Daily driver +track days

cdyer77 wrote: Nobody has mentioned a Quattro product as a good DD in the snow & still be able to use it as a track car. I do it with mine until I find another miata. Change out the brake pads when going to the track, get a small trailer and a extra set of wheels with sticky rubber & you're set Oh you said reliable too.......nevermind, forget everything I just said....carry on

Understeer. Reliability issues. Expensive and fragile suspension components. Weight. Complexity.

I'd get a $3K-5K Miata and a E34 or E39 5-series as a daily (er, that is what I've got). Maybe in wagon form with a MT conversion. With snows the big BMWs are heaven in the winter. My dad drives one through the winter in a place that averages 7 feet of snow per year and has no problems, and I always choose my E34 over my wife's FWD cars on a snowy day. The torque, weight distribution and long wheelbase make them the driftiest drifters you ever did drift.

That leaves LOTS of money left over for mods, tires, a trailer and a kart. ;)

slowride wrote: Currently I'm driving my grandmother's old Buick.

If it's a RWD tank of a Buick I would just drive that for occasional track day use at the entry level. Should be able to use cheap circle track stuff for adequate brakes and dampers/springs. Put in a truck/RV trans cooler and just drive the thing. All cars are the same, just 4 tires and a steering wheel, some are better in some ways than others, but any street car is just a bunch of compromises anyway. If you're at the learning stage it's all the same as long as it's safe and durable.

My ZX2SR mad a great track car with a few adjustments and sticky tires. Then it made a good DD. Have to say, it was transported back and forth to the tracks. I was glad for that when the differential went at Summit Point and it was along wayback to upstate NY.

Current (soon to be previous) gen Civic Si? Awesome gas mileage, trick six speed, decent handling, F1 like revs, huge aftermarket, room for four (if you decide you need that - if you don't, switch rec to S2000) and reliability for years to come. I wouldn't worry too much about the "ultimate track car" if you're just starting out. I think you'll find that, like any kind of racing, when you get out there, some particular brand/class will catch your eye and then you can buy the dedicated race car later and get exactly what you want. For example, I had never given GTI's a second look until I started autocrossing against them. Now I covet . . . My advice would be buy a solid, low mile DD that's going to last forever (hence, Civic Si rec) but can occasionally be tracked. Get out there, figure out exactly what you want, then buy a dedicated track car after bumming some rides/co-drives at the track and narrowing down whether you want FWD, AWD, RWD, Spec series car, TT car, etc., etc. There's just to many variables right now. You may even find its just something you want to do a couple times a year and doesn't justify the expense, work, tow vehicle and storage that comes with a dedicated race car. If you "split the baby" now, you're either going to have one car that's neither a good DD nor a good race car or you're going to have two cars, likely neither of which is exactly what you want.

I'm of the opinion that if you can't afford to lose it, you can't afford to track it. With that in mind, if you must have only one car, I'd get the cheapest car that strikes your fancy, leaving plenty of money left over for mods, track time and house down payment... So you can have room for multiple cars.

Leave plenty of room for when things break, also. I bought a dedicated track / auto-x car after my WRX broke a rear diff, transmission and throw-out bearing on 3 separate outings. Youch!

Excess horsepower is great, but you will go thru' more tires, brakes and have more things break than with something lower HP.

nocones wrote:

slowride wrote: I was hoping to be in a house by now, but the real estate market just isn't good at all here.

How does that make it a bad option to get in right now? Buy low! The 15-20K you would spend on a car would be better on a house. Even a small house with no really big garage can have a trackrat sitting around, and if the buick is big enough it could even probably tow-dolly a track rat around. My rule is nothing goes on the track that I can't afford to push off a cliff.. and right now that's not a lot for me.. but I own my house!

Not the buying, but the selling. I would have to sell my condo and I don't think I could even get what I paid for it right now. Plus it's paid off... hence the one car thing.

My Buick is a 2001 Regal (not the supercharged one) with a dying transmission and a coolant leak. I doubt it's going to last much longer and I'm not sure I want to invest the money to fix it (if it was either the coolant leak or the tranny, it would be a harder decision).

Right now I'm thinking a 328i might be good. Or maybe an M3 from about 2000-2001 (I don't know the generations). Thanks for all the great suggestions!

For those that recommended the BMWs... how much does mileage matter on these (ie, should I consider cars with 100,000 miles +)?

In reply to slowride: Depends on what you get but as with any other car lower miles the better

In reply to z31maniac:

Own a mildly tuned 08 and it helps you learn about fast in slow out as well as throttle control.

SVT Focus? Six speed manual, good brakes, respectable handling, 170 hp, a pretty solid chassis, and stock suspension components are available for cheap from Ford. I imagine that a fair amount of weight can be shed, and I have heard it referred to as a FWD BMW 3-series, but I don't know if said person was inebriated or not. Thankfully for you, the resale value isn't great.

Well, looks like this isn't going to happen any time soon. I need to spend my money on home repairs instead (specifically... window replacement, as mine have started leaking, and appliances, for the same reason). And hopefully my Buick will keep on limping along as it has been.

If I can figure out some garage space, I will probably try to find a cheapie Miata to wrench on in the next 2 years.

In the meantime, I guess I will just be enthusiastic. Still lots of cars to think about during work at least!

I don't think I would daily drive one (I did and i wouldnt do it again) but an alfa milano or gtv6 would be a good track day car. Unless they are almost perfect its hard to give a milano away, but they are pretty fun to drive.

I, too, have heard of the amazing handling capabilities of the svt focus.