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BMW E46 of some variety, preferably M3, will be your best bet for a genuine 4 seater that will do all jobs as reliable/comfortable DD, auto-x cone carver, and track toy. The BMW E36 M3 is the Swiss Army Knife of cars. E36 M3, it's the E36 M3.
How experienced are you with Auto-X? If you're looking to just get started, I wouldn't stress about finding the competitive car, because you won't be a competitive driver yet. Pick what's most enjoyable.
How about a '99 and up 2.5 RS Sedan?
With a few suspension bits and the right tire selection I have seen them dominate regional STS. If you don't go completely crazy with the spring and damping rates they are still comfy daily drivers as well.
That is if you can find an unmolested example.
Will wrote:Focus SVT--should be good in HS this year I should think.
Ding, ding, ding. That's a car that should be easy to find in great condition at $7k. (I sold my pristine '03 with 47k miles for $7k six months ago.) In stock condition, I think its suspension is about the perfect compromise sporty car/DD. The only other thing I can think of that's that good out of the box is an E36M3 (which I've also owned), but I wouldn't touch a $7k one of those.
Many of the cars being thrown about on this thread are going to be crime scenes or basket cases at $7k.
2 Miatas?
once again, billy speaks the truth. the SVT is a great car and tailor-made for the "cheap, competitive 4-seat autoxer" scenario. it's probably going to be more competitive than most of the other "actually $7k" cars mentioned.
there's also the MSP, Celica, and SE-R, which have a good shot in GS. dunno if you can get an SRT-4 for that low yet.
you might find an RX-8 for $7k, but you'll have to shop very carefully. they're cheap, but not quite that cheap (cheapest one i found when shopping was $8500, with 88k on it). but then again, it's about 100x more fun to autoX than the above cars.
Celicas are very hard to find around $7k. Before I bought my Yaris, I was looking around for one but its not hard to find 100k+ mile cars going for $8 easy..
they are surprisingly expensive for 9 year old cars, but a quick search on one site showed '00-'01 examples for under $6k.
Buzz Killington wrote:once again, billy speaks the truth.
Quit saying stuff like that. You'll ruin my lawyerly reputation. I'd expect you, of all people, to understand that. 
Mazda 929
Forillydoe. Make sure it is terd brown, has a bad muffler and a funky throttle position sensor that requires either WOT or zero input...
Awesome drift daddy mosheen.
Buzz Killington wrote:they are surprisingly expensive for 9 year old cars, but a quick search on one site showed '00-'01 examples for under $6k.
Those are the good ones, anyways.
They're a good way to get 99% of an Integra Type R's performance at a 50+% off price.
Well wow this will change what im looking for. Just had to replace the damn water heater in our house now I only have around 4000-5000 grand to spend. I don't really like miata's. But I convinced the wifey and we agreed that a 2 seater would be ok. Any info on CRX's, i kinda like the look of them....
Rust. And previous owners who thought that maintenance was something that their fathers forgot to pay their mothers.
Mk2 CRXs are getting rare, but they're one of the few FWD cars that I do like (I don't really get along with FWD). Highly recommended. According to a friend of mine who used to work for a Honda dealership, they also seem to hold up better than the Mk3 aka Del Sol.
afattitude wrote:I don't really like miata's.
We don't serve your kind here.
billy3esq wrote:I guess you would have to count me as one also.... they're great cars... I've co-driven them and won, but for every day ? no thanks, I don't like convertibles... I can't stand the glare, you can't get away from it no matter what you doafattitude wrote:I don't really like miata's.
We don't serve your kind here.
If you run STS the CRX is THE car to have. I have always liked them, despite the fact that they are the evil all conquering overlords of my chosen class.
2 seater, DD, good autocross car, not miata, $4-5K - how about an mkII NA MR2? They own ES (for now at least). They use the 5sfe 4 cyl from a Camry, which isn't such a bad thing for reliability and fuel costs even if it isn't the most sporting engine in the world.
I vote DSM. Back seats are small but useable, AWD, Turbo, extremely cheap aftermarket...fun cars. I can find mid 90s all day for 3-4k. Good luck!
on the E36 thread. the 318ti was included in an article GRM had about performance per dollar on the track. Cheap to buy, cheap to own, cheap to race (as cheap as racing can be) And unlike the other E36s... VERY aggressive gearing. I have to shift to 3rd at 50mph... at close to redline.. so it makes the most of it's (relativly) light weight and power.
I was lurking, and realize this is a bit of an old topic, but...
89-95 SHO MTX...
For that amount you can buy car, do proper maintenance, and mod the car...
I might be biased though
not sure how daily-driver-able this would be, but a new Meyers Manxter with slightly lowered suspension and massage the engine a bit? shouldn't be too expensive, although I'm not sure how it would be classed for autoX...
