recommendation for buying car

hey guys im brand new to the forums and a noob with racing. Im looking for the fastest and best handling car for 8 grand. Im currently thinking about getting a prelude.

well, it all depends on what you want to do with it... Preludes are nice, and I've seen some fast ones out there, but they had a lot of money and a LOT of time put into them. Good cars tho, no doubt. Also, do you want a good looking car? Modability? Comfort? I would say to go with a 2G eclipse thats turboed (GS-T or GSX) if you want to spend your money on a car that looks nice and has quite a bit of potential. But of course theres no bias in my statement :wink: . Reliability and practicality a factor at all?

What exactly do you need the car for (track, 1/4 mile, daily driver) ? Answer this and we'll be able to help you out better. The 2g eclipse is not bad, excellent handling with AWD

AWD is seeexy. I wish I have it until I get onto the freeway or meet someone at a roll. But for the strip or from a dig...AWD ATW (all the way)...i know im corny.

its gonna be my daily driver and i wanna drive it at the road couse

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=113463

stickies are your friend.

I'd say a trans am or maybe a turbo 240sx. That or a old impreza. they do well on road courses.

need more info!

But heres my suggestions as of right now

2000-2002 Cavalizer Z24- 7,000 car + 2,000 dollar GM supercharger, and you have a mid to low 14 second car.

Eclipse Or Talon with the turbo AWD.

3000GT, Stealth, VR4

or just be completely unique and buy a echo and turbo charger it with 12 PSI on stock internals. . .

my 98 camaro z28 cost me $8000 and it runs a 13.1 with just catback. in my opinion, LS1 is the way to go. see if you can get a 98 z28 or 98 trans am. if you're an import kind of guy, i'd say a stealth tt awd even though it's technically not an import. my last suggestion would be a 2G dsm turbo awd.

or just be completely unique and buy a echo and turbo charger it with 12 PSI on stock internals. . .

haha

Anyways, asking such a broad question is only going to get you a billion differing answers, all biased by what each of us drives/wants to drive.
There are alot of things to take into consideration, some of which have been mentioned.

For instance do you want sheer power, or a compromise of power and handling

Do you want a car for street and autocross or a car for 1/4

Do you care if it is american or foreign

Do you want a stock fast car, or do you want to modify a car to make it fast

Do you want reliability...will this be your daily driver

Do you want FWD, RWD, or AWD

I suggest just going out and test driving a bunch...find what you like, and go to specific forums and ask your questions there...there is also a 'car comparison' section of this forum, if you have it narrowed down to a few cars...ask there. Lastly, this question gets asked here every week...do a search and read through some old posts and see all the other answers people give...lastly, please keep posts in this section(street racing) semi-street racing related. As it seems this part of the forum is getting more and more off-topic everyday. Welcome to AF.

i want a car that is fast but still handels well, ide like it for street and 1/4 mile, i dont really care about where its made, i want it to be pretty fast stock but i can still put mods in it to make it faster, i want it relieable and semi fuel efficient, and i dont really care about teh drive train.

Thx for all the help

Hmm I'm realy biased but I'd say either a 1st Gen DSM, or a VR-4, cuz if u tune the VR-4 properly u can get good HP (but at a high cost) with good gas mileage, also the stock VR-4s come with at least 300+ Hp and if u buy a manual boost controller u can easily boost it to 14/15 PSI