im gonna be passing my lancer down to my sis in about 10 months, and im gonna have around 15k budget...

my top picks are:
1) 02-04 wrx (~10k-15k)
turbo'ed, pretty fast but ugly... but its a sedan and i usually have to take ppl around

2) 02+ s2000 (~15k by next year)
fastest NA car from factory (i think). i like the AP1, but cant live with plastic rear window haha. I also have been wanting a convertible all my life, too bad its a 2seater so i cant drive ppl any more...

3) 00 porsche boxter (<15k)
surprisingly boxster falls within my budget, although its not really a porsche, its like an s2000 with a porsche emblem on it. convertible 2 seater and ~as fast as s2000?

4) 01 SLK230 (<15k)
wow a SLK? damnn! its convertible 2seater, like...s2000 with a slk badge. its supercharged 2.3 but pushes out only 190hp (right?)

5) 02-03 Audi A4 1.8 turbo (~13k)
relatively luxurious, not sure if it suits me though... but its pretty fast and within my budget so i'd just throw it in too

other ones? audi TT? bmw z3?

are there any hot 4seat convertibles within my budget?

 

S2k all the way.....
The boxter is an old mans sports car.
The SLK is a girls car as well as the Audi and both are slow.

 

WRX for sure, although the engine sounds like a vintage beetle's, turbos FTW!!!

Boxter is a pretender's car, I hate Honda's, and Audi's have reliability issues. The SLK waaaay is too girly as well.

 

S2000, unless your a big guy and then you should look elsewhere

 

Are you only interested in imports?

wrx - if you leave it stockish you will be ok, but if you do a turbo swap be prepared to be rebuilding that engine very soon...

 

WRX is my vote- you will have a functional trunk to haul a bunch of stuff, easily modded, four seats and you won't feel bad about driving it in the snow up in the mountains of Cali to go snowboarding

The Boxter will kill you in maintenance as you cannot see the engine or work on it yourself- it must be put onto a lift and the engine has to be dropped out of the bottom, even for routine maintenance.

Audi's too posh

SLK is a chick car

S2k can be dangerous in the rain, low as heck, careful lnot to scrape the front end

 

yea if i were to get a wrx id most likely just do minor mods like drop intake exhaust

 

S2K. I drive a miata every day and love it. You'll never look back.

 

yeah im leaning toward the s2k as well, but the fact that it has only 2 seats and small trunk really holds me back a bit...

 

From the list..if you keep it BONE stock,wrx because it has a back seat and can be fun to drive. S2000 has the reliability and sporty feel with no back seat, plus it looks better than the rex. Maybe an 02+gti 1.8t? They have some electrical issues but a friend has one and never gave him any mechanical issues and its comfy.

 

Of those I would suggest the WRX. If you can, go for an 06 since it has the 2.5 l motor and you can make it as fast as an STI with a simple TBE and a reflash. The problem with the WRX isn't the motor, it's the transmission. As long as you don't drive like an idiot though, you'll be fine. I suggest you do some readings on NASIOC to better think out the modding plan.
I don't think the S2000 is the fastest NA car considering you have Ferraris and Corvettes in that category.

 

^^ fastest import NA i think i read somewhere, my bad.

unless salvaged, i dont think 06+ wrx would fall into my price range even by next year

 

So? I mean, seriously. If you have to drive 4 people around all the time maybe it's time for someone else to be the driver. What do you carry around anyways, pianos? You can fit a decent amount of **** in a miata if you try, trust me. I got 3 turn tables, a mixer, speakers, amp, computer, LCD monitor, and a person in mine.

Edit: And then drove 500 miles with it all.

 

^^ LOL niceee
hmm any other suggestions?? i was something that is relatively new and has decent power =]
its gonna be just a daily driver

 

my friend just bought his 350z for 15k, only had 40k miles on it too. its pretty fast and gets plenty of looks.