My vote - Saab 9-2X with a USDM STI swap!!!

speed6 is nice, it is a 4 cyl, 2.3 lt Direct injection turbo car with intercooler AWD and 6 speed, magazines refer to it as a WRX for adults.

Geekboy is the winner, i forgot about the 92x
freakin BRILLIANT!

To be honest just get something that is nice, luxuriz, and a really big gas saver.
You might have all that power with a acura, or a lexus but you have to remember that gas prices will eat you up unless your just some rich bastard. Anways look into a Subaru Legacy GT. Its got that extra bump for power, 4 doors, AWD, Leather optional, and so much more tat you could ask for. Best of all its under $30K.

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I love the 274hp and 280ft lb of torque this this has. That's nice. It's a little ricy for my tastes. Ricy isn't the best term, and I don't like using it, but I don't know how else to explain that styling aspect.

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I'm going to have to say, it's a toss up between this and a turboed BMW M3 4 door. The reason I am leaning tword M3 is because I know there's a big aftermarket for it and I know there's tons of help on how to build it. What's this STI swap? Are you talking about putting a 2.5 turbo Subaru engine in there? I've never been a big Saab fan because, well, I never thought they made anything any good. But I guess I was wrong. If you're talking about putting a Subaru engine in, I know the potential is very high, but what if not? What could I expect to get out of this thing?

Thanks for the input everyone.

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I grew up in a house were we never had a lot of money and so did my girlfriend. We were not rich kids bought up with silver spoons in our mouths. Everything I have, and everything I will have, I've work for. Honestly, I don't care too much for money as long as I have enough to live. My girlfriend wants to be a doctor because it's just what she wants. She would do it no matter what the money. I want to because I want my kids to have all the things I didn't. I don't think there's anything wrong with having money as long as you earned it. So I don't think I'll ever be rich bastard. But that's just my opinion.

First off, Saab makes good cars, problem is they are FWD. Check out a 9-5 Aero, 2.3 lt turbo 250 hp with an overboost ecu control that exceeds that for short periods. Reliability is good, not toyota great, but good. Styling is another story, some people like it, most hate it.

back to the 9-2X:
The 9-2X is a facelifted subaru imprezza. Different front, rear and interior. It came with either the 2.5lt na or the 2.0 lt trubo out of the WRX. If you have read up on Subaru swaps, all of the drivetrains are compatable. You could swap in a WRX STi engine, trans, diffs and ecu. Now the swap would be expensive (all scooby swaps are).

non turbo cars run less than 20k used, the swap would be big coin, but you should be able to get it done within your budget. If you are interested check out:

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=386462

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I'm checking them out, and I've got to be honest, I've got the goose bumps. This car is beautiful for me. Very simple looking style. Not many are going to know what it is. Nice and eligant. And very high potential.

This thread is pie in the sky and I have $100 bet that says a $50,000 car project by the bull dog will not happen in the next half decade. No offense, of course. Just gotta call out the BS when I see it.

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Honestly, I'm surprised you're the first. Not surprised at you of course, just the fact that it took so long for someone to call BS on me. No one has to believe me, that's okay. But if you don't want to believe me, just think of it as a hypothetical thing. If you had at top limit of $50K and my tastes, what would you do? I may be over optimistic on how soon I'll have the cash for this. With getting married and buying a house, I'm sure my cash supply will not be overwelming. As well as I don't think I'll jump strate out of college to make a ton. I'm just doing the research right now anyway. But Jay, maybe we can trade info and make this bet offical that I won't start this project in under 10 years. I'm willing to take this bet, just for the fun of it, of course.

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Nice civil reply. You have come a long way with your temper. Nah, I don't want to take the 10 year bet. Actually, I hope you have enough money to do the project well before that. You are obvious a hard core car enthusiast and I respect that and hope your plans come together.

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Bah, I was thinking IS300 - 2JZ-GTE swap. My mistake.

Heres that article, anyway. It's pretty cool, I'm sure a gear-head like you would enjoy it.
http://www.turbomagazine.com/features/0312tur_is300/

that is one of few GTE swaps.
is300.net is now my.is or something like that, but if you go there there's prob tons of info on the swap.

it is feasible on both the SCs, ISs, GSs...pretty much anything that had a "300" after it because it most likely used the 2jz-ge engine.
and if it were not vvt-i the only difference b/t it and the gte block is oil-squirters and headgasket thickness(some say there's a little dent or something on the gte pistons).
all of them would be hard, but the GS might be easiest...i believe that's the Aristo...right?

I'm still looking at these Saab 92x's. Is there any difference in them and WRX's except the front and tails? The problem is, the more I look at them, the more I just want to get an STi. I wonder if it would be easier to turn an STi into a 92x or a 92x into an STi?

i believe the 92X IS a WRX Chassis, engine and Tranny.
suspension, and body may vary.
i didn't get the greatest article on it as it was Autoweek just saying how Saab was abusing their powers of being w/ Subaru

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Yeah, steeling everything except a front bumper is kind of abusive. But that's what Dodge did with Misubishi with the DSM's. And GM did with all the Geo's. I'd like to just get the front bumper of a 92x and put it on an STi. And remove the Sti badges and put on Saab ones. That way, I won't have to swap in a 2.5 into the Saab. But if I plan on working the whole car over, there's not much of a point in getting the upgrades things that come with the STi except the engine. Now, I'm tworn on this. I'll probably just get a 92x and build it. Because there's some guys out there with the 2.0 that are turning some really nice numbers.

uhhhh, he said 92-x for a reason
you said luxury
the 92-x is slower than the wrx i'm guessing due to weight w/ all the fancy gismos it has.

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I don't really need luxury, I just want the car to look nice and classy. As long as it's got a fair amount of things, like power windows and what not. I've driven some pretty crappy cars in my day, so it doesn't take much for me to call something luxury. My girlfriend and I were talking the other night, and we're both kind of afraid to get cars that are really flashy. Everyone knows when you see a nice car, you think, "rich jerk." We don't want people hating us just because we've got nice cars. But at the same time we don't want to look embarrased at work around other doctors because we drive not so nice cars. And, if we've got the money, why not enjoy it and have something fun to drive? I'll probably just the the Saab. That's the plan as of now. It'll be nice for me getting started, and once my bills are payed, I'll have a nice platform to build on.

screw what other people think
do what you want. Be proud of what you've worked for, not ashamed.
there's educational opportunities for everyone out there, it's their choice if they use em or not.(i know having a 80K deficit isn't a dream)

just get the New 630i coupes, my god they are ****in sexy