gabe30

sorry.. i did not read the entire thread.. but from what it seems like.. some are agreeing and some are not.. personally.. i play gran turismo.. i watch initial d.. but trust me.. its not hte same in a game than at is in real life.. with a front mounted front wheel drive car.. you will learn a great deal.. you will obviously learn about your car and its limits.. you'll learn how to deal with breaking as much so in a rear wheel drive car and you will learn how to work with understeer..

you will learn a great deal just by driving a front wheel drive car.. but there are certains skills you just can't obtain without a rear wheel drive car.. depending on what you're looking for like someone said earlier.. autocrossing and such can get so far.. tracking your car will teach you how to deal with a faster pace line.. from what ive seen and what not.. you will only expect a rear wheel drive car to excel in a faster pace condition.. there are the exceptions such as smaller wheel base cars and what not.. and there's always that one oddball car that can do just as well.. but speaking in terms of becoming a better driver.. you can only become a better driver by broadening your horizons.. great drivers aren't just great in a rwd or awd.. they are usually great all around.. being good at just one thing doesnt mean your good at everything..

think of starting off with this civic or integra as a stepping stone as opposed to a blockade of you becoming any better than everyone else.. every car can be good at some thing..

my only suggestion to you is to take it easy.. learn at your own pace and don't force yourself to go faster than what you really can.. alot of the so called ricers ive seen are the type who dump so much money into their car and believe that they are the ****.. thinking that they are the **** only builds their cockiness and usually causes them to be embarassed or end up crashing.. anyone can talk.. doing it is the hard part and will only come through experience..

aside from that.. your mother doesnt seem very optomistic about cars whatsoever.. and only fears for your safety.. which is somewhat reasonable, but she is taking it out of proportion.. people build faster cars and by doing so, they update the car's rigitidy.. you're right, building a stiffer chassis and ensuring that stronger built seats and harness' will save you moreso than any stock bs.. but im pretty sure she doesnt see it like that.. the fact that your car is safer doesnt disprove that the car is faster.. a car being faster increases the risk of crashing and what not.. you may tell her that you're a safe driver but until you can show her, then you're better off working around the civic and what not..

you should show her the theft rate on a civic and integra and compare it with the theft rate of an rx-7.. as i can remember, the civic held 3 years as the most stolen car and the integra is about 1 or 2.. correct me if im wrong..

your arguement doesnt seem like its about getting an rx7.. rather than having a better platform car (rwd) more than anything else..