what car to upgrade too...?

ive got a d16y1 civic at the moment which i will be replacing in january.. the only problem is, i cant decide which car to upgrade to..

i know this is a honda forum, but im stuck between a few cars here.. SO... no bias please.. only honest opinions :D

okay so ive narrowed it down to a few cars...
- DC2R
- DC5R
- EK9
- EVO V
- STI up to 2002

ive done a fair bit of research on all cars, but i cant decide.. all have their pros and cons.
i want something fast and rare, with decent interior. i opted for turbo because imo it has much more potential then N/A but i cant leave the sound of vtec behind.. so im kinda stuck loll

have you guys had/do have any of these cars. i know the hondas are common on here, but the evo and sti? would you recommend them over the hondas? why?

also, would the ek9 dissapoint me? i drove my mates dc2r and the power compared to the d16y1 left me speechless.. i know the b16b is is less powerfull compared to the b18c7, i just really dont have a feel for the engine as ive never owned or been in one..

feel free to suggest a car in that price range for me guys..

thanks

i guess the real question is what do u wanna do with it? each car u mention has their own personality, traits and purpose..... if it was me, id go evo 5, simple as theres not much around an it stand out more from the import crowd over the wrx, but given the age, than its either the wrx or dc5r

bang for buck, neither cars are cheap to mod, lol, but for power to, $$$ turbo all the way

parts are plentiful for all models mentioned, just need the dough to mod em well

i have driven most of the cars in the line up and i would say the best value for money would be an STI
it will respond to mods the best, its still fun to work on and cleans up nice - and its the most fun all rounder to drive
a nice simple power build would be:
- process west top mount intercooler
- process west CAI
- xforce catback
- powerFC + tune

if you can get either a 2000 or a 2002 for around 20k$ that hasnt been modded or thrashed to the dog house than you will be very happy

or you can get a much newer model WRX (2005 go for like $20k now days) and probably get more out of it for the same money

either way DONT buy a 2001, or a 1998 model WRX ... they arnt as good
trust me when i say that subaru changed them a little bit each year including engine, gearbox and electronics

but on the other hand if you want a slightly nicer interior, want a coupe and love the N/A scream (and who doesnt) and are prepared to get lower numbers/power for the same amount of money thrown in than go the Dc5R
hell you can even get S2k at a good price now days

for the kind of car you want i would also consider the BMW 325i/ci and the Alpha Romeo 156 GTA

id go for the evo man. looks better, drive better.

EVO if you can afford it. If you're staying with Honda then I'd get anything with a DOHC VTEC B-series engine, depending on what style of car you like.

hmmm... ive heard from a few places that sti's can prduce good power up to a certain point, but then to exceed that point and produce a few more kw, its really hard? i think it was around the 300hp range? not too sure.. anyone heard anything like this?

i want something powerful as we all do, but i cant stand losing to a v8 at the lights! i want a v8 killer hahah.. im leaning towards the evo, but i dont know if i will be able to afford maintenance on a turbo.. i know theyre not as reliable as N/A, but in general how often do turbo cars cause major problems, can they be pushed as hard as the b18c7?

i was considering a s2k but where im from, theyre just too common. everyone on their ps has one and quite honestly, even though they are a beautiful car, im sick of them. and i want to stay away from european and muscle as much as possible, jap for me :D

thanks for the input guys.

evo's/sti all run high boost from the factory, around 15-20 psi, or so, cant remember... 300hp@flwheel is the basic power levels for these cars, average is 230-300kw nowadays... modifiyed ofcourse lol... all this talk of maintenance of turbos is utter bull shit... those who speak of this are idiots an have never owned one before... its essentially the same with ur car now, just use very good oils/fluids, an regular oil service an thats it, if u can afford these cars, u can afford the oils/fluids to keep em alive, dont be stupid with em... burnouts etc etc, especially over boosting them, know ur limits with all cars

Also consider a Rx7 and nissan skyline R33 gtr at this price tag as well, the best well balanced jdm import money can buy, but again extra TLC is required for these babies

And also, if wining against V8s on the streets is ur goal, look else where my friend, these cars aint used as street toys, but more so track toys :)

I strongly suggest rethinking ur attitude about street racing, many condone it, same as me, so please keep racing to the tracks... and plus u wont have to put up with courts and impound if u get caught if done on the track

Very easy to make power from an EVO, especially the newer models which come with Bilstein suspension and tunable ECU as standard.

Most people with older EVOs tend to just upgrade the turbo to the new EVO turbo and they make easy power.

then again, all comes down to your budget. how much are you willing to spend?

my budget is about 20k. at this point, im leaning more towards the sti and evo.. gna go for a test drive in both very soon, ill see how it goes. i dont encourage street racing at all, but theres no point denying the fact that we all get G'd up every once in a while. but yeah, definately best to keep the racing on the track.

mate ive driven my mechanics evo 9 and i loved it! if only i wasnt on my ps id snapped onto an evo and sell my ep3. I dont like the gearbox of an sti seems stiffer when i test drove my friends 06sti compared to the evo.

freaking rta and government restricting boosted cars... its only the holdens and fords that end up around poles and knocking down trees.

move to WA - no restriction lol

ill admit - the subaru's gearbox is the weak link