Nate4635

but id look a little harder or spend a little more and try to get in a Z06

pbm317

Civic Si, might not be fast enough for you though...

CosmosMpower

C5 Z06 has crossed my mind but it's too much of a POS overall. Want to stay away from high school kid cars like the GTI, SRT-4, Civic Si, Evo, Sti etc.

Has to be faster than my Elise that traps around 103 in the 1/4 mile ideally but not handle like a pig (G35 etc). Maybe such a car does not exist. The E46 M3 with some camber plates keeps crossing my mind but I've already been down the M3 road before.

Pointblank

Well being that I'd still have my S2000 I wouldn't pick anything sporty. SUV's, Trucks, and Luxury Sedans are all cars I'd look at. I've seen PLENTY used for around 20k that you couldn't dream being relatively that inexpensive compared to their price brand new.

nfty

M3? You did say reliable so they're out compared to the Japanese cars.

Sh*t if you can find a clean one, but if you do it won't be in your price range, a 6spd Toyota Supra Turbo would work wonders. (For your price range you could probably find an older one with the auto trans, but not the 6spd.)

It's piggly compared to the Lotus or S2K, but it will move out and can still manage a decent skidpad in even stock form.

Else I'd start looking at some ricer cars, because that's all that will fit your criteria.

A clean SR20DET'd S14 240SX would work to meet your requirements.... well minus the "boy ricer" effect you're trying to avoid, then again we already have S2K's, so this shouldn't dissuade you. (It's not our fault that ricers get their hands on S2K's either! It doesn't make the S2K any less of a great sports car!)

CosmosMpower

The least sporty car I've owned in recent memory would be an E36 M3 sedan so there's no way I could drive a truck, SUV or Lexus LS400 type car daily (unless it had retraded straight line like an E55 AMG). I might have to crash it into a tree if I was stuck with that.

Ideally the only thing that might work for me is something on the level of a E46 M3, Audi S4, older V8 M5 (nice cars of yesterday that have dropped in value). No way I'd do any sort of crazy modded motor swap SR20DET Nissan or anything like that. My M3 wasn't too bad on maintenance and is pretty easy to work on.

Or maybe I'll just hang on to the Elise and S2000, neither are bad cars.

AaronCompNetSys

I recommend the fastest used turbo Subaru you can find, whatever the model, that you can find in your area. A good Legacy sounds closest to your rental cars, but an Impreza model might work. Most 04 and up have a 6 year drivetrain transferable warranty.
It is cheap and easy to upgrade if you are not completely satisfied and very reliable. Plus all the other obvious DD features.

nfty

^^^^ He wanted to avoid "ricer" target cars like the STi though

AaronCompNetSys

Oh, you have an S2k and an Elise?

I would love an Elise, but would sell it for a much safer car. Just my two cents.

AaronCompNetSys

Legacy != ricer
It's even more stealth than a M3 or M5 Well, as long as you don't hear the boxer rumble coming at you. If you test drive a Legacy, ask a tech to take off the exhaust from the resonator back for your test drive.