92 hatch or 95 del sol

[SPEEDFREAK0920]

i want to pick up a car so i can start road racing this year. i have around 2500'ish to spend.one of my buddies said he'll sell me his 95 del sol with a single cam non vtec with lowered springs.it's a 5 speed with 121k on the chassis and around 90 on the engine.he's asking 1500 without his 17in fittapaldi's.there's also a 92 civic hatch with a single cam non vtec that's 5speed and has tokico shocks with tein springs for 2500 obo.either car,i want to do a mini frankenstein and clutch,i,h,e.thanx for all the advice.

 

[E_SolSi]

tough call

either one will do very well at autocross or on a road course
the hatch is a little better at autocross, a sol (properly set up) can be better on a road course
BUT
if you are road coursing anything you have to take into count that you WILL end up crashing it or some how fucking it up, and the hatch will be 1904364326974137894312x easier to find replacement parts for at a local junk yard
if you dont mind paying the higher prices to repair the sol with new parts then its not a big deal, but if you want used parts good luck

 

[posol]

hatch for sure.

i own both. and i've retired the sol, and the hatch is my new "race car"

 

[pills_PMD]

the hatch is ligher and is sturdier. the removable top on the sol weakens the chassis slightly

 

[brian11to1]

I say hatch y0!!!

 

[SPEEDFREAK0920]

do all del sol's have that removal top?because when i looked at the sol it didn't look to have had it.i prob. just overlooked it.pissedoffsol,did the sol handle pretty good tho on the track?like will i be giving up a lot if i choose the sol,or are the two cars both pretty good track cars?because i just realized that if i get the hatch for 2000,i'm gonng be on a really tight budget and might not be able to do all the things i wanted to do.but if i pick up the sol for 1500 i'll have around 1000 to do the mini-me and i,h,e.pissedoffsol,if the hatch is that much better handling than the sol ,then i'll give up the 500 for the hatch. damn this sounds complicated but i hope you can understand what i'm trying to get at.thanx for responding and helping me out. alex

 

[Smonkeyboy]

yeah, all sols are targas.

if you are gonna be on a tight budget, i say the hatch, replacement parts are cheaper, and if it doesnt have a sunroof, then it will already be really rigid, and have a relatively low center of gravity

 

[nfn15037]

All I gotta say is, where do you put a cage in a del Sol? Other than cutting holes through the rear glass or doing away with it altogether, there is no good solution to putting even a 4 point roll bar into a sol, let alone a good SCCA/NASA cage.

 

[Smonkeyboy]

sure there is, there is plenty of room for a rear hoop behind the seats, then have the front hoop through the dash, ive seen it done several times.

 

[E_SolSi]

Originally posted by nfn15037@Jan 31 2005, 01:01 AM
All I gotta say is, where do you put a cage in a del Sol? Other than cutting holes through the rear glass or doing away with it altogether, there is no good solution to putting even a 4 point roll bar into a sol, let alone a good SCCA/NASA cage.

[post=453655]Quoted post[/post]​

its actually quite easy... you would do pretty much the same type of cage they run in the lotus elise/exige

 

[dveit]

Or miata.

 

[reckedracing]

del slo's are kinda heavy and just plain fuckin junk...

parts are hard to find, expensive as hell, every one in the yards has been hit on all sides and rolled down a hill, then blasted by a train and pushed off a mountain...

and good luck trying to sell one of those piles too...

i like em, but they are just not economical...
you'll have more fun with a hatch

 

[pills_PMD]

what kind of parts are you talking about?

 

[SPEEDFREAK0920]

well this isn't my daily driver,just my weekend road courser.so banging it up a little isn't a problem.i dont care if the fenders or rear quarters get a little dented here and there,just as long as the car is still able to perform.does anyone know how much a del sol/hatch weighs? for this whole year all that's going to be done is intake,header,exhaust,mini-me vtec,and some sways and strut bars. thnx for the responses.

 

[posol]

chassis weights are in the reference section