Yup, good cars but pretty rare on the track compared to S2000s and Miatas. I'm not sure why.

 

Get over everything gay about the miata and get one. (no offence to any gay people on here)

It makes a killer race car and is cheap.
you can find motors for way less than the 3-4k motors for the s2k.

and hey chicks love them too you know!!!

 

I should have bought a SM

 

Skyline but you'd have to live with RHD

 

The second generation MR2 is an excellent car, and still quite common at autocross. But there are relatively few of them, and Toyota (at least in that era) did not make good transmissions.

They made some with a turbocharged 2 liter engine (the legendary 3SGTE; a true beast when properly built), which probably would be really fun on the track (but perhaps not so reliable without a lot of work stopping fluid leaks and rebuilding transmissions).

 

how about an old subaru impreza.

you can find them as old as 93 and up. the L model which was the base model and was like 2500lbs. AWD.

throw in a jdm sti motor. spin it up to 8k. lots of aftermarket as most new age subaru stuff can fit the older models too.

something different.

 

Another plus for the Miata. Rotors cost $10 - $20 (depending on where you get them), and last a long time (brakes only slow you down, and Miatas corner incredibly well). And tires are much less expensive than on the S2000, and last a long, long time because the car is so light. Good race pads are about the same price, but last longer.

 

yup. register it non-op and use it for track only.

 

There are two generations of second generation MR2 -- the '91 - '92 cars and the '93 - '95 cars. The '91 - '92 cars had a reputation for abruptly losing the back end at the limit (sound familiar to anyone? ); the '93+ cars incorporated changes to the rear suspension geometry to address this.

I don't know if anyone's figured out how to tame the '91 - '92 cars in the interim, but unless they have, I'd stay away from them in favor of the rarer '93+ ones.

 

If the Japanese qualification is not too important, how about an E30 or E36 BMW? Fun, cheap, RWD.

I vote for the Miata Ask TubeDriver how much it costs him to maintain his track toy Miata for the year. He has to run 20+ events and beats the snot out of it.