Upgrading a car is a lot like upgrading a computer - and the upgrades you'll need depend a lot on the car and what you plan on doing with it.
 
Since you're in Canada........I hope most of your speeding will be done on a track because they don't have very sympathetic laws towards fast drivers.  In that case I would strongly recommend good brakes and suspension work, as well as a nice set of tires.  When you get a good feel for the car that is when I'd start looking at adding power.
 
Your car will also impact what you do for performance upgrades.  For example, if you have a factory turbo car, then you will probably spend your money on an intercooler and new tune for added horsepower, if you own a Honda Civic, then you're probably going to look at other ways to gain performance.
 
You can do a ton of things with cars, but unlike computers I think it's much easier to screw up a car when working on it.  I would not recommend you get your friends to help you if you are new to doing work, often they may not have much more experience than you but are simply trying to boast that they know how to do things.  Get someone who you know can actually do the work.  If you're going to do an upgrade that requires a significant amount of work to the car, plan it out ahead of time, the last thing you want is to get stuck halfway through and realize you can finish it, now you're without a car till it's fixed.  Also, I would encourage you - if you are buying an older car - to invest in maintenence first.  It'd be stupid to buy a Civic with 200,000 km on it and immediately put a turbo on it.  You want your car running in tip-top shape before modifying it, so maintenence should come before performance.
 
These are just from my own experience.  I would also encourage you to keep an open mind to cars and try many before you decide on what you buy.  So many people go out and buy a Mustang or BMW 3 series (they're great cars, I'm just using them for example) just because their buddies say its cool or they want a fast car, but it may not fit your driving style or personality.  Find one that speaks to....i guess you're inner soul?  Cars have a lot of personality.  Find a car that speaks to you.  This might sound a bit weird but, in my opinion many people buy a that represents what 'they want others to think of themselves' - I think you should drive 'what you really are.'
That's just my philosophy on picking a car!

Do Ya work on ur own car/vehicle ur self?
 
Some of us Old schooler's dont have patience for EFI systems (Fuel injection). Im looking at getting an older Toyota/Mazda/Datsun,  2WD Carborated truck. Heck, even the Chevy(GM's) and Frods Pre85' halfton trucks were great, and yes, you can get decent MPG in an older full size truck(Just got to spend the cash)...............................................
 
Now, the Datsun pre 85' I6 EFI 280's where a great car, and far more reliable than the trash Nissan made after 85' POS's...
EDIT, Ya got the cash, the Dasun 280 I6's(inline straight 6cylinder) with a single high stail turbo(doesnt start spooling till ya hit 3K_ish RPM's) still give ya great MPG and still give you 300-400pounds torque, 400_ish WHP )horsepower at the wheels), rebuild the tanny, suspension, and longblock, and a good fuel system, ya'd have a great street car, and still hit the track on the weekends.
 
Myself, I wondnt do car payments, new cars just arent worth it or the risk in this POS economy, Ive never paid more than $5K cash for a vehicle, not counting cash Ive dumped into em' laughs......

Before you even think of upgrades you have two consider 3 things, platform, cost, experience.
 
Platform - Is the platform you pick upgradable? Not every car has an aftermarket following..Some do, some don't. If you pick something with a small aftermarket following, you may end up with a car that will require lots of custom work. Platforms that can be easily upgraded, mustang, camaro, wrx, evo, g35/g37, 350z/370z, Hondas(most all of them), Genesis coupe, etc.
 
Cost - Parts for a mustang are much cheaper than those of a BMW, keep cost in mind if modding is your thing.
 
Experience - Driving a modified car, or rather knowing when to stop modifying a car is key. I've driven in cars that are too low, too loud, too much horse power etc. Yes, you can do too much of something. Reaching a good balance is key. The  more you upgrade a car the more you start moving the "on the limit" driving further out and further out. When you do that, you go faster, but you have less fun. Holding on to dear life at 40 mph as you're about to break traction in a BRZ is much less dangerous than me breaking traction at 80 mph because of much sticker tires..
 
 
Lastly, you seem fairly green at understanding or modifying cars. Start learning by doing your own maintenance and learning the car stock. Otherwise any time you have a problem you'll shell out 2-300 bucks minimum getting it fixed at a shop or just paying a high maintenance cost to keep it on the road.
 
Just my 2c.
 
@op, just reread how its your first year in university. Get a stock reliable car and leave it like that.... if youre in college and youre not already a car guy, don't add headaches on top of it and cut into your already tight schedule.
 
3 weekends in a row now, i've been under two 370z tweaking things and modifying them to reach what I want...thats all in all about 14 hours worth of time just tweaking two cars, next weekend im under doing an oil change, weekend after that ill be changing out the intakes, etc.

bill1024
Have a plan, what are you going to do with it? Road and weather/seasonal conditions, is it a daily driver or weekend warrior?
Set a budget!!!!!!!! Stick to it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If you can afford to, buy one that someone else spent the $$$$ to upgrade and is looking for a new project.
You hardly ever get back the money spent on mods. People like to do projects, finish them and sell it, buy another and start over.
Try to find one that had the work done in a shop or by a real mechanic at home, that knew what they were doing.

Buying someone's modded car is always asking for trouble... You dont know if mods were done right, or if itll cause problems down the road...

Zillerz

ty_ger07
BTW, depending on the definition (which has mutated over time), 'Ricers' can be very fast. Originally, 'Ricer' meant a modified Asian import vehicle and did not necessarily mean that it was all show and no go.

There are two different approaches:
1) 'There is no replacement for displacement'. Get an old inefficient car with a big engine, strip the car to make it as light as possible, and make relatively inexpensive upgrades to the engine such as a new cam, heads, intake manifold, and headers. That's not to say that you can't make other expensive upgrades also, but the point is that usually the first rather inexpensive upgrades can make a pretty large difference.

2) Get a small highly efficient modern car and try to make it breath a little better along with other upgrades and power adders. The idea is that for every 2 times reduction in size, weight is reduced by 4 times. You can achieve a much better power to weight ratio with a small car, but it is usually much more expensive since the car was quite efficient in the first place. Squeezing out significantly more performance from this approach usually requires a power adder such as a turbocharger or nitrous.

Whichever approach you choose, if you don't want it to be a 'Ricer' by the newest mutation of the definition, do not spend any money on appearance upgrades until you have spent money on serious performance upgrades. BTW, a cold air intake and big muffler with a stock engine does not count as a serious performance upgrade; that would get you into 'Ricer' territory.

Edit: The title question. What do you need to look for? If you want serious speed, rear wheel or all wheel drive; front wheel drive will leave your drive tires begging for traction when accelerating as the weight shifts to the back. A car in good mechanical shape with good and well maintained driveline and suspension. Take it to a shop and have them do a leakdown test before you buy it. A leakdown test is better than a compression test because it will tell you the exact percentage of leakage and the source. Avoid cars which have a higher occurrence of transmission failures, head gasket failures, or intake manifold failures. Try to get either an all iron block or all aluminum block instead of something like an iron block with aluminum heads; mixing metals usually leads to gasket failures due to different thermal expansion rates. An aluminum block is lighter of course, but if you do plan to use a turbocharger, supercharger, or nitrous, you may want to look into a car with an iron block. Standard transmisions are fun for doing tricks, but good automatic transmissions will put more power to the ground starting from a stop and keep putting power to the ground through the shifts. A car which already has a lot of support from the modding community and lots of parts, guides, and build logs.

One of our good family friends is a mechanic, he would probably do those tests before I make the final decision. Totally agree with you about the worthless visual upgrades that don't add any performance increases. Supercharger is an option in the future, nitrous however probably not lol
I'll keep that in mind! Thanks!
 
 

knightsilver
Do Ya work on ur own car/vehicle ur self?
 
Some of us Old schooler's dont have patience for EFI systems (Fuel injection). Im looking at getting an older Toyota/Mazda/Datsun,  2WD Carborated truck. Heck, even the Chevy(GM's) and Frods Pre85' halfton trucks were great, and yes, you can get decent MPG in an older full size truck(Just got to spend the cash)...............................................
 
Now, the Datsun pre 85' I6 EFI 280's where a great car, and far more reliable than the trash Nissan made after 85' POS's...
EDIT, Ya got the cash, the Dasun 280 I6's(inline straight 6cylinder) with a single high stail turbo(doesnt start spooling till ya hit 3K_ish RPM's) still give ya great MPG and still give you 300-400pounds torque, 400_ish WHP )horsepower at the wheels), rebuild the tanny, suspension, and longblock, and a good fuel system, ya'd have a great street car, and still hit the track on the weekends.
 
Myself, I wondnt do car payments, new cars just arent worth it or the risk in this POS economy, Ive never paid more than $5K cash for a vehicle, not counting cash Ive dumped into em' laughs......

I do not own a car/vehicle myself just yet. I am also inexperienced in car parts so I'll be doing some research about different types of cars and how they operate internally
 

way2faded
What kinds of cars are you interested in?

Currently, nothing too fancy, for example honda accord, older lexus or an acura (both of my parents drive an acura)
 

IntoxicatedPuma
Upgrading a car is a lot like upgrading a computer - and the upgrades you'll need depend a lot on the car and what you plan on doing with it.
 
Since you're in Canada........I hope most of your speeding will be done on a track because they don't have very sympathetic laws towards fast drivers.  In that case I would strongly recommend good brakes and suspension work, as well as a nice set of tires.  When you get a good feel for the car that is when I'd start looking at adding power.
 
Your car will also impact what you do for performance upgrades.  For example, if you have a factory turbo car, then you will probably spend your money on an intercooler and new tune for added horsepower, if you own a Honda Civic, then you're probably going to look at other ways to gain performance.
 
You can do a ton of things with cars, but unlike computers I think it's much easier to screw up a car when working on it.  I would not recommend you get your friends to help you if you are new to doing work, often they may not have much more experience than you but are simply trying to boast that they know how to do things.  Get someone who you know can actually do the work.  If you're going to do an upgrade that requires a significant amount of work to the car, plan it out ahead of time, the last thing you want is to get stuck halfway through and realize you can finish it, now you're without a car till it's fixed.  Also, I would encourage you - if you are buying an older car - to invest in maintenence first.  It'd be stupid to buy a Civic with 200,000 km on it and immediately put a turbo on it.  You want your car running in tip-top shape before modifying it, so maintenence should come before performance.
 
These are just from my own experience.  I would also encourage you to keep an open mind to cars and try many before you decide on what you buy.  So many people go out and buy a Mustang or BMW 3 series (they're great cars, I'm just using them for example) just because their buddies say its cool or they want a fast car, but it may not fit your driving style or personality.  Find one that speaks to....i guess you're inner soul?  Cars have a lot of personality.  Find a car that speaks to you.  This might sound a bit weird but, in my opinion many people buy a that represents what 'they want others to think of themselves' - I think you should drive 'what you really are.'
That's just my philosophy on picking a car!

Wow! I appreciate greatly for the tips!
My father was actually talking to me about cars a while back, he was telling me how his car was like his vehicular soul-mate haha I will definitely look for a car that best describes me!
 

I looked into doing this to my Camry, and I was going to buy struts/shocks/all the other parts for suspension/tires but, car got totaled before I could buy them. Word to the wiser, do suspension and everything to do with handling first, you don't want to spend 5-15k on performance, just to wreck and total your car because you can't control it. I have seen this so many times. After you get the suspension and everything to do with handling done, drive it for 6 months hard and learn how to control the car properly at high speeds/tight turns, then start upgrading stuff slowly, in order to give yourself time to adjust to the power. When I jumped into the seat of my uncles 1991 Mustang (the fox body version, light back end) I almost wrapped it around a pole because I'm used to my friends 1992 Crown vic that takes turns a lot sharper due to the heavier back end.

Buy a Fox boxy stang. I prefer the SN95s... 93 was the last year of the Fox models I'd buy an 88 to be honest. My 78 Formula has a 400 Big block and is amazing but I've put some money into it. In your position buy an old Toyota. They retain value and are so reliable same with Lexus. Avoid BMW.

bill1024
 

Holo

bill1024
Have a plan, what are you going to do with it? Road and weather/seasonal conditions, is it a daily driver or weekend warrior?
Set a budget!!!!!!!! Stick to it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If you can afford to, buy one that someone else spent the $$$$ to upgrade and is looking for a new project.
You hardly ever get back the money spent on mods. People like to do projects, finish them and sell it, buy another and start over.
Try to find one that had the work done in a shop or by a real mechanic at home, that knew what they were doing.

Buying someone's modded car is always asking for trouble... You dont know if mods were done right, or if itll cause problems down the road...

That goes for anything you buy new or used, modded or not modded.
Barrett and Mecum auctions sell used modded cars by the thousands.
The best mechanic in the world is only as good as the parts installed.
Car parts or computer parts can go bad in a day, week or never.

You have a valid point there

BF3PRO
Buy a Fox boxy stang. I prefer the SN95s... 93 was the last year of the Fox models I'd buy an 88 to be honest. My 78 Formula has a 400 Big block and is amazing but I've put some money into it. In your position buy an old Toyota. They retain value and are so reliable same with Lexus. Avoid BMW.

I'm not sure how I feel about mustangs, but I wouldn't know until I actually drive one.
Fun fact: the only car models I've ever driven are 2007 and 2012 Acura MDX and 2012 Acura RDX (the one I drive most of the time since it's my moms and she usually stays home nowadays, other than that I drive her around places too) and 2006 and 2013 Ford F150 and a 2013 VW Jetta
I thought that list was much smaller to be honest.. (maybe it is small but I just used a lot of words)
What would be your personal reasoning for avoiding BMW's? 
 

kaninja
I actually recommend a Honda Civic EK from around 2000. Extremely reliable car and lots of potential. The car is very easy to work on and has almost limitless aftermarket potential. If you get an Si with the B16A2 engine that would be a great start. Find one with as low miles as possible and in as good a condition as you can. These cars came with double wishbone suspension, 4 wheel disc brakes, an awesome 5 speed manual and have a nice looking body. As others have said, start with the suspension and go from there. Keep the car as stock looking as possible aside from ride height and wheels.

Oh the civic ek.. If there's any car that can be modded as much as the russian lada, it's probably that hahaha
I do agree on the fact that it is a very reliable car. A lot of friends have that car, to bad they only did the visual and sound upgrades.. now they're nothing but a big sound with no performance
Luckily my view on car upgrading is different
 
Definitely a car to look at, I want to accept manual because I personally believe that's how a car is meant to be driven. I'm tired of automatic to be honest, as easy as it is

Zillerz

bill1024
 

Holo

bill1024
Have a plan, what are you going to do with it? Road and weather/seasonal conditions, is it a daily driver or weekend warrior?
Set a budget!!!!!!!! Stick to it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If you can afford to, buy one that someone else spent the $$$$ to upgrade and is looking for a new project.
You hardly ever get back the money spent on mods. People like to do projects, finish them and sell it, buy another and start over.
Try to find one that had the work done in a shop or by a real mechanic at home, that knew what they were doing.

Buying someone's modded car is always asking for trouble... You dont know if mods were done right, or if itll cause problems down the road...

That goes for anything you buy new or used, modded or not modded.
Barrett and Mecum auctions sell used modded cars by the thousands.
The best mechanic in the world is only as good as the parts installed.
Car parts or computer parts can go bad in a day, week or never.

You have a valid point there

BF3PRO
Buy a Fox boxy stang. I prefer the SN95s... 93 was the last year of the Fox models I'd buy an 88 to be honest. My 78 Formula has a 400 Big block and is amazing but I've put some money into it. In your position buy an old Toyota. They retain value and are so reliable same with Lexus. Avoid BMW.

I'm not sure how I feel about mustangs, but I wouldn't know until I actually drive one.
Fun fact: the only car models I've ever driven are 2007 and 2012 Acura MDX and 2012 Acura RDX (the one I drive most of the time since it's my moms and she usually stays home nowadays, other than that I drive her around places too) and 2006 and 2013 Ford F150 and a 2013 VW Jetta
I thought that list was much smaller to be honest.. (maybe it is small but I just used a lot of words)
What would be your personal reasoning for avoiding BMW's? 
 

kaninja
I actually recommend a Honda Civic EK from around 2000. Extremely reliable car and lots of potential. The car is very easy to work on and has almost limitless aftermarket potential. If you get an Si with the B16A2 engine that would be a great start. Find one with as low miles as possible and in as good a condition as you can. These cars came with double wishbone suspension, 4 wheel disc brakes, an awesome 5 speed manual and have a nice looking body. As others have said, start with the suspension and go from there. Keep the car as stock looking as possible aside from ride height and wheels.

Oh the civic ek.. If there's any car that can be modded as much as the russian lada, it's probably that hahaha
I do agree on the fact that it is a very reliable car. A lot of friends have that car, to bad they only did the visual and sound upgrades.. now they're nothing but a big sound with no performance
Luckily my view on car upgrading is different
 
Definitely a car to look at, I want to accept manual because I personally believe that's how a car is meant to be driven. I'm tired of automatic to be honest, as easy as it is

If you buy an automatic, and put any performance mods in it, I will drive to your house and smash your car. I have nothing against automatics, but they just aren't meant to be modded for performance. Period. That is for extremely obvious reasons. (Another reason I'm glad I didn't modify my camry as it was automatic.)

RushXTC
You should buy a 1985 BMW E93....
 
FBMBirds says it'll smoke any car you line it up with.
 
He has 2 beautiful BMW's
 

I do enjoy the old fashion BMW looks, can't say I wouldn't drive a bmw if I was to get one, but I would want to test drive before I buy one for sure. (assuming everything is fine with it)
 

Baltothewolf

Zillerz

bill1024
 

Holo

bill1024
Have a plan, what are you going to do with it? Road and weather/seasonal conditions, is it a daily driver or weekend warrior?
Set a budget!!!!!!!! Stick to it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If you can afford to, buy one that someone else spent the $$$$ to upgrade and is looking for a new project.
You hardly ever get back the money spent on mods. People like to do projects, finish them and sell it, buy another and start over.
Try to find one that had the work done in a shop or by a real mechanic at home, that knew what they were doing.

Buying someone's modded car is always asking for trouble... You dont know if mods were done right, or if itll cause problems down the road...

That goes for anything you buy new or used, modded or not modded.
Barrett and Mecum auctions sell used modded cars by the thousands.
The best mechanic in the world is only as good as the parts installed.
Car parts or computer parts can go bad in a day, week or never.

You have a valid point there

BF3PRO
Buy a Fox boxy stang. I prefer the SN95s... 93 was the last year of the Fox models I'd buy an 88 to be honest. My 78 Formula has a 400 Big block and is amazing but I've put some money into it. In your position buy an old Toyota. They retain value and are so reliable same with Lexus. Avoid BMW.

I'm not sure how I feel about mustangs, but I wouldn't know until I actually drive one.
Fun fact: the only car models I've ever driven are 2007 and 2012 Acura MDX and 2012 Acura RDX (the one I drive most of the time since it's my moms and she usually stays home nowadays, other than that I drive her around places too) and 2006 and 2013 Ford F150 and a 2013 VW Jetta
I thought that list was much smaller to be honest.. (maybe it is small but I just used a lot of words)
What would be your personal reasoning for avoiding BMW's? 
 

kaninja
I actually recommend a Honda Civic EK from around 2000. Extremely reliable car and lots of potential. The car is very easy to work on and has almost limitless aftermarket potential. If you get an Si with the B16A2 engine that would be a great start. Find one with as low miles as possible and in as good a condition as you can. These cars came with double wishbone suspension, 4 wheel disc brakes, an awesome 5 speed manual and have a nice looking body. As others have said, start with the suspension and go from there. Keep the car as stock looking as possible aside from ride height and wheels.

Oh the civic ek.. If there's any car that can be modded as much as the russian lada, it's probably that hahaha
I do agree on the fact that it is a very reliable car. A lot of friends have that car, to bad they only did the visual and sound upgrades.. now they're nothing but a big sound with no performance
Luckily my view on car upgrading is different
 
Definitely a car to look at, I want to accept manual because I personally believe that's how a car is meant to be driven. I'm tired of automatic to be honest, as easy as it is

If you buy an automatic, and put any performance mods in it, I will drive to your house and smash your car. I have nothing against automatics, but they just aren't meant to be modded for performance. Period. That is for extremely obvious reasons. (Another reason I'm glad I didn't modify my camry as it was automatic.)

HAHAHAHAH
I just hope I come across some manuals in my car hunt
Believe me, I would not waste my own money modding an automatic

HA!! your not going to have the money to upgrade a car if your a college student. Most of your money is going to the university as far as I know of right now. Of course I dont know your background but I assume you are at least partially paying for your college education. But if that is not the case then AWESOME! If your going to get a car get one that is old and has low mileage. It being old will bring the cost of the car down MOST of the time.(of course it depends on the car). Remember the more miles the car has with stock parts(not talking about the frame),the more wear so keep that in mind to help increase your chances with reliability. Anyways what kind of cars do you like or more specifically are after? Also whats your budget? If you give me these things I can probably help you find a car at least. And then from there on you can deal with upgrading how you please. If I was you since this is going to be a project car, whatever you do make your car FAST and make it LOUD! So you can tell the world "whats good son"! O ya dont forget to make it smell good too. If your rollin with a lady in your car you dont want your car smelling like a garbage truck.

knightsilver
Who's the dumbazz doing 90 in a residential neighborhood with children?

That's actually a closed track down here in Los Angeles.
 
It's not residential. If it is, Prove it.

HAZMAN_THE_GREAT
HA!! your not going to have the money to upgrade a car if your a college student. Most of your money is going to the university as far as I know of right now. Of course I dont know your background but I assume you are at least partially paying for your college education. But if that is not the case then AWESOME! If your going to get a car get one that is old and has low mileage. It being old will bring the cost of the car down MOST of the time.(of course it depends on the car). Remember the more miles the car has with stock parts(not talking about the frame),the more wear so keep that in mind to help increase your chances with reliability. Anyways what kind of cars do you like or more specifically are after? Also whats your budget? If you give me these things I can probably help you find a car at least. And then from there on you can deal with upgrading how you please. If I was you since this is going to be a project car, whatever you do make your car FAST and make it LOUD! So you can tell the world "whats good son"! O ya dont forget to make it smell good too. If your rollin with a lady in your car you dont want your car smelling like a garbage truck.

It is true, I am indeed a student, however I have a full time job for the summer. Estimated income 5 - 7k over 3 months. I am willing to spend around 3 - 4k on my car and the rest will be spent on my current apparel business that I own and books, groceries, etc for my second year.
That income is not counting what I may/may not make with my own business but 3-4k is what i'll be aiming for to spend on upgrades.
I would most likely look for anywhere between 1999 - 2006 honda accord, civic, lexus and if there is any other reasonable price cars. (those are just the general names that come to mind)
And yes, the smell must be nice ;)
 

HAZMAN_THE_GREAT

Baltothewolf
If you buy an automatic, and put any performance mods in it, I will drive to your house and smash your car. I have nothing against automatics, but they just aren't meant to be modded for performance. Period. That is for extremely obvious reasons. (Another reason I'm glad I didn't modify my camry as it was automatic.)

What about paddle shifters cars like the Nissan GTR? But automatics can be a good thing too. For example with a turbo when you have an automatic you keep that constant boost going.

The current 2012 Acura RDX Turbo that I occasionally drive feels amazing haha, the turbo is nice  especially when VTEC kicks in 

Zillerz

HAZMAN_THE_GREAT
HA!! your not going to have the money to upgrade a car if your a college student. Most of your money is going to the university as far as I know of right now. Of course I dont know your background but I assume you are at least partially paying for your college education. But if that is not the case then AWESOME! If your going to get a car get one that is old and has low mileage. It being old will bring the cost of the car down MOST of the time.(of course it depends on the car). Remember the more miles the car has with stock parts(not talking about the frame),the more wear so keep that in mind to help increase your chances with reliability. Anyways what kind of cars do you like or more specifically are after? Also whats your budget? If you give me these things I can probably help you find a car at least. And then from there on you can deal with upgrading how you please. If I was you since this is going to be a project car, whatever you do make your car FAST and make it LOUD! So you can tell the world "whats good son"! O ya dont forget to make it smell good too. If your rollin with a lady in your car you dont want your car smelling like a garbage truck.

It is true, I am indeed a student, however I have a full time job for the summer. Estimated income 5 - 7k over 3 months. I am willing to spend around 3 - 4k on my car and the rest will be spent on my current apparel business that I own and books, groceries, etc for my second year.
That income is not counting what I may/may not make with my own business but 3-4k is what i'll be aiming for to spend on upgrades.
I would most likely look for anywhere between 1999 - 2006 honda accord, civic, lexus and if there is any other reasonable price cars. (those are just the general names that come to mind)
And yes, the smell must be nice ;)
 

HAZMAN_THE_GREAT

Baltothewolf
If you buy an automatic, and put any performance mods in it, I will drive to your house and smash your car. I have nothing against automatics, but they just aren't meant to be modded for performance. Period. That is for extremely obvious reasons. (Another reason I'm glad I didn't modify my camry as it was automatic.)

What about paddle shifters cars like the Nissan GTR? But automatics can be a good thing too. For example with a turbo when you have an automatic you keep that constant boost going.

The current 2012 Acura RDX Turbo that I occasionally drive feels amazing haha, the turbo is nice  especially when VTEC kicks in 

Well I really hope your business comes to be. Thats really awesome your doing that. I want to start my own as well. A computer repair/build/trouble shooting. Ok now I see what you like. You mostly like the Japaneses cars right? Or you can say ricer cars like you said in one of your earlier post LOL.IF you could I would suggest you shell out another 1000 bucks. It will dramatically increase your odds in having a newer year car  especially if you want a 2006. Now I say one of your best bets would be to get a Honda civic. I am sure you can find a 1999-2003 civic for 4K. BUT if you could I would suggest you get a Mazda 3. A Mazda 3 is really reliable car trust me. I have one right now as my daily driver and boy it gets great MPG and the steering/transmission on that sucker is fantastic! I am currently driving the second gen model(2012). Also finding parts for it is really easy and cheap. Honestly I think a Mazda 3 is WAAAAAAY better choice than a civic if you want to go Japanese sports car for around 3-4 from what I just said above AND mainly because it has more horsepower/torque. Whats even awesome is Mazda's brand is in fact solely a sports company(even though they make crossover cars) so you know for sure your getting a actual decent sports car. Hey you can even try to get you a 1999-2002 Mazda RX 7. Those cars are beast man. I would even say get a Toyota Supra but you more than likely wont find a decent one for 4K last time I looked. But I also like how you mentioned Lexus. Lexus is a fantastic brand indeed which of course is Toyota's luxury brand. But it being Luxury maybe a bit pricey. Just depends what model of that brand you want. During the 1999-2004 years, Lexus was not much really a sports car. Basically catered to luxury. But of course in the past 4 years Lexus has become much much more sporter car or you can say now its a luxury sports car. O ya I want to point out that there really is no point going Acura. Your basically just buying an expensive Honda. You can some what say that about Lexus being an expensive Toyota but, it does not resemble its sister company as much as Acura does with Honda. Basically most of the mechanics you have in an Aura is a Honda but in a different shell. With an Acura your paying mostly for the brand name and aesthetics/electronic luxury features of the vehicle. O ya one more thing. My second choice of cars for that price and year ranges that comes to my mind is you should look at 1999-2004 Mitsubishi Eclipse or Subaru WRX. In all honesty the Eclipse sucks and I the WRX is way better. After driving my friends tuned eclipse it made me even hate that car even more. Plus they are so slow compared to a WRX. The ride is so rough and the turning and transmission is terrible. So to sum things up for my  humble opinion of the best affordable Japanese sports car brands in order of best to worst is Mazda, Subaru, Mitsubishi, and last Toyota. By the way, you should check out Subaru's Boxer engine. Its waaaaay better than that silly VTEC weed eater engine that Honda makes.

RushXTC
You should buy a 1985 BMW E93.... FBMBirds says it'll smoke any car you line it up with. He has 2 beautiful BMW's 

Put those against a GT500. It'll smoke alright smoke from getting burned. I generally dislike Honda's but they are great cars I just prefer American Muscle.

wmmills

ty_ger07
If you want a slower standard transmission instead of a faster automatic, I fail to see the point of this thread. Especially when you claim to be interested in a supercharger. Torque converter. Clutches slip and lose power; torque converters stall and build up power. A manual transmission would make your supercharged engine fall on its face unless you acted like every traffic light was a race, rev up your engine, and slip the clutch. Plus, a clutch will usually wear out long before an automatic will give you problems. Having to slip your clutch at every stop would only make the problem worse.

If you buy an automatic, and put any performance mods in it, I will drive to your house and smash your car. I have nothing against automatics, but they just aren't meant to be modded for performance. Period. That is for extremely obvious reasons. (Another reason I'm glad I didn't modify my camry as it was automatic.)

What are these obvious reasons? An automatic will put more power to the ground from a start and keep power going to the ground through shifts. If you have any doubts, look at what the street class drag pros use. Seems your 'obvious reasons' are ill-founded. Especially for a novice driver such as the OP. Only skilled drivers can make a manual faster than an automatic using power shifts with all other things being equal. But those skilled drivers also replace their clutch and resurface their flywheel multiple times a year and I am sure the OP doesn't want to do that. A good automatic transmission setup will win for sure. Even a stock auto without a shift kit and without an aftermarket torque converter is very highly likely to win with all other things being equal; especially with a turbo or supercharger.

If you want to do burnouts, bust drive shafts, and be a punk, get a manual. If you want to go fast, get an automatic.

BTW, did you watch the video I linked to earlier about sleepers? Get any ideas? 397 hp Buick Regal on stock block with modified boost. Car came with a supercharger from the factory, so all the messy setup has already been taken care of. Fast but not loud and obnoxious.

If he doesn't know how, or isn't very good, at shifting its not gonna matter how many mods he puts on his car. Period. If you need to learn buy a junker and spend a year with it because race shifting is all about feel and timing. Automatics do all that for you very precisely and trying to alter that yourself is a huge pita, but a very well built expensive automatic can at least keep you competitive. Drag racing and track racing are two totally different worlds where draggers can benefit from a automatics consistency, but track driving you really need to be able to work the car and use those stick tricks that manuals afford you.  

From my experience with the same exact engine a stick is always faster and has a bigger torque power.