S13 vs E36 vs 350Z: which first drift car in 2026
Three honest answers, and the reasons each one is wrong for somebody.
· 739 words
If you ask which car to start drifting in, the romantic answers are the S15, the AE86 and the JZX100. The practical answers are the S13, the E36 and the 350Z - and which of those three depends on things that have nothing to do with how the cars drive.
All figures checked 2026-10-06.
The numbers side by side
| S13 | E36 | 350Z | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Used price | $4,000-18,000 | $2,500-12,000 | $7,000-20,000 |
| Weight | 2,600-2,800 lb | 2,900-3,200 lb | 3,200-3,400 lb |
| Stock power | 140-202 hp | 189-190 hp | 287-306 hp |
| Parts availability | 5/5 | 5/5 | 4/5 |
| Difficulty as a first build | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 |
| Steering | RHD and LHD | RHD and LHD | LHD and RHD |
| Factory LSD | No | Some cars | Many cars |
The S13
Why it wins: the aftermarket for drift exists in the shape it does because of this car. More off-the-shelf angle kits, suspension and knowledge than any other platform here, and it is light. Anything you want to do has been documented by someone.
Why it does not: you are not buying a used car, you are buying a used *drift car*. The cheap ones were all used hard a decade ago, and what is left has usually been drifted, crashed, repaired and sold several times. Expect to find bodged welding, a hacked loom and an angle kit someone made in a shed. Rust at the rear strut towers, frame rails and around the differential mount ends builds, and prices have climbed a long way from where they were.
Phase 0 on an S13 is the longest of the three, because of the age and because of what previous owners did.
The E36
Why it wins: it is the cheapest genuinely good drift platform you can buy in a normal used-car market, and there are a lot of them. Near-even weight distribution, a well-engineered multi-link rear, and straight sixes that make torque without having to be revved. Parts are shared across a huge BMW range and are cheap.
Why it does not: three well-known problems, all of which belong in phase 0. The rear subframe mounting points crack - this is the defining E36 issue and a locked differential makes it worse, though reinforcement plates are an established fix at $400 to $2,500. The cooling system is largely plastic and it fails suddenly rather than gradually, so a full refresh is standard practice. And the rear shock mounts fail, which gets worse with stiffer suspension.
None of those are dealbreakers. All of them are things to inspect before you hand over money.
The 350Z
Why it wins: it is the only one of the three you can buy locally as a normal used car, in left-hand drive, with a service history and no import process. It came with 287 hp or more and a factory limited-slip differential on many cars - which means phase 1's single most important item may already be done. Drift support is good, and there is a whole specialist industry around the VQ.
Why it does not: it is heavy, and the VQ35 is known for heat sensitivity under sustained load - oil temperature rather than water being the real concern. On this chassis the cooling upgrade should be treated as required rather than optional. The weight also shows up in the consumables bill: more tires, more brakes, more cooling capacity, every season.
How to actually choose
Buy the E36 if money is the constraint. It is half the price of the others at the bottom end, parts are cheap and everywhere, and its three known problems are all documented with known fixes. Budget the subframe plates and the cooling refresh into phase 0 and treat them as part of the purchase price.
Buy the S13 if you want the deepest aftermarket and you are prepared to inspect hard and undo someone else's work. Nothing else here has the same breadth of off-the-shelf parts.
Buy the 350Z if you do not want to be a mechanic first. It is the newest, the easiest to buy, and the one most likely to come with the differential already sorted. Pay for it in weight and in cooling.
The thing all three have in common
Phase 0 before anything else, and a locked differential before anything exciting. The chassis you choose changes what is in phase 0 - subframe plates on the BMW, rust and previous-owner archaeology on the S13, cooling capacity on the Z - but it does not change the order.