What import tuner car should I buy?

I have a sick love for the Supra, but Skylines are awesome too. I can't fit in a Honda S2000, and I think an Integra Type R is not powerful enough for my taste. I have a budget of about $50,000 plus extra for upgrades, repairs, gas. I'm not into rice but I'm a car enthusiast so I would like a car that can beat most "new muscle" and pretty much anyone on the street who isn't driving something really special. (This is of course with the right upgrades).

For this reason I think a Supra is the best choice, but are there any alternatives? I would love some cargo space and back seat room, but at the same time I'm into hardcore performance. Performance > Everything Else is how I roll. Any tips as I start this journey?

The Supra mk4 (the JZA80) will probably where you're headed if you want to butt-heads with the American V8 power.

Skylines, as epic as they are, tend to be prohibitively expensive after going through hoops to get them imported to North America. Also, while the Nissan RB26DETT is a beast when properly setup, parts will be difficult to come by and again overly expensive due to rarity. Cool, but you'd be spending much more to get decent performance to keep up with the "new muscle".

A properly tuned FD RX7 may also be in your future, yet the cost of ownership of a rotary is anything but cheap. I've seen ~800hp 2.0 3 Rotor RX-7s tear apart American V8 big-blocks on the dragstrip, but I won't even imagine how much they spend on repairs, tires, fuel, apex seals & engine rebuilds to make that possible.

The JZA80 Supra is your best bet; since Toyota sold them in North America from 1993~99, many linger in used car lots in varying levels of condition. If you find a decent one, salvage/build a 2JZ-GTE, fit in a large single turbo kit along with other modifications, you should be able to push ~500hp without breaking the bank.

This is all in my opinion, but hey you have an extra $50k to spend that I don't have, so at the end it's your decision. Good luck with whatever you decide to pick.

EDIT: I purposely left out Hondas, Mitsubishis & Subarus.

Honda's Type Rs are epic as track-day machines or Auto-X events, but lack the all-out power you'd be looking for to beat American V8s.

Mitsubishi's EVO is a contender, but you could simply walk to a Mitsubishi dealer today and get a Evo X and tune that. The GTO is cool and quite powerful, but the AWD system will fail if pushed in the region of ~400hp. Also, they're ridiculously hard to work on with cramped engine bays & problematic by design.

Subaru's case is same as the Mitsubishi Evo. You can import a 2dr 2.0 limited edition S204 or S205 JDM versions of the STI, but it'll be more cost-effective to but a USDM STI and change out/modify that instead.

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