Budget Performance Car

Well lately ive been considering someother cars that i might get if i dont stick with a convertible. With around 6-8k, i arrived at these cars. I will be bring them to college so i won't be driving them as much during the first year. But i jsut want a fun car to drive with, not a super duper performance car.

-civic si '99-'00
-impreza RS (dont think i can find a WRX around my price range)
-eclipse (older models)
-240sx (have to dig out more info about these)
-mazda 3 hatchback (if i can find one in my price range...highly doubtful, maybe protege)
-mr2 (still considering, too much rep on this car being a "racer," kinda looking for more of a sleeper [just want to have a fun car, not to race]
-[any other suggestions?]

What im doing now is giving up my '05 accord for one of these cars, and use the remaning for college, dont know if its a good idea but thats i had arrived at. Or amybe i should just keep the 05 accord and attempt to mod it.

P.S. auto or manual? it's not like i am going to drive the cars hard so i was wondering if a manual is necessary? Just because i find auto so much easier to drive with...but manual is more interesting..hmm

I'd get either the MR2 or 240sx. RWD is alot more fun to drive, and definitely get manual over auto. MR2's may be a little more pricey, so the 240sx would really be your best bet. With a few mods to them, you can have a fun RWD car to drive. :thumbsup:

I've never driven a RWD car before, how different is it compared to FWD?

Its different. It feels different and reacts different to loss of traction. You won't immediately feel comfortable but its not incredible difficult to figure out

First I would knock out the Civic Si, Imprezza RS, and Protege, their not performance cars, and none of them have spectacular numbers

I would look at an Mr2 or a 240SX and I would reccomend an SX...Its performance is decent, relatively reliable, looks sporty and the KA24 can be worked on or you san do an SR20 swap

As for other suggestions I would personally suggest a Fox Mustang. There are times that I consider trading in my mustang for an older one. I have learned to appreciate their simplicity.

As for other suggestions I would personally suggest a Fox Mustang. There are times that I consider trading in my mustang for an older one. I have learned to appreciate their simplicity.

5.0 Mustang with a stick is a fun ride and pretty easy to get power out of.

As for the list up there I'll have to go with the 240SX. It's a great car just to drive around and provides more than enough fun when you feel like tossing it through some corners. It doesn't put up the best straight line numbers but it is very good for a good curvy road.

Personal recommendation: A non-turbo 300ZX (gee, bet you didn't see that coming :rolleyes:). Anyway, you can find them in great condition for the price range you speak of and they are well above the performance of the 240SX even while being practical for everyday use.

As for FWD vs RWD, an debate done to death, reanimated, beaten to death and reanimated a million times my two cents on the matter is that RWD is far and beyond better than FWD. If for no other reason than I hate having the feel of the drive train in the steering in a FWD car, it makes the steering numb and unresponsive. Anyway, try it and I'm pretty sure it will become your preference as well.