Other Cars
 

Since I'm becoming more and more disheartened at the price estimates of the 86, I'm thinking about other cars that could be just as fun and had for the same or less money. I thought I'd get some input from you boys here in Australia as opposed to the yanks who populate the main boards, as they're spoilt rotten for choice.
So the rules are the cars must be RWD or AWD, MT, 100kW+, 2007+, be widely available in Australia and less than $45000.
So here are the options I could think of off the top of my head:
RX8
350Z
370Z (possibly a relatively "cheap" one)
G3 WRX
G3 WRX STi
EVO X
320i
325i
Z4
XR6
XR6T
XR8
SV6
SS
SSV
S3 Quattro

So my question to you is, what else is there that I have forgotten about/missed/don't know about?

Mx5? Golf R?? 125 Coupe??? IS250???? Liberty GT?????

Great suggestions!
MX5 - Too small, I honestly just couldnt fit inside comfortably.
Golf R - fantastic! I had no idea that Golfs came in AWD
125 coupe - none below $50k
IS250 - thanks for bringing it to my attention, never really considered Lexus at all before.
Liberty - Yeeaaahhh... kinda seems like a bigger heavier Impreza to me, I dont really see why you'd buy one over a WRX. Thoughts?

Again, many thanks, keep the suggestions coming.

None of those cars hit that price for new, except maybe the domestic stuff and the wrx.

Noticed you had the S3 Quattro down... I was considering getting an A3 Quattro about a year ago before I heard about this car and decided to wait. I'm preparing to myself to be disappointed price-wise with the 86, I'll probably get an A3 Quattro and spend the extra money on a bike :D

My only tip, don't buy euro.
You will pay through the ass for parts/repairs :/.
Sucks too as I love their cars!

So true! I have a BMW 120d and a Suzuki Swift, it cost more to service the BMW then the Swift!

Don't buy RX-8 either, unless you like replacing entire engines every few years. Just spend 5 min on google and read about the horror stories. The wankel motor just isn't robust enough for personal car use.

i dont think this car will be much bigger than the mx5 man :(
i have a RX8 and its great fun. expensive on petrol
go fuck your self. wankel engines are great if maintained. left neglected, they will die. but unreliable they are not.

just like jet engines are great if maintained, but if you have a bunch of retards that have access to the internet and can whine, but dont know how to check the oil level every week or so or even read the user manual that came with it then everything can be perceived as bad.

Fiat 500 Abarth. That thing is made to be fun, and it will have a version that is over 200hp from factory. Starts at $22,700 and includes Richard Petty Driving School

edit: Also C5 Corvettes :cool:

the 500 is FWD tho.

oh whoops I didnt read the rules. Not the first time I didnt lol

Over 65k in Australia... Cause this post was made in the Australian section

Missed the main rule of being in Australia.... Read the main rule..

Mx5?
FYI guys, the is250 DOES NOT have a manual option. All autos sorry. Beautful car to drive though.
RX8's ARE NOT unreliable. you do not replace motors regularly. You WILL have to replace your coils, and possibly catalytic converter at some stage, but it IS RARE to replace an engine on a manual. The only engines I ahve seen replaced in 5+years with Mazda are from Auto cars that aren't driven and maintained properly!!!

EDIT - Australian RX8's do not come with "normal" wankel motors.... know you guys in the states have a "high power" and "low power" variant. I am not sure if the low power is an older style wankel, but we only get high powers here and they are Renesis motors, which do vary from the older style of engine.