boostedmp5

I-ve also been looking at the new sentra spec v 180 hp six speed oh yeah and have you seen that lava interior that **** is hot . my boy just bought one. so far hes spanked a 1.8 vw gti, two mp3s,1 focus svt not the new one, two honda civics and an integra gsr, and the best one yet the rsx oh and i almost forgot my pro 5 wich has alot of work done to it. hes had it for about a month now thats all he does is look for his next victim one day he will meet his match. probably my wrx wich i will have soon then he can eat my scooby snack dust. see ya sentra. i love my pro 5 but its not fast enough.

boostedmp5

i heard that cars going for over 30,000 thats alot of bread but then again youll be spankin everything that dares to race. 252 horses is mad power for that little car plus its all wheel drive. that thing probably launches like a bat out of hell !!!

lost_concept

I have the same problem picking against the P5 and Lexus is 300. If i am correct the Lexus is 300 has 215 hp and it cost around 29,500 base but of course you would be paying well above $30,000 after markups and other things. I am a very competitive person when it comes to people trying to race me LOL . I am following in the direction of getting the P5 after calling Allstate, and asking about the insurance for a 20 year old for a Lex is 300, i almost dropped the phone !
At least with the Lexus is 300 you can scare some ricers from trying to race you because they know what will happen LOL But then again, i would be pooring all my money into the car for payments and insurance, it would be like i was working for my car and thats no good ! So sometime this month or next month i will be getting a P5 and attemp to save up for future mods because i am bad at saving , i just dont want to race a ricer and lose hahahahahahaha !

But if you have the money for WRX go for it

carguycw

If you're that competitive about people racing you, here's my suggestion: Suck up the insurance cost and buy a 2-year-old LS1 Camaro Z28. If you can deal with the fact that the car is a poorly assembled ergonomic nightmare, you will spend about the same amount of money that a P5 will cost you ($16k) and get a car that, with less than $2k in mods, will run mid 12-second 1/4 miles and show its taillights to *every* stock Japanese car ever officially imported to this country. You will be able to snicker when E36 BMW M3's, Ferrari 348's and Porsche Boxsters pull up next to you, and laugh out loud at Integra Type R's, RSX's, Sentra SE-R's, and Focus SVT's

Of course, this assumes that you are willing to put up with the fact that almost everything about the Camaro sucks other than the power and the handling

Just a thought. Hopefully I will not get hanged in effigy for posting this to an import list

funkdaddysmack

Don't get the sentra se-r. The HP is over-rated, SCC did a dyno and it was like 142HP or something like that. True, it was at the wheels, but that's an insane ammount of loss. WRX has a decent loss at the wheels too, but then again it's AWD, so that's expected.

Bottom line... Definately go for the WRX. It's THE new import performance car, there is so much aftermarket support it's not even funny!

eeterp

http://www.allpar.com/neon/neon-srt-4.html

the new, UGLY 205hp neon.

The question is.......Where's mazda's 200hp protege for under 20k?

lost_concept

Oh my gosh ! The 2003 Hyundai Tiburon GT looks sweet the v6

Horsepower @ rpm 181hp/6000
It looks kinda like the Ferrari 456 GT styling
*ponders* Hmmmmmmmmmmm

reefruner5

guys i dont know if any of you have heard about this but dodge is bringing a version of its neon called the SRT-4. its a street racer with 205 hp, a full body kit, and an interior stolen from a viper. Itll cost less the 20G's. They shwed it at the LA auto show and said were getting it in less then 12 months. I think it looks great and will bnlw past the Focus, Si, and the Spec V and im sorry to say the MP3 couldntkeep up if it tried. Anyway just apssing the word.

eeterp

I agree the new Tiburon is very nice. I actually saw one on the road today and it was a head-turner. Slap a few bolt-on parts on that car and you'd have a very nice ride. I can't believe it's a damn Hyundai

The Old Guy

I think Mazda is going to loose the high performance import battle if they don't come out with a +180hp P5 and MP3 soon. They better get with the game soon. Most young buyers don't care about handling and looks. The RX8 is very capable but is a different market.

HubbMP5

Everything I'm about to say is just IMHO...

Pro- sure its underpowered, but looks GREAT and has amazing feature content for relatively low price- you may never realisticly get it to be as fast as a WRX- but if speed was your main concern, the P5 was- no offense- a poor choice.

WRX- Performance #'s you certainly can't beat for the price. But $25k with no sunroof??? The exterior isn't bad- but the Pro looks better. The interior looks kinda crappy for the price- really plasticy.

I could've bought a WRX, but in my financial situation, the Pro5 had everything I needed/wanted except for speed. With a few mods, i can beat, or at least be competeive, in most stoplight dragraces and thats all I really want.

Now, if I were in the market for a NEW car and had $25k to blow, my #1 choice is the NISSAN ALTIMA. Good looks, 240hp 3.5litre 6, stickshift, plenty of room & luxury, tons of features, 0-60 in 6.2 out if the box. You do ther right mods to a new Altima and I guarantee you'll be running neck & neck with WRX's.

But if performance were my absolue #1 concern, there's lots of used cars for $25k. BMW's, Vette's, Mustang, Camaro, 300ZX (drool), RX7 (DROOL!), Supra, 3000GT, Eclipse turbo, etc...

My tax money? I'll be getting some new computer peripherals, an exhaust, maybe a lowering kit, some new speakers for the Pro, and I'll be paying some bills

Good Luck! Choices await!

-Hubb

Makaveli

How expensive are the new Camaros, or the Firebirds? well the last year that they made them anyways? Didn't the SS have upwards of 350 ponies? Might be too expensive though, but anyways, that Neon is FUGLY
WRX looks too weird for my taste, and for many other people too, but it's got good performance.
It all depends, I could've went for a WRX or a Neon if that was my third car, but since most of us here don't have more then one, we all had to pick a car that was nice inside and outside, with lots of room, and then if there's performance, sure we'll take it, but if not we have a great everyday car

rowan

Altima is big and bulky. Ick. Exciting for a family sedan but I wouldn't even consider it for a performance car. Nissan is going on a power trip sticking giant engines in cars and then doing a crap job of tuning them just so they can claim bigger engines and more horsepower.
Wtf is up with this:

Sentra SE-R = 2.5L = 170Hp
Altima = 3.5L = 240Hp
WRX = 2.0L = 225Hp !!

What a waste! You'd think that the next product on the line from Nissan would be a 5.0L V8 that makes 350Hp. It seems they've sold out the sport compact section in North America at least. You can do much better with small engines than what they sell. What are they on about?

Boycott Nissan for performance cars .. if they really wanted to be nice to North Americans then they would've brought the Sylvia and Skyline over. The altima is fighting for 35+ year olds with 2.5 kids and not quite enough money to afford a BMW

The Honda/Acura RSX should be rear wheel drive (I do like the new Acura concept edition though if it was AWD). The new Tiburon is nice.. but then with both those cars you're not comparing apples and apples ... because they aren't sedans. Don't forget the Audi TT as well if you wanna go big money.

Ford Focus SVT .. fair play on that. $24K for a 170Hp car.
The new Neon I kind of like, but who knows the price of it yet.

If you have the money and want to be fast, go Impreza. Either a new one, or you could try and dig up a 2.5 RS from 98+.

If you want to be really fast and have lots and lots of money, try importing a awd Skyline ... or you could probably also go to work on an Audi S4 ..

Bottom line is that Subaru is about the only company who is bringing their decent world-wide products to North America, even if it is 4 years late. Mitsubishi might follow, but I don't particularly like the Lancer's styling.

You need to sort out the reasons you're wanting a new car with more power .. .just for racing? For the fun of tuning it? For style? Then it should be easier to find your answers.

The Old Guy

The Focus SVT MSRP is 18K. And btw, is hiting the showrooms now in Feb.

This is the first year of the SVT Focus. The ZX3 Focus is 130hp, the SVT 170hp.

HubbMP5

Well, to get technical, the WRX is NOT a sports car no matter how you cut it. Is a fast compact sedan. True sports cars have only 2 seats, and yes, do everything they can to save weight. But lets be realistic, the day you're shooting for the title of world rally champion you can quibble about the drawbacks of having a sunroof on your car- but in the real world, where you've got to drive to/from work everyday, get your groceries, & take summer night cruises, a sunroof is a negligable sacrifice. A/C is a big time performance theif, but who the hell wants a car without A/C? If memory serves, the WRX has air. The reality of the commercial marketplace is that people look for bells and whistles though they may ultimately sacrifice performace. All I'm saying is that for $25k, there should be more content on a SUBARU. If they wanna build a $25k corvette, or a $25k M series Bimmer, I could completely understand skipping the frills. If the WRX were 5-10k cheaper, I wouldn't care either. If I want a sports car true enough to its genre to start sacrificing creature comforts, you can bet your *** its not gonna be a SUBARU.