Track Car
Did a track day and now I am hooked. Looking to spend about $30-40k on a car that will be primarily used on track. Anyone have experience or good options?
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I think one question you might want to ask yourself before deciding (although it is obviously tough after only a couple of track days) is why exactly you want to go to the track.
Are you looking to blow off some steam, fly around, and enjoy time out at the track with your friends? Or are you looking to potentially get a SCCA license and go racing at the club level? I personally would give you different recommendations depending on that answer, but of course I am just some stranger on the internet and my opinion should be treated as such
For now I am hoping to continue getting comfortable driving at speed and improving my lines. Hoping to do some instruction sessions throughout the summer and could definitely see myself getting an SCCA license down the line. I have always loved cars but now have the means to step into this part of the hobby. Thanks for the response
Got it, so in that case I would recommend an MX-5. It is cheap and more importantly, it is a great car to learn the fundamentals of driving around a track in. It also is a car that virtually every track will hold club races for. Additionally, if you are interested in learning the fundamentals of driving (trail breaking, hitting the apex, when to get on the throttle, etc.), I would recommend Driver61's channel as a starting point. Provides quick, easy to understand bits about numerous elements pertaining to driving and racing.
Lotus Elise. It's not the fastest car, but has an amazing skidpad. So all the turns and corners are going to feel awesome.
I like this one - black on black. $47,900 - looks super clean
https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?listingId…
https://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/car-comparison-tests/reviews/a192…
List
https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/all-cars/lotus/elise/beverly-h…
https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/articles/which-lotus-ultimate-drivers…
Man I love the exige 430 cup (just 3x the budget)
That's a terrible choice. A good track car will get beat up and tuned over and over again. Your choice has to have easily accessible and relatively affordable parts. The Lotus is decidedly NOT that.
Fair enough
Shelby GT350. 50-60k. Hands down.
ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh so we're gonna talk $60K now ok ok
Lmfao!! Yeah… just gotta double his budget
Wait until you get into drifting... oh yeah, don't forget about motorcycles too!!
Any generation Miata.
-Turbo/Swap whatever you want in it if you wanna go faster
-Insane amount of aftermarket support
-Miata Is Always The Answer/I personally drive one
Modded Honda S2000's are also the most popular "quick" car I've seen at the track in California, so probably a solid choice as well.
If you're looking for an option for tracking your car then a GPS tracking device is the best option. The technology has been around a long time and is mostly used by vehicle owners. I highly recommend Family1st tracking devices since they will get at affordable price with real-time data https://family1st.io/gps-trackers/
As common/cliche it might be, Miata is the answer. CRE Wannabe said it best. The platform's popularity also means there is endless community knowledge/support out there on the internet.
Keep upkeep costs in mind when budgeting.
If looking for a more emotional/fun street car that you can occasionally track, I'd go with an M3 or Cayman (both higher cost upkeep though).
E46 m3
Realize that the fun of having a track car is having something that you can wrench on and also have parts be widely accessible for new things/approaches you want to try. It should also be highly customizable for wheel/tire choices for different tracks/conditions and some of the cars you have been suggested so far do not do that.
So, to me, an ideal track car would come from the Mustang family. It meets your needs for budget and has a broad driver base to pull information/videos from. Plus you'll be able to find both automatic and stick versions depending on how you want to race. There's enough vendors out there that you can almost literally build any generation Mustang from the ground up. Plus, the latest generation - the S550 - has some really nice lines to it, a really attractive car.
Look at all these wannabe Verstappens
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