Bahnzii

I currently have an '09 Z06 that I tracked 8 times last summer. I know I want to push harder and I don't quite relish the thought of wadding up my Z06, so I am considering a budget of 10-15k for a car that I can track and if sh*t does happen, I won't be curled up in a little ball on the side of the track

Plus I can outfit it with a full roll cage and not worry about resale!!

I don't have the option of trailering, so I would need to drive it to the tracks and swap wheels to dot-r's, no slicks yet

I am open to all opinions for cars; corvette (of course), miata, 944, older 911, bmw, evo, sti, etc...

I'm in NorCal, so the tracks I frequent are Thunderhill, Infineon, Laguna, Buttonwillow and others...for what it's worth.

As for my tracking, my ultimate goal is to compete.
Any and all advice is welcome

Happy New Year!!

flink

I was in a similar situation a few months ago and ended up buying a 1992 BMW e36 race car.

One thing I do regret about the purchase is that the engine is so damn weeny. Running in HPDE advanced groups I'm 6-10 seconds slower than most people no matter what I do, which means that I have to lift very often, and it turns out that lifting to let someone else past wrecks your lap times more than passing someone. And it's not nice knowing that you're mucking up other people's lap times too. So... if you're going to switch to a lower-powered car, have a long hard think about whether you can live with the decision.

There are some wicked deals out there on full race cars (use racingjunk.com) - you'll save a lot of money relative to building it up yourself, it's probably ready to run and all sorted out. Are you really sure you can't tow? I ended up getting a BMW x5 SUV which is not supposed to be able to tow a 22' enclosed but it turns out that it does a perfectly acceptable job around here. This way, it's the wife's DD and I avoided adding an extra vehicle to the family stable.

Plus, of course, driving your track car to the track sucks. Not just because of the tire/cage/legality compromises, but because of the amount of setup/teardown time when you're there, and the stress of how-do-i-get-home.

If you really cannot tow then perhaps look at a turbo miata? Light, good on a track, those things can go like rockets and they're pretty cheap to put together. I have a pal locally who tracks his DD miata and who recently put a turbo into it.

Hit me up at thill sometime if you want to take the e36 out for a session, see if you can live with under 200 whp

ace996

Yep...I went from a pretty fast/modded Subaru STI (400hp/450tq) to a Lotus Elise (a dozen or so poodle-power, although they were quite high-strung poodles) and went to Pocono with PDA. It sucked.
Sure, the car has "feel", it brakes like nothing else I've ever experienced, and it handles like a go-cart, but it was just too underpowered. My friends, who I usually play lead/follow with in RED group, just left me for dead...and having to drive within an inch of my life to TRY and keep up was just insane. So instead of pouring money into a supercharger/turbo for it, I sold it to a guy who wanted to pour money into the motor...

Finally found my way back to a C5Z...a bit more than your initial budget, but a phenomenal car that's closer in performance to your current ride than other choices.

And for the money, I agree with the above, too, about the E36BMWs...great track cars but a bit underpowered.

Good luck,
TomK

bosco022

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CNC Camero

http://www.racingjunk.com/category/1...ICAN-IRON.html

Lots of other race cars here http://www.racingjunk.com/category/4...cing_Cars.html

davidfarmer

early c5 Z06's are awesome cars, and quite cheap right now. Other than power, it does everything else nearly as well as your current car. Parts are readily available via dealers or Ébay. The 01'-up LS's have better engines than the early cars, and of course the 02-04 has a bit more power and the lightweight valves.

95jersey

$15k will get you an 01 Z06 in decent condition (especially in this economy). That car is flat out amazing and is only a few mods away from being one of the fastest at a track day. I would get one of these for that price.

The other alternative is to buy a prepped Miata for about $5k. You will save significant dollars, but get used to being passed by everything. I personally wouldn't mine racing one if everyone were in one and the playing field was level, but I have driven a few at HPDE and it was less than pleasureable as instead of focusing on your driving, your CONSTANTLY looking in the rearview mirror giving point bye's. I felt bad for the people behind me and I only got a couple chances on the track where I could actually focus on my own driving without interruption.

Git Er Dun

I think my C4 would be perfect for you. Runs cool in the heat, don't be afraid to mess it up, parts are SUPER cheap and plentifull, body panels are very easy to find, ect...plus it even comes with a trailer hitch. I would NOT be afraid to drive it to the track and drive it home.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/auto...rk-extras.html

PS If you still think that price is too high I'm sure we can work something out...

SIK02SS

I second the CMC or CMC2 Camaro/trans am...still lots of motors and a solid starting point to get into w2w. Plus parts for fbody's are cheaper then corvettes. I think in both CMC and CMC2 the cars are restricted, so in that sense there is room to grow in the car, and when you're ready to race put the restrictor back on and have at it

OCCOMSRAZOR

IMHO, the best suggestions for you would be the C5 Z or the tube frame stock car.

If you want a car that will protect you and won't make you cry like a baby if you stuff it into a wall you better start budgeting for a trailer and something to pull it with. A "combination" street legal / track car is a compromise of safety.

Welcome to the dark side....

0Paul Ruggeri

I drive my C4 to and from the track and its a cheap way to go. I'm not very fast, but if you've ever seen Sydney's C4 around Norcal tracks, you know C4s can be quick.

shakedown067

To stay in a corvette, a nice 96 LT-4 would be my choice.

quick04Z06

There is a race-ready Spec Miata for sale down the line in this Autocrossing & Roadracing subforum--about 7K. Can't get much cheaper than that.

SIK02SS

I think you can find the CMC Camaro's/TAs in the sub 10k range


Oh, and no matter what anyone tells you, there really is no such thing as "Race-Ready". Every car has it's own issues

Aardwolf

There was a C4 track car project on the Corvette guru forum. Jeffvette is building one, initial cost was to be $1,000 for the car. He found a pretty nice one! And you could build a heck of a fast C4 with the $9,000-14,000 left!!!

gkmccready

What track experience did you have prior to the C6Z? If the answer is none or very little, then I'd say take the pain of something low-powered like a Miata and learn to wring everything you can out of every corner. Momentum cars will teach you a lot of skills right away that will take you years to learn in a high-power car because the power lets you hide a lot of mistakes.

Also, if event-to-event costs are to be kept in check something like a Miata will last forever. Throw on some RA1s and fresh pads/rotors at the start of the season and I'd be surprised if they wouldn't last you an entire season.

Fast Spec Miatas will run 2:08s at Thunderhill (not sure if that's cyclone or by-pass, honestly).

And since you said you don't want to trailer I'm really not sure why people are suggesting a bunch of these other options. :-)

wingman4rent

I keep lusting after this one.
http://limerock.racingjunk.com/categ...uto-cross.html

Bahnzii

Thanks everyone for the suggestions, keep 'em coming.

Since I don't have a a truck or suv with a hitch, I can't really look into a track-only car...yet

My run times at Thunderhill in my Z06 have been 2:08-2:10 on street tires. I know I can push a LOT harder even with my NT-05's, but the lack of a rollbar, expensive repairs, yadda-yadda...has made me ease off or break early

A momentum car like a Miata, 944, RX-7 (FC), sounds like a nice option. I only wonder if constantly checking mirrors in the faster run group would get old fast?? Comments?? What about a Boxster??

To gkmccready, I have probably a total of 12 track events; 8+ in my Z06, 2 in a C6 and 2 in a 350z.

I know I have a lot to learn; momentum into and through the corners is definitely at the top of my list

gkmccready

I'd like to hear Boxster opinions, too. I'm leary of them due to maintenance costs. I'm also not sure about fitting a rollbar properly.

The nice thing about a Miata is that TC Design can cage it for $1700 and a used hardtop can be found for $1000. If you don't want a Spec Miata and just a fun trackday (but streetable) car you could buy a used NA for a couple thousand and sink $5k in to suspension and safety and have a really fun car... heck, even without a cage if you mount the seat nice and low and put a rollbar in you'd be happy. If you really thought you needed better brakes you can just slap on the 1.8l "big" brakes. But you won't be ripping down the straights. That'd probably require a fresh 1.8l motor and a turbo kit and all the cooling mods...

A 2nd gen RX7 wouldn't be bad. If you're willing to strip the car you can get them down to the 2300lb range pretty easy and they do 160hp/140tq on the stock 13B and just opening up the exhaust and intake will get you a fair bit. Suspension parts are pretty cheap and easy to come by. A fresh motor is in the $4500 range if you do manage to hurt one -- but the non-turbo motors can run for a good long time without any issues. No matter what here I'd go for a 5-lug car which has the better suspension and limited slip.

IMO, I'd skip the 944, while it's a fun car the cost of doing a clutch isn't worth it right there. And it's no faster and handles no better than the RX-7 would.

You should already be checking your mirrors. There's always somebody faster... it's a different experience to not have 400-500hp on tap and you'll learn why people grumble about the high hp cars ruining their laps by over slowing for the corners because they know they can make it up on the straights. :-)

As others have said, a C4 would make a good alternative, too. It's all about finding a good platform to start with at a reasonable price, though. Heck, you could find a cheap, high mile C5 and slowly upgrade it...

95jersey

If your going to spend $5k, get a miata, but I don't think a caged miata will be street legal, you should buy an uncaged version.

If you going to spend $10-15k, get a C5 or C5Z06 (with mods). Bottom line you can't drive a fully caged race car on the street and if you could, it is VERY unsafe (smash your head on the cage in an accident). So if you absolutely can NOT trailer, you NEED to buy a street car (roll bar at most). If I had $15k, I would buy C5Z, if I had $10k, I would buy a C5.

Other cars are good options, but NOTHING in that price range will out perform a vette on the track and provide the grin factor. Also, C5 is super cheap, and easy to maintain. Stock C5 will beat a boxster or RX7crap. Only reason to buy a caged Miata is with the plans to eventually do W2W.