well, time comparisons doesnt matter much. cos it's the driver
that matters, plus what settings your ride is on.
The reason i pick a skyline is that no one in the right mind would
race a skyline, So you can pick who you wanna race with. yet it's
also a cruising car.
A step below that is ofcourse a s15 (silvia). which in my opinion
is much more better looking than a rx-8.(no offence, personal
opinion) it's cheaper to mod than a skyline. Power gained is quite
high.
then comes the rexes and evos. not much of a looker as silvias, but
more for hardcore racers with big pockets.
for hardcore racers, civic hatchbacks(exi,esi,vti,sir), charades,
swift.. they go all out to race. they don't value the car cos it's
cheap. They don't care if they crash it, cos they have lobangs to
workshops to do it up again.
Final words: it all boils down to how much cash you'd wanna waste
to satisfy your need for speed. Many rich boys could own a ferrari,
but most would get a fast car and mod it heavily and have fun with
it. Thats why it's not that painful when they crash it.