Best Drift Cars Under $5,000: Six Cheap Platforms For Beginners

The dream has you sliding sideways at dizzying speeds, so close to the wall that only the air pressure build-up between your bumper and the concrete keep you from making contact. Your steering is a full lock, throttle at full open, and Adrenalin gland at full capacity … you’re hooked on drifting. You wake up in a frenzy looking to score that first drift car.

Twelve years after Formula Drift launched as a professional drifting series here in the United States, the sport has quickly evolved into one of the most entertaining motorsports to watch. However, unlike drag racing or autocross, the sport requires a specific mechanical configuration to get started. While rear-wheel drive cars are coming back in style on local dealership lots, they’re becoming a bit rarer on local Craigslist or Autotrader posts as more enthusiasts pick them up to get into the sport. We decided to take a look at six chassis you may want to consider for your first slider — all of which can be made into great beginner drift cars for under $5k. After a few conversations with some Formula Drift pros, we put together a list of cars you can build and turn into fun sliding machines without breaking the bank … initially. We’ve divided the list into three sections:

The Classics: Containing the two most well-known starter drift chassis in the Nissan 240SX and the Toyota Corolla, these cars are very competitive out of the box, and there’s a reason they’re so well known as beginner drift cars.

The Cult Heroes: Recognized as alternatives to the classics but with known shortcomings for competitive drifting, the Mazda RX7 and Mazda Miata have become great cars that willfully generate some casual sideways fun.

The Rising Stars: While not normally considered as drift cars by beginners, the Toyota Cressida and BMW 3-series are quickly becoming the affordable drift chassis of today.

The Classics: Nissan 240SX And Toyota Corolla AE86

Nissan 240SX

Chassis to look for: S13 (1989 to 1993) and S14 (1994 to 1998)

How to shop for your first 240SX: Known as the Nissan Silvia in Japan, where it helped jump-start tough drifting, the 240SX is a popular first drifter. Scouring your local auto classifieds, especially when using the S13 or S14 keyword, is likely to turn up someone’s abandoned project car or crashed-but-repaired dropout from the hobby that can be spotted by dents in the corner of the rear bumper or a mix of body panel colors. The odds of finding a stock, five-speed car in either chassis is relatively low, but regular people do own some of the survivors out there.

A manual transmission car equipped with the KA24DE DOHC engine will be preferred over the earlier KA24E SOHC engine. The S13 is often considered to be more desirable due to being around 200 pounds lighter than the S14. More affordable cars are likely to be automatics, which can be a blessing if bought by a mechanically-inclined individual who can afford the downtime to build the car properly with a full pedal swap, a task not for the casual weekend wrench-turner. While no S13’s came with a limited slip differential from the factory, all S14’s had the option to add an LSD from Nissan. Should you find a factory LSD-equipped S14, the chances of the LSD needing either a rebuild or replacement are fairly high. An S14 with ABS should be equipped with an LSD.

The top row shows a VQ35 swap and a more popular SR20DET. On the bottom row is another SR swap and a more exotic Skyline RB26 installation.

What engine should you look for? While Japan got plenty of cool engine options for the Silvia, our 240SX, the American market wasn’t so fortunate. The SR20DET motor from Japan that was readily available in both the S13 and S14, as well as the S15 chassis that the United States never got is a relatively easy swap, although not necessarily legal depending on your local state laws if you plan to drive the car on the streets. Swap kits for the Toyota 2JZ-GTE out of a Toyota Supra, Nissan VQ35 out of a Nissan 350z, Nissan Skyline RB series engines, and even Chevy LS motors are not just readily available, but probably already attempted by someone in your neighborhood. There are usually a number of SR20-swapped 240s on the market, but you’ll need to be sure the swap was done right. Drifting on a KA24DE is still an option to learn, at which point some basic maintenance like changing the timing belt, flushing the cooling system, and replacing any worn or cracked hoses may be all you need before you head to the track. After a while you will be faced with the ‘KA Turbo vs Swap’ dilemma.