I'm not. You claimed he could "afford it" but he's financing a large amount of it. By that logic I can afford a Lotus Exige...
He asked for advice on picking a track car. My advice is not to track something you can't afford to put into the wall. If he's comfortable making payments on a car he no longer has, that's his choice.

 

And by the same logic, 70% of homeowners in the US can't afford their homes because they didn't pay cash for them. I'm sure he really appreciates the financial planning advice from a car forum, though, so by all means proceed.

 

In your list I would do an S2k, but why not look into something like a VW gti? They can be modified quite easily, and are actually a useful car (back seat, hatchback).
Or increase your budget and get one of these:

 

Has anyone looked into a solstice? I don't know all the details but DDM Works makes a s/c kit for them that puts out 340 ish rwhp and 400 something ftlbs. They may weigh 2900 lbs but I've seen 295s front and rear on an a-stock solstice lol.

I may get flamed for that one but I was just trying to think of other ideas.

 

I hear what the OP is saying about a reliable car. I've thought about finishing my car and then trying to trade it for an S2000. That's besides the point.

I was going to chime in with the HPDE insurance. It's always an option if you wanted to cover your butt with a financed car. I've heard that they are good at paying out, but it can cost almost $300 for a weekend. Not sure if it's less for GT3 vs s2k

 

They have horrible reliability problems...possibly one of the least reliable cars on the track.

 

Am I the only one not enduring reliability problems? Exactly what is failing on cars at the track? I drive the everliving **** out of this car, and so does Johnfag on occasion, and it never misses a beat.

 

he talking among the cars he listed. jake knows and preaches the virtues of miata's, he just wants something different but reliable like a low mileage miata would be.

i don't think he's down with fwd. it's fun, but rwd feels the best when you do it right! i'm about to go back to a crx for the next few events. probably not as fast in the corners as my miata, but it's waaayyyyy faster in a straight line.

 

solstice cars have dominated certain classes in the scca runoffs (roadracing, not auto-x) since 2006. so much so that a big portion of the field had switched to those cars exclusively until this year that the runoffs moved to road america. a horsepower track. a solstice still qualified on pole, but ran out of brakes up against factory brembo cars (350z, evo 8/9) with more power. apparently they make great track cars, but i don't think he want's one, plus they're ugly.

 

I used to like to choose a road less traveled. but as I get older (old enough to be father to most here), I learned there is a reason why certain track cars are popular. they are reliable, fun, and good aftermarket support. Why you think Miata is one of most popular track car ? doubt is the hp.

if you choose a say Solstice. who are you going to have fun running with ? compare your lap time with ? you could be Schumacher, and don't know it. or you could be the worst driver, and don't know it.

on average track day in SOCAL, we see typically 10+ S2000 and 10+ Miatas. You get to have fun with others on track.

another point I brought up earlier. some cars (E30) is just way too slow. you will never make it to advanced group, if you do, you will never have a clean lap, too busy pointing everybody by. na Miata is now becoming that, it is getting too slow (here in SOCAL) for fastest run group. BUT a good thing is: na Miatas only have to point by on straights, where it doesn't affect the laps of both cars. But say you take a GTI, you will be holding fast cars up at BOTH straights and corners, messing up urs and overtaker's lap. it just no fun, which is why we track.

 

You can't smash a house into the wall while racing it.

 

Omg, let it go. Can someone close this fkin thread? I think he's made his decision and noons wont stay on topic.

 

I read this whole thread, and not one word of an NC Miata. That suprises me.

 

Why is that?

lets see here:
heavy just like the s2k
not nearly as fast as the s2k stock vs stock
pricey (for the same price you could get an s2k about 1-2 years older)
not nearly as reliable and dependable as an s2k

 

Welcome to my life.

 

lol, I don't like to talk money. Lets just say I have other plans for my cash then on a car note. Yes I know the car could get tboned at any time, this isn't my first rodeo.

I thought long and hard about the NC. I think its under rated for tracking. You can get a lot lower miles than a comparable priced s2k. My problem with the NC is that it still isn't as good of a track car as a 10 year old S2000. Trust me I thought about it. We had one run a 2:03? at TWS on sways,flex, and rs3's. I just can't get over how fugly they are unless you drop 3-4k for a MS front end and hardtop. I think out of the box a bone stock s2k on 255 rs3"s can do a 2 flat.

As far as safe tracking with the S2K, what is the min to have? I thought the stock rollbar was really dom steal under that plastic? Is there a way to attach a harness without the harddog? What maint should I do right off the bat on a higher mileage s2k for track duty?

all fluids $100
spare rotors $150
17x9's with 255 rs3's $1300
sway bar $150
track pads $200
saftey?
traqmate $1000
$2900 plus safety stuff

 

Anyone mention the Porsche 944?

 

ban

I live in a hurricane zone and flood zone. Does that count? I think they get mudslides, fires, and quakes over in Savs area. Does that count? lol If you were to take all cars that had a note on them and make it illegal to track them you would only see miata's and older porsche's. You also would loose that sweet Audi R8 vid on youtube.



or this Viper



or my favorite morons

 

I wouldn't track one. Just thought I'd throw it out there.

Last video. Holy crap!

 

Right? I read the whole discussion on that from back in 07-08? It was a dude and his buddy racing each other in hpde 2. The instructor of the buddy keeps telling him to slow down slow down, etc. Then you got the track org that thought it was ok to grid on the outside of a 70mph corner...epic fail.

Here ya go tutu

http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f100...-happen-22812/