[}{arlequin]

LOL, if I remember correctly, w/ the $ they give you to start the game, you have a choice of only 2 or 3 cars to purchase in the beginning. I went for the Miata b/c it was the only one that was RWD.

as for my favorites, it varies w/ mood and track selection, but here are some:

Integra
(used to own one which I used in DE's, put on just the parts that my real car had... have eerie flashbacks due to car's behavior when driving it)

S2000 (one of the tuner cars. sublime RWD feel)

RX-7 (2nd gen w/ 400hp, 3rd gen RZ stock. same reason as S2000)

Elise (more power, more twitchy. Challenges my patience w/ the gas)

Mazda 787, GT40 (vintage LeMans winners, 'nuff said)

RUF ctr2 (it's a 993 therefore a no-brainer)

Tommy Kaira ZZ II
(have to win it, but take a close look, other than the 4wd configuration, the look is a dead-ringer for the McLaren. I suspect it's the same story as w/ Porsche, no license, so they found a loophole. Although Tommy Kaira is a real manufacturer, I've never seen even a single photo of that car. It's real fast too.)

As you can see, I'm not all crazy about the high hp cars. I rather like basic cars. When I want to go for a record or just have some silly fun, I take either Toyota GT-One, Escudo, or especially, one of the F1 cars and see what can be done.

Occasionally I torture myself trying to "qualify" w/ an F1 car on the Monaco track and see if my lap times match the real F1 car lap times. I'm w/in 3 seconds, but that's an eternity...