What should be ones first car???

[RVDNuT374]

1992-2005 Ford Taurus/Mercury Sable
1993-2007 Toyota Corolla

 

[Bopop4]

Their mom's or dad's old car.

$3600 for insurance? Nope.
Sunfire or Cavalier is ok?

How much power has it got Slashfan? Must be a lot.

 

[Slash]

$3600 for insurance? Nope.
Sunfire or Cavalier is ok?

How much power has it got Slashfan? Must be a lot.

540hp at the flywheel (it's a 4X4 for it losings quite a bit at the wheels). Old motor was build to the max and supercharged and dyno'd at 780hp at the converter which was the max and couldn't take anymore (big old Stroker). Then it blew up and we put the 540hp in it. Was stock for a while, just around to getting it up again. Pretty soon my dad wants to rip it out and either put in a Ford 390 (6.4L) V8 or a Ford 460 (7.5L) V8 and get an SVO HO talldeck version of the 460 right from Fords factory (prolly will be a crate) and go throttle body injection. Right now it spins all 4 33 inch tires in forward and reverse. Got about $150K in it with body/mechnical/engine upgrades.

 

[Bopop4]

Nice, fast trucks are fun.
Especially when you're on a dirt road (at legal speed limit), following friends Accent, going over a bump in the middle of a left-right combo you just think "Dukes of Hazzard".
Look back and he's about 5-10 seconds back.

But that was only with 360hp, 600+ would be insanly fun.

 

[Slash]

Nice, fast trucks are fun.
Especially when you're on a dirt road (at legal speed limit), following friends Accent, going over a bump in the middle of a left-right combo you just think "Dukes of Hazzard".
Look back and he's about 5-10 seconds back.

But that was only with 360hp, 600+ would be insanly fun.

It ran on alcohol, the compression was way to high. Right now he has a hard time getting it to run on premium. It was like one of those old redneck trucks you see doing mud races and such, just smaller tires. Has those old '80s style roll bars in the bed too with all the lights etc. It's an '85 F-250 and used to have a small 3 inch body lift. Only got a 2 inch lift now. 3/4 ton truck with 1 ton springs that holds a ton and a half.. He said he screwed up and should have put a big block in when he took out the old motor. He said he lost oil pressure in the old motor a lot and when he tore it apart the piston skirts were in the oil pan and the cylinder walls bowed out. And it was still running. Probably happened because he winded it up to 7500rpm when redline is at 6k. Gets 3-6 mpg as it stands now. It sits in my driving way rotting away now, not going anywhere until next year after we re build the body this spring.

 

[Christian_C]

MX-5, my first car, not enough power to kill yourself but enough to have fun and easy to fix.

 

[Juiposa]

Don't have my first yet, but I'm aiming for a Saab 9-3!

 

[Bopop4]

It ran on alcohol, the compression was way to high. Right now he has a hard time getting it to run on premium. It was like one of those old redneck trucks you see doing mud races and such, just smaller tires. Has those old '80s style roll bars in the bed too with all the lights etc. It's an '85 F-250 and used to have a small 3 inch body lift. Only got a 2 inch lift now. 3/4 ton truck with 1 ton springs that holds a ton and a half.. He said he screwed up and should have put a big block in when he took out the old motor. He said he lost oil pressure in the old motor a lot and when he tore it apart the piston skirts were in the oil pan and the cylinder walls bowed out. And it was still running. Probably happened because he winded it up to 7500rpm when redline is at 6k. Gets 3-6 mpg as it stands now. It sits in my driving way rotting away now, not going anywhere until next year after we re build the body this spring.

Jesus, so it was a pull truck like deal. My friend has one of those. Almost a 1000hp if not more.

Miata would be such a fun car, after you supercharge it of course.

 

[Danoff]

Something easy to drive in all situations: Front Wheel Drive
Something cheap: 10+ years old, 4 cylinder, light
Something reliable: Honda
Something useful: 4 doors or hatchback

That's probably a honda civic or accord, but you can make an RSX out of that if you try hard.

 

[Slash]

Jesus, so it was a pull truck like deal. My friend has one of those. Almost a 1000hp if not more.

Miata would be such a fun car, after you supercharge it of course.

Actually he just used it for work and for showing off. Just cause pretty much. It was his second vehicle, he got it when it was 2 years old for $5,500.

 

[Christian_C]

Jesus, so it was a pull truck like deal. My friend has one of those. Almost a 1000hp if not more.

Miata would be such a fun car, after you supercharge it of course.

NA Miata's are still fun you know for those of us that are handling freaks

 

[Bopop4]

Oh I know, just saying that if I could afford the insurance for a Miata then I would have enough money for a 'charger. (But don't NA Miatas use turbos?)

 

[salikriaz]

Oh I know, just saying that if I could afford the insurance for a Miata then I would have enough money for a 'charger. (But don't NA Miatas use turbos?)

From the factory? Nah they're naturaly aspirated 👍

But they did make a special edition with a turbo for a couple years I think.

 

[1241Penguin]

Something that you can afford yourself, so in the event that you do crash it, at least you won't feel too guilty.

 

[Bopop4]

From the factory? Nah they're naturaly aspirated 👍

But they did make a special edition with a turbo for a couple years I think.

http://www.flyinmiata.com/
They make blowers for the later models and turbos for the older ones.
Not a bad way to spend 3000-5000 bucks if you ask me.

 

[salikriaz]

http://www.flyinmiata.com/
They make blowers for the later models and turbos for the older ones.
Not a bad way to spend 3000-5000 bucks if you ask me.

Ohh that makes sense now. How bout that v8 conversion though

 

[Bopop4]

Maybe not so great to have a 400hp Miata as somebodys first car.

 

[peter_vod69]

How about a Trophy Truck? Great ride height, load space, roomy cabin, enough horsepower to cruise comfortably at freeway speeds. Tough (which is handy when you will inevitably spin off the road as all teenagers do), cheap replacement panels and easy to work on.

I cannot think of a downside.

 

[savage388]

From the factory? Nah they're naturaly aspirated 👍

But they did make a special edition with a turbo for a couple years I think.

The Mazdaspeed miatas were evil little cars. I'd really like to have one as a toy. They are quite rare too.
@slashfan, ever take it to the track.

 

[Bopop4]

@ The Trophy Truck.
I see no downside to this option.
Edit: Whoa, not all teenagers spin off of the road.

 

[Watt2159]

Does not compute.

Let me rephrase, if they know how to handle a car with more power than that of an ordinary car, twin turbos aren't exactly forgiving.

 

[19988pasha]

Does any one think a nissan silvia would be good
Wait how much does that cost??

 

[savage388]

Does any one think a nissan silvia would be good
Wait how much does that cost??

How old are you? If your younger than 16-17 worry about other things a car is a ways off yet.

 

[Bopop4]

It's not the car that will be the problem. It will be getting insurance for it.
A Silvia would easily be over 5k a year.

 

[Gil]

For those of us living in the real world, a first car should be reliable, easy to drive, sturdy for the inevitable crashes, easy on the pocket for insurance, and get at least 25 mpg.

Your best bet in that category will be something like an older Camry, Accord, Mazda 6/626, Chevy Malibu, Last generation Ford Taurus. etc.

A cheap source for these cars? Morbid as it sounds, Church.
Little old men and ladies pass on leaving their surviving spouses, or children with an extra car to keep up maintenance, tags, insurance, etc.
Those cars tend to be Buicks, Oldsmobiles, and those mentioned above. And they tend to be well maintained, with low miles, and cheap.

When my Grandpa passed, Grandma was already in no position to drive, and they had a 10 year old Bonneville with less than 50,000 miles on it....
I bought my Ranger, from a widowed friend. It had 75,000 miles on it and was about 10 years old, and looked nearly new, ran nearly new.

Yes, it's kinda morbid. But if you keep yer eyes open, you can pick up a good car (albeit a fogey-mobile) cheap.

 

[savage388]

For those of us living in the real world, a first car should be reliable, easy to drive, sturdy for the inevitable crashes, easy on the pocket for insurance, and get at least 25 mpg.

Your best bet in that category will be something like an older Camry, Accord, Mazda 6/626, Chevy Malibu, Last generation Ford Taurus. etc.

A cheap source for these cars? Morbid as it sounds, Church.
Little old men and ladies pass on leaving their surviving spouses, or children with an extra car to keep up maintenance, tags, insurance, etc.
Those cars tend to be Buicks, Oldsmobiles, and those mentioned above. And they tend to be well maintained, with low miles, and cheap.

When my Grandpa passed, Grandma was already in no position to drive, and they had a 10 year old Bonneville with less than 50,000 miles on it....
I bought my Ranger, from a widowed friend. It had 75,000 miles on it and was about 10 years old, and looked nearly new, ran nearly new.

Yes, it's kinda morbid. But if you keep yer eyes open, you can pick up a good car (albeit a fogey-mobile) cheap.

Old people can have very nice cars. My grandmother who is alive has an 01 Sebring that I currently drive daily with 40,000 miles on it all of which are summer miles because she either drove to Florida from nov to may or stored it. As a plus it's in a stylish color and has power everything. If I didn't mind an automatic so much it would be a great car.

 

[peter_vod69]

For those of us living in the real world, a first car should be reliable, easy to drive, sturdy for the inevitable crashes, easy on the pocket

As I said, trophy truck for the win.

 

[homeforsummer]

Maybe not so great to have a 400hp Miata as somebodys first car.

And spending an extra few grand on a blower conversion is perfectly sensible for a first car?

Let me rephrase, if they know how to handle a car with more power than that of an ordinary car, twin turbos aren't exactly forgiving.

My point was that a new driver won't really know how to handle a car at all, so if that's the specific criteria required for buying a 300ZX, then it's probably better a new driver doesn't buy a 300ZX...

 

[Bopop4]

just saying that if I could afford the insurance for a Miata then I would have enough money for a 'charger.

And spending an extra few grand on a blower conversion is perfectly sensible for a first car?

*Thinks about it for a minute*
More sensible than a trophy truck.

 

[Christian_C]

Ohh that makes sense now. How bout that v8 conversion though

Don't see the point in the V8 roadsters personally, I understand some people enjoy it but not for me, The Miata is a brilliant handling car so why ruin it with massive amounts of front end weight and too much power?

I'd also say it's best not having a turbo'd or supercharged car for ones first car, I'm certain that had I got my 86 before I'd been driving my Miata for a year then I'd have crashed it the first time I went out in it.

Normally aspirated, a smooth power curve and a grippy chassis is the way forward for a first car 👍