Track events. They're just you, your favorite circuit and, ideally, lots and lots of laps. No car-on-car incidents. No trip to the impound shed. No worries if the car ahead of you is running the right cam or not.
I miss doing them.
My first track car–this is going back nearly 30 …
Aside from the obvious BRZ/FR-S/86, a few options come to mind:
You already own the perfect track car in your M3, so what's the problem here? :)
Assuming you want to go with something lesser than German perfection, a K-motor Civic Si (8th or 9th gen) seems like it would check all the boxes.
codrus (Forum Supporter) said:a K-motor Civic Si (8th or 9th gen) seems like it would check all the boxes.
Not sure how I forgot to mention the Si.
Suzuki Cappuccino.
I'm going to suggest MR2 spyder for purely selfish reasons.
K motor Civic Si seems like a good choice though.
Gen5 Prius
wheels/tires, suspension, and pads
should "knock out of the park" the following stipulations:
Safe
Reliable
No engine swaps / 200hp
No trailered cars
Easy on consumables
The main points I'm not so certain about are:
No unicorns: Let’s make this something easy to find in today’s world.
And the last one: It has to live outside.
Regen should help reduce braking stress / consumables; and Hybrid powertrain should knock out the "fuel-based" consumables aspect... without the complication of 1500#s of batteries.
edit:
Also, being a hatch... no problem fitting extra wheels/tires and your BMX bike.
I have no idea where/if the new Prius would land in Solo. In the past it's been H-stock... which considering the "name" and that it's got less power than the V6 Accord that has won H-stock in the past... seems like it should stay there?
Alternatives to this concept are some form of 2012+ Camry Hybrid, or a Lexus UX250h.
Has technology advanced to where Derp has turned to Track Fiend? or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the {Hybrid}?
NC Miata? Maybe a little shy of your 200hp mark, but not a huge excess of mass. But enough add'l car to be less worrisome than an NA?
ND Miata? I fear they've lost me on looks, but maybe a solid answer in terms of power/weight/safety/reliability?
Okay, maybe an important question, or maybe something you don't want to be specific about because it'll point us off some direction: Do you want a tool for focusing on your driving, or do you want something that's the driving equivalent of putting on a favorite record, where the experience of driving that particular car is a big part of the track day?
There's a part of me that wants to look for a solid older car, pony-size, and note that a bone-stock V8 won't be far from your 200hp, and at that state of tune it'll chug along indefinitely. And I'd guess that at ~200hp and ~3000lb, despite the reputation of modern V8 monsters, it probably wouldn't be bad on consumables. I'd lean something like an old Falcon or early Mustang, but a Fox-chassis car would be solid.
We'd be silly not to at least raise the topic of a street-ified-enough-for-plates retired circle track or other dedicated race car.
E30.
Not a unicorn, but yeah, you'll have to look longer than you did ten years ago. Once you find one in good condition, you should have a solid, reliable car that will crank out laps with style and excellent dynamics.
Maybe they're just too old to be solid (without being five-wires-in-the-car simple like a Mustang). I think we're back to the question of whether it's purely about the act of driving, or about whether the flavor counts much.
Dajiban!
Anything with a 1.6T gamma-T and manual trans. Veloster, Forte SX/GT, Elantra GT etc. I would kill to see you guys finally do a Korean track rat.
sleepyhead the buffalo said:Gen5 Prius
Have they fixed the traction control? The first few gens of Prius were extremely conservative and would take away your throttle for 4-5 seconds after detecting any wheel slip, in a way that wasn't really practical to disable. It made them basically useless for motorsport (and apparently pretty bad at driving in snow!)
How much does a Veloster N go for these days? Allegedly those are close to a Type R in performance so should do nicely on that front.
How about the consistent #1 selling sports sedan in the world since it inception?
Tesla 3
Are there vendors who need exposure? (not so much the manufacturer)
It doesn't have to be a new one either. I think often not covered is what the "high mileage" Tesla ownership experience really is.
I recommended the 3 for SCCA's Spec Class also. The cars are out there in droves. How do we get the owners to use them for things other than commuting?
The cheapest manual corvette you can locate. Unbolt anything possible. gutted. steering wheel. pedals and a dash. think deathkart with a roof.
The most roached 350z you can locate. Paint it with a rattle can so it is passable. RPF1's and that terrible Vq exhaust note will have you in the zone.
BRZ FRS - Not cheap. Would love to see a more serious build on one. every one around me is stanced out garbage. Can the lack of power be over come with some 200 tread rating tires?
Find a old boxter. - Yup. No love for it. but cheap. and has a heart and heritage. Zip around in it and do the factory year by year upgrades to it on a budget. At least you are in a Porsche.
05+ mustang V6. cheap. plentiful. not as fast as a GT. but lighter. once you sort the suspension build a single rear mount/trunk mounted turbo for it and make 400HP.
2G focus SVT. Not the ST's. get the older one. ran better. less nonsense and godly handling. sub $5K and ready to go with some wheels tires and pads.
mini cooper. - if you really hate yourself and the company will pay for repairs and blown up crap. then ya. get the SC one for the whine.
Hyundai genisis coupe. The 2.0T had crappy rods. so dont crank the boost. the 3.8 has timing chain issues that costs about $7000 to fix. But you can still find um. Get a stick with the track pack brakes.
I know you said no motor swaps. but hear me out. Nissan versa hatch back. the 2011-2015 hatchback ones. comes with 120HP 1.8. Swap in the altima/Sentra SE-R 2.5 block. and make what the world REALLY needed. A Nissan Versa SE-R .
Acura Integra Type S
NC Miata or RX8
codrus (Forum Supporter) said:sleepyhead the buffalo said:Gen5 Prius
Have they fixed the traction control? The first few gens of Prius were extremely conservative and would take away your throttle for 4-5 seconds after detecting any wheel slip, in a way that wasn't really practical to disable. It made them basically useless for motorsport (and apparently pretty bad at driving in snow!)
afaik, since the Gen4/2016 Prius, there's been a Stability Control off button on the Prius (2014+ for the CT200h). There's been a similar button since 2012 on the Camry Hybrid. I haven't had a chance to test how un-intrusive the system is, personally. But, anecdotally, back in 2018 my 2005 TL got beat by a "factory prepped" 2018 Camry Hybrid at OneLap. afaik, said prep was primarily wheels/tires/suspension/brakes... not programming.
Safe and parked outside: this tells me no convertibles. Bummer, because of the Miata, Boxter, and S2000 in particular
Reliable: to me this says naturally aspirated and possible to find one that isn't thrashed. I'm sure there are some turbo cars that buck this trend, but in general my experience has been that most turbo cars seem to have a lot of thermal issues on track, especially ones with long straights.
No engine swaps or trailers: has to be somewhat civil on the street
Autocross potential: my class knowledge is so outdated I'm not much use here
Just enough power: at least around me, even with 200hp in an E30 I still end up driving in my mirrors depending on who else is out there. There are just so many modern attainable cars that are absolute rockets in a straight line.
Easy on consumables and No Unicorns: makes sense
An E30 of course is my pick, I love them on track and have tens of thousands of miles doing so in them. You're not going to get 200hp without a swap or boost though. A 325i is around 160 crank horses stock. My turbo 318is was good for around 240 crank horses, but reliability was never as good as I wanted it to be.
E36 328 or M3 would be way high on the list, still cheap consumables, very common, gets you into that happy 200hp ish range. And they're still cheap to buy a decent one. E46s are similar story.
An early non-S Cayman could be a solution, but I'm sure there's some porsche tax on the consumables. I want to say 944, but they need an engine swap to not be driving in the mirrors.
I think a 4th gen camaro might fit the criteria based on the one I had, but they aren't terribly easy to work on. I've always preferred how the Camaro 3rd and 4th gen drive vs Mustangs of the same era, but ymmv.
350z (and maybe even a G35) could work as well. Good aftermarket, VQ is pretty well known by now.
You've already had a BRZ/FRS, but that would be on the list too.
These are all RWD cars. I personally consistently have more fun on the track in a RWD car. That's just me. If you're open to FWD, Civic SI would be high on my list. GTI breaks my turbo/reliability rule, along with the Focus and Fiesta ST. EP3 Civic or first gen TSX could be interesting, but they're maybe too much of unicorns and maybe need more oomph.
BoxheadTim said:How much does a Veloster N go for these days? Allegedly those are close to a Type R in performance so should do nicely on that front.
but that's more power than he's looking for. A Veloster R-spec would be the ticket. 201hp, 6-spd etc. Or any Veloster Turbo for that matter. Or Forte SX/GT if you want a little more wheelbase and comfort.
---=== Elantra N ===---
+1 on early Cayman. Great on track and easy to drive fast. If you can find a good one. Coupe so safer and OK outside. Parts ? Negative on autocross with the SCCA Porsche penalty in classing.
A beater, possibly salvage title, non-supercharged Lotus Elise. You can fit a hard top if it doesn't have one. You might find a gutted car that is still street legal. They go for cheap, as most want a more comfortable street car.
Integral roll bar. 190HP normally aspirated and appreciating. They weigh 1950 stock. Mine is 1855 and still has A/C, radio, etc. You will get addicted to the light weight. A Corvette or Porsche 911 weighs almost twice as much.
I have been tracking mine regularly for sixteen years. They are super tough little cars and easy to work on. A Toyota Celica engine. I am 6'3 190, so sometimes it can be hard to access something than a smaller person, under the dash, for example.
Tires and brakes last forever and replacements are cheaper than bigger tires.
I have only autocrossed it once at a Porsche event. They have a brand X class. One of the fastest cars there was a previous generation GT3RS, driven by the guy who laid out the course. Since this was my first time, I was learning the process while continually resetting my suspension from Big WIllow settings. Times were in the half minute range and I ended up about a second behind the Porsche.
So, if you like autocross, you probably can't find a much better car. I plan to do more.
The car was designed as a track day car and then made street legal. What more could you want?
How about to do a Subaru...correctly. 05-07 STI maybe? The community is standing by and ready to help. Let's go giant slaying together. Maybe get into some Gridlife Time Attack? Someone needsd to do this right. Currently all we have is Donut out there doing it VERY wrong.
In reply to Deweywrx :
No dewey. Bad dewey. We don't need to let the smoke out at every event! 
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