I'm buying a new car, what should I pick?

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Combustion

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Ok I have decided it is time to move up to a fast car. For my 25th birthday I want to get something with more than 250hp as a present to myself.

Prerequisites:

RWD or 4WD
Awesome handling/cornering is a must
if possible non-turbo
Reliable

I have checked out these cars so far:

Audi S3 (yes its a turbo but the handling is great)
BMW M3 E36- my favorite so far
Lotus Elise (bit small)
BMW M3 E30 - I love the look but its old and less than great performer
Subaru Sti - handling is awesome, interior looks cheap
Mitsubishi Evo VI - handing is even more awesome, interior looks even more cheap
Nissan 350Z - not driven it, looks good
Ford Sierra Cosworth, 500hp - (friend owns it, incredibly fast, but its old)

Those so far, I'm in europe so american cars out of the question, I'm willing to pay ~35,000 euro (second hand) so these are all in the price range.

Does anyone know any other cars that I should consider and what are the possible problems with the ones above?
 
Daily Driver?
If so, bye bye Elise.

Do you need to carry mates in the back? Or anything else for that matter?

Personally i'd go for a 350Z.
 
I am partial to the E36 M3, having had a couple myself. :sly:

But you should not overlook the M Coupe, 540i Sport, Porsche Boxster S or early 993. If a good drive is at the top of your priority list, go for the M Coupe.


M
 
What kind of year-round weather are you facing?

If it gets more than a little snowy you probably would do well with the Evo or the Subie.

Also, though the horsepower is a bit down from what you want, how about a Mini Cooper S.
Then you get the great stying and handling of the Mini, with BMW reliability. 👍
 
Out of your list, I'd stick with the M3. Looks great, sounds great, feels great, smells great (?). Have many 350s been imported to Europe yet? Or do you still have to go grey to get them.
 
Aren't you happy I bumped this? :D

If we could have a few more specifics we could give you a more detailed answer. We just can't help choosing cars for people.
 
eliseracer
Out of your list, I'd stick with the M3. Looks great, sounds great, feels great, smells great (?). Have many 350s been imported to Europe yet? Or do you still have to go grey to get them.
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You can buy Nissan 350Zs from any street corner these days.
 
Are you planning on modding this car? If so:

The STi is a great car. Its got a bulletproof 6 speed, with a good ECU flash and simple exhuast upgrade the car easily competes with cars double the price. 👍
 
What about the Mazda RX-8? That car handles pretty well and have a good bit of power, plus it only about 28,000 American so you'll have a bit of money left for mods or rims and stuff. Also, if you can get it, the Infinity G35 is pretty good too. If you can't get them, stick with the M3. :D
 
Holdenhsvgtsr
monaro????
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Ok, from the sounds of it he lives in the USA where North America doesn't get Holden cars.

Anyway, the 350Z is pretty much a downplayed version of the Infiniti G35 coupe, but the RX-8 is always a good choice. The Subaru however, is incredibly reliable except for one minor detail- their transmissions have been known to cause some problems. And if reliability is a must then you can totally scratch off the elise because 1, it's expensive to insure, and 2 it's incredibly unreliable even though it has a 190hp Toyota engine. If you can find an old Mark IV Toyota Supra (which does 0-60 in about 5.1s) you should have fun with that. If you want to go all mainstream and just pimp out your ride though, I'd go with a G35/350Z or something. Who knows, maybe you'll even find your way to a Miata- they have great handling and pretty good tuning potential. Heck, you could even drop a 13b in one (just don't let anyone in an Escalade within 50 of it- miata13b will tell you about that one) and cruise around in a "Miarex-7". Well, your' choice- just make an informed one.
 
PS
Ok, from the sounds of it he lives in the USA where North America doesn't get Holden cars.
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Pontiac GTO = rebadged Holden Monaro :)

I'd say go with a Nissan Z. With softer and wider tires, that thing's handling improves quite a bit. There's also a bunch of nismo parts available for the engine if that's your cup of tea.

If not the Z then definately the M3. I'm especially partial to the older ones 👍
 
I'd say go with the Evo or the STi. They are very easy to live with if you can overlook the harsh ride, since they are fast as hell, offer tons of traction (great for bad weather) and are just as practical as a small sedan (except on fuel and insurance obviously). Gil's suggestion of the Mini Cooper S is another excellent one too; although it lacks the straightline performance of the other cars, it has absolutely stellar handling, and it's going to be much more easy on gas than any other high performance car.

I would also suggest a Mazda RX8, but they have poor gas mileage, so you'd have to be willing to live with that. The 350Z is not a bad car, but I'm of the opinion that there are better cars out there for the same price (like the ones I've mentioned).

And one last suggestion; would you be willing to look at an older Porsche 911 (If you can find one in your price range)?
 
Combustion
Prerequisites:

RWD or 4WD
Awesome handling/cornering is a must
if possible non-turbo
Reliable

I have checked out these cars so far:

Audi S3 (yes its a turbo but the handling is great)
BMW M3 E36- my favorite so far
Lotus Elise (bit small)
BMW M3 E30 - I love the look but its old and less than great performer
Subaru Sti - handling is awesome, interior looks cheap
Mitsubishi Evo VI - handing is even more awesome, interior looks even more cheap
Nissan 350Z - not driven it, looks good
Ford Sierra Cosworth, 500hp - (friend owns it, incredibly fast, but its old)
Click to expand...

If reliability is an big deal, only the Subaru pops up in my mind from this list. :) Personally, I like M3, 350Z, Evo, Sti, but Lotus Elise the best. 👍
 
Thanks for some useful replies. By the way, I'm not in america, hence:
I'm in europe so american cars out of the question
Click to expand...

Anyway, to be more specific: I want a daily driver with the extra oomph there when needed, also I live in Greece so there is no snow, and the roads are not that great either.

I do a lot of mountain driving so I want something that will brake hard, grip like a bastard on the bends and has good torque for uphill.

I don't want the RX8 because it looks too much like the smart coupe.

And I would really really like to break traction on demand which is why I would prefer a non-turbo, I'm thinking of doing a few drift sessions on the weekends.

Basically I want a car with balls and a comfy ride (which is why I like the M3).

Only thing I didn't like about the M3 is that the handling is not that great, the car is more suited for high speed driving that going round corners (my opinion). It basically stinks when compared to the Sti.

The Subaru and Lancer just look too plasticky for my liking, the Audi S3 just looks like the most ordinary car, which I like because it doesn't really show its power, just hints it with the suspension, brakes and wide tires.

Ah its so hard to pick a damn car, but for me 40,000$ is a lot of money so I want to spend wisely.

Oh, and I would like a car to be as non-showing off as possible, I want a car that 90% of the world will say, 'that looks like an ordinary car' and only car lovers to say 'thats an awesome ride', ie like the Audi S3/Ford Sierra

I am considering the elise because it felt like glue on the road, and it doesn't make you scared to drive it because its not soo powerful like the Sierra, that thing lifts up the front wheels in 2nd gear!
 
Well, since bad weather is not much of an issue for you, I'd have to change my stance to the Elise. It's easily one of the best handling cars in the world, the ride is not as harsh when compared to the Evo or the STi, and it's got pretty good acceleration.

Either that, or I'd still go with the Evo or STi. But again, you'd have to be willing to compromise ride quality (you won't notice the cheap interior after a while).
 
You will get so many varied answers on here you'd think it would be harder to decide. I personally would go with the STi.
 
How about a SLK55 AMG. It has the extra strenth you need and relatively good traction. Also, it's an convertible. :D
 
^ $$$.

The Elise does not fare well in the "looks ordinary" category though. And you also mentioned reliability. Lotus have always had problems with making a quality built car (that's the reaseon Chapman went for a higher market in the 70s), but the newer/est ones are looking better. There are plenty of Elises in many price ranges from the past 7 or 8 years, so there is a huge selection of models. Take a look around.

Check out the used car world. I am sure there are some pretty pleasant used cars around for 40,000, that will surely get you the quiet look.

Consider a Honda S2000? Or did I miss someone mentioning that.
 
Does it have to be new? You should buy a Porsche 993 Carrera 4.

P10400341.1.jpg
 
If your a daily driver do not get a 350Z, the cross beam in the rear of teh car shuts off half the boot space so any more than 4 or 5 carrier bags of shopping and your done for - my mate has one and a good ahndler on bigger tyres and a fair mover but practicality wise its poor.

The Elise is a stonking car, driven one at a track day and it flies round the bends, however praticality is even worse than the Z. Plus its not all that reliable.

The M3's a solid buy, you can pick up one for €6k - 7k under your budget and get a suspension upgrade and some better tyres and you'll enjoy the handleing a lot more.

From my point of view you should look at maybe an second hand A4 sport or possibly an RS6 (dont know if you could get them in your budget second hand yet but look) or if you fancy a hatch back a Focus RS

All in all I'd say test drive the cars your intrested in and keep an eye out for an R33 as they are fantastic cars on the second hand market but watch out for those which have been thrashed.
 
Sti or Evo.
I drive an Sti myself and the interior is not really cheap... I mean I have a Momo lether steering wheel, a leather 6 gear MT , a leather handbrake and perfect seats.
The Audi and BMW quality is just one thing : a lot of kg !
impreza-sti-interior.jpg

impreza-sti-equip-schalensitz.jpg

impreza-sti-equip-cockpit.jpg

impreza-sti-equip-instruments.jpg

impreza-sti-equip-schalt.jpg

200408_STi_front.jpg


👍 👍 👍
 
The Elise is a pretty good daily driver. It's actually one of the better daily drivers simply because of the amount of fun you have driving the car to where you're headed.

I drive the Elise 150 miles a day and I never feel uncomfortable in the car. Sure I feel the bumps but I don't mind them at all.

I've ignored taking major freeways here in the US as much as I can and opted to drive back roads to get to work. It's the most fun I've ever had going to work in a long time.

The car is pretty flashy. And will attract a lot of attention.
 

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