Ok, my G/F is looking for a new or slightly used (2002 and up) car. It has to be stick shift. She loves the power of the Maxima, but Max is just too big of a car for her. Plus parking down town Chicago will be much easier with something smaller. So what are my options?
So far I came up with only:
VW GTI VR6
Mini Cooper S
Holden (Pontiac) Monaro (GTO) - but that's pushing the size a bit.

Thanks for suggestions!

 

the new turbocharged OT is pretty nice looking and good on gas

 

I;m sorry what is OT?

 

Off Topic lol

 

they call it an altima....

 

kick me if im wrong but is an altima that much smaller than a maxima?
my neighbor has one and it the same size as my car.



anyways i always liked the GTI vr6.....

 

VW GTI VR6, Integra GS-R, Jetta VR-6, Audi A4, Dodge Neon SRT-4, Nissan Sentra SE-R spec V, ford Contour SVT

 

The newest altima is a hair bigger than the 5th gen maxima though....

S

 

dude how u gonna go comparing SE-R and A4 to a maxima? maxima blows the doors right off those, specially 2002+ maxima as he mentioned.... even a4 3.0 could get smoked...





1 thing you need to mention is that if u want a car in the same hp range or with close 0-60 & 1/4 mile times??

i wouldn't go near a VW. too costly too repair and not reliable. VW's are fancy and eye catchers for chix.

 

the monaro er i mean the GTO will be way out of your budget, since your looking for something the price of a used 2k2, buts its a sick car. The WRX is another option or the crazy evo viii

 

Yeah, but your comparing apples and oranges. She wants something smaller, but has plenty of power, which those cars have. Any of the selections that have been choosen with not dissapoint......at least that's my unbiased opinion.

S

 

123456

 

I agree with MaximamixaM who mentioned the Neon SRT-4. Small sedan with loads of power - that's the obvious choice. The Mini-S or Contour for sedans also.

If it doesn't have to be a sedan then the blown Miata or an Eclipse might be a fun choice for her.

 

Contour SVT was not made past 2000, and it was a very fun car. I traded my '99 CSVT in on the Maxima. It has very good power, great handling, and a terrible interior/soundsystem. The latter can be resolved with aftermarket mods. The handling I wouldn't change much, and the engine is tough to tune, but it is worth it...(get intake/exhaust/headers/SAFC). Plus, you could always do a 3.0L V6 swap and get some good numbers that way as well (although it's extremely tough to break into the 13's N/A in that car)...

The engine screams like no other at and above 6000 RPM, though . I do miss that car at times, but the Maxima is far superior overall in build quality and aftermarket mod potential.

 

good one

 

whoops, not trying to insult the performance of the 2002 3.5 Maxima. Just was throwing out some smaller size, manual tranny cars with pretty good performance. I don't follow MB or BMW cars, which are probably small and high powered in some versions. If the goal is Maxima power-then change my answer to WRX/STi and SRT-4...

 

infiniti g20 sr20det or maybe even sr20vet???








but seriously setra se-r spec v are nice and fast

 

I've seen a G20 with a SR20DET....not hard to do....too bad the car look like crap...the owner wasn't taking very good care of it at all.

S

 

Acura TSX 6MT. Not as quick as a VQ35 powered Nissan, but it'll hold its own pretty well against VQ30's and the new Accord V6 automatic.

IBTM

 

when body style. i am in love with the 98-02 body style. the older ones look like a box. i have decided that a new body g20 will be my second car. if i look hard enough i can find one with high miles for 6500 and invest maybe another 4 grand into the bb sr20det or if im lucky to find a sr20ve and i have a fast compact luxury sedan. that beats dishin out over 20g for a s4 anyday

 

does it have to be a car?


if not. then what about the new Colorado Sport? i bet they would boogy.

and possibly made to run like this truck http://www.neufamily.org/fastesttruck.wmv

 

or the acura rsx type s. even the celica gts is a great car. toyota is probably are the best cars on the road . imo

 

perhaps the new VW Golf R32 or Volvo S40?

 

GTI: Small yes. Maxima power? No freaking way.
Mini: same as above
Holden Monaro: Small, no. Maxima power, times 2. And RWD to boot.

 

You're joking, right? The Colorado Sport ZQ8 Regular cab w/ 3.5L I5 and 5 speed manual tranny is a total POS. It can hit 0-60 in 6 seconds...falling off a cliff.

And as a matter of fact, that's not the world's fastest street legal truck either. There are currently two Dodge Dakotas ahead of it. A Dodge Dakota with a 5.9L I6 Turbodiesel is currently the world record holder (land speed) for a truck as well. I will certainly admit the Chevy in the video is bada$$, but it's not the fastest by a long shot...

 

get a GTI 1.8T not the 6cyl. Great pickup, handleing and interior. If shes willing to throw down a couple hundred on a Giac or APR chip you will be really impressed. she has to be ok w/ driving a hatch though. If she wants something a little more luxurious, get the A4 but they are pricey. I would take my wifes in a heartbeat if it were a manual.

 

Mustang. Fun.

 

i say get the fastest sentra and hook it up. Thats the closest way to get smaller size of maxima but with same power. The difference in price between maxima and sentra, u can get some mods which will make it almost as fast...and u get similar reliability and costs for fixing issues.

its very hard to find a small car with the same power as the maxima unless its boosted or over 40k

 

I would think the SRT-4 would be a strong contender in my book, but if she's kind of a girlie-girl that may be a bit over the top for her. One car I think is pretty nice, and kind of expensive looking and a bit more "refined" than the above mentioned, and has not been named yet

2004 Mazda 3s. Economical (a plus with gas prices being what they are)great styling, and a plethora of options available but still very reasonable, and 160 hp to move not a whole lot of car. Plus nicer interior and ext. than the Sentra Spec V and WRX and STi not to mention a bunch cheaper. I had a patient last night with a new one silver with a black leather interior (sharp combination! ) , 5-speed, and he said it had like everything (I don't believe it had the HIDs though) and he got it for like $16k. He likes it, no problems, and his insurance actually went down when he got it, coming from Hondas and VWs.

That's my contribution.

 

I totally agree with you there. The new Mazda 3 hatchbacks are quite attractive...

 

look at a VW R32. they're quick lil bastards, AWD, and pretty stylish for a VW.

 

Id certainly recommend the R32 over the 1.8Turd any day. I agree that the Mazda cars are atrractive but they're still slow compared to the Maxima.

I hate to say this, being anti VW and all, but the R32 seems to be the best candidate here based on your criteria.

IBTM

 

Well I saw a guy on these forums once swapping in one of our maxima engiens into an rx-7, 200 hp in a tiny 2400 lb car would sure be nice, i offered to buy it from him when he was done, no word back from him yet

 

OK, this is a girl we're talking about here, not car-shopping for some pre-pubescent speed freak. If she's anything like me, or any other girls I know, it doesn't necessarily have to be the fastest thing on the street. Decently quick, sure, but I'm sure she's not out to win pinks and prove herself. All my friends priorities are :
1. is it expensive? buying wise, insurance wise, and gas mileage?
2. does it look good/sporty? interior? good stereo?
3. reliable?
4. and of course, low-maintenance is always good too.

I had alot of these same standards in mind when I got my Maxima. Of course it wasn't horribly inexpensive, doesn't get exactly stellar gas mileage, and is not the fastest thing around but it's a pretty good daily driver and more than plenty quick for my uses. If I wanted a faster, own-the-streets kind of car there are a bajillion F-bodies or Mustangs of all colors and options around here that I could of just as easily gotten instead of and had a significantly quicker track car. But, ya need a good daily driver first, something reliable and safe that you can take everywhere that those other cars can't. Granted you could with an Evo or WRX, and kudos to her if that is what she wants, but odds are she just wants a new ( new being the key word here), stylish, reasonably quick car that's easy to navigate around city streets. Chances are she's gonna want all of those other things I mentioned also.

Ok Schernov I am not trying to categorize your girlfriend so if I'm completely off base here as to what she has in mind and/or wants out of her next car lemme know. I'm just going off my own and friends' past experiences.

 

 

Most definately i'd recommend the r32. v6 in a hatch...

http://www.germancarfans.com/news.cf...kswagen/1.html

 

Aside from the VW Golf R32, which I originally recommended, check out the new Volvo S40 T5 with 6-speeds, 218 hp/236 lb/ft torq. @ a low 1500 rmp. The performance is excellent plus their crash protection is second to none!

 

Get a 240sx. You can then do an engine swap. If you're not up to it then get the Neon SRT-4 with the larger turbo upgrade.

 

i didn't make that vid.. i just copied the link from another forum


and i wasn't for sure how fast the colorado sports were... i was just assming by how they look.

don't hate me :-\

 

Isnt the 1.8T faster than the V6????? and WAY more tunable...