jclarksnakes

I think the value of these cars has held up so well because they are so versatile. Buy one to use as a dependable daily driver that has loads of street cred. You could instead buy one to use as a competitive track car without spending lots of time and money on mods. Instead of either of those uses you could buy one to be a reasonably good investment as a show car.

racebum

there are also no reasonably priced challengers to the c5z which makes it a top choice for a street/track car

the sti and evo 8/9 are two of the others that are popular with autocross. both require modding and more money and the base price is not cheaper

this is really why i purchased a c5z over an evo8. the evo has awd, better seats and can be more nimble along with better street traction due to awd. it however is also less reliable. looks like an econobox, requires modding to bring up to stock c5z levels and is difficult to buy in good shape and a reasonable price

there is simply no other 20k car i can think of that offers the same out of the box performance for the price. i owned mine from the start of 2012 to dec 2016 and it was honestly more reliable than my old honda integra. in fact it was the single most reliable domestic car i have ever owned.

jclarksnakes

Racebum is right. There are no other cars available that will get around a track so well at this price level without serious modding.