I You Were Buying a Brand New Car for Track Duty...

I don't know WHY this hasn't been mentioned yet, but the Ariel Atom seems like it would be a reasonably good choice in this situation. that, or really any of the Superlight series cars that RCR makes, especially the Nemesis, and you can't really leave Ultima out of the equation either. also, might be worthwhile to see about a Radical, and the Riley Track Day Car sounds like a damn good choice as well, and if you've got oodles of money and want to have the potential to outrun a Benneton Ford or maybe Aryton Senna's McLaren-Honda, POSSIBLY a Caparo T1 with an extra set of wheels shod in race slicks, the latter three being more or less money-is-no-issue (the RCR kits actually seem to be reasonably cost effective, for what they are)

now, within the realm of what a Lotus would go for, you can get yourself some seriously quick cars and still have a reasonable chunk of change left over for some extra underwear that you'll almost certainly need after getting to the limit in what might just end up being an engine with wheels. Exige money will get you an Atom, and throw the 300bhp supercharged engine, Alcon track brakes on and the CF wing kit on it and most anything under $100,000 will have at least slight difficulties keeping up with you. if you were so inclined and didn't mind the lack of wings or a passenger seat, the RCR Superlight Nemesis plus the most powerful sport bike engine you could find would be a VERY potent combo and would likely fall under the $40K mark, possibly under $35K if you were lucky. not a whole lot of protection for the wheels, but that would also be true of the Atom or a Caterham, and of the three the Nemesis seems to offer the best protection for the driver

A little bit more criteria would help. Like at least a little bit of a budget level? Does it need to stay street legal? And as others questioned, race?

I'd probably a look at one of the factory-built cars: FR500, R56 Challenge MINI, P-car?

Why would it have to be new?

wait for the new Subaru/Toyota RWD coupe....sure to have massive aftermarket support, motorsports heritage, and build quality.

or Hyundai Genesis, because it's fast for the price and will probably have great aftermarket support.

350Z's are pretty popular in the local autox/track club.

If I wanted something fast, I'd be thinking Mitsi Evo, C5 Z06, or for something completely different, a tube frame stock car converted from circle track to left and right turns. Think of power and a copious amount of sliding.

EDIT: I didn't pay much attention to the 'new' requirement, but define new? New to you, or factory fresh?

I would have said Evo as well (and that's coming from a subie guy) but he said "coupe" so that's out I guess...

could pick up an S2000 + new pads + cage relatively cheap

I would go with a C6 Z06 or a Lotus Exige!

I like the new Corvette C6 Grand Sport for a new track car. Most of the way towards a Z06, but you'd save a bunch of cash for upgrades!

FR500, Factory 5 GTM or roadster, 370Z. The only reason I'm not suggesting the Vette is the fact you said you didn't want one. New Camaro?

Open track use, as in big track. 2009 ACR, Add cage, + ?Hardcore pack. Just keep buying tires. Comfortable on the street and very very fast.

MUSTANG!! Of course, I could be biased...

Flying miata has the westfield kits, I have been drooling of them for quite a while. Seems a lot cheaper than a full up Caterham.

I didn't pay much attention to the 'new' requirement, but define new? New to you, or factory fresh?

"New" as in "No rusted bolts and nothing is worn out or in need of replacement to make it safe".

A Corvette would be a little too pricey, take up a little too much space in my garage and is heavy enough to eat up its brakes and its giant, expensive tires.

At least on paper, the Toyobaru sounds like the closest to what I would be looking for.

Exige S. Done.

In reply to Slyp_Dawg:

I couldn't agree more that the RCR Nemesis is an ideal dedicated track day car.

The design is extremely well done ( light weight, great protection, great looks, paddle shifter, etc. etc.) and the light weight makes the car both fun and affordable to race.

The effective life span of tires, brake pads, brake rotors, etc. all benefit greatly from the 1100 lb weight.

It also doesn't hurt that the car looks fantastic and a full roller costs only $20,000.

Chet

Woody wrote: "New" as in "No rusted bolts and nothing is worn out or in need of replacement to make it safe". A Corvette would be a little too pricey, take up a little too much space in my garage and is heavy enough to eat up its brakes and its giant, expensive tires. At least on paper, the Toyobaru sounds like the closest to what I would be looking for.

That is a better explanation... so cost matters, size matters, and EXPENDABLE COSTS matter. Here's a few choices:

• BMW E36 M3. They are getting ridiculously cheap. Put on some 17x9's, 255mm tires, and good suspension and have a blast. Expendables are cheap.
• BMW E30. Even cheaper for everything, but the rear suspension and motors are a bit antiquated (exception: the 1.8L DOHC 4 in the 90-91 318is is fairly modern, but not powerful). The E30 M3 is getting too scarce anymore...
• BMW E46 330i or Ci. The prices on these have hit rock bottom lately, too.
• Corvette C5 Z06. Its way cheaper than a C6 Z06, and damn fast. Probably the best cost:performance ratio out there for an HPDE car. Tires will cost a bit more, of course.
• Lotus Elise. Pick up a used one and slap on some tires. Expendables are cheap, so long as you don't stick it into a tire barrier (aluminum chassis).
• NC Miata. These are getting affordable in the used car market. Still needs suspension, and larger wheels and tires help too.

Good luck,

I am biased but if you are not committed to high HP cars the S2000 CR is a great car and can be had for reasonable money. There are still left over new ones out there. I got a CR with low miles and paid in the mid 20's. I had a custom bar installed that is a lot like the Hard Dog bar (good bar, low price), changed to race seats and belts and put on some high performance brake pads. The car is ready for any track day.

Double the money and get a Lotus or Z06 which are faster. Of course you can always add forced induction to the S.

apparently i'm the only one who noticed that you said "no convertibles" as well as "no Corvettes."

keeping things in the "what Buzz thinks is reasonable" spectrum, i think either a Shelby Mustang or an RX-8 would be a good choice. both are great to drive and both have legitimate "hammer it on the track one weekend, road trip w/ wife the next weekend" ability. if you can spend more money or don't need as much space, a Cayman or M coupe would probably do you well.

The new 370Z seems like a fun new track weapon

If I were going this route, I'd look for something with cheap expendables as mentioned above. I think the initial cost is one thing, but racing is expensive when you buy tires, brake pads, gas, etc. This is why I like lighter cars- they're allegedly easier on all the above fronts. I can only imagine what a set of Mustang track tires goes for compared even to Elise track tires- I'd think the Elise's would last longer as well, but I have no experience.

Woody wrote: ..What would you choose?

John Brown wins, but only since you didn't really specify a price range and he happened to attach pure sex. Running costs would kill you, but it might be the constant hard-on instead, depending on your stamina.

On the other hand, if it were up to me, since you don't seem to care too much about it's streetability, or want to do anything to its mechanicals, I'd stick with one of the factory build race cars. The atom, the riley, the rcr, the exige are all great choices. The problem with any Genesis, 370z, Corvette etc is that it is first and foremost a street car. You'll need brakes, lines, clutch, transmission stuff, clutch, blah blah blah to be reliable on the track. The factory built race cars are going to have that taken care of for the most part, so you don't have to screw with it.

Factory Five Racing -- GTM

I drove my Mazdaspeed3 on the track before buying my Miata. It held up to those 3 track days pretty well. I'd bet most modern cars would do the same. Over time that might change. I'd imagine a Porsche would hold up better to that kind of abuse than say...a new Camaro. DISCLAIMER - I have no data for that and don't need any as I'm an internet expert.

I don't think a factory built race car would be required. If price is a consideration I wouldn't even consider new. If price was an issue and new was required I'd go for a light weight, RWD, car that cost less than $30k.

Another thing to consider - I'd never track a car that I'm not willing to throw a match in the gas tank and then walk away from. (walking away really cool like with the wind blowing my hair back while I put on my sunglasses and carry my helmet nonchalantly by the chin bar as the car asplodes behind me all Micheal Bay style. Yeah. That'd be hot...er...cool.)

So, my new car to track...

• Under $30k
• RWD
• Inexpensive tires and brakes
• Non-tricky handling
• manual transmission.

Therefore:

• M3
• Boxster
• Solstice

You could go Mustang but that'll require some suspension work.

I hate to say it but the fastest car you could buy would be a Corvette of the previous generation. Tires would be expensive but aren't they all?