In reply to tuna55 :
Thanks - I was aware of the Radical and the 2002, but the Panoz and Mustang are new to me.
On the street car side, there's a BRZ with a (Sprintek, I think) supercharger for sale not too far away from here that's well in my budget. Not sure how that would hold up to the rigours of tracking it, though.
I've also found another Radical in Florida that might still be for sale, need to see if I can get in touch with the owner in the next few days.
that panoz is awesome.. I love those things.. kinda like a mustang/camaro with better suspension.. A radical would be awesome..
I'm thinking I might try a kart next time.. there is a good kart track less than 1 hour from me.
If I was funded, in both time and money, to get a track-onlyish vehicle for fun, the Panoz and Radical would be at the top of my list, but I have not driven either, so I cannot speak with any real intelligence.
I have driven similar cars to Radicals and these type of cars are far in excess of most street cars capabilities. Think 2-3 seconds a lap faster than a 911 GT-2 RS. I tell people these cars don't fall in the "fun" category because you need to take them very seriously, you will never be disappointed driving one. Long and the short of it is, if you lose control your going to be going a lot faster than you are in your Vette or 911. Radicals are a good all around track day / racer versus some of the other sports racers out there..............read more robust.
In reply to Tom1200 :
I've driven some rather fast cars on the track (late model Viper and a Formula Mazda) but that was secure in the knowledge that the car outmatched me. While a Radical does sound like it would be the last track car I'd ever buy, I suspect that it's also a good way to get the trophy for "most spectacular way to run out of talent of the day". Not sure if I'm up for that yet.
I guess the more sensible option brings us back to quick and but not stupidly so, so back to Caterham, the 240Z mentioned earlier in the thread, or a Frisbee or Evo.
I really need to stop looking.
It appears that Civic Type Rs have now hit the top end of my budget.
A friend ran out of talent at about 50mph in our D-sports Racer and it was indeed spectacular. A Formula Mazda and a Radical are in the same speed zone so you know what I'm taking about.
If, like me, you love skatey 4 wheel drifty goodness then absolutely get the 240Z. Older narrow track cars on treaded tires are great fun. I love floggin my Datsun, when you get out of the car you know you've gotten everything out of it............like Yosemite Sam flogging a mule.
The Civic or Evo are sound choices provided you can actually leave them alone.
If you can't find a 7 and Exocet is a really fun car.
There are a few downsides to Radicals when mixed with typical track day cars. First it's much ilghter, you do NOT want to get into car-to-car contact with a 3500 pound BMW because you will lose, badly. It's also much smaller and much faster than everyone else, so it's both hard for them to see and tends to catch them in places they don't expect to be caught. Like "I looked in my mirror 10 seconds ago and it was empty, where did HE come from?". Finally, being so much faster, you're going to be putting down a lot of passes on other cars.
If you have a group of friends with other sports racers to go driving with then that probably addresses most of those issues.
I considered one a couple years ago, but decided to go with an ST4-ish E46 instead.
I'll throw this out there and then wait to get blasted for doing so.
If karting has a presence in your area, then a 125cc shifter kart is more fun than you could ever imagine. Short course or on a road course, they are an unreal experience. For $5000 you can get a great package, haul it on a small utility trailer or inside an SUV, they go 100+ on a short course or 125+/- on a road course, pull 3+G's and accelerate/corner like nothing you've ever driven. All this with your @$$ 1" off the ground.
They have LOTS of adjustments for the chassis, corner weighting, brake bias, tire compounds, carb jetting as the temp/humidity change, gearing, tire size/diameter, camber/caster, wheel offset, track width, and more. Lots of tinkering to be done to your driving style.
Buy one, give it a try and if it isn't for you, sell it and not lose much unlike most 4-wheel toys.
Just a thought and my .02¢.
codrus (Forum Supporter) said:There are a few downsides to Radicals when mixed with typical track day cars. First it's much ilghter, you do NOT want to get into car-to-car contact with a 3500 pound BMW because you will lose, badly. It's also much smaller and much faster than everyone else, so it's both hard for them to see and tends to catch them in places they don't expect to be caught. Like "I looked in my mirror 10 seconds ago and it was empty, where did HE come from?". Finally, being so much faster, you're going to be putting down a lot of passes on other cars.
If you have a group of friends with other sports racers to go driving with then that probably addresses most of those issues.
I considered one a couple years ago, but decided to go with an ST4-ish E46 instead.
I think you make a very good point, and I suspect that's why I subconsciously blocked myself from pulling the trigger on a 7 as well. Mainly because getting flattened by a street car in those is going to be similarly unpleasant, if not worse - at the end of the day, the Radical has more chassis between you and the outside world.
I am in a bit of a quandary as I do like driving full tube frame vehicles like Formula cars and Sports Racers, but for some odd reason I also like to drive home with roughly the same number of limbs and most of my organs in the same place they were in in the morning.
I suspect all that points at the more sensible end of track cars.
Gah. Adulting is overrated.
In reply to lotusseven7 (Forum Supporter) :
That is an interesting thought, although I haven't really found any karting tracks around here.
I also would prefer to have something that I need to fiddle with less, not more 
.
Tom1200 said:
The Civic or Evo are sound choices
agree 100%. CTR and EVO are fantastic all around machines . Track and street
not to mention for those of us with automotive ADD, fantastic high resale value makes for quick pump and dump
mr2s2000elise said:Tom1200 said:
The Civic or Evo are sound choices
agree 100%. CTR and EVO are fantastic all around machines . Track and street
not to mention for those of us with automotive ADD, fantastic high resale value makes for quick pump and dump
That's the other reason I keep an eye out for more specialist cars, unless I blow it up completely I should be able to get my money back with an EVO and not lose a lot with a CTR.
In reply to BoxheadTim (Forum Supporter) :
Bingo! Agree 100%. I do the same . To me resale value and rarity are top off the charts when I buy something. Because I know if I make it to 1 year with a car, it will be a miracle
In reply to mr2s2000elise :
Oi! I resemble that remark! Oh, as you were... 
Currently talking to a couple of people who are trying to sell early Evo 8s that seem to be in good shape. As with WRXen I'm getting the impression that some, if not the majority of issues with Evos are the owners, not the cars. There was a reason that I bought my Evo X brand new. Not that I want another one.
Also, inexplicably, an ND Club with a Hard Dog rollbar seems to have snuck onto my list of saved Facebook ads. Complete mystery how that happened.
Yup if you find a clean , good owner, unmodded Evo, snatch it up
plenty comes up these days on BAT
Unmodded, good owner is pretty much out of my price range, at least around here. I'm shooting for one that have mostly bolt ons and aren't on the third engine rebuild in 10000 miles.
BaT cars would be a premium again, which means that I'd be accidentally going into resto mode like I did with the S2k. I'd rather have well looked after one with sensible mods that's not knocking on death's door.
A h ok
good luck !
Thanks, I suspect I need that.
The seller of the first one I'm considering just copped to having Megan coilovers on the car. Shudder.
Well I find the hunt to be the most satisfying. You are in the fun phase . I am following with envy.
then i purchase bring it home. Honeymoon lasts a month (older I get shorter the honeymoon gets), then I start looking for next kill
I am going to replace my civic Si with EvO sometime. I need to scratch that itch. Lots of low mile, unmodded, Evo around here in peoples garages.
A friend's EVO IX MR that was lightly modded (Swift springs, turbo-back exhaust, tune) was hands-down the best car I've ever driven. I didn't think I was going to like it before I drove it, but I fell in love.
The steering I had expected to be darty was perfect, the laggy turbo was anything but, the AWD system was amazing, and it didn't roll over at 4500RPM like a lot of other turbos I had driven (cough, STI, cough).
In reply to dj06482 :
Evo 9s supposedly do have better drivability due to them making proper use of Mivec VVT. The 8s seem to be more designed to work well as long as you have the pedal floored and the rpm above 4k.
In reply to mr2s2000elise :
I used to the enjoy the hunt much more than I do now, which is why I've dialled my car buying habit back somewhat. We'll see how this goes, I have a couple of promising leads on early Evo 8s that haven't been modded to hell and back by the looks of it.
+1 on Evo MR, years ago I drove a student's car at a track day and was very impressed. I told the owner it was so good it was like cheating.
In reply to Tom1200 :
To me that's actually one of the reasons I'm hesitant to get one. I want a car that allows me to improve my driving, not mask my incompetence (although they'd be hard pressed to anyway).
I'll still try to go look at one this afternoon, though.
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