buying a sports car need help

i'm looking to buy a nice sports car. my budget is around $28,000 max (i might just lease the car tho if there is a good enought deal goin on)
i'm looking for something with good acceleration and handeling. its gotta be fast too.
a friend of mine has a 06 mustang v6 and i wanna be able to blow him off the road if at all possible :evillol:

right now i'm looking at the 06/07 eclipse gt coupe with the 263 hp manual tran.
i'm also looking at an older (02-04) nissan 350z there is a 02 around here for 22,000
umm also i've looked into a miata mx-5, a rx-8 (both mazdas); a chrysler crossfire; and i guess the mustangs too v6 and i saw a v8 in my price range but the only thing with the 'stang is i don't wanna be rippin of my buddy but if its the best deal then i have no problem with it

so any suggestions you all have on what to get off of what i listed or any others you know would be extremely helpful. o and please explain why i should choose what you suggest

thanks and peace out

get the z and btw the v6 where slow. to much weight for a ford v6

I wouldn't get an Eclipse. I'd say the 350z is the most well rounded new-ish sports car in your price range. Plenty of power, handles very well, good to drive everyday in most conditions, pretty reliable. I would make sure you get one with a LSD. If you were interested in a roadster, the Honda S2000, BMW Z4 3.0i, and Porsche Boxster S should all be available in good condition on the used market. Finally, you could also look into used Evos or STIs. Both are turbocharged I4 AWD road going rally cars that are easy to tune and handle well.

yea everyone keeps saying no on the eclipse. i really don't see why they look nice drive in snow pretty well and have nice horsepower. the only thing i noticed when i test drove one was the torque pull when steering (mainly when turning right it would want to pull me) so why are the eclipses so bad? please explain this to me.

yea i like the Z i just heard that it didn't handle well in snow/rain and its just about winter so....
o and i hate the sound system in the Z too. the system in the eclipse is sweet (rockford 650 watt) so if you all know a good sound system for the Z that'd be good to know too

any other suggestions. i dig older muscle cars too btw

thanks to those of you who have already posted

so wat do you all think of this Z?

http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail.jsp?tracktype=usedcc&searchType=21&paId=208102038&pageNumber=0&numResultsPerPage=50&largeNumResultsPerPage=0&sortorder=descending&sortfield=PRICE+descending&certifiedOnly=false&recnum=16&leadExists=true&criteria=K-%7CE-%7CM-_36_%7CD-_6068_%7CN-N%7CR-50%7CI-1%7CP-PRICE+descending%7CQ-descending%7CZ-45231&aff=national

The problem with the Eclipse is that it is FWD. A FWD car will not handle as well an AWD or RWD car and they cannot manage more then about 280hp without torque steer (the higher end Eclipses should already be getting this). This is why you don't see any FWD Sports cars for more then ~$27,000.

Regarding weather, a FWD car will be a bit better in the snow/ice and a good traction control system should make either one significantly better, but if you are really considering driving a sports car in adverse weather, I would look strongly into AWD. Your price range should allow for used Mitsubishi Evolutions and Subaru STIs, as well as older Audi S4s or VW R32s (if you can find one).

and to that z you posted. nice as hell but be sure to run a carfax on it. it has the right amount of milage for an 04 to have so it is striaght on that part. even though for a base body the price is a little high. but nothing that some wheeling and dealing can't take care of.

I have a 01 eclipse GT that runs great. absolutly no problems over the 5 1/2 years of ownership. would I buy a new one, no, because the fact is, a fwd car has its limits. torque steer and handling are the major factors that awd and even rwd cars can solve. if i were in your posistion, id look at the Z car and the STI.