I dont think there is a problem with what he said. He knows a couple of guys with fast hotair cars, but doesnt own one personaly. For one, thats giving props to hotair cars and he also was honest (not misleading IMO). Plus he gives a couple very good suggestions. Not getting on ya Brad
and you know Im not trying to start anything, just my .02 cents. As long as its not someone trying to be a smart ass because they have nothing better to do, I like it when 86/87 guys stop by and participate in our forum if they feel they have some worthy input. On numerous occasions over the years I have given my helping hand to 86/87 guys on this board, and I seem to do it on a weekly basis away from the internet. There ARE those out there that realize that there is not that much different between the 84-87 cars. Makes me just feel all warm and fuzzy about our TR community
Anyway, I tell anyone thinking of buying a TR to do as much research as they can on the cars. Performance, production, differences, etc, etc. Search on this site. Check gnttype.org which is basicaly the Encylopedia site for these cars. Dennis Kirban has always been pretty astute to the ins and outs of these cars and may have some info at his site?? Not sure.
I always tell people that '87 TRs are the most popular and sought after. 86 & 87 are the same performance wise. These years are the easiest to mod because aftermarket parts are plentiful. 84 and 85 are more rare. The 84 GN is the rarest turbocharged GN at 2000 produced (87s were well over 20,000). Not sure how much more expensive it actually is to mod a hotair [un-intercooled 84/85], (will depend on your goal I guess). In the past I always heard this comment (and more) from 86/87 owners that just didnt know any better (boy, Ive got a few stories). Few years back it may not have been this way but now it seems that some hotair owners have fallen into thinking the same way. Parts are no less expensive for the 86/87 cars. 84/85 owners are just lacking in availability of some aftermarket parts [thinking about it, aftermarket downpipe is really the only main component that I can think of ??]. This is always the case with a more rare car. Especially when the car ('84) was the hottest thing out there when it came out but then all of a sudden after two runs an improved/evolved vehicle is released and the hype just doubled. Plus it gets mass produced.
The '87 (14.5~ et) as originally tested was over a second in the 1/4 faster than the '84 (15.8). Not much is needed (good tuning #1) to make a '84 as fast as a stock '87, and thats still with no intercooler and smaller stock turbo. Oh yeah by the way, the '86-'87s have [if you havent picked it up] intercoolers, bigger turbos, and run more boost from the factory (few other upgrades too), so no wonder they are a bit faster. Not much faster though considering, IMHO. With that being said, of course not much (good tuning #1) is needed to get a 86/87 car faster as well. Decide how fast your trying to go. 12's arent hard for a 86/87 car to obtain. They arent really that hard for a 84/85 car either as long as you plan right. Faster than 12's for a hotair car is where it is definately much much easier with a 86/87 car. Mostly because of ease of upgrading turbos and such which is related to what the different engine configuration allows. This is all figuring street tires by the way. If you like to use slicks then take that in consideration too, because the #s will be that much easier to obtain.
As stated you should educate yourself on the cars first so you know exactly what you are getting into. Tuning the cars is always the key, much more so than throwing parts at it (and especially when youve thrown parts at it). They are a completely different animal than a small block Chevy car. If you are not prepared they will become frustrating (still at times even when you do prepare), but when they are right there is nothing else out there like them [read up on tuning, here and in the General Tech forum].
P.S. in case youre wondering, it is possible to add an intercooler to a 84/85 car.
