New "dream" car needed.
 

(note, I have been driving old rx7s and civics since I finished school in 93)

I used to obsess about getting an NSX but never had enough money and I couldn’t part with my miata. Now that I have an FD rx7 and two nsx owners for friends, I spent all the rest of my savings on the miata with zero regrets. I also don’t mind driving my 2250lb/142 rwhp civic but I seriously need to get something newer with four seats and safety features. Next year, I will always have my two little ones with me. (not sure when I’m going to drive the two seaters. ) I would really like for it to be a car worth dreaming about. My $23K limit might be optimistic but what the heck. All options would be used with less than 30K.

Here are my choices:

EVO or STI
05 or 06 mustang GT
RX8
WRX with some bolt ons
MazdaSpeed 3
06 Civic SI
RSX type S
Neon SRT4
Cobalt SS

AWD is great for winter, of course, but I love driving in the snow and rwd would be amusing. Any thoughts are appreciated.

I kinda went through the same thing. I have got to drive a few of the cars on your list.

Evo:Hands down the best car I have ever driven straight from the factory. Makes the Sti feel like a Grand AM in comparison. It pulls hard and the suspension and brakes are great I was dead set on getting one but can't fall in love with the styling or the constant negative attention(cops and kids) I would get driving one.

Sti: A nice solid car that pulls hard and is a lot less raw then the Evo. I like the styling a lot more and if I was gonna get one of the two to keep long term I think the Sti would be in better shape in 5 years.

SRT-4: Such a brutal beast of a car. $3k invested and you are making 400 whp on pump gas on the stock block. This is the car to freeway race with. Definately not a great looking car though.

Mustang: Life is way to short to be stuck driving a piece of shit. I was a Ford Technician for 5 years and would rather be castrated than drive one. Look at a used Gto if you want a V8 Coupe.

RX8. If you don't mind having a really really slow car then other than that they are pretty cool.



Can I throw a couple suggestions out?

B5 Audi S4: More safety and class than all the above cars put together. ^ speed manual and a 2.7 Bi-Turbo. Just a chip and you have a mid 13 sec. family hauler.

VW R32: Again more luxury than all the above listed cars. 3.2 Vr6 6 speed and all wheel drive. Great style and safety. These cars also don't seem to be depreciating at all.

Lexus IS300: Can't touch Toyota reliability. These cars look awesome(minus the tail lights) and are super comfortable inside. 2JZ engine leaves you tons of options for more power if you need it.

Subaru Legacy GT. Plenty of aftermarket support. Good looking (especially for a Suby), AWD, good room in the rear. I've got a highly modded Forester XT (370 hp to the wheels). If the Leg GT was out when I bought my car I would have bough one of them instead.

Frank

Great Addition:bigtu:

Good suggestions, I am thinking more sport and less luxury. The s4s are sure nice looking though. I hate to say this, but the mustang is the best looking of the bunch. Have I been living in the boonies too long? I showed my retired mom an EVO and she said it looked like it would make a nice replacement for her prism.
What about a turbo RX8?

G35 Coupe...how the hell could I leave that out. Hands down the best looking car of the bunch.

Attachment 217274

You might want to add the Forrester XT to that list, its a lot of car for the money.

Mark

My votes for the EVO!!!
Or the new SI with the new greddy tubo kit?

I would just go with a 04 or 05 WRX for like $20G's and call it a day.

The stock wrx seemed a little too slow, maybe because I was used to the rx7.

The G35 is an excellent idea. I would be a little concerned about the reliability and I don't like the light steering feel but it is kinda like a mustang but not crappy. (crustang is the correct term, I think)

If the G35 is like a Mustang then a Miata is like an S2000 ;)

:hsugh:

you're missing the best performance bang for the buck out there, the GTO.
More power, more torque, and in vauxhaul trim turned an identical time on top gears track as the STi.
It's also more refined than the EVO/STI/SRT/cobalt crowd and faster than the mustang.

6 speed bi-trubo S4 For The Fucking Win

I'd also get the audi s4. My roommate has one and it is a blast to drive. Upgrades for it are highly overpriced though :( I keep telling him to put some MS on it :-P

The Forrester XT is faster. Hard to believe but true. Damn fine car, but needs another 500 RPM added to the redline.

Mark

I'd be frightened to maintain an aging TT Audi, but that's me. I hate high maintenance bitches, be they cars or women.

I'd go LGT or new MS6 personally. A new MS6 can be had in Sport trim for $23K if you look hard enough (or not that hard at all if you wait till model year end) and is quite nice. Very roomy, AWD, should respond well to mods when the aftermarket picks up with the MS3, and the motor is really pretty strong even stock. Very comfortable and yet still retains the sporty Mazda control feel. Handling is so-so IMO, but I'm used to a Flex'd/Azenis'd Miata, so most things don't impress. I'd be an alignment and a rear sway would right the handling enough to make it fun for a DD. I'm looking to pick one up at model year end next year.

If they don't go as aggressive with incentives next year as last year ($21.9K was the cheapest I saw this year), I'll probably look into an E36 M3 sedan, which I would also suggest for you. It's a truly brilliant drivers car in much the same way a Miata is. It goes beyond it's performance number and feels much faster than it is (and it's no slouch by the numbers either). Unfortunately it's hard to find one with less than 75K on it, but the E36 platform is pretty reliable (especially for a German car, really especially for a BMW, much better than E46's) other than a few common failure areas that have fixes like waterpumps and rear shock mounts. Finding manual sedans is also more difficult, but you can do it. You could pick up a nice example in the $15-16K range. Tons of aftermarket too if you get tempted. Lots of DIY turbo stuff for E36's just like Miata's. If you wanted to save even more money I'd suggest a DIY turbo E36 328 sedan. The 328's can be had for less than $10K, and it's not much more expensive to turbo a BMW than it is to do a Miata.

My .04.

my list of my next potential car is:

E36 M3
GTO
Legacy GT
Mustang GT
Rx8
300zx TT
Maurader
LS v8

Most likely it will end up being the Legacy: cost/performance/comfort/DD. Unless I find a good deal on an M3.

I had a white E36 M3 Coupe. Picked it up for $7k and it has nice $2800 Kinesis on it. Never should have sold that car.(I sold it to Rob at Flipside for $13k. Its the car drifting in the into on the website.) Would have been my first suggestion but I was assuming you wanted something newer.

1. E36 M3 sedan
2. EVO
3. GTO

:werd: