Greetings,
I would like to know which cars under $35k (new or used does not matter) require the least amount of modification to endure track day weekends. In other words, barring crashes, brakes, fresh fluids, and tires, the car can handle six thirty minute sessions over two days and and not tear up the drivetrain or need significant repairs.
My initial thoughts are a Cayman S, but I am hoping for something more affordable than that.
Thanks,
Jason
Any Miata in decent shape.
It is the answer.
C5 Z06. Those things are properly fast, and handle track use quite well.
Any mid 80s thru 94 911. Plus, they are free to own if you don't smash them or blow them up.
This one:
https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/open-classifieds/2000-miata-4750-in-connecticut-totally-mine-completely-affiliated/103506/page1/
If you need outright durability, throw some 2" drop springs on an 03+ P71. You may not be fast, but you'll be my hero.
RX-8 or Miata.
In reply to Giant Purple Snorklewacker:
That's going to be at the high end of his budget before track mods, and they'll need some modding on the suspension, possibly better oil cooling depending on where the OP is (I wouldn't run an SC or C3.2 out here without a bigger oil cooler, for example). The good news is that all that stuff is pretty easy to find, but it does carry the Porker premium.
The 964 may be the easiest platform but for some utterly incomprehensible reason, they're now more expensive than SCs an C3.2s.
If the OP is looking for something more affordable to track than a Cayman S, an older aircooled Porsche ain't it.
BoxheadTim wrote: If the OP is looking for something more affordable to track than a Cayman S, an older aircooled Porsche ain't it.
It depends... a decent 3.2 car that is track ready can still be had for under $35k. And you will sell it for the same or more in 5 years. You will buy a Cayman at $35k and sell it for $17k in 5 years. Which cost more?
Most modern (2000 up) performance cars will handle a track day weekend in stock form without much problem.
Heck, there is a guy on this forum that uses a Chevy Malibu for track days. He didn't have any problems while it was still stockish. Check it out.
So just get the car you like, put some decent pads, fresh brake fluid, make sure all fluids are fresh and toped off and go have fun.
Used 1.6 Spec Miata. One of the better deals out there in track car land, and it's legal for wheel to wheel racing! Consumables will be almost nil, it's safe and reliable like a hammer. Plus it's legal to go wheel to wheel racing if you really get the bug.
Then you've got $25-28k to spend on something fun for the street.
Keith Tanner wrote: Used 1.6 Spec Miata. One of the better deals out there in track car land, and it's legal for wheel to wheel racing! Consumables will be almost nil, it's safe and reliable like a hammer. Plus it's legal to go wheel to wheel racing if you really get the bug. Then you've got $25-28k to spend on a tow rig, consumables, and race weekends.
FTFY. 
I bought a BMW E46 330ci for this exact purpose two years ago, for $7200, and with nothing more than fresh fluids, Conti DW tires and Stoptech pads, I did TWELVE thirty minute sessions...at Road America (VERY fast track that's VERY hard on brakes!!!!) without incident. Even better is that I also drove it daily both before and after that.
fanfoy absolutely hit the nail on the head. Vehicle design has come a long way in the past 20 years; you'd be hard pressed to find a modern performance vehicle that COULDN'T handle it (barring any straight-up mechanical abuse, of course).
My concern with the convertibles is roof protection. My understanding is convertibles need a roll bar or cage. So far my cars all have manual transmissions. Any extra car will also have that feature.
If you're going on track you're going to want a roll bar/cage, fixed backs, harnesses anyway.
A used race car is the best way to go, unless you really just want to build a street car that you'll occasionally use. In that case, look to Lockton Affinity for track day insurance.
It would be nice to just need a tire trailer. A truck and car trailer would be cumbersome at this point.
You can drive a Spec Miata on the street, although they're not great street cars. But good enough to drive to/from the track. If you run the Toyo RA1, you don't even need to change tires.
They're also surprisingly quick - the Spec Miata I rented for our club's last time trials event produced lap times that were on par with the best laps I had run in the MR2 on the same track at the previous event when I started out and 5 seconds faster per lap at the end of the day.
And it was still the slowest Miata in that group. I blame that on the driver 
.
Mind you, given that the current track we're using is Thunderhill and it's a 400+ mile round trip, I'd rather not drive a Spec Miata there and back. To a track closer, yes, but driving that far is going to get rather old rather quickly.
I think the answer here is Miata. What about one of the FRS/BRZ twins?
In reply to 92dxman:
I think the 86 twins are neat. Do they have the head gasket issues the other Subaru boxer engines have?
I haven't heard of any, but that doesn't mean anything. They also seem to be rather quick around the track in the right hands.
I drove one a few years ago before ultimately ending up with an Evo and I really liked it.
There's a lot of energy behind the Miata. The BMW 330Ci sounds cool too.
jrg77 wrote: A truck and car trailer would be cumbersome at this point.
So would getting a non-operational car + tire trailer home from the track. 
I know its fwd but what about a newer Civic SI?
jrg77 wrote: In reply to 92dxman: I think the 86 twins are neat. Do they have the head gasket issues the other Subaru boxer engines have?
The new FA engine is a clean-sheet design that, so far, has displayed none of the head gasket issues the old 2.5 EJ-series engines had (and to be fair, Subaru eventually came up with a fix for those too). But most kinks with the FR-S/BRZ seem to have been worked out after the first year of production, largely thanks to revised factory ECU tunes.
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