Trivia Question: Ideal Track/Street car?

[StephanAlfa]

Besides my Alfa and those #$*@ Miatas, which do you consider today as the ideal "modern(an in not antique like mine)" track/street car?

[betelgeuse]

That's an easy one. BMW e36 m3.

[subsonic]

What about an S2000?

[betelgeuse]

If you want to include 2 seaters. The Corvette is probably one of the better ones.

If there is no spending limit. Nissan GT-R

Paul, I'm suprised you didn't say WRX sti. I wouldn't disagree with that.

Greg

[Shawn624]

I'd have to go with those #$*@ Miatas

[breakaway500]

I was thinking S2000 myself as I observed one for sale on someones lawn.Yellow.

No spending limit? R8-GT. Unbelievable cars. Much more classy than most exotics...and they haul ass. Guess I've been spending too much time with NEQ...

[StephanAlfa]

Great responses, thank you!
I have good deals with Subaru so "all wheel drive" considered
S2000: Sorry, at 6.2 ft with upper body height I don't think I fit there besides (I forgot), no convertibles (long story).
BMW; Definetly
Nissan: no thanks!
Corvette: Funny you mentioned that, it was both my sons take along with BMW and Subaru. It will be tru to the club but "street" also needs to account for "winter driving"

All in all, some curious facts:
* no 4 cylinder 2 liter (or thereabouts) RWD listed
* Besides BMW (as RWD) no other 6 cylinder cars
* Other choices: V-8 (RWD) or 4 cyl turbo (Subaru).

Questions:
How about Mitsu Lancer?
How about Taurus SHO?

And (jokingly) keeping in the spirits of "Italian", Fiat Cinquecento Sport???

[CP]

I'm thinking "affordable" with these suggestions:

BMW E30
Early WRX (wagon)
Mazda3
V8 Mustang

[dtlemoine]

That's an easy one. BMW e36 m3.

+1

They're very comfortable, "modern" as far as features go (heated seats, power everything, CD, etc.), and replacement parts can be found anywhere. TMS and Bav are nearby, and Pelican on the west coast. Cheap to maintain, wicked fast on the track, yadda, yadda...

As an added benefit, assuming you don't put it into a tire wall anywhere, they maintain their value quite well too. A very nice, low rust, moderate mileage (~100k) example can be had for around $10k, if you're willing to travel a bit to pick it up.

[dtlemoine]

Early WRX (wagon)

Also a great choice. A good friend owns an '03 'rex and its fast as hell. They can be had for cheap, too. If you end up tracking it frequently, I'm told wheel bearings become an expensive issue that needs to be addressed (the AWD makes them more difficult to swap, than say, the front bearings on an E36 M3...), but occasional track days won't hurt.

[blindsidefive0]

911.

964's and 996's are reasonably priced.

15 seconds on Craigslist found these 2 entries:
http://boston.craigslist.org/sob/cto/2516929190.html
http://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/cto/2527544491.html

[austaz]

Subaru Sti - great compromise car and great in winter.
Potential problems : heavy car + lots of power so brakes will cost you, possibly tires as well. Engines are expensive and they go bang, staying at stock power or stock turbo and some lite mods seems ok but beyond that ...... Brakes can be solved with some big brake kits (ducting is a real pain to add) but this means 18" wheels and for winter use this means a second set of 18" wheels with snows. Prices are good on used ones, I sold my 2006 Sti with 75K miles and, 300 wheel hp and a complete suspension setup (double adjustable coilovers, sways, all bushing, camber plates, caster adjustments etc ), boxes of spare rotors/pads/suspension parts, fair condition but a good amount of autox/track days on it for 18K.

[WillM]

For a daily driver with incredible track potential? I'd say that Chrispy's Nissan 370Z is quite freakin' awesome, and I'm not even much of a fan of Nissans.

Great, fun, capable car...in the right hands, of course.

For a pre-owned car, I'm thinking RX8 would be a lot of fun too.

Others:

Mini Cooper S
E36 3-series
C6

Karim is proving that you can have quite a bit of fun in a Hyundai!

[Ivan B]

Okay, I have to do it...

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX

Why?
350-380WHP with bolt-ons on 93oct
AWD with Active Center Diff = Traction for the track and the winter
Great turbo spoolup with MIVEC(if tuned properly)
Decent fuel consumption(for a car making that much power)
Reasonably cost efficient to modify
Lots of head room & factory Recaro seats
4 doors - Daily driving

I've considered the Genesis Coupe 2.0T(4cyl RWD) since it has a variation of the 4B11 which is on the Evolution X but the lack of aftermarket support for the factory ECU turned me off to it.

This article from Modified may be worth a read:

http://www.modified.com/features/modp-1 ... index.html

[zip4zat]

How about a volvo 240turbo? those things are bomber!

I think this is a great question for the ages.. at least its been asked forever. I think there are lots of possibilities each with their own tradeoffs. Its a bit like looking for the best all season tire.

Do you care about driving a rwd in the winter (even with snows)? What are you or how much will you put up with for a DD? What are you looking for in a track car? what class do you want to run, or dont care to run in? how big is reliability to you? I dont know if thinking this way can help narrow the list down, but I guess what'll really trim the list is how much money you want to spend on a car and how much youre willing to spend on consumables.

My subaru has been fairly reliable if I would stick to my maintenance schedule. Ive been pushing the limit of things to see how much life I can really get out of stuff before I need to replace them. (Just dont ask Troy how long I use brake pads for) Hasnt always worked out in my favor when I go beyond what I know is the maitenance life. Other than these type of things, I just keep shelling out $$ for brakes and tires (and gas).

That said, I think there are loads of cheap sport compact fwd's that can be made pretty light and parts can be cheap. some other ideas

Integra (type-r)
civic (si)
sentra (ser)
celeca (all-trac)
solstice (turbo)
cobalt
240/280z, sx, 350/370z 2000NX??
datsun 510 (I want one of these!)
vw rabbit
944's