What Car Should I Get?

Bump! Any other suggestions?

Chicago. home of salt & rust. You're building a race car. Find the cleanest cheapest whatever, budget $1,000 to make sure it's reliable & safe. Work on the race car, use the DD as the appliance you need. Building 2 cars at once is a pain in the ass & you end up not having enough money to do what you want with either.

Just get your Volvo, GC8, or whatever car and leave it stock and learn how to drive.  I mean really spend your time and money to learn how to drive.   Plenty of opportunity to blow cash on that route on things besides power. Maintenance, tires, pads, track time..  that stuff costs money.

Agree with uber dork THAT would be unique for somebody your age.  High school me wouldn't have listened to this boring ass advice..  so don't feel bad if you don't. 

I have to second this. I'm a E36 M3 driver and wish I would have learned more younger on track days and auto-x. I mean I drive better than average street driver, but on track, I'm too rough and can't keep speed through corners.

Yep same here.. woulda coulda shoulda.  Too busy wasting my money on fart pipes and other junk.

So you say I should spend some time autocrossing instead of rally?

I mean... I've barely touched that Mazda yet, there's still time to switch. I've been looking at a DF Goblin SS/SC, seen the AutoX results, and think that it's impressive for $10-15k. What do you say?

Do you have any real experience with fabrication or relatively advanced wrenching? Like others have said, I see some of myself here and I know building a car is a pretty daunting task when you actually get into the thick of it.

When I was in highschool I was lucky enough to be in line for a big college scholarship and was able to use what my parents had saved for me to build a FFR Daytona. That took 2yrs and over a thousand hours with my dad’s help and while it wasn’t too bad, I don’t personally know anyone else who could’ve stuck it out. 

Also, I’ll support the idea to put money into improving your driving skills. I chose karts and have become way more successful than I ever imagined I would be and it actually led to my current job. But any wheel time is good, especially if you can get wheel to wheel. 

Back to the daily. I drive a base S60 currently and I love it as a reliable driver. It’s fun enough when I need it to be and the seats are amazing. I can only imagine an R would be better in all aspects except fuel mileage. Once you start racing you’ll come to realize that a stripped out daily just isn’t fun anymore and it really doesn’t matter how fast it is on the street. I ruined a Solstice with a big turbo and coil overs, great on the track but I reach for the Volvo almost every time for the street. 

What about a 335ix? I’ve seen that the regular 335i’s are coming down below 10k pretty regularly and while they’ll be a huge maintenance hog they can make big power with bolt-ons. 

Hm. I think pretty highly of E9Xs, if that's the gen you're talking about.

I long considered an 818, but they're expensive. I would take my car to the shop and have them use their lift to drop the engine in, and I could hook up the rest. I think I'm pretty decent at that.

I'm not planning to strip my daily driver out, just something with a lot of power to whip around and do a few stoplight launches with. It's not like you're gonna go back home, get your track weapon, and get back just in time for the traffic light to turn green so you can smoke the guy in the Stang GT.

My takeaway from all this is that I should improve my own skill first, either on track or in a class, pick a smooth, practical cruiser for DD, and go with whatever racing series I want. Right?

Saab-a-ru? WRX in a different looking wrapper. I saw one de-badged and the aesthetic seemed nice (Saab 9-2x)

Hmm. I'm not a long wagon fan, not an Outback, not a 9-2X, not a V70. But I see where you're going.

Bump again?

Is dsm too old for you?  Eclipse or talon gsx tsi are rowdy awd and unusual.  Very tuning and aftermarket friendly.

Volvo s60r would be a great dependable ride that has more class and eyeball.  I hear they come in manual but don't see many.

The infinity g35 sedans are fun and at the bottom of their deprecaition curve.  They are surprisingly for their age and the VQ35 is tuner friendly.

The DSM and the G35/G37s are hard to find in AWD or RWD respectively (way too many FWD DSMs and G37x's out there), and I wouldn't be caught driving them. Not to my taste.

I found some nice S60Rs, but unless you can suggest a place where I can swap out the leather and wood for some lighter Alcantara and CF panels (lighter, more durable, and much better looking, since leather is what turns me off of most Volvos)...

Buy my m3...

Not that interested, thank you. Might come back, though.

Okay, so right now I'm down to two: a GC8 Impreza coupe with an EJ207 swap and an Audi A3 8P Quattro with a 7sp S-tronic swap. What does the community say?

Bump once more. What do you think?

I don’t know anything about Subaru’s but I wouldn’t really trust a swapped car as a daily. And I can’t imagine a major trans swap on a modern car as complex as an Audi would be easy. But that’s just my .02

RS8_TTW12 said:

Well, I was gonna get a sponsor or two. I understand it's expensive, but I might not run it in a class for a while. That'll give me plenty of time and money to rack up supplies and find a co-driver.

Do let's get back to the daily driver.

A sponsor or two to help with your rally car. Oh that's rich.

Go with the RX-8, everyone needs to experience a rotary in their life

Don't race on the street.  Seat time in literally anything is 10000 times more important than the car you are looking for.