Choose the 2002 Toyota Celica at the beginning of the game. You can sup this car up well and it handles great. You can finish more then half of the races in your first car. If you are low on money, go to the Sanctioned Desert event races and race the first series a few times. They are quick races and one of the easiest. If you lose, you will not lose any money.
Before starting your street mode game, use the Skyline GTR to complete the Philadelphia Iron Man challenge in arcade mode. When you start your street mode game, you will begin with a modified Toyota Trueno AE86. With little more modifications, you will start with the best drifting machine in the game.
When starting a new profile, use your earnings from the very first race and buy a Trueno and do not do anything to it. Next, go to arcade mode and win the EVO, Trueno,RX-8 Mazdaspeed, and the RX-7 Bathurst. Go back to street mode, sell the Trueno you won and you will begin the game with more money than you had when you first started; and you will have an EVO, RX-8, RX-7, and a stock Trueno with some aftermarket parts. It is recommended that you sup up the EVO and use it to start; it has good stats and handling.
To get the most out of the Nissan Skyline, do not choose the $118,000 model. Instead, select the base (cheapest) model. All the performance upgrades on the M spec and V spec are lower than the regular Skyline with all the performance upgrades. The regular Skyline will max out to 1007 hp and the V and M specs will max out to around 960 hp.