Hey, im 15 years old and im itchy to drive. (but i am not one of those people who think they are the shit cause they found out what nos was in the fast and the furious) I've been into cars for about a year now and i've been shopping around for what seems to be the best deal. I was looking at Integras. And i would prolly end up getting a 97 gs-r. I asked my friend about mileage and he said that for an import 50 or 60k miles for a 97 would be okay to buy. But because i am new at this i was wondering if you guys could tell me if im making the right descision or anything of that sort.

Mark,

I'd be the first to admit that when it comes to shopping for imports, there are any number of people on this site that are better qualified to offer advice. Hopefully one of them will.
What I can tell you applies to all cars,regardless of make, model or country of origin. Buying your first car is the kind of experience that shouldn't be diluted with questions like "What's the best gas mileage I can find." I've never had the heart to actually figure it out, but I'd be shocked if I'm into double digits with my car's mileage. The important thing is, even if I'm only getting nine miles to the gallon, those nine miles for me are a hell of a lot more fun than the guy in the Ford Windstar who's pulling down 28.
When you get to the point of actually laying down money for your ride, don't cheat your ambition to save your walllet. It's almost a rite of passage that your first car pretty much breaks you financially. What you don't spend on gas you'll spend on polishes, detailing supplies, engine mods, tabs, insurance... ahem.. speeding tickets...:)
This is my point. You'll have the rest of your life to own cars that get you from point A to point B, and not much else. But there's only one "first car". Make sure that you're not paying more than the car is worth, but don't walk away from something you truly want because you don't think you'll be able to afford it down the road. Speaking from experience, taking a second job is worth being able to look at a car you've owned for more than two years, and still not be able to help grinning like an idiot when you realize it's YOUR car.
Whether you buy an Integra or an Impala, it's you buying it, it's you taking care of it, and it's you that will take the pride in and experience the joy of owning it. That isn't the kind of feeling you want to be second-guessing.

Good luck
Scott

scott,

ain't that the DAMN truth! your first car should break your bank account. not only that, but new drivers don't put too much mileage on their cars (generally).

now my .02 cents (as always):

don't buy a damn gs-r! if you want a fast car, go buy a regular honda and drop an oversized engine in it. learn all of your auto knowledge up front, you'll save more money that way than finding a car that gets good mileage. then, you'll get good mileage while you build the engine for the car (the big one, prior to the conversion).

also, buying a special model like a gs-r not only comes with a big initial pricetag, but almost guaranteeably comes with the fact that the car has been driven HARD. why start out with a car you KNOW someone has beat the shit out of (even if it's not visible damage)?

it's like buying a buick grand national. you're guaranteed people have lead-footed the thing for years. you get what you paid for.

NOW, if you really want to be creative, why not buy an old early '70's two door volvo, and drop a turbocharged vortech v6 into it? the volvo rear axle will handle a lot of power, the 4.6 (i think that's the displacement) liter vortech v6 is a healthy little motor, turbo on a stock used fuel injected engine would be probably around $3000, add a tranny at $500 for used, and you'd be hauling balls.

and before you say anything, volvo's kick ass. ok, here i go showing my 'i may own american iron, but i'm a crazy oddball euro import fan to the core' side.

go to www.turbobricks.com and see what those crazy guys have done to their cars. they put vette engines in them, gargantuan turbos with 6:1 static compression and a cam that revs to 11,000 rpm on a stock bottom end, you name it.

my idea is just an example, but it's a good example of a car you could spend, say $500 for, and run into the ground while you build the conversion engine in your garage. in the end, you have a fast unique car on the cheap. i have a million and five other examples of this.

read my 'no creativity in the import scene' post. two of my favorite often done conversions that are cheap and very reliable are the following:

Mini Cooper with honda vtec engine/trans
mgb or triumph spitfire with rotary mazda engine

small cars, good looking, plenty of performance parts cheap for the conversion engines...

not only that, you're FIFTEEN! you have plenty of time to plan out a good strategy, search for just the right car and make all of this come together. if you were so inclined, you could go take auto shop and build your conversion engine BEFORE buying the car or even turning 16. depends on your level of ambition...

and yes, i'd guess a mini cooper with a 2.2l dohc prelude motor would run a very fast quartermile. and handle like jesus riding a lightning bolt.

jason

oh, one more note, if you buy a cheap pos car and build an engine for it, you'll take it easy on the thing and learn how to drive it because you have already put so much time in it.

i built a mild '72 bmw 2002 for my soon to be brother in law (17 now, got the car when he was 16). stock cam, smaller than stock combustion chamber late model head, weber 32/36 downdraft, four speed w/ short shift. he wrecked it in 6 months. in the rain. being a dumbass. got to give up his class trip to europe to get it fixed.

point is, you HAVE GOT TO FUCKING LEARN HOW TO DRIVE WHAT YOU OWN. that sounds so simple, and it is, but some kids never do it, they learn the hard way. shit, most kids. i was one of them.

best place to learn how your car behaves is at an scca sanctioned autocross. little tight cornered track on a tarmac made up of cones. you go sideways, you hit a cone, no big deal. at the very least you learn how your car behaves in a semi-controlled environment with lots of room to get out of control and learn how to pull it back into control. not only that, you quickly learn the limits of your car and how it behaves when it breaks traction.

VERY IMPORTANT. don't just say, 'yeah, good idea.' DO IT!

i've said this to my fiancee's brother about 100 times. how many hours has he worked on the car (nearly 50 at this point), how many minutes has spent at the autocross on saturday's (zero).

jason

thanks for the help guys, i thought that mileage was a big issue...but i guess i should do further research because it is my first car!!

the thing is tho i wanted the gs-r because it comes stock with a vtec, but could i just buy a regular honda and drop a vtec in there? and how much would that cost, upper 6k range?

here's the price breakdwon for one of those conversions i was showing you. add the price of a regular honda in if you don't like mini coopers:

mini cooper rolling chassis all there, no engine, no trans:
$2000
honda 2.2lvtec prelude motor with 5 speed manual swap package, accessories, shift linkage and motor mounts
$3500 (from H&A Recycling 800.999.9499)
conversion pieces (custom for the mini) price (high estimate):
$600

you're right on the money with a $2000 donor car for a regular honda i think you could probably just drop it in (maybe $200 in fabrication costs.

why not be unique though? plenty of people do that vtec into a different honda swap. try something different that has been done, but not too often! ;-)

jason

yea that'd be cool if i could do somthing that no one has done before...i wouldnt go for mini coopers, i dont really like them. Because it is my first car, i want it to look how i want it....and race how i want it. I was looking at civics and stuff, and mitsu eclipses. But everyone up here is getting a BLACK civic, or a GREEN eclipse (wow waddya know) so im one of the only kids who knows at least some shit up here about cars. So being unique would be alot easier for me up here in CNY.

your prolly wondering why the hell im at this site cause i live in new york..but i wanted to know from people who know what they are talking about...not jsut some fag senior in highschool up here who sais "put nos in it"

hmmm. so if you don't want to be like the jerk offs in their civics and eclipses, why not buy a different kind of car. datsun 510's are pretty sick. widebody kits for them are cheap and they'd outhandle a civic any day. and it's rear wheel drive.

by the way, the integra is a civic.

but if you've got in mind what you want, i understand. i just think it's probably the same hokey look that all the kids go for these days. be unique if you do the same look as everyone else. make it beige with hella clean lines and no gaudy bodykit, llowered with real nice rims and tires, hood pins, just damn clean looking. most ricer cars look really cluttered.

want to buy my bmw coupe? it would keep up with a gsr as it runs right now, no problem. and over 115 with the five speed, it would spank a gsr. with a body kit, it'd look like this:

http://www.orionoutdoor.com/~jason/73_3_race.jpg

there's an ad in the classifieds that tells everything that comes with it. hope you have a big fuckin garage. ;-)

jason

sorry, that link is:

http://www.orionoutdoor.com/~jason/race_73_3.jpg

jason

yea i knew that integras were civics, i was talking about body style...and i dont think im gonna get a gs-r anymore, because its like 15k for a used 97, your seeling ur bmw? that thing is tight!

yeah, the car, two engines (plus the one in the car), a four and a five speed spare trans, short shift linkage, short throw clutch linkage, a couple clutches and flywheels, a box of relays and switches (they're like 30 bucks each new), all kinds of goodies. go look at the classifieds.

i'd still sell it, but i had said iwas going to keep it. you know, if the price is right.

and yeah, those gs-r's cost BUCKS!!! for that kind of money you could build a number of nice cars that got out of their own way just fine and handled just as well as a gsr. the gsr is expensive because it's rare and it's a production automobile that has some notariety.

jason

yea, i looked at datsuns but they dont really appeal to me....Should i stick with coupes, or could i get a sedan....i know it wont be as fast or light as a coupe but...looking for opinions here

i dunno, it's up to you. a sedan is pretty cool in high school. carries more people...and that's certainly important!

i'm pretty opinionated in my views of what looks good and what looks like a cookie cutter 'designed by maytag' plastic deathtrap, so i might not be the best person to be asking about this...

you like the old bmw 2002 models? they're fast.

jason