There are no cheap motorsports even at the low end.

My first 240sx was a S14 in 2005, bone stock pearl white with 75k miles for $1800. Miss those days for sure.

The global financial crisis of 2008 caused a drop in production and purchase of cars we would use for drifting. We are just now feeling the effects of that gap of production as there are not very many cars that would fill that need like the cars of the 90s-early 2000s did.

can't believe I got priced out of the hobby so soon. lol. Rad to have these videos every couple of years as a retrospective.

From the old school, keep it simple if your gonna wreck it. You got to have a great gig or job. If not work in the industry or get a place with a garage in the sticks. My best drift days came from living and working at a mech/body shop. Get into a group or community and have resources and people who can hook it up. Lots of other advice to offer but whos listening

This is the most informative, educational, and well explained video of the direction that drifting is going and changing. Love your videos!

Even if you are a mechanic it’s still nice to have a chassis with bolt on options available. You need a lot of equipment and time to be able to fabricate a custom build.

"we loved these cars because they were cheap" THANK YOU it's like everyone forgot what was so cool about these attainable drift missiles. they were cheap!! on top of being cheap, we were also back in the good days where 40 hrs a week was pretty close to enough to afford rent and a hobby. now the cars are expensive and the houses? oof. best advice i was ever given: give up. don't even dream. you're gonna be a lot happier if you just forget about fun.

I found a clean sc400 chassis for less than $1500 in trade value less than a year ago. I knew I would never find anything close to this without rust ever again and I jumped on it even though it needed completely rewired and had a rebuilt title. The rails were straight, 0 rust anywhere(insane for a car in Indiana), had all the service records up to 190k miles, and most importantly it already has a proven engine that can be hammered on an day and not break a sweat. I had bought it not knowing for sure if it was a big rod 1uz or one of the changeover 95 models that just looks like one from the outside. Got really lucky and it was a big rod, forged, non vvti and after inspecting it internally she is just getting broken in. Still working on getting it all sorted out, things like getting an aem standalone installed, fabbing bash bars, and most of all making sure everything is safe for it's first drive. A lot of work but I would do it again in a heart beat. On my budget and the way the market has gone I was starting to give up on the idea of getting back into drifting.

Working with this is actually part of the challenge to me. Obviously, we all want the coolest, best cars but that’s just not possible for most of us. I like trying to find cars (specifically for autocross) that have good performance potential, an existing parts eco-system, and are still below 3k. Its difficult to find that, but those deals are out there. Good deals used to be easier to find, but yeah things have changed. As a long-time poor person, it just means I have to put in a lot of research but you gotta do what ya gotta do 🤷‍♂️

Drifting a 350z is like guaranteed sex as much as you want for the rest of you life, but it’s only missionary with a 4.

48:39 I love that you even mentioed a sim. For me having a sim has been an incredible tool for forging driving skill and even if one chooses to go with all the best stuff it's still fairly affordable compared to building a car or something crazy like that. Also coming from other motorsports I've completely fallen in love with my sim and I think it's heartwarming to see it be unexpectedly validated in a sort of real way like that. :)

in Australia the best option is an AU Falcon sedan or ute, easy angle with the stock uprights, easy wheel alignment, easy locked diff, comfortable, the second best is a BA falcon but they need more things to be as bullet proof

As someone who is younger and looking to get into drifting thank you for this.

In 2007 I picked up 1990 240sx coupe for $180 because the auto trans went out and the lady just left it at the shop and told them to keep it.

This is an incredible amount of knowledge, from the outside looking in. All these trade offs, balancing, and realistic point of views. Thanks for making this video

94-04 mustangs are growing in popularity. Cheap parts, loads of cars available, easy to work on. Loads of torque.

My first 240 was bone stock for 2 grand. I sold it and bought a 350z HR for 13k back in 2013. Best drift car I ever had. Been out of the game for about 6 years now and doesn’t seem like I’ll be able to drift again for the foreseeable future.

As a euro importer I have a dream of everyone drifting diesel shitboxes, there are millions of cheap, manual, rwd, oem turbo cars in europe alot of then just happen to be diesel.

i dont even drift, but i feel like this could be applied to any enthusiast cars

Corvettes aren't hard to work on 🤷‍♀️ can change a clutch in a day on jack stands. Buy a stock c5(or as close to stock you can find), do angle, radiator, seat and hydro with a 245 squared set up and get seat time 🤘

As the old Lone Star Drift vid states, buy a E46 330i or ci and call it a day. Weld the diff, SLR that thing throw a hydro ebrake and you good

This video is so accurate, should be labeled as "The Ugly TRUTH" Here after 1.5 years and a Family w/ Kids; just finished my 2JZ FRS SWAP and NEVER DRIFTED YET.... Love it man, so accurate!!!

Thanks for such a comprehensive video! It seems like I got priced out of drifting right about the time I started making decent money. Heck, I remember helping a buddy go pick up a running s13 for 3 sets of rota wheels years ago 😅. At least you can still put together a sub $500 sim rig..better than nothing at this point!

Also track days are now minimum $1000. Entry, few sets of tires, fuel, food and you are easily $500-1000 without breaking anything or using a truck and trailer. Couple hundred just in fuel to get to events… it’s getting expensive.

Here in sweden, a lot of people pick E90s as their prefered drift beater. Strong OEM parts and avaiable everywhere. Recently saw an e90 335i thats twin turbo straight 6. All it needs is an LSD Conversion and its ready for some fun

Finally someone does a video like this for new people who wanna drift thank you 👍🏾

One cheap option going forward is an auto e90/e92 335i with an HTG controller on the transmission to give you a clutch with a pseudo sequential.

The FRS with the new URAS, Origin Lab, Futago Line and that dmax 3 looking kit is going to be the new s13. It’s got that style and doesn’t sound like a trumpet.

After years of dreaming, I finally got selected in H1B visa lottery. If I pass the interview, I'll come to the U.S. and finally learn drifting. JZX100 has always been my dream car. But after I saw this video, I kinda lost hope. Seems like a jzx is not a good choice for a beginner like me. But god dammit I'm in love with them

Thank you for making an updated version of this video to help people find the path that fits them

Hey man. Awesome video. Thank you. I like how you cover economic and practical aspects of what gose into running a car.

Great video. Appreciate the info and thoughtful breakdown!!

love these videos explaining things i been drifting 5 years and i always learn something

Good stuff. Start saving up for the next car!

Aaron you are the best! Thank you for another amazing and informative video. I bought my drift Corvette because of you and i absolutely love it. Thank you for sharing all your knowledge with us. You are awesome! 👍😊

This was excellent! Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience! It’s costly as is so minimizing the costs of the car and knowing what costs to expect help

Manual Z4 m54, bc coilovers, pmc lock adapters, Stock e brake, diff, rear camber toe arms and a seat $3000 low power seat time car endless laps with good tyre wear/life

Thanks for having Alexi from Noriyaro over for the Houston event this month!

4 year turbo e 36 build here and had a kid mid way through.. fucking thankful I pushed through the build and didn't become a statistic 😂 Aaron's dead ass right about all this stuff so listen up boys!!

Your awesome wish I wasn’t in class and had more time to offer feed back. I want to find a reasonable way to come out and do unreasonable things with the rest you super hero’s . Seriously though thank you for thinking through all of this and laying it out. So helpful

great video was rewatching the video from 2019 thinking about how crazy the market is now!

Lol feel this. My car that took me 3 years to build got totalled this season. Starting all over sucks. Looking at 20k to just have close to what i had before. That not including my motor and trans that was about 9-10k to build

We appreciate you Aaron

Super informative, hopefully I’ll be on the track in 2024🎉

Love this ❤ wish it was available when I started!!!

In Poland HR 350z at their lowest were like 8k USD for a RHD UK import. Now these are 20k USD 🥺🔫 all that’s left are E36s and they’re getting a lot more expensive than 3-4 years ago. We were able to buy a M54B30 swapped 36s for like 3k USD ready to drift.

I think a lot of the cars currently in the ‘classic’ range will fall back into reality as the economy continues to get weirder over the next few years. Hobby’s are the first thing people let go of when they’re tight on cash. If you remember 240’s and 86’s jussst started to appreciate in 2005-7 when the economy was ripping right before 2008, then fell back to almost free by 2009. We’re already starting to see the cracks in the market form here in FL where housing costs have almost doubled over the last 3 years. All of the nice schassis and JZX’s listed for over 20k sit on marketplace for months before selling out of state.

Ive had jdm vehicles my entire life but this is why I bought a newer style mustang. While I'll always love 90s jdm cars they're just not a valuable option for me anymore. And unfortunately modern jdm vehicles just arent as appealing when you can spend the same amount or less for arguably more reliable engines.

There are so many good takes in this video, and are helpful for people not even interested in drifting. Especially about the difference between building v driving cars. So many people don’t realize whether they’re the type of person who wants to drive cars or build cars until they’re heavily invested in a project car.

I paid 5800 for my e36 328, I've put double into it and only drifted once...soon lol but I've also learned so much working on it, building it how I want and properly put each part on it. Now I'm a little scared to go drift it :/

The timing on this video is funny. I bought a mostly clapped out g35 in 2020 for 4.5k and spent the last 3 years adressing a majority of the high mileage related isses. All the while having a family and using it as a daily as well. Now I'm about 14-15k into it with parts, moderate labor costs, and learning to D.I.Y. a lot. It's not a collector car and the intention is to use it as a seat time car. But its nearly gut wrenching to think that its still worth 5-6k if I wanted to sell, and has had so many issues addressed that it would be stupid to get out of it for a different platform or vehicle. If theres any advice I would go back and give myself, it would be to either rent a seat time car, or buy a daily and then a seat time car. Dont try to daily a seat time car on a budget. Hopefully someone can read this and not be 3 years into a build before they ever even make it to a track day. Thank you for putting out great content and confirming what I wish I'd known sooner.

Yessssssssss! Glad you madeittt

Good advice with the 350Zs. i've been to a few Lone Star events and there's a reason why it's called "the Sea of Z" lol

Super awesome video thx

I'm using this to determine what track/rallycross car to buy.

Drift your classic! -Sincerely, an R32 owner.

For someone who knows what drifting is and is somewhat familiar with how expensive cars can be, 370z hr motor budget drifting us little to none mechanical skills accounting for RL and family needs.

Nice thing about LS is that a lot have the same bolt pattern to tranny and they also sell bellhousing adapters/flex plates. You could pretty much throw any

im taking welding classes now and im hoping i can improve my skill enough to get into a fab shop out in ny so i can meet like minded folk who want to build performance cars. im not a mechanic, but i have minor experience working at a mavis tire and id like to expand on what i learned there.

Im just glad i grabbed a bone stock 350z arizona car for 7k in 2021 or 2022. Cause pricing be bullshit.

man i got out of drifting a few years ago right before covid, no wonder i havent been able to find my way back. might as well just find something new

Thanks ❤

Drift Volvo 740's, one of the best cars ever made for it. Although prices have gone up like 4 fold in the last 6-7 years for em lol.

Great video! Would it be possible to describe or make a short video on the Nissan shim setup for a VLSD? Got a couple I’d like to convert.

Man this is an excellent video! Also one thing I don't see people talk about is Subarus. All you have to do is get a manual Subaru, lock the center diff and take out the front axles. They're cheap af and EJ22 models are fairly reliable

great video!

I bought a 1997 5-speed 240sx when I was 20 for $12,900. Im 42 now. I joined the military shortly after I got it and in San Diego around 2003 I got a Silvia front clip and did the swap. Pretty much did just about everything you could do to that car, vis carbon fiber hood, body kit, staggered wheels, etc. It had bigger turbo, injectors, stand alone, i/c, battery in trunk, gutted from front seats back, qd steering wheel, poly bushings etc etc. when I got out of active duty in 2009 I sold it shortly after for $6,500 after falling on hard times. Pretty much sold it for blue book and not mods value. I regret it to this day. I literately still have dreams that I bought it back only to wake up disappointed and emotional. I think about it all the time, you would’ve thought it was the love of my life lol. I swear someday I’ll buy another.

I just had a kid but it’s cool cause the lady also loves cars and wants to learn to work on them with me. Family time is free time lol

Drifting was officially lost in 2019… that was the end of “grassroots” after that… every drift car had 10-20k into it. I use to buy a 240sx for $1000-2500.. sr20 swap from importer was $1200-2000 … cheap coils from a importer and you were good. Total into a car was under 5k and you could reuse the parts/swap. Now the swap alone is that price and the car is twice that… 350z/g35 is next closest cheap drift car and they are still 5-10k and another 5-10k to make it decent on the track. Tough for the next generation and why I think the sport will have a fall off.

Im yet to watch the whole video, but i feel happy with how cheap my v8 miata is to own maintain and drive, it costs me around 7usd per run at our local events 😅

I'm going the route of getting a a stock manual parts car really cheap and tearing it down. I sold parts off it to make the money back off the car and now that it's "free" I'm found a similar car in need of a rebuild I got for cheap that I'm swapping harnesses with along with everything that comes with that and coilovers and thats it. Trying to keep the build under 5k for a season. 97 540i 6 speed didn't mention that.

Accepting 180s and s13s are now 30k in aus has been very heard, sold mine 3 years ago for 7k same price I bought it for and now there 20-30k 20 being pretty rough even shells no running gear are getting up to 10-11k which is insane

Stock manual 350z needs seat 400$, coilovers 1200$, angle 1000$, and welded diff 300$.. then maybe a dual hydro set up 700$.. at this point you're good until the clutch is done.. but when it is 700-1400$... not including wheels and tires i have 5k to 6k getting stock 350z drift ready.

A list of cars I can think of off the top of my head that are cheaper than 10k and even closer to 5k and are proven for drifting. 4th and 5th gen Camaros: I know the catfish is ugly but in my area (central Texas) catfish camaros can be found with a V6 or V8 with 5mt for relatively cheap 2-5k And I know the 5th gen camaro is big and boaty but they’ve been proven as decent drift cars and have even been built for Proam before and the LS platform can make good power easily. SN95, New edge, and S197 mustangs: the SN95 mustang is at its all time low in terms of depreciation. They can be found for extremely cheap with a 4.6l v8 and even a V6 with manual transmissions and LSDs. The New edge mustang is a little more expensive than the average SN95 because it just looks better, it’s also available in a 4.6l 2V V8 or 4V V8 or a V6 The S197 is basically fords attempt at retro styling on the mustang, I personally don’t like the looks but they’ve been used as drift cars in Texas a lot and there’s lots of aftermarket support for them suspension wise, they’ve also came with a 3V V8 or cyclone V6 which made decent power for the price. Hyundai genesis coupe: The genesis coupe is a car I don’t know much about but I do know it’s V6 Rwd and came in manual, I looked on marketplace and they’re relatively cheap and seem to have decent aftermarket support for drifting. Im Texas there are lots of BMWs from E90 chassis to E30 chassis for relatively cheap, but they’re not a car I know much about, I found a 530i manual transmission sedan with a gutted interior and a hydro Ebrake for 956 dollars in Austin texas and the car even started and would move under its own power it just needed a new clutch and throw out bearing. G35s are relatively cheap in my area, mainly in the sedan version and most of them came automatic so if you’re a mechanical person you could swap the auto trans out for a 350z manual 6 speed and it’ll be ready to build out into a drift car. And as a parting piece of advice, if you want a car you can build into a drift car, dont get impatient! Keep window shopping on Facebook marketplace and look for deals cus good deals do in fact pop up when you least expect it.

this could apply to time attack or autoX as well, but you could mention mazda s if anyone asks as well for that

i know this doesn't aplly to the US but we are getting a but ton of crown athletes, majestas, mark x's V370 skylines for around 4-5k usd. Not super light but still fun

Keep them simple. Im finishing up my best friends 03 mustang GT and its just coilovers and and a bolt on angle kit for suspension, bolt ons for power. Full interior, AC, and if i do anything else to it, itll probably be 3.73s to replace the stock 3.27s

Ayeee haha scooped my e90 turbo with a manual 🤙🏻 hoping a lot more parts are available than my e36. Trying to sort interior bits it’s stupid.

I bought a few cars cheap back in the day, my best was my 180sx roller for $500 (AUD, so like $300USD) which I sold later on. My 33/34's all made a decent profit when I sold them as well. I've got an E90 now with a twin turbo N54 which is good fun. Expensive to break though lol

I see drift cars becoming a freinkenstien builds, meaning just shells with all sorts of motors, trans, and drive train ect just because parts are hard to find

It just hurts now cause newer stuff never even makes it to the bottom of the curve now or like the bottom of the curve is 15k. Not like the old days where you could get a semi sorted car for under 5k. And with all the new stuff costing sooooo much, and becoming hard to find without stupid amount of markup on the manual trans. It just hurts seeing how expensive everything is. Atleast the bar for entry on sim driving/drifting has gotten so low and cheap, that half the time it just better to get on assetto with the squad. Cause you can crash all you want all night and it won’t even cost you $10 on your electric bill.

I regret selling a few of my drift cars had a s13 that was actually clean a e46 and a genesis coupe 3.8 all super fun cars i need another one asap

11:30 i impulse bought a nissan gti-r with low miles but not in the best condition a while back, the decision to either track it or only do tame street driving has been a tough one. definitely want to have fun with it but it's rarity and lack of parts is holding me back

Why do you have the least amount of subscribers and yet one of the best channels for drifting and information.

I just bought a manual e39 for 1500$ with a clean body, working(and healthy )m54 engine, welded diff and a hydro ebrake already installed. All it's got is a faulty ABS sensor. I mean I'm in canada and the body isn't even rusted through, so I'd say I got a deal, there's also a couple of e36's for sale for under 3k Right now. Though none of them are Ms

Got into cars few years back cause I saw a Miata in person, sadly cause of the market and where I’m located (tx) I’m probably gonna end up with a mustang (sn95) or a fbody cause those seem like the best option

$5-8k for C6 corvettes? Man I missed that.

Just bought a 03 350z mt for 600 with blown head gasket. Deals are out there.

Great video

Your channel introduced me to Wout (DriftJesus) and I actually got to meet him this past weekend at No Coast Drift Party by Officer Dan. It was my first drift event driving and I was so excited to tell Wout I was there in an e46! 😅😂❤ I asked him for a pic but I had to go move my car and when I came back I had missed my chance😭

One thing I always wonder about is we mention the mustangs and they’re solid. But why not the 5th gen camaro. I understand they have weaker diffs but they have independent rear suspension and ls and I believe the 5th gen used a t56 could be wrong. I had a 6th gen and thought it could have been a solid drift car it handled surprisingly well for its size but I could not justify crashing it trying to find out and it had a button parking brake I hated no handbrake slides. I know one guy ran one in fd years ago but I’m not sure of the problems he faced

What about best bang for your buck drift/daily that can fit a car seat? In my head I have CTS-V, but I'm just trying to get into drifting and still don't know much.

great topic great explanation! Mustang Corvette to go but if you are fency F80 to go imo... by the way I have 2 in between cars so dont listen to me :D

VOLVO 240/740/940! Classic, not to expensive still, and parts are available for the most part.

I used to work in a wrecking yard and I bought a foxbody shell for crush weight and now im building what I call the junkyard drift car using all used parts

I just bought a 95 GT and I have the smallest budget possible😂 but I’m in for some seat time

Never seen your channel before but loved the entire hour. Quick question and a favor, im a texan that just bought a near mint 92 240. Ive always wanted to build to my liking and take it to drift events. Anyway to dm you directly for some opinions?

This educational as hell, all of it out of my budget tho :'(

the demand for a rwd, manual, lsd sedans or coupes in America is just not there anymore, most of the demand comes from gigantic computer crammed trucks or SUV's or subcompact crossovers, that break a lot and are very difficult to repair.