Trackcar in a box?

Honda CR, awesome car. Nothing else matters, simply the best of the three.

 

Don't track anything you can't afford to just write off...

 

Buy an already prepped trackcar. Buying a brand new car to track is a huge waste of money with terrible resale in its future.

I bought a prepared 95 M3 caged etc.. for 11k last year.

 

Excellent advice above. If you are going to track 4-5 times a year, drive slowly, etc. anything (well, you know what I mean) will work.

If you are going to get serious, it is MUCH cheaper to buy something already done.

 

+1,000,000

A LOT of deals out there right now.

 

elise / exige...even a two year old exige "non-supercharged" would be great...

 

^^

I agree!!

I'm looking into to picking up either a fully sorted M3 or 944 Turbo. I don't want my track car to be overly valuable or precious to me as my main car is, but certainly don't want a car with lots of shortcuts. Owners that track prep a car basically always lose when they sell, so it's your gain.

As for the S2000----torqueless wonder, although the handling is great and it has so-so thrust if the revs are kept high.

370Z-----good track car but rather homely and unappealing to me, sorry.

RX-8----another torqueless wonder------and torque wins races! Torque makes your car much easier and more satisfying to drive. Rotaries are known for being fragile also.

I favor the E36 M3 as high on the bang for the buck scale, as well as C5 Corvette Z06s or FRCs and Porsche 944 Turbos.

 

Beginners should stick to street cars with street tires until they are within 3-4 seconds of the lap record for that kind of car on street tires. For most beginners, this takes at least 300 laps (or 5-8 track days minimum).

You learn faster on street tires
You get into less trouble on street tires
The trouble you get into occurs at lower energy levels
Street tires last 3X-5X longer
You don't have to carry track tires with you to the track
You have less issues with brakes (still fresh fluids are a must)
You will have to upgrade to track worth brake pads before you need to upgrade to r-compound or slicks.

 

Honestly id keep my options opened. I've checked out all three options in person myself and they are great but unless you want something brand new and cheap id look for something in the lines of a C5 vette or an older porsche.

 

Miatas are fun, you can learn A LOT about car control. The Miata race class has tons of competition so you can do lots of racing and parts are very cheap

 

You're on the right path with the notion of lower horsepower. More important than any car is to buy yourself some quality coaching. Volunteer instructors that many clubs use are worth exactly what you pay for them.

 

As drf3576 suggested - a Lotus Elise is essentially track ready for a beginner "straight out of the box" - and being light is easy on consumables (brakes and tyres).

 

+ 1,0000,000,000

Miata's and Z4's already set up and with a cage are probably the best starter car from a cost/benefit standpoint. Use it for a couple of seasons and then sell it for most of what you have in it.

Getting something that is already set up will let you work on your racecraft and not have you spend your time diddiling with the car. A car like an Elise is nice, but the cost is going to be huge when compared to a spec Miata or a Z4.

Also the points about competition are important. How do you judge how you are doing unless there are other similar cars out there to run against?

 

Rent a Spec Ford racer. It may sound expensive at $2,500 for a race weekend, but it will be the cheapest racing dollars you ever spend, and you will spend a lot if you get into this madness.

Dale

 

spec miata. All this Porsche and BMW stuf sounds realy cool, but what is the operating cost of those vehicles? SM tires are about $600 a set and will last about 8 hours at speed. Brakes are about $10 an axle set. Hard parts like engines and transmissions are very inexpensive, unless you pony up the stupid oney for a race engien that has 5 more hoursepower at about $1000 per hp.

And SM is very reliable - they routinely do the Thunderhill 25 hour and other endurance events without mishap.

 

Completely agree with buying an inexpensive momentum-type car to start with. I went with a Porsche 944 as a compromise between the Miata (a little small for me and too much contact in Spec Miata racing) and the E30 BMW (a little pricey).

Against everyone's better judgment I actually did have my car built for me, by a very knowledgeable local mechanic. The car is awesome but I'm certain it would have been less expensive to buy one of this guy's cars already prepped. I just couldn't find one before deciding to jump in and build my own. It's really tempting to have a car that is built exactly to your own specs, but financially I would would agree that you should "resist the mist" and hold out for a car that some other schmuck (like, um, me) has paid to prep.

I love my car and I'm very happy with the NASA 944 Cup series but I'm not overly fond of the PCA, which I find too focused on the 911. If I were starting again I might stretch the budget and go for the BMW: the E30 is every bit as good as the 944, the racing is at least as competitive and I hear only great things about the BMWCCA.

Or raid the kids' college fund and buy an Exige. That could work, too.

 

Lots of options out there for you. In the end it really depends on exactly where you want to go with all of this. Would love to discuss with you, but far too much to type.

I'd be glad to speak with you over the phone about it if you're interested. I've brought many aspiring/hobbyist drivers into the 'trackday' and racing world - lots of different directions to go all depending on budget, activity, etc.

PM or email me and I'll shoot you my number!

 

I would recommend the Porsche Boxster Spec racing series.

It is a growing series, especially in california.

You could get very competitive at $35 to $40k.

The weight of the class is 2650 lbs. including driver.

The series is being governed to keep costs low.
Yearly changes to the rules are very minimal.
The spec car is from years 1997 to 1999 (2.5 liter motors only)
The tires are Toyo R888 that can last 3 weekends (9 days)

It is a great low horsepower car with great handling.
Very balanced mid engine race car.
It is a larger version of a kart.

I've been running the series for a year now and the group is very competitive.

you may find more info under P.O.C. (porsche owners club) and boxsterspec.com

 

I also want to add that racing this series will actually let you know where you stand as far as your driving skills are compared to others, since the spec build of the car is very specific.

Racing costs is fairly reasonable also.
brakes last you 3 weekends (9 days). pagid orange front brakes cost approx $250.
gas is about 25 gallons for a weekend (3 days - 13 twenty five minute sessions)
gas consumption isn't excessive since re-programming the car is not allowed.

there's so much to discuss, i can't write it all down....