Cheap Car for Drag Racing

[P3T3R]

The Drag Racing scene is Goa is hotting up. There are regular drag races on week ends on closed roads. I had been for one of them last month. They have a category for every type of car. You can enter anything from a Nano to a Ferrari. Now I'm also feeling like taking part. But I need a dedicated car for this. I now regret selling the Siena as this would have been a good car for this. But anyway I now need another car. Please suggest. Some of the choices would be:
1. Zen (possibly with an Esteem Engine)
2. Esteem
4. Honda City (Gen 1 or 2)
5. Fiat Uno (possibly with a 1.6 Engine)
6. Peugeot 309 (with a suitable engine)
7. Daewoo Cielo (or the Cielo engine in a suitable car)
8. Ford Ikon
9. Maruti 800 (possibly with a Maruti 1000, Zen or Esteem engine)
10. Lancer

I don't want to spend too much. Take your time with the suggestions. Don't worry if I don't reply. I don't have internet access on the ship so I'll log in whenever I get a chance. Also the project is planned for May or later.

 

[sunny verma]

lancer,ikon,esteem are the best cars for drag racing.

 

[freakdude]

My first choice would be a Lancer or a Baleno. Alternatively, you can try sourcing a decent condition Palio 1.6. Nothing beats the sheer rush of adrenalin that it offers and also it has a very nice downward force at high speeds as compared to any other hatch.

freakdude.

 

[jayadev]

9. Maruti 800 (possibly with a Maruti 1000, Zen or Esteem engine)

Maruti K10 is enough powerful to put you in 100kmph within 13 secs in stock .
With additional mods it have lot of potency which i belive.

Ps. recently driven k10 and i was like 000hhh..lala..60kmph in 1st gear within 5 secs.!!!

 

[P3T3R]

My first choice would be a Lancer or a Baleno. Alternatively, you can try sourcing a decent condition Palio 1.6. Nothing beats the sheer rush of adrenalin that it offers and also it has a very nice downward force at high speeds as compared to any other hatch.

freakdude.

Baleno's are expensive to maintain. Lancers are better cars. Finding a Palio 1.6 is difficult. Finding a decent one is even more difficult. I had a Siena 1.6 till recently and know that engine well. If I had not sold the car, I would have used it. That would have been the perfect choice. Does not require and mods and is a drivers dream even in stock form.

Maruti K10 is enough powerful to put you in 100kmph within 13 secs in stock .
With additional mods it have lot of potency which i belive.

Ps. recently driven k10 and i was like 000hhh..lala..60kmph in 1st gear within 5 secs.!!!

The K10 is too new a car for this. Wanted something cheap as it will only be used for weekend driving and racing. Maybe a Zen would be better.

 

[type-r]

how about the getz CRDi? it was a rocket too.

 

[TSIVipul]

Leave everything else and go for a 2003 Honda City V-tec...nothing comes close.
100 horses in a light body shell with a rev happy engine simply blows away the doors of these Esteem,Ikon,Lancer etc etc even when its stock.
Then spend a good 40-50k on performance mods and the V-Tec beauty will turn into a fierce beast and then see the wonder..

 

[P3T3R]

Keep the suggestions going. One thing to keep in mind is the car has to be cheap. So we're looking more towards discontinued models.

 

[Mr.Boss]

Zen with Esteem engine will be the second cheapest option with Palio 1.6 being the first. I have driven both the cars any my vote goes to Palio 1.6. It is quite difficult to find a well maintained Palio, but lucky if you get one.

Zen:
+Parts are easy to source (than Palio)
+Better FE (which is not a factor to consider for drag racing)
+Easy to maintain
-Brake upgrade is a must with Esteem engine
-RTO formalities for engine endorsement(???)

Palio:
+Solid build
+Better handling than Zen
+Stock car satisfies your requirement
-Spares availability & cost
-FE

 

[Prads]

Peter i will give a suggestion,why dont you get a sleeper car,meaning looks like it cant do much but eats the others up,i myself had my eye on one car if it not for the screw up of the drag scene in Bangalore
it is Alto vx or vxi 1.1,you can get it for decent price,strip it a bit & play around with the engine,it wont give you any problems & it still can give you the pleasure of racing,What say?

 

[P3T3R]

Zen with Esteem engine will be the second cheapest option with Palio 1.6 being the first. I have driven both the cars any my vote goes to Palio 1.6. It is quite difficult to find a well maintained Palio, but lucky if you get one.

The Palio outclasses the Zen in every aspect. In fact the stock Uno outclasses the stock Zen in every aspect too. The only reason I'm not considering the Palio 1.6 is availibility. How I wish I had kept the Siena 1.6. This was basically the same Palio 1.6 with a boot.

Peter i will give a suggestion,why dont you get a sleeper car,meaning looks like it cant do much but eats the others up,i myself had my eye on one car if it not for the screw up of the drag scene in Bangalore
it is Alto vx or vxi 1.1,you can get it for decent price,strip it a bit & play around with the engine,it wont give you any problems & it still can give you the pleasure of racing,What say?

Again the Alto VX 1.1 did not sell that well. So they are hard to come by in the market.

Zen's and Esteem's are available for under a lakh making them good choices. There a few Peugeot 309's available in Goa. The car should be a good handler. But it needs a good engine.

 

[Vishwas]

As per my friend who owns a modded city says that Baleno is the best car for drag racing so give a try for that too think you may get it in 2-3 lakh range,

 

[jalex]

Look no further, A used Esteem or Zen(Not the Pseudo WagonR) will be all you need. Both are easily found and in good numbers. Parts are easy to get by. Maintenance is cheap and wont be a bother if you crash it somehow.

 

[drifter]

The way I look at it is that the speed of acceleration is determined by the torque on the wheels per ton through the rpm range.

This means high torque/power and low weight.

The Zen is light and handles quite well, which is a good starting point. second one would be the Uno.

Next questions are:

How practical does the car have to be for daily use?

What are the restrictions in class?

If engine up-grade, what is available at reasonable cost and how difficult to mate it with the project car?

Getting a Zen to under 10 seconds from 0 - 100kph is possible without touching the engine.

On the other hand a Palio 1.6 can be tuned normally aspirated to about 240bhp. But getting this sort of power on the road would requiire a LSD.

I personally would start with the Zen.

 

[P3T3R]

As per my friend who owns a modded city says that Baleno is the best car for drag racing so give a try for that too think you may get it in 2-3 lakh range,

Not really interested in the Baleno due to parts availibility. Yes it is more difficult to get Baleno parts that it is to get Palio parts. Baleno's are not priced that high. You should get them in 1-1.5L

Look no further, A used Esteem or Zen(Not the Pseudo WagonR) will be all you need. Both are easily found and in good numbers. Parts are easy to get by. Maintenance is cheap and wont be a bother if you crash it somehow.

I think that is the best option.

The Zen is light and handles quite well, which is a good starting point. second one would be the Uno.

I have driven both extensively and can say for sure that the Uno is a better handler any day.

How practical does the car have to be for daily use?

It will not be used daily. Only in case wife takes the other car out.

What are the restrictions in class?

No restrictions. They have a class for every type of car.

If engine up-grade, what is available at reasonable cost and how difficult to mate it with the project car?

Here the Zen with Esteem Engine is the best. Esteem engines are easily available. The engine swap is a bolt on job. Just remove the Zen engine and plonk in the Esteem one. All the mounting points are identical.

On the other hand a Palio 1.6 can be tuned normally aspirated to about 240bhp. But getting this sort of power on the road would requiire a LSD.

Yea but firstly you have to find a Palio 1.6 (not easy but possible). Then find someone to tune it (impossible in India)

I personally would start with the Zen.

That's what I think too.