This thread have its origin in the "Help me choose my car" thread started by Schummy-4-ever, I was going to post there but then i figured to start a more wide discussion about this matter...
first i suggest reading here:http://www.nfscars.net/forum/showthread.php?t=21391 on how to upgrade your NFS-PS to v.1.1 and get 76 cars(including the collector's pack) in your Car lot...
then this is meant this as a short guide-line of the best cars usable in Career mode(from my own point of view of course), and also a point from which any debate about these choices might begin:
I. for Battle Machine, meaning until the first showdown, I would go for:
1. Grip cars: Seat Leon Cupra, Impreza WRX STI or (by using the "saam-unl" from v.1.1 code...;) the Pontiac Solstice, my car of choice for BM grip races so far, since it's very nimble and fast enough to keep the pace with the "muscles"
2. Drag cars: Old muscles here go best, like Chevelle SS, Charger RT or( again by cheating a bit...) the GT500 or 06'Mustang GT(for the feeling of it, even if these become obsolete in Super Promotion).
(no drift or speed challenge cars so far)
II. React Team Sessions, until the second Showdown: 1. For the grip, I go for the Audi TT or 350Z at the beginning(the TT is better then the 350Z in my opinion), then later on by saving a lot of cash(did the Leipzig races several times) I end up using either a Porsche GT3 RS , combined with a Aston Martin DB9, a Porsche GT2 along with a Lamborghini Gallardo Supperleggera or a Audi R8 mixed with a Porsche 911 Turbo...I used these 3 combinations of grip cars in my 3 last careers up to Super Promotion Stages...and they never fail to deliver. You see one is a nimble car meant for slow paced races with a lot of curves and the other is meant for fast races with many straight lines...
2. For drag, the Supra, Pontiac GTO, and Camarro SS will bring and keep the honors...they do nice wheelies too at Super Promotion races, provided you make the right setup...ride height high, suspension soft, rear tire pressure low, both engine an nitro boost to maximum.
3. As for the speed, the Acura NSX, BMW M3 E92 or the Nissan GT-R Proto are my choices here...good handling and nice top speeds too. A Lambo Murcielago 360LP might also be nice if one got the cash to get it.
4. Drifting can be done successfully with a handfull of cars without the necessity of in depth tuning so here one can go with the default car(the Pontiac GTO) or upgrade to a RX-7, 350Z, Camaro SS or BMW Z4
For Super Promotion you can either keep and upgrade/fine tune the cars above or if you have plenty of cash and/or free car markers you can also get:
1. For Grip, the 911 Turbo , the Carrera GT or the DB9 RS
2. For Speed Challenges the Koenigsegg CCX or the Mclaren F1(the Bugatti Veyron unfortunately does not handle well enough at high speeds in my opinion, its too heavy...too bad...:\ )
3. For drag the Mercedes CLK AMG or the Veyron.
4. For drift anything nimble and RWD, or keep your previous preferred car from React TS....

I am eager to share more with other users opinions and in depth career experiences as well....since it's obvious I didn't try all possible combinations and there are many other ways to play too.

Please try to structure your answers based on your choices during the three main Team Sessions, and of the final selection which you used or intend to use to challenge Ryo and the 4 Kings as well

thanx and hope to hear from you soon...hope this is not too much for you...:D

some reccomendations from my experience

Lotus Elise is great for grip, as is the Civic early on (the one you get from Battle Machine), just change its game mode.

RX7, S15, AE86 and 240SX are all great for drift, with little modification. The S2000 isn't bad either.

Remember that supercars are not always best for grip, as they're generally pretty heavy and powerful, not great for sequences of corners.

Right, some of the supercars are't that good for grip mode indeed. However I was surprised by the DB9, cause even if handled quite poorly at the beginning, and almost make me ditch it, it became a very fast and maneuverable car after I managed to tune it up to level three, it was in fact the only car so far which allowed me to pull scores over 500 in many of the Sector Shootout races in React team sessions...

Ahh I see. Thanks.

I find old muscle pretty awfull for drag though.....maybe I just can't control/tune them right.

I find old muscle pretty awfull for drag though


you need to get laid the older cars handle pretty much better than zondas and supras

Yes, Supra is right.

I've seen some guys run 6s with Muscle Cars, and some even 5s (like me & Sin with 5.6s in Challenger R/T (1971))

Myabe I need parts beyond stage 2 then...because at the moment most old cars are very slugish compared to a cayman or an elise or an RX-8.

Yup, classic muscles need stage 4 parts for best effect (well, that's true of everything really), but suspension usually works better at stage 2 unless you need to wheelie.

Also, have you tuned them yet? That can make some difference.

From what I've read on this site, the best 3 seem to be Corvette '67, Challenger RT and Charger RT.

Well I use the tt for grip and works fine with me.
for drag you should charger for wheelie and gto for 1/4 and 1/2 :laugh2:

I suggest you try the BMW M3 E46 cause it's works very well on drag with only stage 2 parts installed(my blueprints has everything on stage 2 except the brakes), it has 614 bhp, with both engine boosts at max and even if the dyno test says it does the 1/4 in 10 secs I always manage to pull under 9s, with a best of 8.6.
It's main advantage is that's stable and the gears are easy&predictable to change compared to almost all old muscles, including the Camaro SS which I discovered to be unstable on the strip when it's tuned to lvl3 parts...
As for drift I discovered than the Nissan Silvia is an excellent car for drifting, even with the default config from Willow Springs Challenge it boasts better scores than the Pontiac GTO or even the Mazda Mx-7 which I used in other 2 careers....

Right now im running

Drag: Toyota Supra (mainly because i won it and its fast)
Wheelies: Mustang GT500
Drift: Lotus Elise (Its pretty good at drifting)
Speed: Audi S4 (only thing i could afford at the time and never sold it)
Grip: Evo IX MR (badass at grip i still need to tune it so it turns a little better. every race ive won more than 15 seconds ahead)

Grip - buy an Nissan GTR r35(try to get all lvl 4 upgrades for 760+ hp and it has the best handling!!) I can share mine....
Drag - Supra is the best for sub-6s and so cheap too
Wheelies - Zonda goes all the way to the finish line
Drift - Rx7 that you bought or the king's Rx7
Speed - Lamborghini LP640

Actually, not only Zonda does the whole 1/4 mile wheelie, Charger R/T does it too.

right, I'm also fine tuning my Charger R/T right now...:D, it can't do too much(only 8s for 1/4) with lvl 2 parts though, but I hope that at level three will become much better...;)
also another good drag car it's the Nissan 350 Z, even if it might seem a little bit surprising.
I don't know about the wheelie part but it behaves quite well on 1/4's and 1/2's....

Actually, not only Zonda does the whole 1/4 mile wheelie, Charger R/T does it too.

my 65 GTO does too; but its really hard to handle