New car to work with -- your opinion

I am interested in purchasing a car that I can put some money into, to make it something to be proud of.

I am really interested in some of the lightweight 4-cylinder imports, especially something I can put a lot of mod's on, however, I have seen some decent V6's (3000GT, Eclipse, some 2.5L Mazda engine my friend put in his Probe)

I do have several opinon related questions, that I would like to get your thougts on:

1) Do you think I would be better off buying a car with a decent engine/tranny, and modifying it, OR, finding a super cheap car in good physical cond., minus an engine/tranny, and spending a couple of grand on a new/refurbished engine/trans., in addition to modifications?

2) Any recommendations on what car to use? Some that I kind of like are Eagle Talon (95 or 96 TSI AWD), Eclipse (97-98 Eclipse), or maybe a somewhat older Acura Integra. The one thing I wouldn't want is a Civic, nothing wrong with it, there's just too many out there. I want something that I'll be able to run between 250-300 hp (after mod's, of course)

3) Better off (power wise, and engine life) going with a 4 cylinder turbocharged, or a V6 turbo, or v6 supercharged?

Thanks for your input!

--Justin

Could you give me a rough estimate on your budget?

You will want RWD or the torque steer on it will be a bitch. I would say go V-6 or V-8 if you are willing (the Infiniti 4.5L, for instance, makes a killer engine swap). Everyone has heard it, but it is true,

There is no replacement for displacement. Once you slap your superchargers on that, you won't be too much more, but you will have all the power you will ever want.

And I would say go with one that just good body wise. You will undoubtedly be doing an engine swap if you are serious about this, so don't spend money on something you aren't going to use.

budget is around 12,000 - 15,000, I'd like to spend in the low end, but if it's worth it, I'd spend up to 15,000

I'd really like to avoid a V8, especially with gas prices. I kind of had my heart set on a lightweight import, something that get's somewhat decent gas mileage when I drive it normal, but can still scream when I put it to the floor.

I personally am not a huge gearhead, but I know a fair amount about cars and am a quick learner...I also have several family members that know a whole lot more than I do, so this would be a combination of me working on it, and possibly taking it to the shop for harder aspects of the build.

Thanks for the input,

Justin

Well, then you have a few options.

1 would be a 240sx. They are RWD, lightweight, decent handling stock and have just about the easiest engine swap on earth with the SR20DET. This will get you up above 200 HP, be relatively easy on the pocketbook (good body/paint/etc and brand new engine dropped in by someone else should run you no more than $9k, less if you do it yourself, about a 6 or 7 hour job from what I hear).

Another good option is MkIII Supra (86.5-92). They can be had very cheap with great bodies. The stock engine is bullet proof, so it will run great while you are wanting to drop something else in there. 7MGTE engine swap can get you upwards to 600 after add ons ($1000 for engine, $6000 for someone to do all the work for you, $2000 or less for the car). Heavier car, but corners great and you get loads of power for relatively cheap. The MkIV engines even used are obscenely expensive for a turbo.

A 93+ RX7 could be had for cheap if you got one with no engine (very common). Cheapest I saw was $7000 (blown engine). Don't know what engine swaps are common, but you could always just drop in another original and go from there.

Of course there are many many other options, but these are some I would consider.

Since this sounds as if it's your first project, buy a solid driver; one which requires no or very very little work to drive and enjoy right away.
IMO nothing kills your enthusiasm faster than having a partly disassembled piece of junk in your garage that requires huge dollars and/or lots of work before you can have some fun with it.

Set aside a few thousand for mods, then buy the best example of your car that you can find.

Also, before you actually buy a car, consider putting together some definite goals that you want to achieve, write down a plan of how to go there and put some dollar fugures that those plans will cost. This way, you will have a definite, useful guidelines by which you can compare different choices.