What car should share the garage with the Ferrari? Looking for a beater sports car.

I love my Ferrari, and have no plans to get rid of it until I eventually upgrade to a 458, but the one problem I have is that I don't feel like I can drive it to its full potential. Its great for driving and even putting through its paces on challenging roads, but I can't quite "abuse it".

What I mean by that is I love partaking in extremely long distance drives, crappy weather drives, track days, and even competitive Racing. I know some people on here race the Ferrari's effectively, but I don't feel like I quite have the budget to tune and repair an F car to that level. Heck, just to get a basic repair done on my car I lose it for weeks as I have to ship it away to a repair shop since there are none where I live.

I used to be very competitive with a C5 Corvette in the SCCA, and use to have a whole suite of cars. I recently sold my classic camaro, and now I'm down to only 5- A truck, an SUV Daily Driver, a Sedan Daily Driver, and an Offroading Jeep- plus the Ferrari 360.

I was thinking of picking up a Stingray z06, or a 911 (Probably a 997). I've put my cars into walls before and such, so I need something I can realistically maintain and repair, as well as modify competitively. Both the 911 and Corvettes are very affordable, and very repairable. Heck, when I put my C5 into a wall it cost me just a few thousand to get it back on the road good as new. They are also both friendly with consumables, and can handle massive mileage (well into the 100s).

I think my competitive days are past me, but I still like to squeeze into track days when my race team colleagues rent the tracks out, but I want to be able to go to a track and "not worry about it". I always had the mentality that If I don't feel comfortable crashing the car, I can't really enjoy the car to its fullest.

 

Ok with paddles, or prefer a manual gearbox?

What about a M4? 996 Turbo? Viper ACR? Lotus Exige S?

Lots of fun, "dual" track/street stuff out there. Lots of variables too.

 

In addition to suggestions, our friend loves thrashing her Subaru WRX STi. A Porsche Boxster could be another possibility. I like carving up the back roads in my wife's Benz SLK (ssh, don't tell her! [emoji3]).
T

 

Thrashable means willing to kiss the tire wall, which potentially rules out a lot of the above. Exile front and rear clams, for example, are brutally expensive. Ditto the body work on a 997. The Subaru is a great choice if you want something with chronic understeer (though you can balance a good bit of it out). Whatever era Corvette meets your price point also a good choice.

 

C6 Z06.

 

GT3 Just got one a couple months ago and I love it. Perfect track vehicle and comfortable enough for daily driving.

 

+1. Other possibilities: M2 or Cayman S.

If you want to focus on actual *driving*, a track prepped Miata. Doesn't necessarily have to be prepped to a class either-- throw a cage, coilovers, and a blower into a nice street car and go pass P-bugs.

 

C6 Z06, Viper, new Mustang, especially the GT350. Camaro Z28. 996 could work well too.
Or go outside the box and get an Atom. Is it more a track toy or a crossover? Some really cool and different options available.

 

Thanks everyone for the wonderful thoughts. I have a few more cars to look at and a few more ideas to think of. I certainly appreciate your time and thought you put into this.

I much prefer manuals- I can handle paddles as long as its an automated manual or dual clutch. I hate torque converters with a passion.

996 is definitely a possibilities, but we own a porsche cayenne too, and some of my PCA friends have suggested now that the 997 prices have dropped so far, its worth buying the 997, probably a turbo, but the S appears more reliable. the 3.8L seems like a solid option, although 996 turbos might be the value buy at the moment.

Never thought about an M4, but maybe I'll have to check it out. Vipers, I have no idea how anyone fits in those. I can't even sit in them! I did think about a lotus, but I have some friends who race lotuses and complain about how difficult it is to get parts.

Everyone I know with a rex LOVES them. That probably is a really practical side, but they are void of any emotion for me for some reason. I won't say practicality doesn't play a role, but to be devoid of emotion makes it a tough sell.

I had an SLK and frankly, I loved it. I never tracked it though because It felt a little underpowered. This is where they get difficult. Yes, there's the AMG, but it comes with the auto, and the auto tranny on those is rough. If I could get the manual transmission in the AMG, that would be my go-to-car, but driving that in an auto or suffering the underpowered non-AMG.

The Boxster can be a fine car, but with 911 prices as low as they are, its hard to justify a Boxster over a 996 or a 997.

I'm interested in your concerns about the body work on a 997, as while not as budget friendly as the vette, I've been under the impression that parts are readily available and easy to swap, with an exception of the rear quarter panels.

You know, i always disliked the C6s. C7s are my favorite, followed by C5s and then C4s. In short, I'd be hard pressed to pick up a C6 over a C7 or another C5. Thats not really a rational argument though, as the C6 is a decent car. I'm surprised they are holding their value fairly well for a vette too, so they aren't the bargain the C5s were when the C6 came out.

I bet. GT3s are fun cars to drive. Unfortunately I think they may be a hair out of where I want to spend, that doesn't mean they aren't a great value for what they are!

I keep reading and hearing great things about the M2. That might be worthy of investigating. I had such a bad experience with my e90 M-Sport though that I've been turned off a bit by BMW, but there's not a strong basis for that opinion. I think I may have to head off to the BMW store and toy with the M2 and the M4.

I'm a recovering muscle/Pony car junky. I actually raced Camaros before I graduated to vettes. The 1LEs are a pretty durable camaro option. I could definitely consider the z28, but frankly I think the SS with the magnetic ride control option and the 1le package may be a better fit as a fun car. ... but the Z28 is a true track monster.

I like the Ariel idea... I just hate that they aren't road legal. But the way I interpret your point is that maybe you get something like an ariel for the track. I was thinking more crossover, but frankly that may not be necessary. I need to find someone that has one to at least sit in it.

AS far as the 996 is concerned, thats what I was originally thinking, but the PCA guys insisted its worth the extra cash for the 997, especially with the 3.8L. Now if I do a formal comparison on data, the internals are pretty much the same between the two, but a 996 turbo probably isn't a bad move.

 

One of the reasons I no longer have a Ferrari is that at least for me they are no fun to drive unless you are pushing it to its (or your limits). It is fairly well known I have had a lot of cars, though I will admit to slowing down as I am getting older (I have only brought a dozen since the beginning of 2016). Among those cars was a C7, 4C, 2 FtypeR's, Miata RF, i8, and I am now shopping for a Caymen S (or an R8) for my girlfriend. The M2 is a nice car, though dealers have waiting lists (some asking 10K over sticker. I do not consider the M4 to be a sports car more of a GT car. The C7 Z06 is a handful and like a Ferrari not a lot of fun unless you push it. With all that carbon fiber you might find it is not a cheap fix like a C5 was. The RF (mine is modified quite a bit) is a lot of fun at almost any speed. I would say the 4c but you might dump your 360 after you drive it (I had 2 360's the 4C is in my opinion is a much better drivers car, and when I am done a much faster car), and it probably will not be a cheap fix, nor is it a stick shift. I have owned a lot of Porsche's and the goods ones, well they are good, the problematic ones, can be expensive. My neighbor has a 996tt that he uses as a track and road car. He does a lot to that car to keep it on the road (seems it is in the shop more than it should be) and he has to change wheels and tires every time he hits the track. I do not doubt you but I find it interesting a high torque kind of guy (muscle car junky as you said), would truly like a high revving car like the 360, but perhaps you are more recovered than it seems. Good luck in your search, if there is no thing I have learned from almost 14 years on this site my definition of what makes a car good, is not what most people think.

 

Why do you say the Ariel is not street legal ?

 

Get yourself an e36 M3 Coupe. Stick shift, tons of fun, park it anywhere, track it, cross-country drives, easily modded. Best part, you won't lose money.

 

R32 GTR
Beat up NSX
Any recent Vette

That's the order I'd go from coolest/rarest to most common.

 

What about something like a Honda S2000? Might be a little too downmarket compared to some of the other cars that have been mentioned, but I don't think we'll ever see another car like it.

 

If you want something for fun track days and can also make a decent driver, I'd look at a Porsche Cayman. The 981s look the best, IMO, but just about any variation would be fun. Get a manual-- they're not hard to find.

 

I owned an Ariel Atom and it was street legal at least in Florida.


The reason it can be a problem is the car is not made with a VIN number. The car has a MDO which is a manufactures direct order. Your state has to issue a VIN for the car.

In Florida you have to order the car with some equipment and have the car inspected by the Director of Vehicle compliance. A very easy thing to do. The Atom company can tell you what to do and who to contact.

I also went to my DMV to find out of any Ariel Atoms were registered in Florida. There were three and mine made four.

These are wonderful cars to drive, better than most exotics and the company is very helpful even after the sale.

Best

Lee

 

Modified RX-7

Modified for power and reliability through a performance shop spending on the motor itself, then clutch, suspension, roll bar, clutch 1.5 way diff, single turbo conversion, and cooling.

Having said that, it's unreal how well it handles even in a winter mix of rain/sleet. See the pic below. The chassis is very stiff, lightweight, and perfectly balanced. Sounds great, easy to repair, inexpensive and the biggest mistake people do is ignore the factory defects that cause issues.

Mine is completely overbuilt ($20K in receipts plus maintenance) as a track beast with full interior and daily driving reliability so all I had to do was just turn the key and drive it. Built by one of the best rotary performance shops in the USA, Banzai Racing. Banzai Racing are Australian, in rotary terms they are Puerto Rican Rotary crazies from another hemisphere.

When flogging it, it runs cool even in stop and go traffic with no fans due to clever and essential oil coolers and air ducting.

It's as tractable or lose your stool wild as you want it to be and cheap to rebuild, cheap to insure. I've driven the build near 6,000mi now and both compression and oil analysis says it's barely broken in. Many of the performance builds that corrected the factory flaws have substantial mileage between 30,000-50,000mi making twice the factory power. You get what you pay for.

Mine makes 550whp/400tq (Dynojet) at the wheels and weighs 2700lbs with full interior and roll bar. And boy are these motors happiest to spin above 4K with a 10K redline.

Maybe the biggest statement of all I can make of this is I replaced my 2015 GT-R premium with this. It's seriously that fun.

Video: Partial throttle merging.
Pic 1: Winter pic on the drive home after purchase.
Pic 2: Mustang heartbreaker dyno at 23.8psi (single turbo). No torque you say? That's strange, I have gobs.

Unless you are building up a Nissan 240z, or 350z, there isn't another Japanese sports car that ticks off all of the boxes as one of these.

https://youtu.be/9W449iOS15A
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Awesome RX-7. They are a beautiful shape as well, and have plenty of upgrades.

 

Why settle, go all the way and get a ZR1

 

I love the 3rd gen RX7. There's a guy in Birmingham, AL that has a four-rotor dropped into his. Engine is from Pulsed Performance Race Engineering in New Zealand. The videos I've seen of it sound just like a 787B.

Pulse Performance Race Engineering: Extreme Mazda Rotor Engines by Pulse Performance Race Engineering, NZ

 

3-rotor or even 4-rotor are automotive candy. I love the sound of them, it's definitely a goal.

 

R129 Mercedes or M roadster BMW. Both cheap, pretty and fun

 

Interesting points.

I'm real happy with the 360 for attacking the country roads. I can spool it up a bit and go through mountain passes and whatnot happily.

The torque vs. HP game to me is like beverages. One is a red wine, one is a white wine. I like each for different circumstances.

For daily driving, I love high torque diesel or turbo motor, because you get everything you want out of it in those situations, but get down the back roads and give me a motor that likes to be worked.

Same with motorcycles. I loved my sport bikes when I was younger, as they were a blast to drive down the back roads. Spooling up to 12k+ RPMS feels awesome, but then I moved to a suburban area, and the lack of torque for scooting around is painful, so give me a V-Twin for cruising around but a sport bike to push.

Thanks for the recommendations!

Its sooo hard to find a NSX now days, even beat up... I should have bought like 10 of them 5 years ago when they were like $15-20k. I just really don't think they'll hold their value long term... not that its my purpose for buying, its just one of those frustrating nuances. "what... 65k for that???". Logically its not the 65k that scares me, its the "for that" haha.

 

I would first ask what is your budget and appetite for repair costs if you do smack it at the track? That will make a lot of the suggestions here null and void.

 

I'm pretty much in aww, althouigh I started doing some research on the Ariel Atom website. Evidently its really tough to get them legal in Ohio, but it is possible. I don't know if I want to go through the hassle of building one, but if I can find one built and legal in Ohio, I think this could be a leading contender.

This is a fairly logical choice, but I think I'd rather have a mazda. They have 0 style, are way too sleeperish, and I just looked around and the cheepest one in my area is $25,300. At that price point, I think I'd rather have a C5 z06. A z06 would be cheaper to maintain and may be easier to deal with, but if your a bimmer fan I can't say the e36 m3 is a bad choice.

I keep reading mixed reviews on rotaries. I hear a lot about them failing to hold up, and finding people to work on them is a real challenge.

With that being said, I've always had a passion for them.