Can I have it all in one car?

[ballmode]

I just saw a white E46 m3 in the parking lot of this hotel I'm in...

but I bet when its floored side by side a brand new V6 mustang it barely pulls away...

 

[Throckmorton]

Buy a Mustang

 

[Kroze]

Lightweight, powerful, easy to fix/maintain yourself, relatively affordable, and reliable as well as practical as in carrying at least 2 people with luggage for a weekend trip?


Seems I am reaching for the stars

Only examples I can think of is maybe Z cars and C5/C6 vettes

BRZ seems to fit the bill. Other than being powerful, it have everything you wanted.

the mustang weigh almost 800lbs more than the BRZ btw.

 

[Atty]

You'll have space for 2 teacup dogs in the back "seat," and the trunk has room for 2 tennis balls.

Yeah... >_>

 

[exar333]

BRZ seems to fit the bill. Other than being powerful, it have everything you wanted.

the mustang weigh almost 800lbs more than the BRZ btw.

Also has 2-3x the power/tq.

 

[JCH13]

Turbo a Miata.

Or supercharge an NC Miata.

NA/NB Miatas are easy to work on, weigh about 2,100lbs-2,500lbs, has almost 170,000 miles on the engine (last one had 210,000+, burned no oil, and acted like it was new). Trunk space is fine for a weekend trip, and a rear deck cargo rack will expand the cargo space further. Insurance for mine as a second car is around $16/mo for comprehensive coverage, gets about 26-30mpg depending on how much fun I'm having with the turbo. Engines don't come much more reliable than the B6 and B8 Miata engines, 250k miles is common-place.

FM or other turbo kits will get you comfortably into the 230-250whp range with an OTS kit. Because the B6/B8 is based on a turbo engine to begin with, it's quite reliable.

New and used parts are relatively inexpensive because around 500,000 NA/NB Miatas were made and they share many of the same parts. It even shares parts with the RX7.

There are even OTS kits for V8 conversions if you want a 300-400hp Miata.