Best all around car for under $18,000?

[SoundTheSurrender]

When I graduate I'm hoping to get a new car (new to me). So far the only car that I see all around is the Nissan Altima.

What I mean with all around is a car that has the performance of a sports car but not the gas milage of one. So something with a 6 cylinder and over 250 horsepower is what I want to shoot for.

Right now I drive a 2002 Dodge Neon SE and it's getting harder and harder to drive.

 

[mwmorph]

Depends on exactly what the performance you're shooting for is and whether if you really want 250hp for the "bragging rights" or just the performance that comes along with it.

There are plenty of cars about as quick without 250hp.

For example, a Celica GTS or Integra GSR have 180 and 170hp respectively but do 0-60 in 6.7s. Altimas 3.5SE usually do 6.3-6.5.
MR2 Spyders have 2 seats, a convertible top, a mid mounted engine(Next least expensive MR car is a Boxster) and no trunk(behind seat cubby and a spare tire well for storage), it's nothing but a sports car. It also weighs under 1 Metric Ton and has just 140hp but does 0-60 in 6.9-7.0. It also gets 25/30mpg.
Older affordable Maximas are pretty nice too

edot: doh, it was 451 am whne I posted it, brain fart about budget.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

You could get this sweet machine for about that much
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...Item&item=230202185574

 

[vi edit]

Used TL or G35 would be first in line for me to look at given your brief criteria.

 

[FDF12389]

Originally posted by: vi_edit
Used TL or G35 would be first in line for me to look at given your brief criteria.

I second that.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: SoundTheSurrender
What I mean with all around is a car that has the performance of a sports car but not the gas milage of one. So something with a 6 cylinder and over 250 horsepower is what I want to shoot for.

Not going to happen. Performance = fuel mileage. A Honda S2000, with its little I4, gets the same mileage as a Chevy Camaro V8. It also performs roughly the same. The only way to make power is to burn fuel. More power means more fuel burned. With a 250 horsepower car, you're looking at 18-19 mpg city and 25-27 mpg highway. Likely on premium fuel. (Yes, there will be some variance around those numbers, but not more than a couple mpg.)

250 horsepower is quite healthy and the reality of that is that it will take a corresponding amount of fuel.

ZV

 

[Brutus04]

Volvo S80

Not too crazy about the wipers on the headlights.

G35 would be a good choice too.

 

[LS21]

a used miata for fun for 8k
a used infiniti g20 for utility for 10k

 

[SithSolo1]

gl finding a used g35 for 18k unless its an '03

 

[sniperruff]

yeah a powerful car always gets poor gas mileage. if you shoot for an altima V6 then you'd get about 22mpg highway and 18mpg city.

oh, but the VQ does sound phenomenal!

 

[zerocool84]

If you look, turbo charged cars that are decently quick can get you pretty good gas mileage if you keep the car out of boost, but good luck with keeping it out of boost.

 

[Dman877]

03/04 BMW 330i/Ci. 0-60 in low 6's and mpg in mid 20's.

 

[theeedude]

Bend the power requirement a bit and get a brand new Mazda3.
It doesn't have a V6, but it's fairly light, and with 2.3L and manual tranny, it's pretty fast and reasonable on the gas. Plus handling is sublime, and the 5 door hatchback is very practical, and it looks great, to me.
Plus you get a new car with good warranty and service.

 

[T2urtle]

Originally posted by: SithSolo1
gl finding a used g35 for 18k unless its an '03

i've found plenty of g35 sedans in the chicago area. AREA is key.

i've been looking at g35x with everything but navi its a 04 models with 50-60k. sticker prices are 16-19k here, thats w/o haggle. Most likely 18k OTD can be reasonable.

Once i find a white on black leather 04 G35x i'm all over it.



yea $18k with 250hp... has to be 20mpg area. legacy GT 2005-2006 models, WRX, Most evo's now a days can be had near 21-22k if you want speed. a 350z like 03-05 models are in there. 2 seaters. 02-03 nissan maxima's are in the 10k range with 255hp solid car.

$18k is knocking on the door of a GTI 06 model it has i think 20-25 mpg. 200hp but the FSI motor has a good amount of torque in it to give you the feeling about near 250lb of tq. aleast compared to a neon.

these are all the cars i'm after. because i have 18k to play with and want the same thing. I'm leaning on the g35x because its a really nice mix of luxury options, AWD fun, speed. A fair amount of them on the road so parts are not exactly rare. Like a mr2. Car isn't exactly targeted any way, they are a little less likely to be abuse like WRX's. Owners of inifinitis might fit a upscale thing where they only get dealership maintences.( not as good as BMW/ BENZ owners are but a little more likely to be better then a honda owner)

but i'm all steoro typing here. My needs are completely diffrent from yours. I dont know where u live, what type of driving. What ur interested as and etc to give you a solid car.

 

[Zee]

slightly used accord/civic/corolla/camry.

 

[LuckyTaxi]

toyota or accord

 

[T2urtle]

a civic and corlla wont give him his 250 hp that he likes, plus those are a little higher sought after cars cause popularity and gas mileage.

a v6 accord/ camry should be in the area tho. those 2 cars are bland. gives you what you want for the price but nothing more. Nothing neat about them general car. if thats what you might be into.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: SoundTheSurrender
What I mean with all around is a car that has the performance of a sports car but not the gas milage of one. So something with a 6 cylinder and over 250 horsepower is what I want to shoot for.

Not going to happen. Performance = fuel mileage. A Honda S2000, with its little I4, gets the same mileage as a Chevy Camaro V8. It also performs roughly the same. The only way to make power is to burn fuel. More power means more fuel burned. With a 250 horsepower car, you're looking at 18-19 mpg city and 25-27 mpg highway. Likely on premium fuel. (Yes, there will be some variance around those numbers, but not more than a couple mpg.)

250 horsepower is quite healthy and the reality of that is that it will take a corresponding amount of fuel.

ZV

ZV - disabusing people of myths, one post at a time

 

[Xyclone]

This is out of your price range, but my dad bought a 2007 Camry V6 LE (new) for under $22,000. This is the cheapest V6 model in that class that I would consider buying. New Altimas and 08+ Accords are too expensive for what you are getting, IMO (especially the Altima). It's can go pretty damn fast for a Camry (fastest car in its class, I believe), and gets 26-27 mpg to boot (mostly highway). If you are buying used, I would buy the Altima, since Nissans have lower resale values than Hondas or Toyotas.

EDIT: If you can buy a used TL, go for it. The bang for your buck meter is pretty high even at sticker price (for a new car, anyways), which is somewhere around $34K.

 

[thomsbrain]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: SoundTheSurrender
What I mean with all around is a car that has the performance of a sports car but not the gas milage of one. So something with a 6 cylinder and over 250 horsepower is what I want to shoot for.

Not going to happen. Performance = fuel mileage. A Honda S2000, with its little I4, gets the same mileage as a Chevy Camaro V8. It also performs roughly the same. The only way to make power is to burn fuel. More power means more fuel burned. With a 250 horsepower car, you're looking at 18-19 mpg city and 25-27 mpg highway. Likely on premium fuel. (Yes, there will be some variance around those numbers, but not more than a couple mpg.)

250 horsepower is quite healthy and the reality of that is that it will take a corresponding amount of fuel.

ZV

Gonna have to disagree a bit on this one. I agree that making more power requires consuming more fuel, but 9 times out of 10 in the real world, you're NOT making more power, even in the engine with higher power potential.

The V6 in my Accord makes "only" 240 HP, but I get 28-30 MPG in real-world mixed driving on the recommended regular fuel. That's more than the perfect-world EPA rating of the S2000, which makes more or less the same peak power, weighs 500 pounds less, has an extra gear ratio, and has a manual instead of a slushbox. There are a lot of factors that go into gas mileage, and peak power only matters when you choose to actually utilize that power. Yeah, my mileage drops when I carve canyons and glue the throttle to the floor, but in day-to-day driving, I rarely need to use more than 1/3 throttle, and my mileage is better than my old 125 HP Accord.

Granted you're not going to find 250 HP and Prius-level fuel economy together in one car, but some V6's come REALLY close to matching the fuel economy of the wimpier 4-cylinder versions of the same cars.

 

[redgtxdi]

Originally posted by: thomsbrain

Gonna have to disagree a bit on this one. I agree that making more power requires consuming more fuel, but 9 times out of 10 in the real world, you're NOT making more power, even in the engine with higher power potential.

The V6 in my Accord makes "only" 240 HP, but I get 28-30 MPG in real-world mixed driving on the recommended regular fuel. That's more than the perfect-world EPA rating of the S2000, which makes more or less the same peak power, weighs 500 pounds less, has an extra gear ratio, and has a manual instead of a slushbox. There are a lot of factors that go into gas mileage, and peak power only matters when you choose to actually utilize that power. Yeah, my mileage drops when I carve canyons and glue the throttle to the floor, but in day-to-day driving, I rarely need to use more than 1/3 throttle, and my mileage is better than my old 125 HP Accord.

And I'm gonna have to agree to disagree w/ your #'s.

My bro-in law drives the 2003 EX V6 and I ain't gonna start a flame war, but let's just say his #'s are nowhere near yours in about 80% freeway driving.

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: thomsbrain

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: SoundTheSurrender
What I mean with all around is a car that has the performance of a sports car but not the gas milage of one. So something with a 6 cylinder and over 250 horsepower is what I want to shoot for.

Not going to happen. Performance = fuel mileage. A Honda S2000, with its little I4, gets the same mileage as a Chevy Camaro V8. It also performs roughly the same. The only way to make power is to burn fuel. More power means more fuel burned. With a 250 horsepower car, you're looking at 18-19 mpg city and 25-27 mpg highway. Likely on premium fuel. (Yes, there will be some variance around those numbers, but not more than a couple mpg.)

250 horsepower is quite healthy and the reality of that is that it will take a corresponding amount of fuel.

ZV

Gonna have to disagree a bit on this one. I agree that making more power requires consuming more fuel, but 9 times out of 10 in the real world, you're NOT making more power, even in the engine with higher power potential.

The V6 in my Accord makes "only" 240 HP, but I get 28-30 MPG in real-world mixed driving on the recommended regular fuel. That's more than the perfect-world EPA rating of the S2000, which makes more or less the same peak power, weighs 500 pounds less, has an extra gear ratio, and has a manual instead of a slushbox. There are a lot of factors that go into gas mileage, and peak power only matters when you choose to actually utilize that power. Yeah, my mileage drops when I carve canyons and glue the throttle to the floor, but in day-to-day driving, I rarely need to use more than 1/3 throttle, and my mileage is better than my old 125 HP Accord.

Granted you're not going to find 250 HP and Prius-level fuel economy together in one car, but some V6's come REALLY close to matching the fuel economy of the wimpier 4-cylinder versions of the same cars.

I rented an Avalon with 265(ish) ponies under the hood and that bloated pig pulled 29MPG on the highway at 70MPG.

My 4 speed auto(gasp!) 3.5L pushrod(double gasp!) with 217HP will pull 32MPG at 55-60MPH. Granted it's not 250HP but it's still a decent amount of displacement.

The 280HP 3.6L V6's in the new Passats are pulling high 20's in the FWD trim.

You don't *HAVE* to give up economy in a 6 cylinder, you just give it up quicker when you can't keep your foot off of the go-pedal.

 

[thedarkwolf]

Gearing plays it's part as well. My little 2300lb 100 horse at the wheels miata was rated 22/27 thanks to its 4.11 rearend. It has to have that gearing to get the car to move and the s2000 with its major lack of torque also runs a lot gear which kills its mileage. Thank fully my miata is turbo charge and puts 150 hp to the wheels now and it still gets the same mileage. The v8 camaro with its 6 speed double over drive manual trans idles down the interstate at 75mph sipping gas and can do that thanks to its massive torque. Just sucks down more gas in the city.

 

[Xyclone]

Originally posted by: thomsbrain

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: SoundTheSurrender
What I mean with all around is a car that has the performance of a sports car but not the gas milage of one. So something with a 6 cylinder and over 250 horsepower is what I want to shoot for.

Not going to happen. Performance = fuel mileage. A Honda S2000, with its little I4, gets the same mileage as a Chevy Camaro V8. It also performs roughly the same. The only way to make power is to burn fuel. More power means more fuel burned. With a 250 horsepower car, you're looking at 18-19 mpg city and 25-27 mpg highway. Likely on premium fuel. (Yes, there will be some variance around those numbers, but not more than a couple mpg.)

250 horsepower is quite healthy and the reality of that is that it will take a corresponding amount of fuel.

ZV

Gonna have to disagree a bit on this one. I agree that making more power requires consuming more fuel, but 9 times out of 10 in the real world, you're NOT making more power, even in the engine with higher power potential.

The V6 in my Accord makes "only" 240 HP, but I get 28-30 MPG in real-world mixed driving on the recommended regular fuel. That's more than the perfect-world EPA rating of the S2000, which makes more or less the same peak power, weighs 500 pounds less, has an extra gear ratio, and has a manual instead of a slushbox. There are a lot of factors that go into gas mileage, and peak power only matters when you choose to actually utilize that power. Yeah, my mileage drops when I carve canyons and glue the throttle to the floor, but in day-to-day driving, I rarely need to use more than 1/3 throttle, and my mileage is better than my old 125 HP Accord.

Granted you're not going to find 250 HP and Prius-level fuel economy together in one car, but some V6's come REALLY close to matching the fuel economy of the wimpier 4-cylinder versions of the same cars.

That mpg rating sounds a bit optimistic, since my dad's Camry is faster to 60, more powerful (HP/tq), and a bit more fuel efficient than the Accord, but he gets about 27 mpg, with pretty much all highway driving. He uses cruise control and does not drive fast (~70mph) or aggressively.

That said, I agree with the last sentence of your post. The V6 Camry is rated at 1 MPG less than the 4 cylinder. This is possible because that I-4 is underpowered for this rather large car, and the V6 is pretty damn powerful for an economy sedan (270hp), so it doesn't have to rev very high to keep up on the freeway. Btw, the I-4 Camry comes with a 5 spd auto (or manual), but the V6 comes with a more efficient 6 speed auto, leading to lower revs on the final gear for the V6.

Cliffs: If you are buying a medium to large car, and drive a lot on the highway, get a V6 over an I-4.

 

[thomsbrain]

Originally posted by: redgtxdi

Originally posted by: thomsbrain

Gonna have to disagree a bit on this one. I agree that making more power requires consuming more fuel, but 9 times out of 10 in the real world, you're NOT making more power, even in the engine with higher power potential.

The V6 in my Accord makes "only" 240 HP, but I get 28-30 MPG in real-world mixed driving on the recommended regular fuel. That's more than the perfect-world EPA rating of the S2000, which makes more or less the same peak power, weighs 500 pounds less, has an extra gear ratio, and has a manual instead of a slushbox. There are a lot of factors that go into gas mileage, and peak power only matters when you choose to actually utilize that power. Yeah, my mileage drops when I carve canyons and glue the throttle to the floor, but in day-to-day driving, I rarely need to use more than 1/3 throttle, and my mileage is better than my old 125 HP Accord.

And I'm gonna have to agree to disagree w/ your #'s.

My bro-in law drives the 2003 EX V6 and I ain't gonna start a flame war, but let's just say his #'s are nowhere near yours in about 80% freeway driving.

I couldn't say for sure why there is the discrepancy, but I calculate my mileage to the tenth on every fill-up. Also, I drive anywhere from 500-1000 miles a week, which means my car often only has one cold start per day. Cold starts KILL mileage. I keep my car in good repair, and don't leadfoot it unless I need to or I am purposely out having fun on a backroad on the weekend. My old 4-cylinder Accord got 24-25 MPG in the same conditions.

I generally drive ~80 MPH unless traffic slows me down. I drive about 25 miles each way to work, and then all around that particular metro area on streets and freeways, with occasional trips to farther destinations before heading home.