any flavor of caterham that meets your spending range

 

Reading the comments in response to the S2K that was just linked, I think the vast majority of people are ignorant to who Andrew W. is and what his racing experience and pedigree is. This isn't just some hack job by some random ass start up tuner shop trying to build a pretty show car.

If you read through the build thread and actually knew the tiniest bit about Andrew, a lot of the baseless remarks would cease. I'd say 90% the car is mostly setup correctly, and the other 10% of setup will be tuning shocks, boost, aero, brake bias, and driver.

 

Albert its okay, its lost on them. The ACR is faster. 9 out of 10 times, bruh.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Shelby-Other...ht_4394wt_1153

Should be pretty d@mn quick and I can't imagine that consumable costs would even approach what you would spend on an ACR. Granted it won't be a Cadillac on the road, but I still see plenty of them around even in the summer. Looks like it has all the goodies. If you want to put a hard top on it, I believe you can. I've seen them on the real deal. Easy and cheap to work on. A bargain thrill ride that leaves you some change from that $85,000 dollar bill. Besides, they just look so cool, now and forever.

 

I wouldn't trust the sanctity of my brain to that rollbar + that car's performance envelope.

 

Holy crap that is sick. Tempted to get a cheap tow rig and aluminum trailer and just store somewhere.

 

GT3 is the obvious answer. Don't rule out 996's, I have a decent amount of track time in them, and wouldn't consider the driving experience dated or obsolete at all. They're very visceral machines, just don't look near as good as the 997's. I have enough friends who are GT3 owners to know that consumables are $$$$, more than I'd want to spend. The engine is very robust, but if it pops, you're looking at $40K+ for a replacement.

I've considered almost every car for tracking purposes, and the GT3's, S2000's, and Miatas seem to complain the least about being thrashed in stock or near stock form. I also prefer closed cars for tracking, but am unwilling to spend big bucks for an uninsured (on the track) car.


My C5Z is turning out to be a great track car, but it's taken lots of $$$ to get there. It has reeled in and passed 997 GT3's @ both H2R and MSRC, the last time @ MSRC in Apex advanced group and the GT3 had a ~30 sec. head start. Recaro race buckets, harnesses, coilovers, poly susp. bushings, Wilwood front calipers, ss lines, brake ducting, big rad. w/EOC, etc. Now the tranny is being rebuilt/fortified, w/ a hd clutch, lw flywheel, and LG tranny/diff coolers. Another $7+K, but there won't be anything left that it needs for cheap and reliable tracking. The Wilwood calipers use pads over 2x as thick as stock, but stock rotors, and the poly bushings are supposed to greatly improve tire life. No mods to make more power, as it already has plenty to be fun and I don't want to sacrifice reliability. If meets your parameters apart from not being stock. I don't have it for sale, but would entertain selling if interested. I'd have a get a price well in excess of the typical C5Z market value to justify letting it go, though it would be a good value vs. a similar DIY build.

 

Chris, what coilovers do you have? I just bought a C5Z as well.

 

Take the 997 GT3 off your list. The only 997 GT3 truly worth getting is the RS - lighter flywheel and wider body than GT3, among other things, but way out of your price range.

 

cool!

What mods would you say are an absolute must for the c5Z within the teh first year of getting to know the car?