Need OPPO advice for track day car

"The Stig's former college room mate" (das-stig) 08/19/2016 at 12:01 • Filed to: None

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So i’ve gotten to the point where if i want to make my street car a better track car, it will start to become a poor street car. I do not want to remove interior, add stiffer bushings, modify fenders for wider tires, etc. So it is time to buy a car purely to thrash at race tracks.

Here are my criteria: $5000 budget, all in. that includes any repairs or mods needed to make it track worthy. That does not necessarily mean turned into a full blown race car for that cost. just good enough to start doing track days with. so it does not need to be caged with coil overs, cammed/turbo’d/supercharged, slicks, big brakes for that price. Vehicle can be relatively stock provided it’s safe, reasonably fast and handles ok.

I strictly do DE events, so there are no model requirements/limits, however, I WILL NOT FIT IN A MIATA! no matter how much you lower the floor. Maybe an NC, but that’s over budget.

It will NOT be street driven, so does not need to be street legal. Salvage titles and cosmetic damage are OK.

I prefer something with a fair amount of power vs a momentum car. Again, sorry Miata.

Manual or shiftable auto OK, no preference on FWD/AWD/RWD.

Vehicle should have widely available performance parts and should be fairly reliable with reasonable costs for consumables (tires, brakes, etc). Note that head gaskets, timing chains, etc are NOT considered consumable items.

Feel free to post links to actual vehicles for sale if they are located within 500 miles of central New York.

And....go!

jjhats > The Stig's former college room mate 08/19/2016 at 12:03

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e36 328 or e46 328

ArmadaExpress drives a turbo outback > The Stig's former college room mate 08/19/2016 at 12:09

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Subaru Legacy GT, Outback XT, Toyota MR2 are great options. You can find some parts easily, lots of forums if you’re wrenching yourself, lots of tuner parts too.

Personally I’d go to the Cobb website and see what cars they currently support or have Access Ports for. But that’s because I like the idea of having an Access Port on whatever car I’d be building.

Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow > The Stig's former college room mate 08/19/2016 at 12:15

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E36/E46
Fox body
MR2
Sentra SE-R
Neon
Civic
240sx
etc.

There are a ton of options in that price range with your fairly open criteria.

The Stig's former college room mate > ArmadaExpress drives a turbo outback 08/19/2016 at 12:15

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I do like the Legacy. And it’s not another WRX. There’s too many of them. Outback seems silly since it has a lifted suspension, meaning it would need coil overs right out of the box. W10 MR2 is out- too small. W20 if it’s turbo. I like the poor man’s F355 body styling on those. I also know someone whose done a 3.0L V6 swap in one, and is currently working on making that a 3.5L.

Out, but with a W - has found the answer > The Stig's former college room mate 08/19/2016 at 12:17

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ZZW30 with a blown motor, and put a 2ZZ in it. Should be right at or a bit above budget, and it’ll be somewhat of a project, but you get a Lotus on the cheap (2200 lbs, 180-200 hp) in return. Plenty of forum and aftermarket support as well.

Or any old BMW or Mustang, probably.

Stapleface > The Stig's former college room mate 08/19/2016 at 12:17

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If you're doing stuff like autocross, perhaps a Ford Probe/Mazda MX-6? I had a Probe and I thought it handled pretty darn well, and the 5 speed was a very smooth shifting unit. In GT/LS guise, they use a 2.5l V6, which is peppy enough in my opinion. I am 6'1 and did fit in my Probe with a helmet on.

Forge Crown Victor! > The Stig's former college room mate 08/19/2016 at 12:30

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Your user name says it all.

Turbo Lancer.

Not that one. This one!

Forge Crown Victor! > Forge Crown Victor! 08/19/2016 at 12:31

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Scimitar7 > The Stig's former college room mate 08/19/2016 at 12:34

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95-99 Legacy: cheap to buy in good shape, even cheaper if it needs head gaskets (which can be fixed for around $200 if you diy), handles good out of the box, WRX goodies bolt right in, turbo conversions aren’t difficult unless you want massive boost.

90's post-fox body Mustangs: good aftermarket support, early 302 engine which means it can be carb’d EASILY if street legality is no issue (unless you prefer EFI), not ugly like the fox - unless you like fox bodies, in which case go for that one.

Early C4 Corvette: TPI = Gen I SBC (see above Mustang 302), generally regarded as good handling out of the box, funky dash not as necessary for track-only ops. Also, see Roadkill Corvette.

OpposResidentLexusGuy - USE20, XF20, XU30 and Press Cars > The Stig's former college room mate 08/19/2016 at 12:37

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I think the answer is actually Miata. Not even joking.

The Stig's former college room mate > OpposResidentLexusGuy - USE20, XF20, XU30 and Press Cars 08/19/2016 at 12:39

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A monster NB with a lowered floor would be a tight squeeze yet would meet criteria. Alas, way over budget.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > The Stig's former college room mate 08/19/2016 at 12:44

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https://spokane.craigslist.org/cto/5722609566…

something like this:

The Stig's former college room mate > Forge Crown Victor! 08/19/2016 at 12:44

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Excellent choice! Now find one that hasn’t turned to dust yet. I actually autocrossed a V6 shadow ES 5 speed when i was in college. It was pretty fast. weighed almost nothing. I’d buy another but they’re non existent. ticks the boxes for cheap upkeep and consumables. Fairly powerful. but almost nothing for performance parts. Mine was a conglomeration of other stock Chrysler parts. back then everything was built off the k car platform, so everything interchanged between models. I had big brakes off of a caravan and struts and shocks from a spirit. You max out that model’s potential pretty quickly.

The Stig's former college room mate > Scimitar7 08/19/2016 at 12:52

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all solid choices. in these parts, all the hill billies set up their fox body mustangs for drag racing. it’s possible to find them for $3000-$4000 with pretty stout motors in them already. Just need to swap the suspension out.

I actually prefer the fox look vs the sn95. but i would take either with a 302. the 4.6 in later sn95s is garbage.

for $5000, you can get yourself a crossfire injected c4, or a severely beat TPI, unless you want an auto. they’re everywhere. Can’t touch an LT1 for under $10k.

The Stig's former college room mate > Stapleface 08/19/2016 at 12:54

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It will be for HPDE, so we’re talking triple digit speeds on actual race tracks. Probes do seem alright. Not familiar with aftermarket support.

The Stig's former college room mate > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever 08/19/2016 at 12:56

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yes! that’s awesome. too bad it’s 3000 miles away. not something i would buy sight-unseen and have shipped.

camaroboy68ss > The Stig's former college room mate 08/19/2016 at 12:58

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I’ve seen a fox mustang suggested and just shake my head, a third gen (82-92) Camaro/firebird is a much better track day car. They were the better handling cars over the mustang, if you do a little searching you can find a good 5 speed car (82 was last year of a 4 speed) doesn't take much to wake the 305 up or throw a 350 in fairly cheap.

The Stig's former college room mate > camaroboy68ss 08/19/2016 at 13:01

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actually building an 86 z28 for 24 hours of lemons. i’ve considered abandoning that project and going full on race car with it. i could probably finish that out nicely with $5k. I’d consider the car free since i already own it.

camaroboy68ss > The Stig's former college room mate 08/19/2016 at 13:05

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You could put on some nice sway bars and good bushings and the car will do well. I would also get a new trans cross member to get the torque arm off the tranny. On the motor the power is in the heads you use.

OpposResidentLexusGuy - USE20, XF20, XU30 and Press Cars > The Stig's former college room mate 08/19/2016 at 13:25

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Are you that tall? Dang

AfromanGTO > The Stig's former college room mate 08/19/2016 at 13:26

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F body, SN95 Mustang, or E36 M3.

tromoly > The Stig's former college room mate 08/19/2016 at 13:28

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Ever thought of getting a Kart? The Briggs 206 class is pretty inexpensive and good competition.

The Stig's former college room mate > tromoly 08/19/2016 at 14:42

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not looking for competitive racing. i enjoy doing HPDE. i’m just out to have fun.

The Stig's former college room mate > AfromanGTO 08/19/2016 at 14:46

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E36 M3 in that price range will be pretty rough. I also wanted fairly reliable. so I’d rule out any BMW still powered by a BMW engine. Sorry BMW fans. I work at a BMW dealer. I would never buy one.

The Stig's former college room mate > OpposResidentLexusGuy - USE20, XF20, XU30 and Press Cars 08/19/2016 at 14:51

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With a helmet on, and in a comfortable driving position, my head would touch the roof. NA/NB miatas do not have rollover protection, so I would have to put in a roll bar right away. That would eventually lead into a full cage. For a cage to give you adequate protection, your head should be lower than the lowest point of the “halo”. some organizations require it to be 1" below. that is why most people that build spec miatas cut out the floor and lower it. I’m 6', and not exactly skinny, so a miata is a squeeze.

tromoly > The Stig's former college room mate 08/19/2016 at 15:12

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Don’t need to race it, my local track has daily practice sessions so you can run laps without racing, I imagine many tracks have similar sessions.

Forge Crown Victor! > The Stig's former college room mate 08/19/2016 at 16:00

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Without going full custom you really do. But find a turbo III 2.2 and drop that in and you have a lotus engineered monster. If you can keep a timing chain on it.

Scimitar7 > The Stig's former college room mate 08/19/2016 at 16:31

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Right, I’ve only seen 1 LT1 C4 close to $5k around here (it was a trashed auto), but TPI C4's in my neck of the woods can be had between $4k-$6k with a stick.

I agree with the 4.6 sentiment, which is why I recommended the 302. I knew a guy who swapped that out for a 347 stroker with a carb. Could NOT keep traction over 3/4 throttle

daender > The Stig's former college room mate 08/19/2016 at 20:50

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Have you seen a 3rd-gen by the name of ICE9 ? Because that build has inspired me to one day own a 3rd-gen and build it in a similar way.

The Stig's former college room mate > daender 08/22/2016 at 10:05

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I have not seen that before but that’s rather awesome.