ive become very tempted to buy a 4-door, front wheel drive compact/midsize car in the near future, and im hoping that someone here can point me in the right direction to start my research. id love to find some forums for honda civics or nissan sentras that arent full of kids - basically im hoping to find a forum for these cars thats on/close to the level of maturity and knowledge of club lexus

now, before you all jump, im keeping my sc400 as a weekend/sunny day driver. what i want the 4 door for is 1) funneling around myself and my friends when we have to travel in groups 2) better traction in rain/snow (my sc4 does not have TRAC, so yea, the way it handles depends greatly on the weather, and 3) id like a cheap, fun car that is, unlike the lexus, cheap to maintain, cheap and easy to modify, and still maintain a good level of quality. im also going for a compact for the sake of having the smallest reasonable 4-door (for the sake of tight handling).

any suggestions for cars and/or forums are welcome

 

Look at neons.org it will give all the information that you need on the neon. I know that you didn't mentioned the neon but it can surprise you.

 

4 door, gas mileage, room for a few, look at a WRX, maybe used. Better than FWD, faster than almost all FWD compacts (SRT-4 is close) and used ones can be had at a good price. I'd take a subie over most nissan or honda compacts.

James

 

If you want a 4-dr compact sedan that is cheap and reliable, look into the Ford Focus or Taurus, preferably the 2001 models to keep with the modern times. I've driven both of those cars before, and they're great for both city and highway driving, and roomy enough to store cargo, etc. As far as modifications go, the Focus is right up there, but the Taurus sort of lacks in that area. It'd be interesting to see a modded Taurus though!

 

neon and focus, how could i not have thought of those?

the newer neon body style is very attractive imo, but i havent heard much about the quality of the smaller cars from ford or dodge, and the same goes for subaru. anybody have any experience owning these cars?

 

Quality for the newer Neon’s has improved over the 1st generation models a lot, but it's still not on the scale as the imports. The used neon’s price are a lot lower than the imports, for the obvious reasons. The new SRT is top dog in the neon class. Low 14 quarter mile easy and into the 13's with a good driver.

 

An older Impreza or Legacy GT (Subaru) comes to mind. Both very nice AWD, reliable, cheap cars.

If not them, then definetly Honda or Dodge.

-Anthony