Miata,S13,S14,AE86,MR2,S2000,Eclipse

1) Which of these small imports is the best all around performer?
2) Best acceration?
3) Best handling?
4) Best to supe up?
5) Car you would have to do with what you want?

1999 Mazda Miata
1991 Nissan S13 Hatchback
1991 Nissan S13 Notchback
1996 Nissan S14
1987 Toyota Corolla Hatchback
1992 Toyota MR2 Turbo
1999 Honda S2000
1995 Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX

Thanks in advance.

best acceleration - GSX
best handling - Miata or S2000
best to "supe" up - depends what you want and how much you want to spend.

personally I'd want a miata the most

Best acceleration-Gsx by far AWD rev drop clutch and go. Or the Mr2 with the MR setup.

Best handling-Miata that is the generation of S2000 that is know as "twichy" kinda like the old porsche 911 they handle go but when its gone hold your a** and pray to god.

Sup up i give my vote to the 240sx alittle over the maita. Cause the Sr20det swap and money u can push 500hp. The maita on the other hadn with a Rotary turbo or 5.0 mustang engine swap are eviil.

Over all ...........
the maita not by much over the 240sx for me. *the convertable is the last deciding factor for me* As

Best acceleration - Eclipse GSX or MR2 Turbo. They can both launch really well and have plenty of usable power.

Best handling - The S2000, but only if you are a good enough driver to handle it (and few are). The MR2 Turbo has great potential too, but is arguably even harder than the S2000. The Miata and S14 Silvia would be less frenetic but equally good choices.

Best to soup up - This is a toss-up between the 240SX and the Eclipse GSX. Both have giant aftermarkets and can be made very fast for very little money, but I think I'd give it to the 240SX. It's got more potential in the handling department, and only slightly less drag racing prowess.

Overall commentary - The MR2 Turbo and S2000 have great potential, but require a skilled driver. The Eclipse GSX and 240SX are cheap and fast, and make great starter cars. The Miata handles beautifully yet doesn't make a lot of power, the perfect car to get into autocrossing. The AE86 isn't good for much besides drifting and drawing out Initial D fans like cockroaches out of the woodwork.

Other cars you should consider - Have you looked into a nice Integra GS-R or Type R? Don't let the FWD turn you off (unless you were counting on going drifting); the Type R in particular is a deadly track weapon, yet it gets over 25 mpg off the track and has near-legendary reliability. Like the Miata, it's an excellent weekend racer. Another car you missed is the old Subaru Impreza. The aftermarket is growing for these, with the EJ20 swap and custom turbo kits for the 2.2L and 2.5L engines becoming ever more popular. The car has amazing autocrossing and rally racing potential as well.

MR2 and GSX have very similar acceleration (and by acceleration i mean 0-60 and quarter mile). It would be up to the driver. Handling i would say S2000. And thats also my choice to have

Another car you missed is the old Subaru Impreza. The aftermarket is growing for these, with the EJ20 swap and custom turbo kits for the 2.2L and 2.5L engines becoming ever more popular. The car has amazing autocrossing and rally racing potential as well.

By old, do you mean the 93-01 version? Or the bug-eye version?

I mean the 93-01 version, the GC-series. The bug-eye version (02-03) is the same as the 04-05, aside from the design changes; they are all GD-series.

WOW! thanks to you all. GSX and MR2 for acceleration. ok i like that. S2000, Miata for handling. AE86 and S13s and S14 for drifting and novelty. cool thanks. O yeah. This is not a car list for me, it is for a story i am working on. These are the cars that each character starts out with and builds. I just needed to know where to place each character on the specialty board. Thanks again. peace.

i would hardly consider a S13 and S14 as novelty cars. they have a shit load of potential, you can either turbo charge the stock 2.4 liter, or swap in the japanese turbo SR20DET, or you can swap in Skyline straight 6 turbo engines, theres even kits for the supra 2JZ GTE twin turbo swaps, or theres even a guy running around with a LT1 V8 swapped into the S14. you can fit alot of engines in there. in other words, potential wise its goin to be a toss up between the GSX and the S13-14

IMO, the best all around performer, the Eclipse. It may not have the best acceleration, or the best handeling. But you cant argue its popularity.

Popularity doesn't equal performance, but i see what you're saying

I'd say the best all-around performer is the MR2 Turbo, but you need a very skilled driver to extract most of its performance. The S14 has a lot of potential as well.

how about real world driving?
y'know, the S2000 isn't really a great real world car mainly due to the gearbox; by the time you're red-lining in third, you're breaking the law......
sometimes, you do just want to gently waft around but the gearbox doesn't really let you do that.
then there's the point that because there is so little torque, if you get the wrong gear during an um.... "overtake manouever" you'll be wallowing in a vat of treacle.
i've only ever driven a first gen S2000 and i found the suspension a little stiff and the rear seems to squat a bit too much making it feel like it's always about to snap a feeling that isn't helped by the way the steering suddenly goes numb/dead when the rear does this.
they say they've fixed this with the revisions but i've yet to drive one (mainly because i don't know anyone who has one...)

i can however, imagine that on a track, the S2000 would be quite a cracker.
i can also imagine that it could probably do with having a shorter ratio 'box.