Need help with first car

[GTi]

Hey guys! As you can see, I’m new to the forums, but not new around cars at all. My parents were once part of the tuning culture and have given me the option to choose my first car to be used as a daily (either brand new or second hand) but, having a share of the payment

I’ve been trying to look for a good first car, and I’ve so far concluded that any car I should get should be Japanese (cheap parts and maintenance, and more fuel efficient). Also, I don’t fancy the overly common cars on the road (especially the 90s civics and the corollas) but I do respect them for their reliability and cheap aftermarket parts, and in fact I’ve driven an EG6, and it feels great.

So far I fancy those cars that do stand out and look sporty, and actually dreamed to have a Fox body Mustang(this isn’t really a reasonable choice though) and through research I’ve concluded that the WRX suits me(from any generation), although with its own drawbacks, as it’s much more expensive, but I think the cost is worth.

Although I'd really prefer fun to drive cars, just not the civics though, sorry
Also have a flexible budget, as long as it's a reasonable first car

Tldr;
1. Japanese cars
2. Preferably the less common cars (although more expensive parts)
3. Sporty look and feel
4. Ease of Maintenance (especially not BMW-level expenses)
5. Less prioritized, but good fuel economy as well
6. Planning to own this for 4-5 years sa college, not sure after though

Any thoughts? And could anyone recommend other cars I should look into? Either Brand new or Second Hand(tuner cars)

Thanks in advance.

Oh how I love your dilemma. [emoji28]

Are you only looking for a sedan? I suppose among the mainstream compacts, the easiest to tune would be the ubiquitous Civic. FD's are getting down to just 200+k nowadays, and the drivetrain is known to be able to take loads of power even with stock internals.

Less common and still sporty would probably have to go to the Mazda 3. Not the best in power, but definitely well designed and built.

Or, you can go for a diesel PPV. Reflash is all the rage lately, and just a 25k tune will get you as many horses as a turbo kit in some normally aspirated, gasoline applications.

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