What are some affordable cool powerful cars?

[Nemesis77]

VW Golf GTI. You can easily squeeze more power from that 1.8T

 

[bolido2000]

I'm guessing your budget is not that high, and since you want a 2 door I would probably recommend a used Intregra GSR (decent power and great reliability). If you are a car nut then a 240sx with engine swap is also a good idea. Eclipse turbo can be made very fast easily , and a prelude is decently fast with good reliabilty A corvette will cost too much to mantain and insurance will kill you. I dunno about you, but when I buy used cars reliablity is one of the top priorities

 

[Maverick]

I just bought a 2001 prelude on Saturday and I'm loving it. These guys are right about how its not too fast...I think the best it does is in the high 15's when its stock. There are a boatload of performance parts out there which will make it much faster.

The handling and reliability are where it really shines though. I'm still getting used to a manual tranny so I'm pretty hard on it right now, but I can tell it can take a beating. Its a honda so the reliability is pretty much guaranteed. It corners like a mofo too...I zipped through the mountains the other day, hugging every turn. The steering is really responsive too...you barely gotta touch the wheel to change lanes.

One thing to keep in mind is insurance. I looked at the prelude and integra and there was about a $100/month difference in insurance between the two. Something to consider when you start looking at 2 door cars.

 

[vi edit]

Insurance companies are weird.

I pay almost double the amount on a pansy 4 cylinder 4 door '94 camry than I did on a '95 VW GTi with a performance oriented V6.

 

[CocaCola5]

The Mk 3 VW gti is pretty fast with the VR6 engine, nice looking car too.

 

[keystroker]

I found my car Porsche 928 !%#%@ G'damn its a V8 326hp stock and isn't that expensive (early 80s model) But I hear repairs will put you in dept.

 

[Kenji4861]

Originally posted by: Desslok
WRX? Headlights take some getting used to, but with a fwe mods you can be up around the 300 HP range. Plus it has TONS of low end torque.

hmm... WRX is in the $23k range. Is that affordable? Not for most of us.
You want budget car that's powerful. Go with Nissan Sentra SE-R. Around 18k and you get everything. From specs, you should be able to compete with a WRX.

 

[keystroker]

looking for an affordable car meaning $8-10K of course it must be used if its gonna be good for that price. I'm trying to get away from trendy cars especially integra/new stang cars.

 

[Kadarin]

Originally posted by: keystroker
looking for an affordable car meaning $8-10K of course it must be used if its gonna be good for that price. I'm trying to get away from trendy cars especially integra/new stang cars.

Besides the Mach I, what have you found that appeals to you?

 

[lRageATMl]

i throw in a vote for a mustang even though you don;t like them.....shame on you :disgust:

wrx is a nice car for the money, gti 1.8t is fast and you can make it faster with very little money. how about an older supra those are some badass cars. or newer acura 3.2cl's are a good buy too. maxima is a fast car for teh money and so is the new altima. or you could wait for the nissan skyline to come out (if it ever does).

 

[KokomoGST]

This subject has nearly been beaten to death before... IIRC, the main contenders were...

1) DSMs (turbo Eclipse/Talon/Laser) or Galant VR4 - my biased vote & w/ AWD is easiest car to get into the 11s of the imports
2) Stang 5.0s - everything is dirt cheap for this car... it's got power-friendly displacement & really strong driveline (turbo SVOs are the road less travelled)
3) 240SX w/ SR20DET swap - I didn't vote for this because of the difficulties of having a JDM swap done & then sourcing Jap parts
4) SW20 MR2 turbo - a bit more expensive but still wicked fast... though parts are harder to find, price/performance isn't nearly as good as the top 2
Note: if you can find one, a Galant VR4 has the same engine as the DSMs (& the EVO) with AWD as well, but its more a sleeper

Also, you can probably find these cars as turnkeys:
1) Mitsu 3000GT VR4/Dodge Stealth TT
2) Nissan 300ZX TT


BTW, you CAN do donuts in an AWD car! Going fast with less $$ = factory turbocar/domestic displacement

 

[iamwiz82]

BTW, you CAN do donuts in an AWD car! Going fast with less $$ = factory turbocar/domestic displacement

there is nothing quite like destroying two differentials at the same time.

 

[Rent]

Originally posted by: KokomoGST
This subject has nearly been beaten to death before... IIRC, the main contenders were...

1) DSMs (turbo Eclipse/Talon/Laser) or Galant VR4 - my biased vote & w/ AWD is easiest car to get into the 11s of the imports
2) Stang 5.0s - everything is dirt cheap for this car... it's got power-friendly displacement & really strong driveline (turbo SVOs are the road less travelled)
3) 240SX w/ SR20DET swap - I didn't vote for this because of the difficulties of having a JDM swap done & then sourcing Jap parts
4) SW20 MR2 turbo - a bit more expensive but still wicked fast... though parts are harder to find, price/performance isn't nearly as good as the top 2
Note: if you can find one, a Galant VR4 has the same engine as the DSMs (& the EVO) with AWD as well, but its more a sleeper

Also, you can probably find these cars as turnkeys:
1) Mitsu 3000GT VR4/Dodge Stealth TT
2) Nissan 300ZX TT


BTW, you CAN do donuts in an AWD car! Going fast with less $$ = factory turbocar/domestic displacement

Beat me to it SW20 (Mark2) MR2 Turbos are absolutely badass cars for the $$ (IF you can find one in good shape). Galant GSX (VR4)s are badass cars as well, but hard to find also.

240's are good project cars. Once I'm out of the small hole I created for myself, I'm going to pick up a older one and swap the motor. RWD is tons of fun

and AWD donuts are not recommended (unless in snow). Good way to rack up 5k+++ worth of repairs.

 

[NewSc2]

late 90's volvo s40's or c70's are pretty sporty (maybe not incredibly powerful, but they're not bad) and they usually go for the mid-$10's with decent mileage.

 

[CraigRT]

that is just crazy. The Sentra is WAY overpriced for what it is. An F body or WRX offer MUCH better bang for the buck.

that is just insane... the SE-R spec-V is the cheapest econobox sport compact i have ever seen coming in at at mere $24K Canadian... when my car cost $25K Canadian.. the only problem is the Nissan financing rate.. but the sticker price is mighty low! and it's a super kick-ass car!

 

[FuZoR]

Nissan 300ZX