Searching for economical track/autocross car . . .

$25K track car? Put a few grand into a used Dakota with a V8 and a trailer. OK, now you have $18K for a dedicated track car. That is one heck of a Civic or Mustang! Plus you cover spares, tires, gas, safety gear, etc. You can race American Iron or Honda Challenge rather than just track days.

If you want to avoid the trailer and lots of track-side work, then I would consider the brakes. If you run something big and heavy, you will probably not drive home on the brake pads you arrived with. The lighter the better perhaps? Points to Miata I'm afraid.

Why not stick with what you know? A higher millage early viper could be well under 25k just scanning the viper club classifieds found a couple.

Boxster S. Brilliant handling, good power, all for $15-20K. A 944S also makes a good track car with lots of support. I love 911SCs and Carreras but I wouldn't recommend them as a learning car. All the usual suspects, C5 Corvette, E36 M3, Lotus Elise, S2000.

David

I wonder if what you want isn't a true race car. You could find many fine examples in that price range of various powers and builds. That way, when ready to take the next step, you'd have a car.

That's my plan. Once I finish re-locating this fall to the Southeast, I'll be shopping for a rally car in the 5-10K range. I'll use that for rally, rally cross, auto cross, and track events.

Good luck, glad that you were not hurt, and thanks for the HANS info. I've put it on my list.

Flyin' Miata can get you hooked up with an LSx Miata for under $25,000.

I'd recommend the Miata as well, keep it stock to learn the car and fine tune your driving then add power as you progress.

Yeah, I'd go with miata- track it for a year. If you like it, call Keith at flyin' miata and get the LSx conversion going. All the power you will ever need and a car that handles well and is cheap if you ball it up.

It might be a little heavy but i think this meets your criteria quite nicely... http://jalopnik.com/5116558/nice-price-or-crack-pipe-brain+meltingly-awesome-custom-van-for-15000

Fit_Is_Slo wrote: It might be a little heavy but i think this meets your criteria quite nicely... http://jalopnik.com/5116558/nice-price-or-crack-pipe-brain+meltingly-awesome-custom-van-for-15000

I was this close to buying but no waterbed in the back; sorry, that's a dealbreaker.

pinchvalve wrote: $25K track car? Put a few grand into a used Dakota with a V8 and a trailer. OK, now you have $18K for a dedicated track car. That is one heck of a Civic or Mustang! Plus you cover spares, tires, gas, safety gear, etc. You can race American Iron or Honda Challenge rather than just track days. If you want to avoid the trailer and lots of track-side work, then I would consider the brakes. If you run something big and heavy, you will probably not drive home on the brake pads you arrived with. The lighter the better perhaps? Points to Miata I'm afraid.

Quoted for truth. You have already experienced the "dark" side of the hobby and balled up a car at the track. Nothing beats the piece of mind of a trailer and tow vehilce to get you and your balled up car home.

The miata is an easy recommendation as you can learn a bunch in HPDE and then take it racing if you want or run time trial. Either way compromise track cars suck and you have the budget to eschew compromises in your track vehicle.

I have to give another nod to a 944. Used 944 Cup cars are stupid cheap in the $6000 range. You could use it for HPDE and then get a comp license and go racing. Or you could just buy a spec miata and have lots of people to race against wherever you go. A Spec Miata would even give you lap times to compare your progress against and that is always valuable. Use some of that extra money on data acquisition and you will be even happier.

Really, the answer is within you grasshopper. How badly have you been bitten by the track bug? You will know it if you have and if you are honest with yourself. If that is the case do not try to make a track car a street car as that is a recipe for frustration. Buy the truck, trailer and car and go forth and turn money into tire smoke and adrenaline in a car with lowish horsepower and focus on momentum. If you haven't really been bitten by the bug yet you are probably safe and can buy whatever you like and feel more comfortable balling up at the track.

Take your pick.

There's a lovely (and genuine!) 1995 Cobra R Mustang on ebay right now for just under $20k...no back seat, no stereo, no A/C, just 351 Windsor-y cubic inches of badass pony car. I'll admit it's a much better track car than an autocross car, but it wouldn't be too awful in ESP.

If I had the money it would be mine. I'm not really a Mustang guy but the R models make my winky bits tingle.

Note: these are presumed used...

First thought:
S2k

Second thought:
Boxter S

Third thought:
911 Targa

Fourth thought: Elise

+1 on the s2000 and elise

If I were going to buy a Mustang Cobra R, I would definitely hold out for the 2000 model...those were rad.

I was looking at an Elise as a track car, but the problem with those is that the aluminum tub is pretty fragile. Apparently its easy to poke holes in the floor (more of a concern for a street car if you drive over a stick, but off track excursions do occur).

I'd say to start with a momentum car that you can grow with. SW20 MR2, start with a NA car, then you can always drop in a turbo. Miata's are of course an answer. Mustangs are also a good start. Cheap to buy, replace, fix, and modify. Oh, and support is pretty good. I was also looking at C4 vette's, but that temptation is still at least a year away.

In reply to Brotus7:

Great comments, thank you. In your experience, what sort of price range have you seen for Spec Miatas?

rcl4668 wrote: In reply to Brotus7: Great comments, thank you. In your experience, what sort of price range have you seen for Spec Miatas?

Also, what is a 944 Cup car? Was this a 944 built for a certain spec series or was this a specific car model that came from the Porsche factory?

944 Cup is a NASA spec series.

Maroon, isn't it two series? 944 Spec and 944 Cup? I'm not a NASA member, but I recall a letter in the magazine after one of the guys blended the two together in an article.

I found this link for NASA Southeast, but I know NASA's a young club and may not have standard rules nationally yet.

http://southeast.44cup.com/

dyintorace wrote: e36 M3's (I've owned two) are fantastic, even stock. Add some basic parts (e.g. suspension) and they're fantastic. The motor is so sweet and the car is amazingly balanced. Having said that, I'm building a 2nd gen RX-7 with a built LS1 in it as a dedicated track car. The curb weight should be around 2500 lbs and the motor should dyno around 390 rwhp. That will be more than enough for my meager skills.

I was gonna say a LS converted FD, but the FC chassis works too.

There was a 25k lotus in the august issue of grassroots wasn't there? The S2k is definatly something to look at, even the ones that are soso built are lapping as fast as some really well built up evo's on some tracks. Miata is another great answer, I just didn't like the way mine felt at triple digit speeds, that being said it was on a stock suspension and alignment. A used bugeye WRX? Stupid quick and insane grip levels are a few tweaks away. That does take you away from the convertible thing though. Fox chassis pony car could be had for dirt cheap and with the right suspension work be a great handling car, a caged convertible isn't going to give up much in the way of flex, that and if you need more power it's a phone call away. Good luck with whatever you decide and I'm glad you're not hurt.

Definitely consider a mustang, I have a 1996 cobra that does very respectable autox times, with only a few handling mods (everything power related is factory-stock):

Full-length subframe connectors, springs/shocks, and aftermarket lower control arms, rebuilt diff clutchpack and max. performance tires...

You should be able to find a late 90's cobra with under 50k miles for around 8-9k. Parts are of course dirt-cheap, and there's a plethora of mustang-specific service shops in most any area of the US should something really go wrong.

Bottom line is you'll have a quick and FUN autox car for slightly under $10k when all is said and done. And when the events are over it makes for a fun daily driver/cruiser!

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y143/pj350/al1.jpg http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y143/pj350/Aug9.jpg

A swapped second gen RX7 gets my vote as well. Incredible performance, and if you ball it up a shell is sub 1k all day long.

since nobody has suggested it so far (since thsi place rarely suggests anything FWD or god forbid AWD)...but I'll suggest:

05 Subaru STi (seen as the best year of the STi by most)

Fast, handles well, generally reliable, can be had for $15k or less.

Huge aftermarket suport for all kinds of parts, including track pieces...

With a few mods can hang with 90% of the cars out there in open track, drag, autocross, and you can do rallycross too...and still be comfortable and easy-driving on the street for the long trip to the track or going to work....

Power upgrades are cheap and easy. An extra 50-100whp is just a Cobb Accssport ($500) away and the stock block and turbo is good for 300-350whp.

And when it rains....you dominate....especially autocross courses.

And it's big enough to carry your track tires in the back seat, your cooler, all your gear, and have a buddy riding shotgun to the track to take pictures of you running :)

And in the winter when it snows, you laugh at all the other performance cars sitting snugly in their garages as you cruise by above the speed limit (ok, not on your summer tires though)...

downside: not a vert of course, and STi's didn't come with sunroofs then (IIRC), so you'd want to get an aftermarket one. On he upside, all four windows go down so you can still get the fresh air!

and yes, you can remove the wing

you can run it fairly stock...

or if you want to make it a true track car....(this is an 06-07)

I'm gonna go crazy here for a moment... what about a 350z convertible? They are competitive in autox at the local level at least, they are decent on track (especially with brake upgrades to the brembo track model brakes) and thanks to the recession and the new body style coming out, they are cheaper than they ever have been. The VQ and sixspeed are both proven to be very stout and easily upgradeable. Chassis is very stiff... big wheels and tires fit stock. practically unlimited potential...

Since the awd taboo has been lifted in this conversation, how about an Evo?

In reply to dxman92:

Thanks for the great feedback thus far. I am still waiting to hear from my track insurance company regarding a settlement on my Viper but assuming it is a total I wanted to start researching a replacement car in earnest. Based on feedback thus far I am leaning toward the following cars based on capability and relatively low cost. At thi spoint I am trying to get an idea of what price range each will cost so I am trying to locate the most useful webo for each car. Here is what I have founnd thus far but if you have suggestions or additions please let me know:

1. First or second generation MX-5 Miata (Preferably a prepared race car like spec Miata with full rollcage etc). A god website seems to be www.miata.net/

2. Porsche 944; any good ideas of web site for info and for sale ads?

3. E36 M3; I have an E39 M5 and one of the best sites for that car is www.m5board.com but Gustav the site owner doesn't really cover E36 M3s on that site. Any ideas?

4. Factory Five Challenge Racer. This looks like it is going to be the most expensive with cars ranging in the $19-28K range but out of all the cars it definitely has the highest cool factor. Another bummer is that if I ultimately did want to go racing it looks like I live in the one corner of the country that does not have an FFR Challenge series. A good website seems to be www.ffcobra.com.

Thanks again everyone for the ideas and well wishes.

/Rich