The Right First Sports Car - Garage419

Finally someone said it. The used car market is flooded with old GT cars that can be easily repaired and upgraded to provide a better overall value than the new counterparts. There's a show idea, buy a used Porsche 944 Turbo bring it to Farnbacher Loles for some minor mods. Spend no more than $25k on car+mod and your set. Heck, just swapping out the exhaust and chip will give ya around 260hp.

I'm 18 and I got quoted at $3800/year for a 1992 Z, NA! Imagine a Porsche. That's why it's unrealistic...

it's a POS. slow, gas mileage is average at best, space for more than 1 person or any luggage is nonexistent, and in a country like the US where tiny parking spaces aren't an issue, there's no reason to have any car smaller than a MINI or Honda Fit.

The gas mileage of a Smart is pretty bad. A car where you can hardly fit 2 people without really luggage and has this mileage ist pretty bad. Divide the Mileage through the number of seats in your car and the Smart will lose!!!

It has 263hp 285ftq...I think that is what he ment. Unless he was driving one with a CAI from Mazdaspeed. Some dealerships put it on when you buy it...mine did.

i was told the numbers backwards at the track, my bad.

of course that does count Carbon Fiber but i didnt say it did. i only did that for about a month and then i was in the drivers seat myself and a year after that, i was driving on my own. i know there was a lot to read but thats cuz i tried to be as clear as i could so ppl wouldn't get confused kinda like u r buddy. lol.

you don't need a racing license to go out and have fun on the track. These two cars are more geared towards daily driving with occasional High Performance Driving Events, just to get out on the track and learn how to drive fast safely. If they are serious enough about getting into racing, then I agree with you, but these are just cars that are good for street and fun on track.

we're doing that in an upcoming episode, but not with an elise... too underpowered.

in response to IamtheStig...i dont think you (Matt) have to base your show around what an 18 yr old can buy (although Im sure thats a large part of your audience demographic)....but I agree with IamtheStig that you should do a segment on good used cars to buy. Car and Driver's October 2008 issue did an article on the best cars to buy for under $25K (new or used)...i think it was a fabulous idea for an article. I enjoyed reading it, and then I put it into a blender and blended it. haha. anyway props to them for a good article idea...now you should simply steal a page from their book and do your own version of this...as iamthestig suggests. BTW, from their reviews it seems like the Acura/Honda NSX came out on top as the best buy for under $25K. Performance, minimal maintenance costs, and high "curb appeal"

genesis coupe, honda S2000, mazda miata, nissan 350Z

The point is that it be cheap as well. The 350z is not cheap. Hyundai wants to give the cheapest 300 hp on the market with the G-coupe. The only 17 year old driving a 350z or s2000 is one with rich parents. Miata is a good call though.

i liked the 1-series, the Audi S5 and RS4 Cab., I also liked the Benz C63, Viper ACR, and Pontiac G8 GXP

the answer 2 the question parents, do you really want your kids to have a 250hp car? is yes, but only if u really teach them 2 drive. what do i mean by that??? well i'm gonna be 20 in Dec. but i've been driving for going on 8 years now, neva been pulled ova {which is a miracle cuz i have a led foot no matter where i'm going. lol} and never been in an accident of any kind. 2 reasons for that, obviously if i've been driving for 8 years and i'm 20 simple math tells u i started driving when i was about 12, obviously its not legal for a 12 year old 2 be driving but i've always being into cars and i was always the kid that would go to the shop with my dad and ask questions when the car was getting fixed. i would always ask questions when he would drive as well. he knew it was only a matter of time before i took matters in my own hands and went joy riding one day. so rather than just sit back and watch that happen or have me learn from friends or other inexperienced ppl like myself when he wasnt around, he thought it wise to teach me himself, the right way. so we started with the basics, simple car control, he'd be driving and i'd be in the passenger seat, then he'd let go of the steering wheel and i'd reach ova and steer us where ever we needed to go. after about about a mouth of that, i'd gotten pretty good, so we moved on to the real thing, me in the drivers seat, most exciting day ever, i'll never for get it, 12 year old kid in a five speed audi A4, {which by the way is the only way to go when ur teaching someone to drive in my book, especially if their a teenager. u learn so much more about the car if its a manual, cuz ur talking 2 the car and its talking back 2 u. any and everything u do is premeditated and u have to do it right for everything to work the way its suppose to. as opposed to just stepping on one paddle and having the car sort it all out for u} needless 2 say it was awesome, long story short, by the end of the day i wasn't really staling the car anymore and by the next year he'd have me driving on my own to places that were close by, like the super market or 2 get gas and what have u. now i'm not saying thats the only way 2 go about it or even that its the right way to go about it but it worked for me and i'll probably do the same with my son. cuz although driving a car at 13 is exacting and fun for a somebody so young and therefore it might seem a lil irresponsible, knowing in the back of ur mind that if anything happened, thats the end of doing something u love 2 death keeps u very much in check. it was a high risk but it had a very high reward. by the time i was 16 and old enough to get a licensee i'd already been driving safely for about 4 years and the experience and mastery that comes with doing anything the right way for a long time was something that was already imbedded in me. what i'm i getting at with all this??? its very simple, doesn't matter what u let ur kid drive just as long as u put in the time to teach him or her 2 drive the right way. and by the way my very first car was a six speed 98 twinturbo supra, and my dad had no issue getting me that car cuz he knew it wasn't something i couldn't handle and he was right.

MATT can I be on your show