Looking for a new Track Car- but need help deciding!

[-The Stig-]

Originally Posted by joker1978

oh and josh- could you add 2002/2004 BMW M3 to my Poll?

Added.

[TheStang00]

between 30-50k huh... ill tell you exactly what you should do. wait till this summer and buy the new 07 cobra, its got a solid rear axle and a ford gt motor. swap the S/C pulleys and right there you got urself a 550hp motor. comes stock with 465hp, 495tq. its gonna be sick. apparently it handles exceptionally well for a solid axle also.

[kfoote]

Originally Posted by joker1978

So you actually own a STi and still prefer the Vette... Have you tracked the STi (I can only assume)... how'd it run... how'd it compare to other cars in the class- lap times of similar skilled drivers? ect?

I have tracked my STi, and that of a couple of other STi's for a couple of days. I have also run a wet session in a C5 non-Z06. The STi is a VERY quirky car at speed, and is a lot more difficult to get 100% out of what the car will do than the Corvette. The STi is different enough from any other AWD car I've driven, including WRX's and 2.5RS's that it really requires a consciously different mindset to drive, similar to the difference that one would have going from a FWD to an AWD car. All of the STi's I've driven have been '04's and the 06 may be better, but it's still going ot be harder to drive than the Corvette.

I don't have any good lap times of my own in the STi, but at the SCCA Runoffs, John Heinrecy's fastest lap in a C5 Z06 was 1:32.370, and Chuck Hemmingson's fastest lap in an STi was 1:39.236. This is on the same day, same track a couple of hours apart, both excellent drivers who ended up winning the race. The STi is better in the rain (duh), but in teh dry, the only advantage the STi has is brakes, and that advantage is marginal.

[CassiesMan]

E46.

1. Better looking than anything else on the list.
2. Usefull as a regular car and a track car.
3. You can get used E46s for as low as 33k. That leaves about 15-20k for modifications.
4. You can drive to and from the track in style.
5. Its a BMW. You cant go wrong with a BMW. Nice, reliable, fast, fun to drive.

So in conclusion, get the Bimmer.

[-Josh-]

The M3 is a good car, but when it comes down to it the "performance" inspired drivetrain doesn't allow for much room for error while racing, unlike the Vette. However the Evo and STI are far worse. Get the car that was meant to be driven hard and fast balls out on a track, a car that was built for the sole purpose to race, get a Vette.

[nastyNater]

get the 04 Z06 and mod w/ the rest of your $$$$

[LjasonL]

Originally Posted by -Josh-

the STI is a great car and everything but i think it's a little over rated and i think people are finally starting to realize this.

I think you're way off. The STi is a difficult car to just get in and drive. The adjustable torque split and the front differential behave weirdly for people not used to them. It takes a lot of time to get used to it to extract the most performance from it. Even so, magazine testers (who just jump in the cars and drive them for a day or a weekend at most) still manage to outgun the Cobra in your comparison and give the EVO (which is a much easier car to drive fast with no experience due to the open front diff and non-adjustable torque split... and stickier tires from the factory...) a run for it's money. This speaks volumes for the STi's potential with an experienced driver and equivalent tires.

edit: you've also gotta consider the bias in an article comparing a Subaru and a Ford in Hot Rod Magazine or a Subaru and a Mitsubishi in most of the popular import magazines (that have Mitsu ads every 20 pages or so)

Originally Posted by joker1978

I would not do an Evo or STi because they brake too often and modifications
cost a lot of money.

Do you mean they brake too often of they break too often? Serious question... If you really mean break, then I'd have to say you're grossly misinformed, if you do mean brake, well, I dunno what to say

And I don't know how you can possibly use their modifications "costing too much" as justification for not picking them out of this group when they've got the cheapest mods of any car listed and the price of the car + mods is gonna be similar to the price of some of the other cars alone.

Originally Posted by -Josh-

The M3 is a good car, but when it comes down to it the "performance" inspired drivetrain doesn't allow for much room for error while racing, unlike the Vette. However the Evo and STI are far worse.

Eh? Do you mean the EVO and STi are not forgiving at the limit? Cuz I'd have to say you've got it pretty much backwards there. I'f you mean they break, I'd have to refer you to my comment about breaking above.

The STi and EVO aren't intended to be "track" cars. They're rally cars, they're designed to be as fast as possible over every possible situation. They compromise a little in "track" performance (where low center of gravity, stiff springs, and RWD is important and things like powerband and suspension travel are less important) so they can have a setup that works well in all situations. A Vette or Elise may be faster on a smooth dry racetrack, but the rally cars are faster up a twisty mountain road, or in bad weather, or on less than perfect road surfaces. For this reason they're great for "daily driver-weekend racer" cars, but not as pure track cars.

I'd get the Lotus.

[CassiesMan]

Originally Posted by -Josh-

The M3 is a good car, but when it comes down to it the "performance" inspired drivetrain doesn't allow for much room for error while racing, unlike the Vette. However the Evo and STI are far worse. Get the car that was meant to be driven hard and fast balls out on a track, a car that was built for the sole purpose to race, get a Vette.

Get the car that allows you to fuck up so you look good even when you suck. Get the 'Vette.

[-Josh-]

Everything minus cassies comment is what i wanted to hear. Fuck people, you know these cars, tell the guy about them.

[dxasaurus]

I think you'd be very happy with the Z06. It makes a damn good track car stock, will get some looks, and is a great platform to build off of. Get the Vette, get the vette.

[TheStang00]

im tellin you... everyone thinks the 03 cobra was sweet... the 06/07 is gonna blow it away, in every aspect.

[joker1978]

that o6 cobra will be interesting... I'll admit that- I saw the lateral g'#'s were higher then expected.

The 03/04 Z06 seems to be the better bet right now- along with the Elise.

...but a new twist- I found a guy who imports NISSAN SKYLINES and there are a couple bad ass r34's for about 50k, and acouple r33's for about 25-30k... that'd be interesting as well... if I can get used to shifting with my left!!!

[dxasaurus]

Originally Posted by joker1978

that o6 cobra will be interesting... I'll admit that- I saw the lateral g'#'s were higher then expected.

The 03/04 Z06 seems to be the better bet right now- along with the Elise.

...but a new twist- I found a guy who imports NISSAN SKYLINES and there are a couple bad ass r34's for about 50k, and acouple r33's for about 25-30k... that'd be interesting as well... if I can get used to shifting with my left!!!

A stock GTR can not even run with a Base C5 Vette. Don't even consider it. I've heard horror stories about those cars reliability. I knew someone with an R33. It got dusted by a 4th gen F-body before the engine blew on him(but I'm pretty sure it was due to the way he drove it). Wanna know what he ran with? Bolt on S2ks! Sound familiar?

Honda Tech has a couple of Skyline owners who have had nothing but problems. The parts are expensive and they are a butthole to work on.

Stay on task here, you want a track car, not some legendary name to earn street credit.

[-The Stig-]

One thing people don't tell you about Skylines is this...

They understeer like crazy. Suspension mods fix that, but due to the fact that they're so nose heavy, they also wear out front tires faster than most cars.

Bitchin cars regardless. I still want one.

[M3 Special]

hmm, i think a 2006 M3 with Competition Package is about 55K, not bad. ive seen good reviews for it.