I'd argue that AWD is fine too, especially if rear biased. Any AWD AUDI or VW with the 1.7t or 2.7tt is pretty cheap- even the 3.0 turbo diesel is very tunable and sold w/ AWD. Mercedes and BMW both make RWD 4 cylinder turbos, modification abilities vary.

Personally, I think the best value in a RWD sports car is a first gen Porsche Boxster, and that is what I currently daily drive- you can get a nice used one under $10k, with the IMS bearing already upgraded. However, it's normally aspirated and not really tunable without swapping out the engine- however IMO it hardly needs more power- it will keep up on a track with many vehicles twice as powerful.

Old RWD turbo volvos are also underrated, you can tune a lot of power out of them for fairly cheap.

An unexpected thing for a lot of people is that diesels are often some of the most tunable engines- people get a lot of power out of German diesels. Because they don't have predetonation issues they can be a lot more reliable and cheaper to tune.

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willis936 10 months ago | parent [-]

I came dangerously close to buying a boxster this Fall for $6k. It had a blown engine and I decided I can't have a project like that unless I first own land.

The boxsters are awesome, but that mid engine looks really annoying to access. Have you done any engine or transmission work on yours? If so, how was it? Do you need a garage with a lift?

Also, soft tops are a no-go for winter daily. If I got a convertible I'd need to get a hard top (which is an option, but it's more money for more comprimises). The most modestly priced caymans are appreciably higher than boxsters. A used cayman and a new gr86 are strong competitors.

	▲	UniverseHacker 10 months ago \| parent [-]
		I live in a warm area and just leave the top down year round… but the 03+ soft top with multiple layers and glass window is quite good in any weather- but you can get a good hard top for 2-3k. It’s a better deal to buy one already with it. I was concerned about the engine access but it’s really no big deal- takes a few minutes to open up, but you can check all the fluids without doing so. Mine is a manual and I did drop the transmission and replaced the clutch in the garage, just with jack stands and a regular hydraulic jack. It has been a reliable car and hasn’t needed much. And it’s amazingly fun- really I couldn’t imagine a car being more fun to drive.