Originally Posted by simmode1

350z is a 2 seater only. G35 coupe has 2 doors & 4 seats. G35 Sedan has 4 doors & seats 5. That's why I recommended it. They're basically all the same chassis, suspension and engine.

But it does sound like you're more interested in "What 4 door car can I hop into that will drift right out of box for $16k?"

I mean, at the end of the day, you just need something with:
- RWD
- Manual trans
- limited slip differential
- low cost of maintenance/repair

Personally, as a beginner, I wouldn't daily drive a car that I was planning to use as a drift car knowing my family might be depending on this car for transportation. It would be naive to not expect some downtime, even in a newer or fully built car. Maybe as your skill level increases down the road...

I'm a big advocate of having a dedicated daily driver/support vehicle. For your budget of $16k you can do this with ease. Spend maybe $6k on a SUV to haul both the family and the drifter (if needed) and then buy a mildly built starter drift car, like a 240sx, Miata, FC RX7, Z31/Z32/Z33 for maybe another $5k or $6k. I'm talking about lightweight coupes that already have manual transmission, coilovers, wheels and a lsd. I excluded BMW because, while they can be good performers, they can be pretty maintenance heavy too.

If you haven't already, find a grassroots drift event to attend. Get a sense of the abuse these cars can go through and formulate your plan from that. Here in Texas, we have the Lone Star Bash which was very friendly for beginners as it was a gigantic parking lot you could learn in, without fear of running into stuff or running off the track. Until you started learning to tandem drift, you could keep the wear & tear to a minimum. Can't speak for other locations though.