rather have an exo car that is lighter than anything with much body work.


Brunton Stalker w/ LS motor
Caterham
Some other Locost

There's a well developed Stalker v8 for sale. I wish I remembered the owner's name or where I saw it. I could locate it with a little searching.

[Evan78]

Ah, this is the Stalker I was thinking of:

http://usa7s.com/vb/showthread.php?t=6931

530HP GM LS376/480 w/ dry sump
1625lbs wet
9.94 second ET at 141.5 MPH
$45,000 obo

I've seen a really quick Sprite or Midget powered by a turbo rotary I think it was.

[riptide motorsport]

Gt-r

[skullandbones]

OK so I'm fortunate to have a great wife allowing me to have one more toy but I have to decide on what I want. Please feel free to enlighten me on things I might know about the following options along with why you would pick one out of the 3:
1. 2013 Nissan GT-R (stock due to budget)
2. Fully modded/custom 818
3. RCR Superlite (somewhat stock with LS7 or LS9)

I'm curious as to why you are comparing apples to oranges since it sounds like your pockets are deep enough to go for items 1 and 3? Those would be excellent choices if that is your goal. If you prepared an 818 to as close as it could get to the others, I guess the upkeep and continued cost to maintain the 818 would be much less but what's the point? It's somewhat confusing. If you stick to the formula for the original concept of the 818 you can have a fleet of them as someone suggested. IMO, WEK.

[StatGSR]

Are you talking about going to the strip with this car or the track. If your talking about a road course spend your money on track time before you end up stuffing your 100k toy into a tire wall. Slow cars with good drivers embarrass terrible drivers with fast cars at every track day I have ever been to. I think the gtr may be good enough out of the box to keep you from killing yourself, but that's only if you leave all the stability control smarts on and don't over drive it.

[turbohips]

Option 2 would be with high HP motor and electric motors for the front wheels with custom body etc. Those options will hit the high dollar rather quickly but doing so should yield fast numbers on a track/street and look one of a kind. Some people would rather have a used super car to show off and others would rather have a super car undercover killer. I'm from the older days when running sleepers were cool and fun. I use to drive a piece of crap dodge 2.2 liter turbo ported running 1.7 bars of boost with a 75 shot of gogo juice. I could have afforded a Porsche at the time but loved the fact that I could smoke everyone with my everyday commuter ride. Hopefully you guys are starting to understand my decisions instead of judging them. I still appreciate the feedback so keep them coming.

[Etos]

I would like to drive to a track in the car and race it, then drive home without issues.

Lines like that always set off red flags IMO. I'm going to take a guess at 2 possibilities here: 1 is you think a drag strip is a track or 2, you intend to bring it to a real track but no real track experience. If it's 1 then ultimately from what you are saying you won't have a street and drag strip legal car at the same time dropping $100k on a tubular framed car. Most tracks require non street legal mods to run under 10 seconds as I'm sure you know. Hell with the right know how and a little luck $20k can get you a sub 10 second car, can't imagine what 100k well spent can really do.

If 2, you need to take more then just a few steps back. You're not going to have fun trying to learn to drive a balls to the walls beast that cost $100k without constantly worrying about putting it into the wall. If you truly want to just have fun at the track just get a dirt cheap miata. Learn to drive at a track first(notice I said drive, not race) then move up what caliber of car you bring to match your own skill set. You have the money to throw around obviously so a 3k miata that you won't give a damn about putting into a wall shouldn't be an issue.

[Etos]

10k breaks!?

10k is not even alot for high end brakes(all 4 corners add up). Most carbon brake kits are in the 20k ball park.

[metalmaker12]

if your wife lets you spend how much, you must be very well off, sorry dude I don't think i will every spend 100k on a car, unless i win the lottery, good for you and your good fortune, but the 818 is a peoples toy, hard to compare to a GTR or anything that is close to 100k

[PhyrraM]

Personally, not a GT-R fan. Too much techno, not enough personality. Admittedly, the engineering is superb (to read about).

Never really looked into the RCR. But at first glance it seems awefully 'boy-racer'ish (on the street- looks perfect for the track)

By compairision to the others, I think maybe an 818 won't hold your interest for long?

How about a Boxster/Caymen upgraded to 911 Turbo'ish' specs? Something like that seems like it could be near the theoretical center of your circle of examples.

[turbohips]

Thanks for all the input. Etos, yes that's a great idea and I've already started running a few cars on the track and had a blast doing so. I was using my buddies modded M6 but it doesn't handle all that well believe it or not. Way too much under-steer when going fast into corners. I also used my DD but that was like driving Mrs. Daisy lol with the exception that I was still able to kick other people's butt in my 4 door. I was possibly considering getting the older GT-R's and modding them as the budget would be about half if not less to produce something stupid like a 1000 HP monster. I think the real concern at that point would be suspension and breaks. The only issue with that idea is that I don't really care for the design of the older GT-R's. Guys please bear with me as this is a once in a life time dream that my wife is letting me go ahead with for my midlife dealio haha. It was either build/buy a car that I've always wanted or get a fishing boat which I would love but don't think would be as much fun.

[leetfade]

If you are wanting to run road course I would get the 1000hp number out of your head. That's just not very feasible and most good racers will tell you that's too much HP. My plans are to make my FD a road race car that will hit 800ish on the dyno but then be de-tuned to around 600whp for the course. Even then I will end up spending as much (if not more) in suspension upgrades compared to actual motor mods.

If you want something you can drive from time to time on the street and then go and have fun at the course, I would probably leave out the RCR. That's just my opinion as I don't think those are much of a street car. If you got the 818 you would have more than enough budget to do whatever you wanted to it. Hell you could even have street vs track suspension / wheel set-ups that you could swap for race day. Then again, an out of the box GT-R, Porsche, hell even Ferrari comes into play at that price point, is awful nice....

Since you like the sleeper, pretty much none of what you have listed really fits the bill.. ;)

[timmy318]

What I'm thinking of doing is building a fully custom 818 with an upgraded suspension system, 300 HP engine, lambo doors, and just pretty much everything crammed into the lil' car...

[BipDBo]

I am personally a person of little means. Sitting smack in the center of the middle class, with four wonderful (yet expensive) children, I don't have a ton of money for frivelous toys. If I could afford a GTR or to build a GTM, I would. The 818 appeals to me because it is within my reach. Are there better kits out there? Yes. RCR Superlite, Factory 5 GTM, Ultima GTR, etc. None are anywhere close to my price range, and at least mong those mentioned, the GTM is the only one that appears to be at all drivable an a daily basis. If I'm going to build a car, I want to enjoy it every day. Realistically, I'm not going to get into serious racing. I might take a 818 to the track every now and do time trials. The 818 is cheap, very cheap, within My grasp cheap. It looks like it will be very quick, dynamically stable, fairly easy for a novice like me to drive, and most of all, very fun. It's built on a well built reliable donor. It's configurable, so I can toy with different drivetrains in the fututre, maybe even go EV one day. Most importantly to me, it looks like it could be a nice, fun daily driver that won't bleed my wallet dry.

[Xusia]

+1000

[Niburu]

Why not buy the 818 AND a tow vehicle for track days?

[OCCPete]

An LS-7 RCR SLC will cost $90K+ to finish....trust me I looked into it. You could do $60k if you found a used LS-1 and did almost all the work yourself. Either way I think the SLC will outperform a stock GT-R.

I've been working on a budget for a SLC, with a big, very detailed spreadsheet. A "stock" SLC with a LS3 E-rod crate motor and 5-speed transaxle is in the $65-$70k range, not $90K.

SLC and 818 are not really in the same catagory, but the biggest difference for me is one has a roof ;)

Here's another option to consider: http://www.gt40s.com/forum/rcr-forum-rcr40-slc-p4-mkiv/36893-superlite-gta.html


Pete

[kalare]

First decide whether or not you want to build a car?

If you're not set on building a car, I don't see how two of those options make any sense. If you're really excited about building your own car, I don't see how one of those options makes sense.

Also, tracking is not all about power, you'll have the MOST fun on track with a car of lesser power running with similar cars...this is why so many people love spec miata and e30. You'll never be a good track driver if you start out high powered either, power will cover up all your mistakes. Why not buy a nice used porsche or similar in the 60k range and also build an 818 or pick up a miata?

[bugeye_fever]

Technically his wife said [U]one[U] more toy. We should all be so lucky!