i go back to my previous statement, get a corvette, or a 350z

 

My first car was a 92 Mitsubishi diamante / I was 18
2nd car was a 94 toyota celica GT / i was 19
3rd car 02 jetta 1.8t (Still have it with 90k miles on it) / I was 20 when I got it In febuary 2006 and now im about to turn 22 in a month
4th car is the RX-8 / I got it when I was 20 in august 2006 brand new

I go by the policy, your first car should be a cheap car so you can learn to drive and work your way up.

 

it's my personal opinion that new drivers shouldn't be driving high horsepower cars until they have learned how to drive low horsepower cars. You don't want to be learning the fine art of the power slide, before you learn the critical art of watching for other idiots on the road.

That said, Of the sports cars out there, an 8 will keep you out of trouble better then say a 350z due to its lack of low end torque. Less chance of punching the throttle on a curve and ending up spinning out. The 8 may be forgiving, but it will still kick your *** if you're an idiot.

I drove a 93 honda accord from when i was 17 to 21. It had 100hp on a good day. Driving that old shitbox made me a better driver.

 

w-8, i-dunno, n-gto, g-dunno, m-mustang, e-WRX, n-colbalt or srt4

 

1st car: '84 12A RX-7, 19yrs old, college loan paid for it :P

2nd car: '86 13B RX-7, 22yrs old, insurance from wrecking first car plus some extra savings paid for it

3rd car: '92 Toyota Paseo, college graduation gift (in 2001) from mom, the 86 RX-7 burned down to nothing 5 weeks after purchasing it due to previous owner's botched stereo install

4th car: '03 Protege 5, first and still only new car, bought when I got an engineering job in Michigan (sold it this past Sept to a friend when I moved back to PR)

5th car: '93 FD, bought in Texas all stock with 36k original miles, drove to Michigan and then shipped to PR. This is my current "good" car.

6th car: '95 Hyundai Accent daily driver in PR so that I don't have to dd the FD

 

1st car = 1986 mazda B2000 pick up truck. 4cyl, single cab. power NOTHING.

I honestly believe I'ma better driver for having driven such a vehicle early on in life. You have a greater understanding of what it feels like to DRIVE a car (and not have it do everything for you)

Also, you will get door dings, you will eventually curb the wheels, you'll scratch the car by not washing properly, you probably won't wax as much as you should, and you'll probably drive like you stole it. (most of us did with our 1st car)

 

yeah thats what i did... but now ima get my 8 soon

 

My 8 isn't my first car and I still do this

 

the rx8 would be alright for a first vehicle. they're more stylish than they are quick. my first car was a 94 TransAm built to 400hp. way more power than my 8.

 

Yeah, I'm changing my typical response (which is yes, go for it), to NO don't get it for all the reasons above. I teach at an academic high school where the parents call most of the shots (which I hate) and buy their kids BMW's and such. For a long time, the students have had nicer cars than the teachers. I agree that when parents do this, they rob the students of important financial/responsibility lessons we all need to learn.

My first car at 16 was a Comet GT which I totalled after 10 days. No collision, car gone. Went through a bunch of others since then but most recently MX3 GTS, Celica GTS, and now the RX8. Obviously, the 8 tops the list but it isn't the easiest to drive safely or slowly. This car cries out to be revved and driven fast, which we need to do daily or close to it. It takes a lot of common sense to know where and when to do that ... not sure the average teenager has that part of the brain intact but maybe you are different. Let's hope so.

 

oh and by the way imo RWD dynamics feel much more natural than FWD. especially when you break traction. with RWD you can still control direction (if you even have a slight clue how to drive). FWD wants to jerk the steering wheel everywhere.

 

very true, my old 626 sucked ***

 

I really believe it depends with the person, not all 16 year olds act like idots.

 

Not all 16 are idiots thats true.

but 99% of the 16 years old are too immature to drive responsibly. Why ? because they still arent afraid of death, and always have this *Will not happen to me* kind of thoughts deep in their minds.

Thats why its good to give them an old car, let them learn.

The faster car you give them, the more they will think *I am good*, the higher the chance of accident

Remember, 8 is a really fast car. Dont let the low end tq fool you.

 

Show me one who doesn't. We all act like an idiot sometimes, but they are in the higher percentile.

 

Hell,,,,,, why not a Ferrari!

My first car was a Mini 850!.. at 16.

You should be very grateful that your parents are able to buy you a new car at 16!.

Personally, too much power/speed for your age..

I should be saying what is wrong with your parents, do they want to read about you in the obituaries.

An underpowered small car is good enough for a 16 yo until you learn HOW to drive, and you do not think you KNOW it ALL...

Because YOU DO NOT....not until you are at least 40.

 

i would have guessed 97.2548%

 

just get a car you can f*ck up, it is SO much fun, seriously

 

Just get the 8. It's a fun car and slow enough to not get you into a ton of trouble, plus is a chick magnet, who DOESN'T want one of those?

 

Join the Army drive the Abrams.

 

I have to agree with you on that one!!
I am sure a 16 yr old wants to get laid a lot!!

 

go buy a dodge neon srt-4. Like most kid 16 year olds, all they care about is how fast a car goes in a straight line. I'm pretty sure you wouldn't want your friends burning you in a race then come back to this forum saying you want it to be faster and find out that you can't. Eventually you'll wanna new car since you'll get smoked by every rice rocket thats out there

 

Ok im not choosing sides or anything but im 16 (turn 17 in Feb) and I have a 3.7 GPA and I work 2 jobs (one on weekend and one on weekdays) Plus I do babysitting sometimes. So you cant say ALL teenagers are all complete idiotic morons. My parents are making me work for my car and they're only pitching in 2000. And even then its probably less because we're not exactly 'wealthy' And my dad has to get a new engine for his truck. So im working my *** off for my car, and gettin the job done in school. So just thought id point it out that not all teens should be seen as morons

 

Also I dont care about how fast im gonna go. My parents bitch me out when im goin the speed limit cause they think its to fast haha. And if I do wanna go fast as hell I know where the track is

 

Ding, ding, ding we have a winner!

When I was 16 I did a lot of dumb things but, fortunately I had a 66 VW bug that I bought and rebuild myself. This had two advantages. One, since I spent my own hard earned money and time rebuilding the car, I had a great respect for it. I knew if I wreaked it Daddy wasn't going to give me a big hug and another car. Second with only about 50 to 60 hp I wasn't going to get into a lot of trouble from speeding around, though I did my best to anyways.

Personally I could care less if your scramble your brains in a wreck because daddy got you more car then you could handle but I do worry about you or some other member of the "lucky sperm club" smashing into me or my family because daddy wanted his little pumpkin to have the best.

Earn some money, get a beater and be surprised how good it feels to accurately earn something in your life.