favorite "tuner" car in the future

[shredingman123]

Sa tingin nyo, sino kaya sa mga four-dour cars na modelo ngayon ang magiging paborito ng mga tuners in the near future, tulad ng mga SiR civics and B14/13 sentra's?

A. FD Civic - siguro dahil successor siya ng legendary na civic
B. Lancer EX(GT-A) - best looking of the bunch IMO
C. Hyundai Accent Blue - pwede din, stylish din at mabilis
D. Toyota Altis - ive seen alot already, ang ganda nito w/ kits
E. Nissan Sentra b15
F. Ford Focus
G. Mazda 3

[isa1023]

E. Nissan Sentra b15

Wala pong ni-release na Sentra B15 dito sa atin.

[ghosthunter]

In no particular order:

Honda Civic 2.0
Subaru Impreza 2.0T
Mitsubishi Lancer EX
Hyundai Genesis Coupe
Ford Focus TDCi

[isa1023]

Honda Civic FD

[Ry_Tower]

Honda FD
Lancer EX GTA
Ford Focus TDCi - my fave among the bunch.

[jhnkvn]

Compact cars no doubt. Civic FD tops the list.. their list of aftermarket parts are mind-boggling.

[niky]

Genesis Coupes are relatively cheap, but I don't see secondhand values going down enough to put them into secondhand buyers' hands anytime soon. They might end up like the Miata and 200SX, re-selling for ridiculous amounts years down the line.

If we're talking about average cars that aren't too expensive secondhand and have lots of parts and potential, the FD Civic and the Jazz/City are definite winners in this regard. The Civic 1.8 has its limitations (integrated header and EGT), but it's powerful and user-friendly.

The Focus TDCi is a great car, and parts are available, but it's always going to be a "niche" car. One that everyone talks about but few people have. Still... best potential for least outlay of anything cheaper than a WRX or Genesis Coupe 2.0T. And secondhand MTs are fricking cheap. Just, uh... watch out for blown turbos if the previous owner was careless.

The Mitsubishi Lancer has tons of potential. 152 bhp. With minor bolt-ons, it makes as much power as my fully built Lynx... (about 175-180 bhp) and there are lots of dress-up and handling bits available for it, too. The engine should also be relatively boost friendly (not to EVO levels of power, though). The new 4B11 is one of the few modern gasoline engines that I believe can match the legendary K20 series engine. Just be sure to get an MT to maximize performance potential.

For the new generation of subcompacts, Jazz/City, definitely... though I think tuners would do well to check out the 1.5 liter Mazda2. Great handling out of the box, very lightweight, with great modification potential (it seems like the low power output compared to the competition might be mostly in the ECU programming). The twin-clutch Fiesta is too heavy and the DCT is a limiting factor in turbo modifications. The Accent, still an unknown factor.

Go lower... Celerio. Obviously. Cute. Terrific sounding and punchy 3 cylinder engine. Don't know if parts will become common, but I can see doing a full custom exhaust and intake job on one and achieving good power gains.

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For cars around five years of age... best buys for cheap performance would be secondhand TDCi MTs (as mentioned), GD Jazz 1.5 MTs (very rare) and Civic 2.0 MTs (even rarer).

[GTi]

Sa tingin nyo, sino kaya sa mga four-dour cars na modelo ngayon ang magiging paborito ng mga tuners in the near future, tulad ng mga SiR civics and B14/13 sentra's?

A. FD Civic - siguro dahil successor siya ng legendary na civic
B. Lancer EX(GT-A) - best looking of the bunch IMO
C. Hyundai Accent Blue - pwede din, stylish din at mabilis
D. Toyota Altis - ive seen alot already, ang ganda nito w/ kits
E. Nissan Sentra b15
F. Ford Focus
G. Mazda 3

The cars here that I believe are great for this purpose are:
Civic 2.0S- same basic engine as the Civic Type-R, perhaps we can attain that state or tune and even better?
Lancer EX GT-A- very good tuner car as seen already. I believe it will be able to reach such iconic status as the Galant GTi, but can the CVT transmission hold huge amounts of power like that?
Focus TDCi- definitely a good tuner car as proven by its use in the TRS. Besides having great handling, its easy to squeeze power from the diesel engine too.

The Mazda 3 could have been a good choice due to the good looks and great handling if it were not for the underperforming engine. As for the current B16 Sentra, well there is an SE-R Spec V variant of it in the States so it should give pretty good performance if tuned but I haven't seen a tuned B16 yet. Altis? Best left stock IMHO, AFAIK this ain't good for tuning. I'm not so sure as to the Accent, is the suspension worth it? But if I were really to tune an Accent, I'd be going for the CRDi. :devil:

[oliver1013]

Sabi nila yung Cruze daw ambilis pag kinargahan...

[niky]

The Cruze had potential... terrific chassis and suspension tuning. The big problem is the gearing is too long for the 1.8 liter engine in the manual and the automatic's responses are absolutely turgid. It can be made quicker, but come on... a tuned Cruze still makes less power than a stock Lancer and not much more than a stock Honda 1.8!

The Mazda3's engine is actually pretty good... lots of mid-range torque. Though the top-end could use more "oomph", it's powerful enough. But it's saddled with a four-speed AT with a very long second gear. If it were tighter geared, like the Mazda2... or if they'd at least include a newer 5-speed AT, better. If it were MT, the 2.0 sedan would be perfect.

Big power with the CVT on the Lancer, maybe not... at least not without a TC upgrade... but at least the Lancer also comes with an MT.

The Sentra B16 has lots of potential. It's already pretty quick and light... all you need to do is uncork the engine. Big problem is the price. With so few willing to buy them brand new... what are the chances of them becoming common secondhand?

...okay... price and looks... kind of dumpy looking for a new car...

Too bad about the Altis. The 2.0 motor is absolutely terrific. But the CVT leaves something to be desired in terms of responsiveness, and the suspension needs more work than any of the other cars mentioned here.

[Ry_Tower]

Sabi nila yung Cruze daw ambilis pag kinargahan...

The body and suspension being a global car can definitely handle it. The engine can do so as it is used in racing na rin by BRE.

Kaso yung mod parts niya ang medyo mahirap hanapan compared to Lancer, Civic, Mazda IMO outside of MM that is.

[oliver1013]

Sa Subic daw kinakain daw yung kompetisyon, kinwento lang sakin.

[niky]

The TRS Focus 1.8 is still faster overall, but there are certain conditions in which the Cruze is quicker.

While the Focus 1.8 has had more development time, the Cruze has a newer (stiffer) chassis and a more powerful motor... so it should be faster.

But in back-to-back driving of the two, the Focus has the punchier down-low performance. The Cruze's long gearing and weedy mid-range torque are a handicap on the racetrack.

Personally, though... if you could tweak out the understeer inherent in the Civic 1.8's rear suspension, it should be faster than either of them.

[GTi]

If they do an ECU reflash and couple a piggyback ECU on the Cruze shouldn't that overcome most, if not all, of the mentioned handicaps? And what of the performance of the Cruze VCDi?

[niky]

If they do an ECU reflash and couple a piggyback ECU on the Cruze shouldn't that overcome most, if not all, of the mentioned handicaps? And what of the performance of the Cruze VCDi?

Won't fix the long gears. It should help the midrange torque a bit, but the torque curve is also dependent on the cams and stroke of the engine.

If the VCDi is the same engine as in the Captiva, should be promising... that's a very smooth and revvy diesel, with lots of power. It should be almost as quick as the Focus, considering they have similar top-end power. The Focus is "only" 135 bhp, but the overboost mode gives it up to 10-15 hp more in the right conditions. And the six-speed AT is very good.

I guess we'll only know when the test units become available... but I'm hoping Ford will be willing to lend a diesel sedan to us at the same time as the Cruze. I know the Focus sedan won't be anywhere near as nice on the inside, but then, who cares about car interiors?

[ghosthunter]

If they do an ECU reflash and couple a piggyback ECU on the Cruze shouldn't that overcome most, if not all, of the mentioned handicaps? And what of the performance of the Cruze VCDi?

Niky has not told you of the TRS' Focus TDCi units.

[GTi]

Niky has not told you of the TRS' Focus TDCi units.

Why? What happened to TRS' Focus TDCi units? Why did they shift to 1.8L gas instead?

[Ry_Tower]

If they do an ECU reflash and couple a piggyback ECU on the Cruze shouldn't that overcome most, if not all, of the mentioned handicaps? And what of the performance of the Cruze VCDi?

Tranny yung may weakness hindi yung sa engine IMO. The civic would be faster indeed, lalo na kung RWD. hehehe joke lang po

[niky]

The issues with the Focus are well-known amongst tuners of the car. The turbo is a weak point if proper warm-up and cool-down are not followed (same as with the Accent diesel) and the liquid filled engine mount is expensive to replace.

But if we're talking about strengths, the TRS TDCis are monsters. Wheelspin at the top of second gear on the "best" fuel map. I don't know about the VCDi, but it'll have to be incredibly good to beat that motor.

BTW, there are already a few tests comparing the two cars... the Focus in those tests was faster, but they were MT versus MT. Then again, the DCT Focus is only one or two tenths slower than the MT Focus.