E36 M3 verses Nissan Silvia

[Davenotouring]

I'm torn between these two for my next track weapon. The Silvia is cheaper to buy, and you can often get one pretty spec'd up, unlike the m3 which is pricey. An engine for the Silvia, should it go pop, isn't anywhere near as expensive as the m3. The Silvia can be made as quick as the m3 fairly easily. After going out in Karan's car at the Ring, they can be made to handle fantastically. Any reason I should pick the m3?

[tomson]

Tis a tough choice Dave, before the ring trip and being a passenger with Karan i wouldnt have given the nissan the time of day over an M3 but fook me that was a hell of a lap with him, what a weapon it is!

[Simon13]

tough 1 dave, the M3 with some mods will be a weapon too though?!

How much has Karan spent getting the silvia in shape? better intercooler, all alloy rad bla bla bla

[e30bmlover]

e36 m3 every time mate.

[jamie325isport]

M3 out the box is a better machine and ready to go! Like simon says how much to get the silvia there? Will it be reliable when its tuned?

[Karan]

m3 is heavier, has less scope with suspension AND power, driving position not as good as silvia.

only reason id get the e36 m3 dave is the engine characteristics as u can get on the power more quickly without spinning up mid corner, but thtas part of the fun with turbo cars anyway and im sure u can manage it...oh yeh and the sr20 sounds shit but s50 sounds lovely

and parts are a lot cheaper than for m3s....eg coilovers £400-500.


goddam that yellow m3 at ring racing was lovely though!!

[Theo]

Theres still olot of fun to be had with the civic, you've had one slightly problematic ring trip in the car since doing all that work, you shoulkd enjoy the fruits of your labour. It's definitely capable (in your hands!) of 8.30 btg.

But I'm guessing you're thinking ahead here.... Tough decision, like you say Karans s14 handled really well on track, the brake really impressed me as well. I think Simon makes a good point about the cost of getting the car to the stage Karan's is at.

[Karan]

ok dave to make it easier heres a list of things to do to get the thing track ready for a silvia and then what i think u need for an m3

silvia:
Rad- £200
oil cooler- £100
coilovers- £500
ferodos on stock brakes worked fine for me- £200 all round
and if u want full rose joint kit on all arms and poly bushed hubs and locked subframe- £500

e36 m3:
coilovers- £1000 for good ones
brake pads- £200 may still be marginal on stock calipers/discs
bushes- £???

on both cars ure gonna need:
cage-£600 on silvia, prob more for e36
seats/harness


oh yeh and its a lot cheaper to get an s14 in the first plave than an e36 m3 and its MUCH less likely to have been raped or neglected than a BMW trust me!! ive seen some mint 98/99 UK cars with like 30k miles on them for 2/3k which is prob a 1/3 what u pay for similar m3....



now with power, my car running 0.9bar somehow stays with e46 m3 csls at snetterton even on the straights now this can be aceived VERY easily all u need is:
elbow plus exhaust, filter, uprated pump, cooler plugs, boost controller just wind it up!!! ecu will adjust accordingly itself

u dont need to have a huge FMIC for kinda power im running but of course it helps

with the turdbo, ure gonna get at the end of the day what i think is actually a more reliable engine flat out on a track as the hardware is pretty old fashioned stuff and the torque means that at places like the ring i put it in 2nd gr only twice the whole lap as the engine can pull 3rd from below 3000rpm at full boost... and its not a one trick mid range pony either like i thought it would be but happily revs hard to 7500rpm, change the valve springs and it will happiky go over 8k


depends how much money u wanna spend as u can have something to worry the zakspeed vipers from a silvia, for the same money as track prepping and tuning an e36 m3.....


oh and dave ask the same question on SXOC (where they wprship 200s like e30s are worshipped on here) and then maybe driftworks where they love both cars and see the answers.


lets not forget sivias look way cooler than e36s!!!!!

[Karan]

this seems very good spec is mental just needs wheels!!

http://sxoc.co.uk/vbb/showthread.php?t=291517

[Simon13]

no no i'm not knocking the silvia as they are a very able car indeed as you have shown. David needs a car of considerable talent!

[Karan]

this one is more pricey but its got the bits in there to run upto 400bhp just up the boost

http://sxoc.co.uk/vbb/showthread.php?t=288350

[Davenotouring]

Karan...

Thanks for all that info! That's awesome.

I've already had a snout over the S14, and I'd definitely have had a look if I'd have been in a position to buy now.

Plan is to do at least another trip in the Civic, and then look at selling complete or selling in parts. Now I've got all these bit it should go for £2.5k in parts alone. If not a bit more. Around that sort of cash, I can look at buying a base car, or one with a few bits done.

I'm looking at £4k for a basic E36 M3 (which I love) but for £4k you can buy a fettled S14, or a really decent base car. It's a no brainer really......if I popped an E36 M3 engine it'd be £1000+ but an S14 would be way less. And as Karan shows, a 'box change can be done in an afternoon!

[Karan]

no no i'm not knocking the silvia as they are a very able car indeed as you have shown. David needs a car of considerable talent!

i know u aint bruv!

i just think the e36 is gonna cost too much to prep so i wrote that list above and dave can go compare that with similar for e36

anyway when u goin ace today???
Karan

[Simon13]

We can all chat at Ace on this lovely rainy day!

[Karan]

oh yeh the draeded shityy box syndrome.... the way ure gonna drive it dave id budget to keep a box spare or maybe an uprated one---- thats when things get £$£$£$£$£$£$£ boxes not cheap

[Davenotouring]

I've been getting smoother recently and not abusing the car so much.....or is that cos I was a bit worried about it.....hmmmm.

I'd definately try to keep a spare box!

I'm stuck in bed with a fu**ed back. Don't know what I've done to it, but I can't fu**ing walk, well pissed off. Gonna rest to see if it improves enough to go to Ace.

[Simon13]

all that bending down eh

demlot,dave?

touring has another water leak from the same area but it just keeps on raining has been for over 24hours at my house

[maxfield]

Take both out and see which you prefer.


Both are great cars in the right hands.

[BreadBin]

IMO the only reason to pick the M3 is the noise, lovely cars but an S14 is much better VFM

[Karan]

all that bending down eh

demlot,dave?

touring has another water leak from the same area but it just keeps on raining has been for over 24hours at my house

my silvia also has a water leak from bulkhed somewhere and i cant find where its coming from!!

[Simon13]

poxy cars, at least yours is a bit faster hehe!

[Rosc0PColtrane]

Silvias are lovely machines, less common than the Skyline. Very capable car

E36 M3 has fallen into chav price range and the whole e36 range is subject to their attention at this time. Much like the e30 6 or 7 years ago.

I'd go for the Jap car. I'd hazzard a guess that it's more responsive to tuning too.

[e30bmlover]

Silvias are lovely machines, less common than the Skyline. Very capable car

E36 M3 has fallen into chav price range and the whole e36 range is subject to their attention at this time. Much like the e30 6 or 7 years ago.

I'd go for the Jap car. I'd hazzard a guess that it's more responsive to tuning too.

you call 7 - 10k a chav price range? because thats what you are going to pay for a good, low milage e36m3!

[maxfield]

Maybe Evo, cab or special edition.

But a nice 3l can gor from 4-6k

Engines are pretty bullet proof anyway if looked after. (none evo)

[Rosc0PColtrane]

Silvias are lovely machines, less common than the Skyline. Very capable car

E36 M3 has fallen into chav price range and the whole e36 range is subject to their attention at this time. Much like the e30 6 or 7 years ago.

I'd go for the Jap car. I'd hazzard a guess that it's more responsive to tuning too.

you call 7 - 10k a chav price range? because thats what you are going to pay for a good, low milage e36m3!

You're forgetting the higher mileage less than perfect examples that have Burberry be-clad chavs hooning around in them. I've seen 2 or 3 in Yeovil alone being driven by spotty bumfluff encrusted 19 year olds.

E36 are plagued with well wikking indervijuwel barried monstrosities, with Viking spoilArs, LExarse lights and spud gun exhausts.

7k is not a lot of money when you have finance houses clamouring to dole out loans with a desperate tick of the 'approve loan' box.

[Jhonno]

i'd be pretty torn also.. But i'd be tempted to go e36.. The likelyhood of a 3.0 or even a 3.2 goin pop if looked after is very small, look at Ian's car, he doesnt tootle around. No doubting the silvia is a weapon tho, but doesnt look as good as an m3 imo (get a 'loon )

[Karan]

i'd be pretty torn also.. But i'd be tempted to go e36.. The likelyhood of a 3.0 or even a 3.2 goin pop if looked after is very small, look at Ian's car, he doesnt tootle around. No doubting the silvia is a weapon tho, but doesnt look as good as an m3 imo (get a 'loon )

but dude theres fast road driving and then theres doing 200-300mls on a racetrack absolutely flat which is very different as ive come to know when sorting my car out

[Jhonno]

good point Karan, i didnt consider that.. Tho i still havent heard of many e36's goin pop on track.

[Davenotouring]

I was warned by my BMW specialist not to get an E36, because the 'way I drive' it'll chuck a rod through the block......comments!?

[maxfield]

Don't think i've ever heard of an E36 M3 shitting itself on the track and i get around alot of forums.

Either way the car will be a weapon what ever he chooses

[Karan]

i know someone whos killed 3 bottom ends and drives like us dave......

remember the e36 4 door matt black d1 car at silverstone-- bonbons car and hes killed a few in his time, yet his jap turbo engines including heavily tuned skyline and 2jz engines are fine

[Simon13]

i could well believe that, Dave you need a solid old lump like the V-tech,red top and M20 sluggers from the past. Karans silvia lumps seem like tough old battle axe!

I think you would struggle to kill an M54, but they don't quite have the power you crave!

[Jhonno]

Odd got logged out whilst replying..


@ "How you drive" Sounds like a Slivia might be better then possibly.. Tho end of the day, you can break anything if you drive it hard enough..

[e30bmlover]

Silvias are lovely machines, less common than the Skyline. Very capable car

E36 M3 has fallen into chav price range and the whole e36 range is subject to their attention at this time. Much like the e30 6 or 7 years ago.

I'd go for the Jap car. I'd hazzard a guess that it's more responsive to tuning too.

you call 7 - 10k a chav price range? because thats what you are going to pay for a good, low milage e36m3!

You're forgetting the higher mileage less than perfect examples that have Burberry be-clad chavs hooning around in them. I've seen 2 or 3 in Yeovil alone being driven by spotty bumfluff encrusted 19 year olds.

7k is not a lot of money when you have finance houses clamouring to dole out loans with a desperate tick of the 'approve loan' box.

i see your point!

[tomson]

I had to double take when i saw this earlier, thought you were in Bristol Dave!!!