by Shawn Dennison

Created on: May 18, 2008

The question that has plagued young, not-so-wealthy car nuts for generations. How do you buy a faster car than the jerk who stole your girlfriend while working at Mickey D's. When working with limited funds there are a couple of ways to go.

If you have by some chance managed to build some credit and have a little bit of a down payment there's a couple of options from the domestic market. Ford offers the entry level V-6 powered Mustang that once you learn to tolerate the laughter of GT owners will give you decent boom for your peso. A brand spanking new version usually runs less than $20000 and with 210-hp(90 less than the GT) it manages to hold it's own on the street pretty well.

Next up from Chevy comes the still in diapers Cobalt SS coupe sporting a 260-hp supercharged 2.0 liter I-4 that gives a little different feel than the Mustang with a high redline and a narrow torque band. This car definitely feels more like a high strung street burner from the far east than a baby muscle car hailing from Detroit. Prices edge just past the Mustang at around 23,000 nicely polished.

The final car or cars from the big three is the SRT lineup from Chrysler touting several models in SRT trim including the Nitro, Caliber and Avenger. All offer good performance in the mid 20 grand range. Gone from the lineup is the venerable SRT-4 Neon which seemed to fit into the market a little better against the Cobalt and Mustang but Chrysler's willingness to take chances looks to be paying off.

The land of the rising sun seems to have figured out years ago that performance can come from the most modest of packages. Many options are available in $20,00 to $30,000 dollar range. Lets start with the cheapest examples such as the Civic Si, Altima SE-R, Subaru WRX, and the Mazda RX-8. All give a great seat of the pants quickness with sufficient handling and comfort.

The major advantage in this particular demographic goes to the Japanese cars that will cost you closer to $30,000 or maybe just beyond. The first example that comes to mind is the legendary rally monster the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. With 280+ horses, AWD and Brembo brakes it rivals performance numbers normally reserved for cars costing 2-3 times more.

Very similar and just as vaunted the Subaru STI sports much the same equipment and performance stats as the Evo. This car has one distinct characteristic that sets it apart with its horizontally opposed boxer engine that produces a sound that instantly induces either love or hate depending

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