Buying a car for college?

[KPWSerpiente]

If you want max bang for your small import buck why not pick up an older ‘90/’91 Eagle Talon TSI AWD or an Eclipse? The turbos can easily be bumped from 7 to about 11psi

Sorry for jumping on this late...I didn't realize a discussion about whether or not a Civic SI would make a good daily driver would turn into such an arguement.

I actually started to write up a response to this thread when it was first put up with my recomendation for a 90-94 AWD Eclipse/Talon/Laser, but they don't really meet his requirement of being able to fit people in the back, and some will argue about reliability (mostly those who buy a decade old car with 150,000 miles on it and then proceed to beat the crap out of it) Besides, once he went turbo + AWD he would have sold the mustang to feed his boost addiction.

And just to throw it out for you....stock boost levels on a 1st gen already around 11 psi, the stock turbocharger on manual cars (14b) has gotten two into the 11's and dozens into the 12's. But most upgrade to something larger before maxing it out.

I would think a 2.5 RS would be an excellent choice, holds many people with ease, plenty of cargo space, AWD for driving around here in the snow, and it will get good gas mileage. I just don't know where you'll be able to buy one around here.

-T