In the market for a new car

Ok........ Im mostly a lurker on here and I posted a similar question over a year ago, but first a little background.

Im a 22 y/o college student and part time auto tech. Ive had 4 cars in the last 4 years and ive enjoyed it a ton. But i need to get something that I can drive everyday (i live in michigan) but still enjoy and do an autocross or two per year.

I started off with a wrangler and lifted it. Then i got a pos fox body mustang (worst car i owned). Then i traded it for an 02 silverado which was reliable and practical, but boring. Then i sold that and bought a 96 Z28. The Z28 was a blast to drive, but insurance killed me and i stored it for the winter. It also was not a nimble as i wanted. It was getting up there in miles and it was going to need work in the future, so i decided to part ways with it.

Dont get me wrong, i work on my own cars, since im an auto tech, but im looking for something that i dont always have to fix since it will most likely be my only car.

So here is the criteria:

Budget 5-7 grand, Must be a car, I'd like a stick, Must be an autocrossable car.

and for the record, im not looking for a miata.... (dont shoot me)

Bill

And i forgot to mention, im 6' 5"

I need to be able to fit in the car lol

Older Imprezza, Protege, Celica GT-S

6'5" and add a helmet for autocross which adds a few inches. You will need headroom.
Maybe a Focus.
Maybe a Supra with Targa that allows your helmet to stick out.
I would recommend taking a helmet with you for test drives and test fits.

VW GTi will fit and fall into that price range

Or an older 3 series BMW

RX-8? It would likely be at the top end of your price range and you'd be best served by a base model with no sunroof. (I'm 6'5" and mine has a sunroof) May not be fully reliable, but it's hard to say if it would be different than other interesting cars in a similar price range.

94-01 Integras aren't bad on headroom and tick all the boxes. You could get a pretty nice GSR at the top end of your range. That is, if you could find one not hacked to bits. Also, I found the relatively large hatch pretty useful in college. Differences notwithstanding, I'd say the same for the Celica GT-S.

That said, an RX-8 would be faster and arguably more fun if you could take the hits on buy-in price, fuel mileage, and possible issues.

E36s seem to be getting pretty cheap these days too. Dunno about the headroom, although it can't be that bad.

Michigan so your ratio of domestic/foreign is skewed in comparison to the rest of the world. I'd look for a SVT focus. Entertaining to drive, cheap, shouldn't need much fixed. Are the SRT4's down where you could afford one? Insurance might get you there. On that same note, you can probably find GT cruisers in your neck of the woods fairly easy. A lame car wrapped around a damn fine engine.

Yeah i keep thinking that an SVT focus might be a decent option and E36s are cheap. Id just have to get some snow tires for it.

Are SVT foci autocross ready out of the box or am I going to want to upgrade the suspension right away?

Lots of regular focus owners upgrade to the SVT setup, so I think you'll be fine. Being from Michigan, I might suggest you lean on the southern members of the board to help you find a car from the rust free parts of the world. For a $400 plane ticket and two days of driving, you can get a car that's seen $400 less in salt and it will be worth every penny. The older the car, the more valuable this is. I never put a whole lot of stock in the southern car thing until I moved down here, but it's real. 25 year old clean rust free cars are real. In fact, every single 25 year old car is rust free, it's pretty amazing.

Maxima SE with 5-speed. Hard to find with ABS but that will just make you work harder on your technique. 94-99 3.0 is easy to work on, I think you can take the car mostly apart with just screwdrivers and a 10mm wrench, plus there are good, cheap choices for lowering springs, shocks/struts, etc. The 00-05 (?) 3.5 has moar power but is heavier and a little softer stock. If you have the patience, look for an Infiniti i30t with a manual because it will have an LSD.

How important is its performance at an autocross? Buying a FWD mcstrut car is a ticket to the lowest level of autocross performance :(

The E36 is a good recommendation. So is an Integra or most 90s Civics. Both would likely require drop brackets/race seat to fit someone 6'5" comfortably.

You may be able to snag a decent WRX in that range. Shouldn't have the headroom issues of the other cars, and can be setup to be a decent autox performer (although is not so great out of the box).

To be honest, I will only autocross it 2-3 times a year. Im just starting to get into this, and Im not all that hardcore. The main duty of this car is to and from work (as lame as that sounds) and i would like to be at least moderately entertained on my commute.

Do NOT buy an RX8 if you will drive it all four seasons here. Every single time I see one in winter, it's sideways and in a ditch. A neighbor had one and could not get it out of his driveway one year. We had maybe 2 inches of snow.

ProDarwin wrote: How important is its performance at an autocross? Buying a FWD mcstrut car is a ticket to the lowest level of autocross performance :(

Sure, I mean look at the Mini Cooper S. That thing handles like a turd on a roller skate, no way you could be successful in autocross in one of those.

conesare2seconds wrote: Maxima SE with 5-speed. Hard to find with ABS but that will just make you work harder on your technique. 95-99 3.0 is easy to work on, I think you can take the car mostly apart with just screwdrivers and a 10mm wrench, plus there are good, cheap choices for lowering springs, shocks/struts, etc. The 00-01 (3.0) and 02-03 (3.5) has moar power but is heavier and a little softer stock. If you have the patience, look for an Infiniti i30t with a manual because it will have an VLSD.

years fixed.

Mini will not be in your price range. RWD cars usually are better than FWD with just a few exceptions (CRX comes to mind). But RWD sucks in the snow so go with AWD. Get a Sube

In reply to TxCoyote:

http://columbus.craigslist.org/cto/2898247053.html ?

P71!! Can't believe i beat everyone

4th gen Maxima (95-99). Get the SE with the 5 speed. I have an auto and it's still fun! Lots of power, a decent aftermarket, but not everyone and their mom has one either so it's unique. From what I've heard they respond pretty well to basic bolt-ons (I'm hoping to find out soon with mine ), plus they will run forever.

bastomatic wrote: Do NOT buy an RX8 if you will drive it all four seasons here. Every single time I see one in winter, it's sideways and in a ditch. A neighbor had one and could not get it out of his driveway one year. We had maybe 2 inches of snow.

Pfff that's because those owners either didn't have snow tires or don't know how to drive. Or both. My brother has an RX-8 that he drives year round. Never had a problem driving in Chicago winters with snow tires mounted.

Last time I checked, most college kids can't afford the insurance on more than one vehicle, so that limits having 2 registered cars, and often don't have the parking available for more than one car. Having an unregistered race car also dictates that you need a truck to tow it with and a trailer to haul it with.

Doesn't help that he's looking to get out to an autocross or two a year. My mom's minivan can handle that one.

I'm the guy that thinks every college kid that wants a fast car should seriously consider a hot hatch of some sort. They're just too practical to pass up, and many of them perform very well. It's kind of a shame that they're either fairly new and out of your price range, or pretty old and beat. The SVT Focus would be something I'd look into. They're pretty seriously fun cars for what you have to spend on them.

You should buy Derick's mom's minivan.

ShadowSix wrote:

ProDarwin wrote: How important is its performance at an autocross? Buying a FWD mcstrut car is a ticket to the lowest level of autocross performance :(

Sure, I mean look at the Mini Cooper S. That thing handles like a turd on a roller skate, no way you could be successful in autocross in one of those.

OK, Cooper S aint bad. Not in this price range. Isn't it the only FWD Mcstrut car classed above G stock? Also the only FWD Mcstrut car competitive in ST (not counting STF)? Wait, I guess the Mazdaspeed 3 is in DS as well.

FWD Mcstrut cars (other than those above) are pretty much only competitive in HS, GS, and STF... the 3 slowest classes in SCCA. Regardless, apparently he isn't looking for a super competitive car, so that still leaves the FWD Mcstrut stuff on the table.

Mguar: At 2 autocrosses/year I don't think a dedicated race car is justified. Sounds like he just wants something that is fun and won't be absolutely miserable should he try to autocross it.