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[havocaose]

Im sorry for making a thread like this, just curiuos (if anyone even replies) what some people would suggest.





Name a car that doesn't neccessarily have to be fast at all (but at least under 11sec 0-60) Handling is really important though, i like a car to feel like a go-kart and ride quality doens't matter. Relativly cheap, at least under 8-10k which is by no means very cheap at all.

A late enough model to have moderate-good safety, ive been in wrecks (on the lid of the car, and a headon) before and was lucky to walk away.  Needs to be an easy to insure car (the rollover was a single car, and my fault, and the insurance company needless to say isn't too pleased with me)

 Im not baised towards any country, but ive always liked how non-domestic cars feel to drive.. but anything is a good suggestion. Something with pretty balanced handing is important (severe understeer is 100 times more scary than oversteer).

And able to drive in the winter (live in the upper midwest) So rwd is probably not a good choice for all all year round car. Also something thats easy to work on would be a bonus

[jesterrace777]

Call me nuts, but the car that comes to mind is a classic VW Bug.  I don't know that it will make it 0-60 in 11 seconds.  As for safety?  IMHO none of the new cars are really safe.  An old bug may be pretty light by comparison but the construction is still solid.  The thing that made me think of the bug though, was that you asked for a car that was easy to work on.  It doesn't get much easier than one of these.  The insurance and parts would be pretty cheap to.  My last roomie had a '68 bug and he found that if necessary he could completely replace his engine for about $400.  The casing of the engine is also solid so if you wanted to do some modifications to the engine to squeeze some extra HP out of it, it wouldn't be too much of a problem.

However, I realize that isn't what you are looking for.  

Here is what I would recommend:

Mazda MX-3 (1992-1995).  It's a sporty looking front wheel drive 1.6L 4banger or a bizarre 1.8L V6 (GS model) that is quite punchy.  You could easily find a GS in flawless condition for $5-$6K.  

Toyota Celica (1990-1993).  There are several models: ST, GT, GT-S, Alltrac Turbo. All of the models come with a 2.2L 4 banger and they are front wheel drive (barring the Alltrac turbo, which is AWD and has a turbo).  The ST model IMHO is a worthless POS as it has absolutely no amenities to it.  The two models that I like are the GT-S Hatchback and the Alltrac Turbo.  The alltrac turbo is the basic version of the rally car that Toyota was using during these years.  The thing that is really impressive is how long these engines will last and how solid they are even though they might have alot of milage on them.  The one catch with the Alltrac Turbos is that they can be difficult to find.  You can definitely get a nice one for under $8K though. There are newer Celicas in that price range but I can't stand them because of the "bug-eyed" look that their 4 headlight configurations give them.