What is a good fairly fast car that is cheap?

the cruise is a good one and if ta like ford get another focus or vw golfs are nice to dub out

I like ten speed answer... you could get a 2002 / 2005 Mustang GT V8 for around 6 - 8k

mustang GTs are rear wheel drive. If thats not a deal breaker, keep it in consideration, If all wheel drive or front wheel drive is a must I would look at an Impreza wrx or wrx sti, a mitsubishi lancer evo, audi s4, infiniti g35x , mazda speed3, mini cooper s, chevy cobalt ss. There are lots of choices so it just depends on what exactly you want to get out of it. are you going for speed+ a little status? Easy to modify? cheap to maintain? all these criteria will make a difference when shopping for a quick car that can handle some snow

Get a dodge neon srt4 man its a very good reliable car and probably the fastest funnest car for right around 10k its an awesome car and i would recommend it to anyone who likes power and if you want to save gas it gets 30mgp on highway if you can keep your foot out of the pedal. :) good luck

chevy hhr

I will never understand why people refuse to drive rear wheel drive cars in the winter. I live in Southern Ontario, and have friends in Northern Ontario. I drive through the snow-belt regularly. 10 or 15 inches of snow is not unusual. I only drive rear wheel drive, and I don't get stuck. If the roads are open, away I go. The trick is to have really good snow tires and to learn how to drive. Remember, too, front wheel drive and all wheel drive do nothing at all when it comes to stopping and turning. If the roads are bad enough my rear wheel drive can't get moving, then they are bad enough you cannot stop safely. That said, it depends on how big a vehicle you want, and how much performance you want, and how old you are willing to go. One of my favorite winter cars was my 89 Mercury Grand Marquis, but it had the 351HO under the hood, not the very anemic 302. It also had the towing package so it would go around corners with a Camaro. Depends on what you want and how you like to drive.

Michael, I have a friend who lives in Ontario and he tells me about your winters and they sound tuff at best. But you know, to answer your question about FWD v. RWD and snow, one advantage FWD has over RWD is the weight over the tires, ie: engine. But then again, as you mentioned, frankly none of anything matters if you don't know how to drive any kind of car and especially in snow. I also, and the reason I am answering you specifically, has to do with that fantastic answer you gave about the Galaxie and Fairlane or Comet can't recall exactly but I was surprised at your answer, that was a great and perfect answer. The difference between you and some others is your driving skill and Knowledge, period.

Ilregal: Thank you. I still say that front wheel drive may GET you going a bit easier because of the weight over the front wheels. However, once you are going, the extreme unbalance of the car can easily play against you. All wheel drive is even worse. It is very easy to overdrive your traction. In rear wheel drive, you will feel the back end getting light before you are in trouble, and can slow down appropriately. These part time systems based on a front wheel drive platform are the very worst. No matter which end is sliding, the last thing you want is to add power to the rear wheels, and that is exactly what they do. I'll take my 78 Grand Marquis, on good snow tires, anywhere you care to go in your what ever, and I'll be happy to haul you out of the ditch when you run into problems.

Hey Pal, that sounds like a really good time, really, I've raced all my life and I would love it. Like I was saying it's who knows how to drive and who doesn't, FWD, AWD or RWD no matter, racing is racing and the offer to pull me out of the ditch is greatly appreciated as I would do the same for you, that's just sportsman ship. You Canadians are great, that's if i got your local right. My only point in butting into that conversation was really not to talk what's what about FWD V RWD as I guess I could look at what the WRC drivers run, which is FWD, but the reason I butted in deliberately is, your answer on the Fords, just really liked your answer so that must mean that I like you... your a smart guy and I couldn't have answered that question myself and I just got done with a total restoration of a Galaxie, but that question caused me to pause a bit and go do some digging through the books to verify that indeed I believe your answer was dead on, and now I can't even remember what the heck the question was...LOL.. but if you lived closer, I'd take you up on the race any day and I know some great mountain roads, lots of snow, mud and all, really fun as long as you don't go in the ditch as the bottom of the ditch in most places is about 2-3 hundred ft. down. And to be honest, as much as I would try, I don't think what ever I brought to the race I'd be able to pull you out and beside if it came to that, why would I want to... I don't want to see you all smashed to pieces, I'll just drive faster and get help,,,, LOL .... OK Michael,,,, really though I just loved your answer and I am retired professional driver for GM, my career came to a near disastrous end, but I can still race, some. Gave it a go this weekend with a group B race and though technically diasabled from a crash, I realized real quick, that even having possible the fastest car, I don't have the necessary upper body strength anymore, it's not like your running power steering, so it didn't go well and it was my 57th BD to boot, so actually a bummer, Hate getting old, Racing is and driving is an innate ability for me anyhow, and like I also said , I doesn't really matter, and you basically said it also, what they are driving, if they have no clue, well might not want to try driving in places that you don't know how to handle your car, so, as I am lonnggggg winded, but I fully agree with you bro... seriously... still would race though and race anything, racing is racing hell I'll race lawnmowers, snow blowers, cardboard boxes, I don't care, I just want to win...LOL Your a great guy !! Bye the way, driving FWD in itself is way different than driving RWD period. The physics are completely different. Like FWD you don't always turn into the way your rear is sliding, you turn the opposite and accelerate more or less dragging that rear end around, racing FWD you had better know what your doing. Especially in high torque cars, ie: supercharged as you'll find yourself wrecked quick. I am willing to agree that a RWD platform is a more logical and more manageable platform. If it wasn't and there was an advantage to the FWD over RWD then all the NASCAR guys etc. would be using that FWD platform. Rally drivers, WTC drivers (World Touring) though are currently experimenting with the FWD and AWD but mostly the FWD and mostly for their own preferences and some other certain but hard to explain in this long ass dissertation. I personally love racing FWD, but it is a completely different animal and you need to know what your doing. One funny thing I noticed when I took a young guy I been helping out, to get his first drivers license, was that the Dept. of Motor vehicles is handing out learners manuals that are still locked into the seventies when everything was RWD, and what they were saying to do with the vehicle, such as my mention of turning into your slide, is completely wrong and again in some instances. But being the only reason that FWD is what it is frankly is due to the cheaper manufacturer cost and nothing really to do with safety or being just better, just cheaper to build, and I know you know that, I just love all cars. But thanks bro for the conversation,,,, and I did love that Ford answer as it made me get up and do some research, just to see if you were right and you were IMHO...

I also like Tenspeed advise of a Subaru Impreza WRX/STi that's a great car on so many different levels and so much you can do with it. Aftermarket for that car is fantastic, leaving a lot of room for improvement. plus dependable.

The problem with Subaru is that they are not the cars they were 20 years ago. Head gasket failure is too common on them, to the point Subaru has offered an extended warranty on the head gaskets. Wheel bearing failures are also quite common, and often at unconscionably low mileage. And Ilregal, I wasn't suggesting a race. Somehow I don't think Bertha is much of a racer. Just a comfortable cruiser. Or at least will be once her new 400 is installed. And I get the overdrive automatic put in, along with the dual exhaust. My goal is a 5,000 pound luxo-barge with a 6.6 litre engine that returns 40 miles to the Imperial gallon, or about 35 to the U.S. It is doable and for under $10,000 including buying the car.

Well you better get a hold of me when it's done as I'd love to see it. Those old cars are the best and I too just love em. hell you can put a hot tub in the back, so many things you could do. Great cruisers, I have had my sure of them.