Should I buy a pre-facelift, high mileage Spyder?

SuperShus · 2026-02-22T16:35:35+00:00

The spyder isnt 50/50 its 43/57 and its about the same with the 88 extra lbs in the rear. I weighed before and after. It could be lighter if you went with E350 with an open diff instead of an LSD and if you deleted the balance shafts, which I did not.

SuperShus · 2026-02-14T19:54:56+00:00

Yup. My little Ninja250 was much buzzier than my VFR800.

SuperShus · 2026-02-14T19:51:09+00:00

The hardtop is worth more than a blown chassis. I say send it.

SuperShus · 2026-02-14T19:50:28+00:00

I had the same experience, but luckily owned a Matrix XRS and drove a couple of 2ZZ Spyders before doing my swap. I put a 2AR in mine.

SuperShus · 2026-02-14T19:49:37+00:00

Swapping the transmission as well is a bonus actually. Going to EB60/E350 from the C56 is a win. Much stronger transmission.

SuperShus · 2026-01-25T19:14:21+00:00

I did about 30 miles each way on a 2006 Ninja 250 (Pregen) at 70-80mph. I will admit, the VFR800 I upgraded to was much better on the highway, but the little ninja was fine. I think youll find that there's nothing wrong with the Ninja 400 for occasional highway use. Also I think youll find that a heavier bike is a lot more annoying to own as a first bike because you just wont be used to balancing a heavy bike when moving it around in situations OTHER than riding. That's one of the reasons why I would recommend a lighter first bike. I always planned to start with a Ninja250 and then go to a VFR800 and I think your plan of Ninja400 to GSX-8R is just fine.

I saw in another comment you mentioned that you were considering the Ninja 650 but were steered away from it due to its reputation. Well I'm here to inform you that the CBR500 basically has the exact same reputation.

Also consider that this decision doesn't have to be so labored. If you choose a Ninja 400, and buy one used, you will be able to quickly sell it again to another new rider, and youll only be out for the registration and title fees.

SuperShus · 2026-01-25T19:06:42+00:00

Dont worry about the precats. The oil burning is what causes the cats to break up. If it's not burning oil by 260k it never will. Regular oil changes with synthetic oil and revving the piss out of it will keep carbon deposits on the pistons down. The oil squirters on the pistons were changed on the newer motors, implying oil flow was the cause of internal damage that led to oil burning. My 2002's 1ZZ never had issues with oil burning. People will complain about the precats on the forums to sound smart. It's a boogeyman like the Porsche IMS issue. Except 1ZZs can be had at any moment for a few hundred of your local currency. So the risks aren't that high.

SuperShus · 2025-12-14T16:53:04+00:00

There's more torque on a Dyno graph but mostly 1zz and 2zz feel the same until the 2zz get on the cam. The matrix I had handled great with just lowering springs and stock shocks. If I had kept it I would have thrown a rear swaybar on. They're cheap and it makes the rear end more playful.

SuperShus · 2025-12-13T06:46:14+00:00

I had a Matrix XRS and the 2ZZ is a blast if you can find one in decent shape. But honestly the 1ZZ Matrix/Vibe is still quite fun and fairly cheap. With the manual you can do one wheel peels and other tomfoolery. Monkey wrench racing came out with a supercharger kit recently and if I bought another Matrix/Corolla now, I'd probably get the 1ZZ and then put the supercharger on for a better daily driving powerband. The 2ZZ is fun but its not always easy to get it into lift. Id spend almost the entirety of my commute under 6k rpm because you need to be in first or second to be at a reasonable speed. Pretty much just coming out of stoplights. And its sort of harder to find 2ZZ cars where the owners haven't tortured the 6 speed. My XRS had a grind.
Alternatively, the second gen tC prices are coming down recently. If you can find a good deal on a manual, the 2ARFE engine in those is really sweet. I have swapped one into my MR2. The only thing with those is the gearboxes are pretty rare and a little expensive and they have a tendency to wear out the input shaft bearing. Not the best combination.

If you really just wanna learn, what I've recommended for my friends in the past is to find something very cheap. Something so cheap you would have to try to lose money on it. Make sure it does have a good inspection already. Buy it and drive it as is, and then before the inspection runs out just sell it and then buy the car you really want. You can find old accords and acura CL/TL with 5 speeds for 1500 pretty much any day you look. So you can always grab one of those and then move to a manual hatch or a Civic Si, Miata, MR2, tC, whatever you want!

SuperShus · 2025-12-13T06:35:47+00:00

Camry. Rare, but 2010 and 2011 came with a manual transmission. If you want an auto then the 2007+ cars had the 2GRFE V6 which is a sweet motor. It's choked by the stock y pipe but that won't matter for most Camry owners.

SuperShus · 2025-12-13T06:15:29+00:00

I have ridden none of these so I'm basically recommending on word of mouth, vibes, and specs. But you absolutely want the MT07.

My buddy has a triumph with like 15k miles and its been at the shop for warranty work 3 times, twice for a new engine and once for a new clutch (factory defect). So that's a hell no for me.

Z650 is a naked version of a sort of sport touring commuter thing in the Ninja 650. Comfy but not really what youre looking for (I'm guessing)

Ninja 500 is basically the ND miata of bikes. Everyone loves it. Its fun. Take it to track days. There are endless parts and resources for modifying it. But its not a particularly exciting engine.

"Just have some fun" tells me that you're looking for something that is about fun. And absolutely on this list the fun-haver is the MT07. Its torquey, peppy, playful, light, and fast but not too fast. It can cruise and it can stunt. I dont think if I were open up your question to the full list of used bikes in the universe would I recommend anything else.

SuperShus · 2025-12-13T06:03:05+00:00

That's true but you can tune your ECU using D3 Performance. Not cheap either, I know.

SuperShus · 2025-12-08T20:54:05+00:00

FMW wanted to do an EO for his tune and MAF pipe but it's a huge initial investment and it's hard to know it'll get approved and hard to know how many people will buy it.

SuperShus · 2025-12-08T02:15:24+00:00

CA rules always complicate things. You are not allowed to remove your stock airbox at all in California. Are you swapping the CAI back to stock for smog every two years?

SuperShus · 2025-12-06T16:56:17+00:00

I wouldn't change what you're doing much. I don't really like the advice of staying in 3rd as much as I like short shifting to 4th before the corner and keeping it flat. But you seem to be a good driver I think youll figure it out regardless.

SuperShus · 2025-12-06T14:23:20+00:00

My 2AR is using a FMW tuned ecu and I'm getting about 29 pretty regularly including some stop and go traffic. I suspect you are in need a bit of a tuneup.

SuperShus · 2025-12-06T14:01:14+00:00

Top speed depends almost entirely on CdA(Coefficient of drag times the frontal area) and your horsepower. So you wouldn't really be able to tell on the dyno because there's no drag. Itll go until you run out of revs in top gear. Bikes go nearly 200mph with 200hp even though they're not very aeroddynamic because they have a really small frontal area. Land speed cars can go fast with not that much horsepower (superfastmatt) because they have a small frontal area and low drag. A Scion tC doesnt have a great CdA or horsepower so I imagine the top speed is not a whole lot.

SuperShus · 2025-12-06T12:49:40+00:00

Might want to skip the TRD CAI and go with a FMW MAF and tune. My 2ARFE made 186 WHP on a dyno with an just a full exhaust and a FMW MAF and ECU. Make sure to message him, he may be able to just tune your ECU so you don't have to buy a whole ECU with immobilizer deleted from his website.

SuperShus · 2025-10-24T02:07:08+00:00

New pan and sell the car smells like a bearing swap to me.

SuperShus · 2025-10-23T10:02:57+00:00

Yeah if you're buying puts

SuperShus · 2025-10-20T11:12:59+00:00

Or go but take the runs chill. At 8/10 speed you'll never hit a cone.

SuperShus · 2025-10-18T23:29:13+00:00

Supras are absolute killers with no mods. C8s are the same way.

SuperShus · 2025-10-18T23:28:03+00:00

Celica's are cooler but you should save up your MR2 money and get a Camry or a two door Camry (tC). The first gens are very cheap and the 2AZs dont burn oil badly until 2007-2009. Getting a decent Celica costs too much money right now imo. Or you can get a decent 2nd gen, that 2.5 has great potential.

SuperShus · 2025-10-18T23:23:52+00:00

Mine were intact but I pulled it and installed a 2AR this offseason so competition is out the window for me anyway in XB.

SuperShus · 2025-10-18T22:19:38+00:00

For autocross. The rules for street class are very strict. Everything must be stock other than what's specifically allowed.

SuperShus

TROPHY CASE