Hi, love it or hate it I'm interested in getting into drifting and my weapon of choice is to be the humble Volvo 300 series. There are a couple of reasons behind this, one being the relative cost compared to a high spec BMW or Jap car and the second is that when I was at school my mates mum used to drive us to school in one. She was a terrible driver, she was much too fast and couldn't control the car at all. Obviously at 13 we thought it was awesome and I was reminded of it all when I saw that the 300 was being used for budget drifting

I'm considering either a 340 with a Clio engine or a 360 with a Volvo turbo lump. Still haven't decided yet but it'll probably be down to what's available up here in salty Scotland on the first payday after Christmas! Would love a 3 door but I'll take whatever I can get tbh. Anyway I was lurking about on here a bit too much and rather than feeling like a stalker looking through someone's bedroom window I thought I'd knock on the door and introduce myself

Good luck finding a nice car and looking after it. There seem to be quite a few on sale these days after a lull over the last few months but maybe that's the usual pattern, although the number on ebay does seem to have gone up a lot more than usual!

Have you had a look at the V3M facebook group? There are lots of ex-drift cars being put up for sale there ...

Cheers

Tom

bogbasic wrote:Good luck finding a nice car and looking after it. There seem to be quite a few on sale these days after a lull over the last few months but maybe that's the usual pattern, although the number on ebay does seem to have gone up a lot more than usual!

Yeah I'll treat whatever I get as a semi classic and try to keep it in one piece on the track. I'm a qualified panel beater/painter and I've still got a few pals in the trade so providing panels are still readily available I should be able to keep it looking mint. Thinking a nice gloss grey would look nice for its first respray.

This is always a good time of year to find a bargain as people either need money for Christmas or they don't want to look at their incomplete project under a pile of snow in the drive for 6 months. How much should I budget for a semi decent, roadworthy 3 door 340? Was thinking £500-800 maybe.

trabitom99 wrote:Have you had a look at the V3M facebook group? There are lots of ex-drift cars being put up for sale there ...

Cheers

Tom

I will do that just now and see what's around.

Gone are the days when they went for 99p but the low-end of the figures you quoted sounds about right for a semi-good running car needing some work but if you can find someone local with one they just want to get rid of, you could probably pay a lot less.

bogbasic wrote:Gone are the days when they went for 99p but the low-end of the figures you quoted sounds about right for a semi-good running car needing some work but if you can find someone local with one they just want to get rid of, you could probably pay a lot less.

Cool thanks. I had no idea there was such a big scene for these cars until about 2 days ago. Think I typed 'easiest engine swap' into Google when I was searching for my next project and http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=857501

Someone mentions a clio 172 engine in a Volvo 340 and here I am 2 days later after loads of frantic searching and checking Ebay........

Picking up a 480 Turbo tomorrow

You should indeed be able to pick something up for £500-800 - whether it be a 3 door or not maybe not. Prices are certainly on the up.

Given the work involved and the abuse the drivetrain gets through drifting - have you thought of a 900 series turbo? Strong drivetrain, more scope for power and more lock as standard. You certainly wont make a capable and crucially reliable drift 300 without considerable expense which makes those drift Beemers look attractive again

Saying that, they're a good fun car - my preference would be a 360 with a B230FT as the drivetrain is generally stronger. Watch out for rust up there in salty Scotland!