So you wanna bust into the car world swinging? Try your hand at track racing and modifying? Take the cheap path to a fun driving experience? Maybe join some underground races or run high-speed deliveries for a mob boss? Well, then you've come to the right place. Picking a first-time fun car can be frustrating and even impossible if you have a budget and a bad car.

To help out, we dug deep into everything we wish we knew when starting off with repairs, mods, and racing and the number one thing we look for is reliability, no 80s BMWs. Number two is acclimation for speed, a Prius wouldn't cut it. Number three is affordability, we're not going to be suggesting any Mk IV Supras. What we really like are cars that can redline without any oil for six minutes and then keep running on Coke and Mentos. Enter, our first pick...

10 Honda Civic Si

2015-honda-civic-si
Via: Wikimedia

Okay, it wasn't an Si in the video but the engine was the same. Starting in 2007 the Civic Si came to America after much front-wheeled racing success in Japan and a feature on the famous Initial D animated car show. Many will have skipped on already when we said front-wheel drive but stick with me! The Si is a respectably fast car from the Honda factory, and it has racing upgrades to go along with it.

The Si may not come with much power but it's light, cheap to get parts for, and man can those Honda engines handle anything! Turbos won't ruin this without some real effort. Front-wheel drive cars are also a huge advantage for those starting out track racing! Just picture yourself sliding a popsicle stick around a table in a pattern via the front end versus the back. All Civic Si's are manuals, and everyone in the car world respects them to some degree.

9 Mazda Miata

Rare JDM - 1997 Mazda Miata NB MX-5 Coupe
Via: YouTube

The Miata is often people's first suggestion/ thought/ inclination when it comes to first-time race cars and it's not hard to see why. Despite a recent jump in popularity driving up the price, they are still relatively cheap to find and parts abound. Though it might not be an advantage on the track, RWD is a fun format and ideal for drifting, should the need arise.

Blue Mazda Miata
Via: YouTube

The Miata might not be very fast to start with, but that's what makes it forgiving and allows you to make mods and mistakes on your journey. To take it to the track requires a simple, affordable roll bar instead of a complete roll cage, and as a bonus... it's convertible!

Related: Here Are The Coolest Mods You Can Buy For Your Mazda Miata

8 Toyota 86/ Subaru BRZ/ Scion FRS

2013 Scion FR-S
Via hessertoyota.com

These are all the same cars, except for the latest which Toyota calls the GR 86 (and Subaru still calls the BRZ). It used to be underpowered but that just made it affordable and reliable. They haven't changed much since 2012 and usually sit at about 200 horsepower but that hardly matters because these are the best handling cars you will ever get behind the wheel of!

2022 Toyota GR 86 Sports Car
Via: Toyota

They come with an already-sporty look, low center of gravity, and well-balanced weight. At just around $10k for a lightly used one, they make for a great car that won't need very many mods to start really enjoying. They also have some mostly in manual and always RWD, except the 250 horsepower 2022 versions that come with paddle shifters as a more costly addition.

7 Honda S2000

Honda S2000 - Front Quarter
Via Mecum Auctions

These cars are no longer in production, and they will cost you more, but they are going up in value so with good care you can even see some profit when you sell them! But that's not very fun, to just baby a car. So, for anywhere from $15,000 to $40,000 for a used, running S2000 you can get into a car that the Miata wishes it was!

s2000 2
via: Reddit

It makes just around 230 horsepower but it weighs less and is much more track-ready. The inline 6 Honda engine has been impeccable over the course of 20 years and like the Miata, it's a convertible. A larger engine bay allows for easier repairs and more room for mods in the front since technically it's a "mid-engine," with the engine further back for a perfectly balanced ride. Let's just say, forums are full of sad S2000 owners who sold their Honda and regret it.

Related: 8 Reasons We Want To Buy a Honda S2000 Today

6 Chevrolet Camaro

Chevy Camaro
Via Wikimedia

Any Camaro from the old Catfishes to the modern Bumblebees will have engines built to last. In fact, the LS1 that they run on most often is the kind of engine used most often in engine swaps for drift and competitive race cars. The V8 may guzzle gas, but it will sound awesome with a new exhaust and it will always turn heads.

The front of a yellow Camaro
favcars.com

New Camaros can be bought with V6 or even 4-cylinder engines that don't do much but lower the price and look cool. This might get you some shade if you ever post about it, but frankly, it's a Camaro. It looks cool and unlike most on this list, it can be fully automatic if that's what you need! We're talking $25,000 for one made this year! Even for a V8-head that would be very tempting.

5 Subaru WRX (Not STI)

wrx snow cover pic

We say not to go the STI route because even though it is faster, more fun, and sportier it's also more expensive, harder to maintain, and less forgiving. A WRX on its own is a reliable AWD beast so long as you make sure to watch the head gasket issue on Subarus before 2012. Besides that, you can really bash the heck out of these, especially on rally courses!

supdec.com

Subaru's AWD technology known as "Symmetrical AWD" is beyond what a 265 horsepower car ever needs, so to juice it up to 400 or even 500 horsepower means you will still have impeccable handling on the track and on loose surfaces and if you drive like we have in Subarus... let's just say it can save your life on the snow. Another bonus is that there is a huge fanbase for Subarus, anyone who has owned one just loves their car, and so big, fun Subaru meets and groups exist everywhere.

Related: All The Reasons Why Subaru Owners Love Their Cars So Much

4 Volvo 850

Volvo-850-BTCC-Race-Car
via volvo

The Volvo 850 is an older, boxy station wagon that might not always turn heads like the other cars on here, but it makes for the perfect sleeper! The 5-cylinder engine pushes out an impressive 240 horsepower, enough to make them competent care cars for the British Touring Car Championship, in fact... they were more aerodynamic than the sedans they raced against!

1995 Volvo 850 T-5R
via YahooNews

A massive engine bay and long wheelbase make it easy to work on and easier to drive, and if you don't care for the big butt there is an equally capable sedan version. The engine won't be the most reliable, but if you're open to a "beginner" engine swap this is the ideal car to do it in, as even a big-block Chevy motor could fit snugly and make for a legendary sleeper! The fact is... there's nothing more satisfying in the world than beating some A-hole's expensive sports car at a traffic light race.

Related: 10 Classic Sleeper Cars That Can Still Annihilate Sports Cars

3 Porsche 944

1986 Porsche 944 Turbo
Via : Classicars.com

This is the opposite of the Volvo station wagon above... I mean... it's a Porsche! Buying one of these means light, nimble, balanced driving in a sporty-looking and sporty-sounding german race car. Surprisingly, you can pick up some well-taken-care-of used ones for under $20,000! Unlike normal Porsches, they have the engine in the front, which is good for you since that's way easier to work on than the alternative.

Blue And Orange Porsche 944
Via: More Cars, Wikimedia Commons - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0

The 944 is far more showy, with convertible options and pop-up headlights. It's rear-wheel drive and comes in a 3-speed automatic and 4-speed manual option. It was made from 1982 until 1991, and some come with a factory turbo that made an impressive 247 hp on a car that weighed just under 3,000 lbs.

Related: Here's Why You Shouldn't LS-Swap Your Porsche 944

2 Nissan 350Z

pavel-anoshin-hqhIsVNYi6o-unsplash-1
Via: Pavel Anoshin

Now, the Nissan Z is mostly known for one thing and one thing only... cheap speed. It is by far the cheapest cost-per-horsepower you can get in a rear-wheel-drive coupe new or used! Any given 350z makes over 300 horsepower with a 3.5L V6 engine. The Z's - and Nissans in general - are known to have a few issues but if you plan to learn car work and repairs anyways, what does it matter?

Finding a working 350z for under $10k is no problem, and working on one is just not that hard. They're common to see around tracks and in the drifting world thanks to their high horsepower and rear-wheel drive. Our friends at Donut Media even did a whole series about modifying 350z's to be the best track cars possible called Hi Low. If you watch the whole thing you see they have quite a few issues but in the end, they come out loving the cars and enjoying the experience.

1 C5 Corvette

C5 corvette drift 2002 red competition
youtube.com

C5 Corvettes blend nicely into the JDM world that is so big with Gen Zs and Millennials since it could almost be mistaken for a Mazda RX-7, what with the pop-up headlights and sporty-curved hood. The fact is, the V8 in this baby will be faster, stock, than anything on this list at 345 horses. The C5 rides the lowest out of all of them, and its design is standing up well to the test of time.

Corvette trickspeck best wing body art mods rims new c5 2000 2002 2003 1999 body
corvetteforum.com

Some say that the Corvette is a mid-life crisis car but it's so much the opposite that we wrote an entire article about why it just isn't. The LS1 is one of the most reliable and forgiving motors in the industry! Parts are cheap and shared across other GM platforms, and it has something for everyone with a convertible, automatic, or manual. Modifications like a wing and new rims car really modernize these babies and set it apart as a respectable sports car, and you can find a good one for as little as $20k.