I'm looking to build a dedicated track car. This is going to be a 12-24 month project with goal of building fast and reliable car while learning in the process and developing both car and my skills.

I believe S2000 is a great choice however I'm also considering Miata as well.

I'd like to hear current opinion on the best starting point - mainly questions I need to answer are S2000 or Miata, and if S2000 then AP1 or AP2.

I would love to hear your opinion based on your experience and knowledge - THANK YOU!

p.s. I posed similar question on miata.net forum so it should be great to compare responses.

 

don't waste your money, buy an already built race car! Miata is probably the better choice if you want pure racing anytime anywhere. S2000 is an amazing platform, but just need to figure out what class/league. I think if your ok w SCCA, the s2000 is great in stu. Not much hope for s2000 in NASA.

 

I'd say that isn't true. The s2000 has won the NASA TTC Championship the last 2+ years IIRC.
It also seems to be decently competitive in TTB nationally.

I know locally all the fast TTC guys have s2ks, and walk away with free tires and cash winnings each weekend.

 

Think he means for W2W classes

 

Think he means for W2W classes
[/quote]

Yea exactly w2w... For TT yes TTC is OK, but it was a struggle to find 3 guys to run TTC at nationals, that's BS! For contingencies you want a good 10 ppl in a class at a national level.

E36/E46/SM/Integra or civic

For NASA seems like these are the cars to look at...

 

Think he means for W2W classes
[/quote]

Yea exactly w2w... For TT yes TTC is OK, but it was a struggle to find 3 guys to run TTC at nationals, that's BS! For contingencies you want a good 10 ppl in a class at a national level.

E36/E46/SM/Integra or civic

For NASA seems like these are the cars to look at...
[/quote]
Dont forget Spec E30 for NASA

 

Miata is a lot cheaper

 

Think he means for W2W classes
[/quote]

Yea exactly w2w... For TT yes TTC is OK, but it was a struggle to find 3 guys to run TTC at nationals, that's BS! For contingencies you want a good 10 ppl in a class at a national level.

E36/E46/SM/Integra or civic

For NASA seems like these are the cars to look at...
[/quote]

There were 11 entries for TTB at NASA West Champs. The S2000 had a winning lap going on the last session but was DQd for sound. It was still a hot session in terms of ambient temps. The winner of TTB is Dave Schotz in his Pontiac Firebird, who is considered a very high leveled driver, if not the best driver, in NASA. He has the most National Championships to date. Laguna Seca is considered a HP track as well. The S2000 can be a fierce TTB candidate, almost unbeatable in TTB, with simply a supercharger detuned to about 230whp making peak power from 4.5k to redline. I was making peak power at almost 8k rpm and still almost pulled off the win. TTC is where the S2000 belongs and can almost dominate and TTB just requires more $$$ to be top tier but definitely achievable.

W2W S2000 can be competitive in PTB/PTC but car count is almost nil to run there. In ST3, the S2000 can be competitive but will require $$$, forced induction and a lot of preventative mods such as oil and water cooling items. Once you take those options into account, it makes it hard to justify running ST3 in an S2000 without a big hole in your wallet. However, I still plan to run ST3 very soon. Just regionally and I would be happy with just mid pack. There are FI S2ks right now trying to run SuperTouring and I wish them luck. Just very hard to compete on a National level against C5s. But it can be done.

 

OP, you didn't really mention your current track/racing experience level, or your goals for the car. Racing or just HPDE? Faster lap times than your buddy, or improving your driving? Do you want to spend a lot of time working on the car, or prefer something that is ready to go? What kind of budget?

Personally I'm in the process of putting together a AP1 as a dedicated HPDE car. It'll have minimal mods outside of safety, some good coilovers, and probably an oil cooler. S2000's are relatively reliable and easy to maintain, even when run hard, with stockish power and rubber. (Of course they have their issues, but they're known and manageable.) They're FUN to drive, but also challenging, and will force you to become a better driver IMO. But if you start modding for a lot of power, or add big, sticky tires, the maintenance goes up dramatically.

If I wanted to go W2W, as much as I love the S2000, I'd probably look toward a spec series. But I don't currently have the commitment or budget for racing.

 

Ive gathered from the OP that there isnt much if any track experience. With that, its hard to dive into the car aspects. This is a s2000 forum so im inclined to steer him in that direction as it is going to be a better performing car out of the box and in the long run then a Miata. Id say with the S2k, make sure the car is in sound mechanical condition, do the basic brake upgrade with high temp fluid minimum and would probably recommend just doing the brained steel lines since they are cheap insurance. You can do a pad upgrade, but stock is sufficient for a beginner, and just make sure you are running some decent handling tires in a summer or extreme summer category. Then take it out for lapping days at your local track. You have to start here before you go investing many thousands of dollars building a race car, non of which will mean anything to you if you have no basis for how the stock car handles with you behind the wheel. Its much better to get some driving time in first so you can eventually get to the point to where you are consistent enough in your driving to notice the short comings of the car, and then you can have a much better idea of where to invest your money at going faster.