My first what car thread in 5 years.

Sonic wrote: RSX type S should check all of those boxes, or an Integra GSR if you prefer the older style.

Finding an unmolested RSX might be interesting, although he did say no two door cars.

Your requirements sound very similar to what I want for a commuter DD...

They're a little old at this point, but what about a Mazda 6 wagon? You can get it in a manual, and they're satisfyingly fun to drive. They're a tiny bit slower in the 1/4 than your preference at ~15.5s. But being a Mazda they feel faster than they are. We have one with about 170k miles on it as our family car and I've enjoyed it a lot. My wife likes it too. I'm sure you can get a very nice one for $5k.

ProDarwin wrote:

DrBoost wrote: Link

Automatic :(

That's just the first one I came across. I picked up a 2001 V70 T5 (that's the V70R before there was a V70R) for....$900!! 5-speed with the funky-fresh rear-facing third row!

Acura tl? They so pretty

Bmw, I want one so bad for a comfy dd. I like the 540i mentioned or any of the 3 series

G35 sedan, they are stupid cheap around here.

Mazda 6 wagon with a six cylinder in wagon mode is awesome.

LT1 caprice. No manual

Srt4 neon

Hemi magnum/300c/charger. Ive seen srt8s trade hands for under 10, so im just assuming you can get a rt for around 5. Still no manual

There is a v8 fwd impala ss, 303 hp 5.3, on my local cliat for 4k. Its an auto though.

Let me live vicariously through you and buy an a8.

Manual 1.4t cruze, with zzp goodies. Have no idea if they run 15s but i found and auto at 119k miles for 5000.

Various t5 or t6 volvos that i know nothing about, but some of the grm hive talks about red and white blocks, whatever that means, and im pretty sure ive heard reliable in there once or twice.

Saab 9000. Sooooo baller. Apparently they are a roll racing machine with a few simple mods. Didnt one of the mags test them from a 40 roll and they were faster than a testarossa?

Rtype jags, prolly all auto and money pits though.

Various supercharged 3.8 gms. Think they are all auto. Not sure though, i bet gm made a manual at some point that bolts up.

Lincoln ls. Probably unreliable and i think the stick is only available with a v6.

Toyota matrix xrs.

Lexus is300

Saturn ion ss. Dont they have the weird, back half doors?

Old taurus sho.

Full disclosure. Most of these cars miss your criteria by one or more things. I found all of them around your price, but i didnt bother to check performance or specs on any of them. I tried.

Good list. Many are excluded because auto only.

Ion Redline would be option, but I simply hate the interior and exterior of the car.

E46 330i and E36 328i are on the list. I don't come across them often below $5K, but I'll keep my eye out. They are a little needy with regard to maintenance, but still what I would consider 'reliable'. Nice thing is a E46 is bordering on what I would call 'classy' which means I'll stop getting the stink eye from co workers for driving a 20 year old Saturn (both good and bad).

G35 Sedan is less desirable than the above, but still on the list. None around here currently in that price range though. I know nothing about reliability on these. They are pretty quick though.

IS300 didn't occur to me. A buddy sold one cheap not too long ago. Might be able to snag one of those, but I will have to deal with higher miles.

Saab 9000 I will research further. Same with the Volvos. For both of these I always have trouble understanding what year/model I should be looking for. Volvo especially... the available engine/transmissions in their cars is super confusing and nobody selling one seems to provide any info on that.

JohnRW1621 wrote: In reply to Sonic: Other than the No 2 door requirement

Then get youself a 4 door gsr. A but heavier and slower and harder to find but it has that sleepee effect... Or just swap a civic or crv...

You may want to look at subaru.. a turbo forester or legacy wagon/outback are all available in 5 speed... A vibe gt or matrix xrs with 2zz 6 speed may fill your needs but have the weak points of the svt..

There's a pretty big difference between '15s' and 15.0 in the 1/4. Some of these recommendations are just barely breaking out of the 16s.

If nothing else is quite hitting the marks, what about lowering something that started life as a taller vehicle? Crossovers are basically just lifted hatchbacks that usually share components with their lower stablemates.

I've been seeing more and more lowered Foresters and C-RVs, and I don't usually hate them.

Vigo wrote: There's a pretty big difference between '15s' and 15.0 in the 1/4. Some of these recommendations are just barely breaking out of the 16s.

Indeed. Of course, I said 15.0 knowing people would recommend stuff that wouldn't hit the mark But yes, I've driven E36 M3boxes for years that will turn mid 15s. Time for an upgrade.

STM317 wrote: If nothing else is quite hitting the marks, what about lowering something that started life as a taller vehicle? Crossovers are basically just lifted hatchbacks that usually share components with their lower stablemates. I've been seeing more and more lowered Foresters and C-RVs, and I don't usually hate them.

Honestly, I don't hate this thought. On a lot of cars, this will totally wreck the geometry. And most of those cars are still slow anyway. No way a CRV is touching a 15.0, lowered or not.

I am diggin my little Mazda Protegay5 Wagon, though it might be alittle slower than 15.0 in the quarter. It is very cheap (going for $2k all day long), nice little wagon you can toss around. Kinda gutless, but with that budget of yours, you can add whatever your heart desires!

In reply to ProDarwin:

That 15.0 requirement is tough! But...CRVs seem to be pretty cheap, so maybe you can fix that within the budget?

I hate to even post this... but it seems the 2.4L Cobalt is actually pretty quick. Maybe a hair quicker than the SE-R, but certainly capable of a 15.0 after bolt-ons. Problem is finding one... I have no idea how to tell if one has the 2.4 or not.

Also seems like boosting one is cheap and easy if you use a take-off SS supercharger. HP tuners makes the ECU side easy as well.

I would jump on a 4 door SS in a heartbeat, but they are silly rare, and not in this price range. I hate the 2 doors.

The HHR SS shares the drive train with the Cobalt.
That will give you the wagon and 4 doors you want and maybe some exterior styling that you may not want at first.

Its also about 400lb heavier and 6 inches taller. Height is about 5" > track width. To get a quick version, you need to have the turbo and I haven't seen any in this price range.

Seems the Cobalt had a number of issues with windows, bcm, etc. so it may not qualify as "reliable".

I really like Lexus is300 but then you have to deal with dumb previous owner. If I could find a Lexus for sale who was owned by a guy who could afford to properly maintained it and now want to hot rod it...

That's a tough order to fill. Most of the cars that I can come up with off the top of my head are going to be tough to find under your budget:

-Mazdaspeed 3

-Subaru WRX wagon (GD chassis) / Saab 9-2x Aero

-Subaru Legacy GT wagon

-Subaru Outback XT

-Subaru Forester XT

-E36 or E46 wagon, powered by some variation of the inline-6.

-Mini Cooper S Clubman (technically it's only a "3-door")

-SVT Focus

-Mazda 6 wagon V6

-VW GTI- if you shop hard enough, you might be able to find an MK5 GTI for around your budget.

-EP3 Honda Civic Si Hatch. It's not a 4 door, but it meets all other criteria.

What about an Altima SE-R? Those should probably be down about your price range by now and, while FWD, have the nice VQ motor with a 6-speed manual. Not a hatch or wagon, but I'd imagine it is pretty spacious.

I would say some frankenstein Honda but you could only get a hatch in 2 doors and I think a manual wagon is pretty close to unobtanium.

Hmmm. I don't love it, but I can't pinpoint why. It does scoot and is pretty spacious.

http://winstonsalem.craigslist.org/cto/5824204674.html

Probably the biggest downside I can see is that a 330i is only a little bit more and probably much more car.

In reply to ProDarwin:

That one seems kinda beat on. The front bumper and fender are held together with a cable tie? Can't tell from pics.

I'm toying with the idea of selling my blue 2007 Civic Si sedan. 180k miles. $5300.

If you like the Altima SE-R then also look at the Maxima. If you like the fwd Maxima & Infiniti i35 then look at the rwd Infiniti G35.

Same engine in all and all can be manual.

Probably the biggest downside I can see is that a 330i is only a little bit more and probably much more car.

It's hard for me to say what kind of course a regular 330i would get around faster than an Altima SE-R. The Altima is much faster in a straight line. As far as reliability, it has it ALL OVER an e46. I would give it some thought and drive a 6spd model if you can find one to check out. I still had a very positive impression of the Altima SE-R even after i put two clutches in a friend's before it hit 50k miles.

Vigo wrote:

Probably the biggest downside I can see is that a 330i is only a little bit more and probably much more car.

It's hard for me to say what kind of course a regular 330i would get around faster than an Altima SE-R.

I'd say pretty much any autocross course. Is the e46 unreliable, or just needy when it comes to maintenance?

I've driven a 6spd Maxima of that era. The motor/powertrain is fun for sure. I am shocked that the Altima is 3" longer than a 5 series BMW. The e46 is certainly closer to the size car I'd prefer.

G35 kinda falls in between. Its been a while since I've driven one. Its a bit of a porker as I recall, although again the powertrain is good fun. If one of these pops up locally I may give a look. Currently those on CL here have either A) high miles or B) undiagnosed engine problems.

I think G35 sedans are around the same price as Altima SE-Rs whenever you can even find the latter, and they're the same speed and RWD, just a little smaller. Keep in mind not all 330s were sport package cars. Some of them had 16s and came with <225 tires iirc. As far as reliability i guess i mean it more in the sense of apparent quality, although everyone knows about the e46 cooling system etc. Most of the e46s ive been in anytime recently aren't holding up well on the inside, and window regulator issues and issues with the ac/radio units seem common. I like the design very much, but i'd have to find a pretty nice one to be happy with it.

Yeah, it would have to be a nice one. I see plenty of 'nice' E46s, but the 330i seems to be quite a bit higher priced than the other 3. I imagine I'm going to end up changing wheels and tires on almost anything I buy... so 16s/225s don't bother me too much.

Right now I think Speed3 may be at the top of the list though. Its the closest to meeting the requirements. May have to stretch the budget a hair and deal with a few more miles, but damn thats a lot of car for the money.

http://raleigh.craigslist.org/cto/5836318069.html

Vibe GT/Matrix XRS should hit all the buttons (might need bolt-ons though).