Jeremy Clarkson of "Top Gear" fame tested a 2015 Gen 7 VW GTI against a BMW i135.  He then purchased a GTI for his daily driver.  The GTI with the electronically controlled mechanical limited slip differential will be a neutral handling car, with autobahn worthy performance, but capable of good mpg and daily driving manners.  There are many options available for performance enhancement.

My senior year dream car.

OP....

The cheapest, fastest, best handling, etc...ford build you can do.....

Something already built and rear drive

After doing a little research...it looks like the 135 models also used the N54...is that correct? Those look like some small little cars, and when you put 350+hp behind them, I bet they are a fun ride.  I'm shocked so see how easy it is to get close to 400hp out of those N54's.......at this point, I'm not even thinking about LS swapping anything if you can get that kind of power out of the N54 so easily.

Yes the first gen 135s had the N54 as well as the M1.
Lots of guys gutting the interiors 135s with the N54 and single turboing them and mopping the floor vs. the LS guys.

Its one of the few modern platforms that can hang.

One thing you'll be surprised with most is the Torque.
Even at 400whp you'll be at 400wtq minimum and it's just amazing being in any gear, giving it gas and getting the F out.

Makes the engine feel like it has power for days and a very deep throttle that keeps giving and giving.

Once you get used to it you'll never look at NA engines the same way again. A 400whp engine you have spin to the moon with actually feel much weaker.

Besides being a little smaller, what else about the 135's and 335's is different?  Does one handle better, or has quicker steering, or has better brakes, etc, etc.....just wondering.

Those cars started having those kind of issues at less then 3 years old. The fact that so many of them have made it to 30+ yo amazes me

I'd vote for this, e36s are starting to go up in price and e46s approaching sweet spot.

Just a heads up.  If you are interested I have more pics and the guys name and number.  Shoot me an IM or email.  I'm not sure it's really what you want.  Owner claims it runs really well.  Arizona car.  I didn't look underneath the car.  The ground effects have pealing paint but the main body of the car is pretty straight.  I noticed a shallow dent on the roof.  The sides looked really straight.  Has a pretty large aftermarket spoiler / whale tail as we called them back in the day.  Ala 911ish.  In the primer.

It was pretty clean for 27 years old.  The interior has that Arizona look to it.  I'm not sure how to explain it. I've got family there and have been there so I've experienced it before.  It's cloth and it starts to look......  baked.  Frayed?  Not tight....   But it was still rather clean.  Might just need some cleaning or something to make it look new again.

1990    84k   $4900    5.0

Best bang for the buck HAS to be a Miata. You may want something cooler or bigger, but for improvements per dollar and cost of acquiring & operating, I don’t see how anything would be better.

I did the Eibach springs. It was too low in the front so I put 1 inch spacers in the lower control arms. Now it's perfect. The stance, in a word is smoldering.

Pretty similar cars just one is smaller.
Can't get a 135 in AWD or 4-door is another difference.

It's a rough ride. It has Koni reds. Poly graphite body mounts, sub frame connectors, g-load brace, strut tower brace, BMR torque arm, lower control arms with relocation brackets, Aftermarket panhard rod and mount. I also have 4rth gen seats that are very unforgiving. It handles like it's on rails. I have a built motor and trans, the rear is Borg-Warner and it's all built. T-A performance did a run of stud girdle rear end covers and I got the first one free because I sent them a rear end for their mock up. I have a trac-lok with 3.73's....... The car is awesome......

Having said that, I bought a low miles '91 Corvette convertable. And it does everything the Camaro does and rides comfortably and is good on gas. Attached File

I currently have an 03' JCW Mini Cooper S......handles awesome, fast steering, great brakes, 6-speed manual, supersharger, around 220hp.  I want more power.....I miss that low-end grunt from a bigger motor.  Not sure I want a miata.........pretty much like my mini, but with much less power.

Just my opinion the only thing miatas are fun/good at is autocross. And that's just mainly due to them being so light.

I'd still rather build up a vette/camaro/BMW for that purpose anyways cause every other car at autocross is a miatas yawn

Gen 3 F body. The LT1 motor is good, and aftermarket support is huge. And the market is saturated, prices are low.

There is also a late 80's red Corvette for sale by me for 7k.  If you are interested.  I can get pics on that one too.

That was my original plan, but if I can pick up a cheap 135 or 355 BMW with the N54 twin turbo V6 in it.......buy a $500 piggyback tunner for it, and get an easy 400+hp....I kind of like that option better. It's not the same old LS motor in the same old Mustange, Camaro, or Vetter.

A 4-door, 400+hp BMW...that drives great, handles nice, and has great street manners....sounds pretty good to me. All for probably cheaper than you could get into a Gen3 F-body.

Before you get too far beside yourself over a non LS option you need to research how well the transmissions live behind the power potential of the engine.

The LS is popular not only because of the power potential of the engine but also because it has a transmission available that can handle this.

Take the 2jz for example. Outstanding potential but if you are serious about making power you have to adapt one to a th400 or 4L80e

It has an inline 6, that's why they're so easy to work on for the most part.
Accessories up front, intake related items on the right, exhaust related items to the left, sparkplugs/coils/injectors on the top and transmission in the rear.

You'll be into the app and tune (which has full engine logging and code reading also) for less then $200 FYI.

You can check it out on the google play store, it's called "MHD".

And a friendly remember these cars require more upkeep/maintenance/repairs then most cars. You are rewarded though when they're taken care of and not neglected.

You must not be familiar with ZF.
The N54 135/335s use a ZF6 for the automatics and the 6 speed manauls are made by ZF as well.

For the power levels the OP wants to be at a stock ZF6 auto will handle the power no issues. You start getting into the 500wheel torque range its recommended to flash it with a transmission tune. Guys that are pushing lots of power through the autos around the 600 wheel torque range they can have issues so guys pushing big power to them dial the engine tune in a way it keeps the torque down, turbos are very cool like that complete control of the power band due to them not being connected to engine rpm directly.

The 6 speed manual ZF is a fucking tank. Other then getting the appropriate clutch to match your torque levels they are indestructible, I've never even heard of one every having an issue. For the power levels OP is wanting the factory clutch will be fine. These are very neat manual transmissions also because all 6 gears are ratio'd out for maximum speed. The GM 6 speeds are really a 5 speed with 6th being an overdrive. This makes rear end gearing a thing of the past esp when dealing with high torque engines.

450-500 wheel torque is where you have to start upgrading the clutch on those. I upgraded mine to a beefier factory clutch (they makes tons of aftermarket clutches for all kinds of power levels also) that is used in the 2011-2013 335is and the V8 5-series.

Before you think that GM is the only ones who make good/strong transmission you should check out the company ZF, they make the best transmissions in the world bar none. In fact they are the industry standard now.

The ZF8 automatic (successor to the ZF6 auto) is widely know as the best transmission in the world and is used in many applications like the Hellcat, Turbo V8 BMWs, Bentleys even Jeeps.

It's even making DCTs go the way of the dodo bird. When the successor to the ZF8 is released DCTs will be the thing of the past mark my words.

Down here that car would sell in 5 minutes for DOUBLE the asking price.  You should buy it and list it nationally on ebay and make a few thousand dollars.  Cars like that are cheap as hell up in Wiss as there's no market.

I think it needs to be narrowed down more,, older muscle car? import? awd? NA? a used Cadillac CTSV 10-13K for a used one or 25-33k for the newer 556hp Supercharged ones.

Op. I think I see what you are wanting. Here’s my recommendation.

01-06 E46 M3 Manual. Swap in a LS3 and have a BMW styling and handling but with bullet proof EASY to maintain GM drivetrain.

THAT would be incredible. Just like the guys taking a $2000 Porsche 944s and LS swapping them. Hey that’s another idea....

I really do love the looks of the E46 M3's.....and I've though about getting one and doing an LS swap.  BUT.....in my area (midwest)....an E46 M3 in decent shape is still going for $10K++, and the majority have the SMG transmissions. Finding one in manual is rare.  So then you take your $10K M3, and by the time you buy an LS, and do the swap...you probably have $15K-$18K in the car, if not more.  I just don't to through that kind of money at a daily driver that I want to have a little fun with.

I've seen some of the 135 and 355 BMW's going for $8-$9K.....put a $200-$400 tune in it, and you have a 400+hp daily driver, that's reliable, and fun to drive.

Don't get me wrong, an LS E46 M3 would be awesome......I just don't want to invest the time or money. If I was a single guy? Yep...I would have plenty of time for something like that, but when you have a family, and have limited "out in the shop turning wrenches" time, a project like that would take years........

So a 944 LS swap then, smoking tire or one of those youtubers did a review of one and I must say it caused me to pause and take a real hard look if I needed to go get a 944 for $1500 in Missouri (there are TONS of them here for cheap) and swap in a LS and go to town.

Another thing that one of my BMW friends mentioned to me.....is that the 355d (diesel) BMW's are just as cheap as the N54 gas motor 355's, but with the diesels, you can get much better MPG, and with a tune you can get them up to around 550 ft/lbs of tq pretty easy.  I think they also use a twin turbo inline 6...but it's diesel.

Good stuff to think about......

Who's ? I do Alstons' on all my thirdgens. They are the best and totally change the car. My vert, the one in my avatar, was a wet noodle on any kind of uneven road. Just a mess......

Really, jacking it up to change a tire. It might as well been a loaf of Wonder bread. Now, it's a brick.