What Car Should I Get?

Hey everyone!

I'm new to this forum, as you may see. I'm no car newb, and I'm sure of what I say. But I came here to have you, the speed experts, help me with a decision.

I'm in high school, and need a car for fun daily use. Here are some of the characteristics I want in my car.

It has to be under $10k on any decent car sales website. It also has to be sold in the US (at least the car itself).

Preferably something foreign. Not a muscle car fan.

It has to be fun. Real nice handling. Not a Corolla or Versa like I know you want to throw in my face.

I want all-wheel-drive, because of the horrible snow here in Chicago and I don't have deep enough pockets to deal with understeer and torque steer. Like I said, a high schooler. AWD gives real nice grip off the line, and can even make some nice powerslides. If you just have to give me a perfect RWD car, however, go for it.

I need some level of practicality, like a decent hatchback or wagon. A sedan is also acceptable, if you can make a case. No convertibles, sorry.

It has to be unique. I don't want to be the next guy with a GTI, a Miata, an S2K, a 986 Boxster, a 240SX, a Mustang V6, etc.

It has to be tuneable. I'm gonna be dumping good money into upgrades, and hopefully smoke some douc- *cough* distasteful people.

TL;DR? < $10k, not a muscle/pony car, really fun, AWD/maybe RWD, practical, unique, and really tuneable.

I'm considering an Audi A3 8P 2.0T quattro and a GC8 Impreza with a turbo kit.

Please don't flame me if you think I went overboard with this list, said the wrong thing, or sounded douchebaggy myself. Supportive comments, people, supportive comments. Thanks in advance.

- RS8_TTW12

My cousin bought an A4 quattro Avant wagon this summer, with a V6 and a six speed manual.  I test drove it for him and was pretty impressed,   I don't have experience with the turbo 4 version but the rest of the car was nice - fairly quick, handled well, rode comfortably.  Plus, it was a wagon which was cool.  

Volvo S60R? V70R?

If you were to not sink anything into it. Unique and AWD.

This.

EDIT: NVM, I just saw the going rate on them. 25K +

I vote Volvo as well

On the cars you mentioned- I wouldn't touch the Audi, I don't trust them or VW to make stuff that survives past the warranty period.  I also wouldn't put a turbo kit on any Subaru given how easy it is to swap the entire turbo engine into them.

Your profile says Chicago so I'm just going to give you links to stuff on craigslist- all awd and rwd.  I wouldn't get too hung up on having awd, snow tires and 2wd will get you nearly anywhere  Which among these do you like and want us to talk more about?  It's easier to get specific if we know what you like.

WRX

E39

E36 M3

IS300

G35

350Z

RX8

STI Outback

Given your criteria, I would go test drive a WRX. Meets all your "needs" is reliable and something you can afford to keep running. Factory turbo, lots of tuning options.

Audi makes some of the nicest cars on the road, but they are expensive to maintain, so don't go test driving one as everything else will seem cheap by comparison. But again, they are expensive to maintain. Did I mention they are expensive to maintain? Don't ask me how I know......

Volvo V70 R

a few years old, but cool parts available. turbo I5, AWD, roomy.

Hm.

I already looked into Volvos some time ago, and decided they weren't for me. Too heavy and leather-laden (not good for stripping out imo), intercooler problems with the S60R, hard to find an AWD turbo 850/S70, not a fan of the wagon looks, and my neighbor owns a V70R, which makes me feel like a copycat. Would prefer an MS6 over them if I could find some way to deal with the switchy drivetrain.

The Outback/Forester are a littl too tall for my taste, but I don't know much else about them.  (I thought they didn't sell WRX/STI versions of them in the US...) Do explain your experiences.

E36 M3s are starting to rise in value, and I'm not really a fan of ruining an artifact  like that. Good investment, though.

G35/Z are heavy and ugly, and too many drive them.

I thought of getting an RX-8, but the rotary is going to be hard to maintain after some while. Great idea, though, if I can learn to rebuild it myself.

E39 M5s and M550is aren't my thing. Too long, and prices are a bit high.

IS300s and GS300s look nice, have a NASP Supra in them and all, and look like a great proposition. But manual swaps are expensive, and I'll have to go over budget to find a clean manual IS300.

As for the WRX, I was thinking of dropping a whole EJ into the GC8 i was talking about earlier, giving it a WRC widebody, and so on. If you can find a GC8 coupe for under 10k, I'll be ever so thankful.

Mazdaspeed 6

The IS300 I posted is in-budget and looks clean enough, but I don't know your standards.  Personally I prefer something sort of ratty since you're throwing the value in the toilet by modifying a clean car anyway.

If you can live with Subaru maintenance (head gaskets, rod bearings, etc.) you can live with a rotary.  Sure, it's a whole engine rebuild vs some specific component on the Subaru engines, but if fuel economy isn't a concern I'd take the RX8 every time.

In reply to stuart in mn :

I thought about an A4 B8 Avant 2.0T and an S4 B7 sedan V8. Both looked eh on paper, should probably test drive them but they're too far away.

Cheap GC coupe, go crazy.

Yeeeeees.

I was hoping for a 2.5RS, but this one's nice. Full paintjob, grille swap, EJ-turbo engine, and no one's the wiser.

In reply to RS8_TTW12 :

No point in starting with a 2.5rs if you're swapping the engine and doing a widebody, right?

Also, personally the older a Subaru is the more I like it.  But unfortunately, the older they are the faster they rust too.

In reply to ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ :

Tuneability on a rotary? I've been looking through some articles on the internet that warn against upgrading your rotary. The most cost-effective thing is to add more rotors or turbo it, and even then that's not cheap.

Both the Impreza and the RX-8 brap real nice, that's for sure. I don't know about the IS300; would it be possible to twin-turbo it for a couple thousand?

In reply to sleepyhead :

That's what I thought of earlier, but that switchy drivetrain bothers me. If I can make it straight AWD, that'd be great. AWD MS3 sedan.

In reply to RS8_TTW12 :

If you want to mess with a rotary, I'd go older- there isn't much to play with on the RX8, but a Turbo FC RX7 or a ported NA engine with a standalone can get pretty exciting.

You could make stupid power with an IS300, any part that applies to the Supra more or less applies to them.  Your best best would probably be to hang around Supra and IS300 forums and snag cheap parts for the stock engine when people swap in LSxs or upgrade stuff.

In reply to dherr :

I thought so too. But I know for a fact that the A3 8P shares a platform with the Golf GTI, and so I can use most, if not all, of the engine and front drivetrain parts. But it looks better (especially with an  RS kit), is more unique, and has AWD. $6k Golf R in the making.

In reply to ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ :

Definitely would want to mess with my car. FC's are a bit too expensive and becoming rare classics, FB's are not my thing, and don't mention the FD.

I like the IS300 idea more and more. But couldn't you just drop the engine into anything else, if the 2JZ-GE itself is what you're raving about?

In reply to RS8_TTW12 :

You can still get FCs cheap, there's a completely clean shell with title on the forum here for like $1k.  Then buy an engine and get building- doesn't even have to be a rotary.  Andy Neuman just started his thread detailing an LS swap into his FC for under $2k.

You can still have fun with the suspension on the RX8, I just mean the engine isn't really worth playing with.

You can of course drop the engine into other stuff, but if you price 2JZs and the transmissions that mate to them, then put the cost of the car and mounts and a standalone to run it all on top of that, you're still getting a deal on the drivetrain.  SC300s even more so, but you said you prefer a car with more space.

On that note, what about a Z32 300ZX?  They can make plenty of power, and they're a little more difficult to work on than some other stuff so ones with issues tend to be cheap.

And, I know you said nothing American, but the GTO is more or less an Australian import- what about those?  LS engine, nice comfy interior, put all the Holden stuff on it if you want a unique exterior.

I don't know if I want to go with an FC at all. Body shells are sketchy to me.

SC300s are nice. Retexture the rear lights and you've got a perfect sleeper not-Supra. But again, maintaining the leather, so I'll go with an IS300.

300ZX's are a good option, but I'm struggling to find one with a black interior and a manual transmission. (I guess I'm biased towards black interiors because you can drop in bucket seats without looking garish.)

I guess... the GTO was an attractive option, but I look on stuff like Autotrader instead of Craigslist and the prices turned me off.

Also, what are your actual goals for this?  Are you going racing?  If so, what exactly- is there a class you're gunning for?  If not, track days?  Drag test and tunes?

I ask because if you want any of that, I wouldn't worry much about "unique" or "different" because you know what's berkeleying unique?  Actually going racing.  Spend your money on entry fees, tires, and repairs, and just run the hell out of whatever you have- most people buy parts and wheels and build silly crap and go "I wish I could afford to race."  Guess what, they could!  But they'd rather have something flashy instead.

I'm not racing, nor gunning for a class. I'm thinking of a really fast and fun daily driver that will stand out on the street. I might race it at a track day, but that's very rare. For racing, I'm building up a Mazda 2 to Rally America B-Spec class.

Really?  Then my vote is concentrate on the rally car and just buy something you can enjoy stock-ish with some decent wheels or something.  Maintaining a rally car eats a lot of time and money, not to mention the events themselves.  Also, if you're taking your time on the build B-Spec (and Rally America themselves) may no longer exist by the time you're done.  It should still be a perfectly good Gr2/2wd light car when you're done, though.  Unless you have outside funding, I can't imagine rallying on a highschool budget- I can barely afford it now.  In high school I threw all my money at autocross, then LeMons.  If you want to be a halfway decent rally driver by the time you get that Mazda done I'd start rallycrossing or motocross or something now, too... and those aren't free either.

Sorry for rambling, I see a lot of myself staring back at me here so I'm trying to help.  If you want to keep the discussion centered on the daily driver I'll drop it.

Well, I was gonna get a sponsor or two. I understand it's expensive, but I might not run it in a class for a while. That'll give me plenty of time and money to rack up supplies and find a co-driver.

Do let's get back to the daily driver.